The Kamas mother of three was arrested May 8, 2023, for allegedly killing her husband Eric Richins.
Now, she’s set to appear in Summit County’s Third District Court for a hearing that will determine if the case goes to trial.
The community first heard from Kouri in April 2023, when she went on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” to promote her book: “Are You With Me?”
“I think it gave us a sense of distraction, for one, and gave us something to put our minds towards,” Kouri told KPCW’s Leslie Thatcher. “Because you can go every day—and you know, you can either live in sadness, or you can take that sadness and make something good out of it.”
The Kamas realtor told KPCW Eric died “unexpectedly” in March of 2022. A month after the interview, the Summit County Attorney’s Office told a different story.
Prosecutors accuse Kouri of poisoning her husband with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl. They claim she did it to inherit his estate and benefit from life insurance policies they say she took out on him without his knowledge.
But unbeknownst to her, Eric had written her out of his will. He allegedly told family and friends she’d been trying to kill him for years.
Prosecutors say she owed lenders about $1.8 million, had a negative bank balance, was being sued by a creditor and was floating checks.
The case against Kouri Richins now regularly makes national headlines, as she maintains her innocence.
Her family told CBS “48 Hours” an accidental overdose is more likely. Locked in a custody battle with Eric’s family for the three children, Kouri’s family has been denied private visits with them.
But Kouri’s mother, Lisa Darden, said she still attends their sports practices to see them. A month after the episode aired, news broke that Darden herself had been subject to investigation.
She has not been charged with a crime, but Summit County detectives took a look at Darden both because she was at the couple’s house the night Eric died and because her own partner overdosed on oxycodone 16 years earlier. Darden benefited from her life insurance, a search warrant states.
Last time Kouri had a major court appearance, it was to decide if she’d be granted bail. Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik decided to keep her in custody through the duration of a trial.
The June 12, 2023, hearing featured witnesses, testimony, evidence and oral argument. The May 15, 2024, hearing will likely feature the same.
Kouri faces new charges since she last appeared in court, including more severe drug charges, new financial charges and a count of attempted homicide for an alleged previous attempt to kill Eric.
Prosecutors have alleged infidelity on her part to support additional motive, but Kouri’s family claims Eric did the same. Both husband and wife consulted divorce attorneys.
And prosecutors have spent time in court trying to get some of those records. Monday, May 13, they’ll try to compel a Heber law practice to hand over records about Kouri’s divorce consultation.
Previously, they compelled the defense team to turn over a letter another inmate wrote to Kouri, one of a number of documents found during a search of her cell last fall.
One of those documents, a letter Kouri wrote to her mother that became known for its opening words—“Walk the Dog!!”—gave an alternative theory of the case, where Eric purchases laced drugs in Mexico. Prosecutors called it witness tampering.
The defense team won’t make its theory in the case public at least until Wednesday.
If Mrazik rules prosecutors have enough evidence to put Kouri on trial, she can enter a plea: guilty, not guilty or no contest.
One key difference between a “guilty" and a “no contest” plea is a “no contest” plea can’t be held against someone in subsequent civil cases. And Kouri faces numerous civil lawsuits from Eric’s family, alleging she stole money and illegally tried to profit from his death.
The preliminary hearing begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 15.
