Kouri Richins was arrested in May 2023 in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of her husband Eric Richins. She has twice been denied bail.
Oct. 2, her attorneys filed another request for her release ahead of a February 2026 murder trial.
“New evidence has come to light that goes to the heart of the state’s allegations that Ms. Richins poisoned her husband with fentanyl,” the court papers state.
Summit County prosecutors allege Richins purchased fentanyl on at least two occasions from a housekeeper she employed.
Now, Richins’ defense attorneys say the man who allegedly sold the housekeeper fentanyl denies it.
In sworn statements the man claims he sold the housekeeper OxyContin, not fentanyl, in early 2022 just before Eric Richins died.
He also says he told prosecutors that in April of this year.
“They asked why I had previously told officers that I had sold [the housekeeper] fentanyl,” he said in one of the Sept. 10 statements. “I told them I did not remember saying that and that I had been detoxing during that interview and was ‘out of it.’”
The defense team says that’s “exculpatory evidence,” meaning it supports Richins’ innocence. They learned about it while preparing for trial during the past month and say prosecutors should have shared it with them immediately.
Defense attorneys want the court to order prosecutors to turn over any additional evidence, including all communications with the man.
The Summit County Attorney’s Office declined to comment and has two weeks to respond to the motions.
