Joli: Hey listeners, and welcome to another episode of Beyond the Unknown. I'm your host, Joli, and I'm Quinn, and today we’re going to talk about The Richins, suburban, picture perfect family from Kamas, Utah that was struck by tragedy when Eric Richins suddenly passed away. Stay tuned as we unravel this twisted story and uncover the truths behind Eric’s death.
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The story begins on March 4, 2022 with a young couple named Eric and Kouri Richins in Kamas, Utah. Kouri, aged 33, bought and flipped properties and tonight her and her husband Eric, aged 39, decided to celebrate the sale of one of her properties as their three children sleep. The pair drank a Moscow Mule and in bed and then their son cried out for his mother to comfort him because he had a bad dream. Kouri went into his room and slept there for the night. When she returned to her bedroom, Eric was unresponsive.
He wasn’t breathing, he had no pulse, he was dead.
So, how does a 39 year old with no major health issues suddenly pass away? Well, when the medical examiner performed an autopsy, it showed that Eric passed from a Fentanyl overdose. It was very shocking to say the least since Eric wasn’t a known abuser according to friends and family.
But let’s take a step back for now. Who was Eric?
Eric was born May 13, 1982 to first time parents Gene & Linda who were cattle farmers in Utah. He had 2 younger sisters named Katie and Amy who he remained very close with. Before his passing, Eric was described as very athletic and even coached all of his son’s sports teams. He was very adventurous and loved a challenge. He was known to be an outdoorsman and an avid hunter. Eric was known to be the kind of guy that loved to live life to the fullest and didn’t take himself too seriously. His laugh was memorable and he was so kind to everyone around him. And Eric, like many in Utah, was a religious man apart of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He attended the University of Utah where he majored in International Studies with a minor in Spanish, receiving his degree in 2011. And Two years prior, he formed a company with his best friend Cody Wright called C & E Stone Masonry.
Kouri, Erics wife, was born April 20, 1990 also in Utah. Eric met Kouri while she worked at Home Depot. They were actually introduced by a co-worker of Kouri’s, Linda King. And on June 15, 2013 they married in their backyard about one year after having their first son Carter. As some do, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement. Together, they shared three sons, Carter (9), Ashton (7), and Weston (5).
So they seemed to have a pretty average American story. From the outside looking in, Eric and Kouri Richins were like most typical married couples. They’re well rounded people, meeting somewhat young, having children, and growing their careers together before this shocking Fentanyl overdose..
A year after her husband's death, Kouri Richins published a 41 page book titled "Are You With Me?" to which she dedicated to her "amazing husband and a wonderful father." The former Amazon description of the book said it was written to "create peace and comfort for children who have lost a loved one." On a talk show, she described the process of writing this book with her children to try to process the unexpected death of her husband and children’s father. These books became somewhat popular and Kouri was given centre stage to talk about how sudden loss and grief has impacted her family.
And this didn’t sit too well with Erics family….
Remember when I said that he wasn’t a known abuser?
His supposed addiction wasn’t something that they thought he just hid in plain sight.
Instead, they suggest that he was poisoned…. by Kouri.
March 4, 2022, Eric and his wife Kouri had drinks at home to celebrate Kouri’s recent house sale. Kouri made them each a Moscow Mule. Eric supposedly took the Moscow mule and drank it in bed. An affidavit later states though that Eric had one shot of alcohol and a THC gummy. According to Kouri, she fell asleep in one of her children’s rooms as she was comforting her son who was having a bad dream. Later that night, around 3am, after Kouri awoke, Eric Richins was found unresponsive in the couple’s bedroom in their Utah home. He was just 39 years old. She says she attempted CPR, but due to all of the blood found on his mouth, examiners feel that it is unlikely that she did, as she was not covered in his blood. Additionally, her cell phone activity would suggest that she was not sleeping when she claims to have been. Medical examiners would later find that his blood levels contained fentanyl levels 5 times the lethal dose. Eric’s obituary, written by Kouri, although mostly very positive, contained a few unusual pieces. One, she focused on how wreckless he was, saying he owned every recreational motor vehicle and had lots of injuries. She also said he would show up to events missing his socks or sleeves due to having to take emergency bathroom breaks??? Weird. Another unusual thing I couldn’t figure out, is in obituary, it says the following: Eric Eugene Richins made his last extravagant and largely unexpected gesture on March 4, 2022, signing off on a life, in his own words, “lived to the fullest and with few regrets.” Does this mean he wrote a note? On a reddit forum, people are speculating that the wife has written this, but what I don’t understand is that he left a note??? Finally, Ladder-Day saints is written quite poorly….
Two days after his death, a locksmith was called to the house to drill into Eric’s safe containing anywhere from $125,000 to $165,00 in cash. Katie, Eric’s sister, asked Kouri to leave the safe alone, but was apparently punched in the face and neck by Kouri. The police were called and the attorney for Eric’s estate became involved as upon Eric’s death, a clause in his estate and trust was triggered to make his sister Katie Richins-Benson the head trustee. Wait what? It was quite confusing to sort out, because if you recall, the couple had a prenup. The prenup apparently stated that Kouri would gain control over all financial assets should Eric die, but we’ll get back to this in a bit… Given her brother’s sudden death and all the unusual ongoing’s prior, Katie hired a private investigator to look at Kouri and find out exactly what happened because the thought of a fentanyl overdose wasn’t sitting right.
Upon closer inspection, things started to look somewhat suspicious from a financial perspective. At the time of Eric’s death, Kouri owed at least $1.8M to a lender, $514,346 to Eric himself and $189,840 in state and federal tax liabilities. These debts were to fund her Real Estate career pursuits of flipping houses. The financial struggled seemed to date back as early as 2015, but likely started earlier. Kouri had apparently purchased at least four insurance policies between 2015-2017 on her husband without his knowledge totalling almost 2 million US dollars. Despite having lack of finances, Kouri opened her real estate business in 2019. In 2020, Eric realized that Kouri had obtained a $250,000 home equity line of credit on their home. She forged his signature, obtaining a fraudulent power of attorney. She also withdrew at least $100,00 from his personal bank accounts and racked up over $30,000 of credit card debt on eric’s credit cards. She also was apparently given some intentional access to his funds and must have had some role in the financial aspect of his business, as she stole at least $134,346 that was meant for federal tax payments through the business, but these taxes were never paid. Eric confronted Kouri about the money and she agreed to pay him back.
Although she was using the money to fund her business endeavors, it is also suspected that she knew their relationship was on the rocks and was looking to manipulate the marital assets. In October 2020, Eric consulted both a divorce lawyer and an estate planning lawyer. He formed a living trust and made changes to his will. He placed his estate under the control of his sister, Katie Richins-Benson. He then transferred his partnership interest in his business to this living trust as well as his $500,000 life insurance policy. Kouri was not aware that Eric had made all of these changes. Eric and his business partner Cody each had $2M life insurance policies with each other as the beneficiary as in common when in business together. This had been the case since they formed their company around 2009. In January of 2022, apparently, Kouri had changed the beneficiary to herself. When Eric realized what she had done, he had the beneficiary changed back to his business partner. Realizing she probably wasn’t going to get the $2M life insurance policy, she applied for a new $100,000 life insurance policy on Eric’s life without his knowledge.
It seems as though on Valentine’s day, February 14, 2022, the couple was trying to mend their crumbling relationship. Kouri placed a homemade sandwich on the seat of his truck with a love note. After eating the sandwich, Eric became severely ill and had to administer one of their sons epi-pens. There is text message evidence that Eric suspected that his wife had tried to poison him and infact, suspected she had attempted to do so on multiple occasions. He even going so far as to tell his family that if something were to happen to him, it was likely Kouri’s doing. He stayed in the marriage for the sake of his three children.
After Eric’s death, damning evidence against Kouri continued to be uncovered. Cell phone data shows Kouri contacted a “CL” for fentanyl in February of 2022. CL was tracked down and said she hand delivered the fentanyl to Kouri on either February 11 or 12, 2022. Apparently, Kouri told CL that the pills were not strong enough and requested stronger Fentanyl. On March 9 or 10, CL claims she left the requested pills at the home’s backyard firepit after receiving a backdated cheque from Kouri for $1300. Kouri’s google search history was also somewhat concerning. She allegedly looked up "can cops.uncover deleted.messages iphone," "what are you allowed inside [U]tah jails," and perhaps most damning "what is considered a lethal.dose of fentanyl".
[add in her writing a book and becoming a known author, milking the grieving wife]
Over one year later, on May 8, 2023, Kouri was arrested on charges of aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. She was taken to custody at Summit County Hail in Park City Utah while awaiting trial. On August 18, 2023, the family decided not to pursue the death penalthy, a decision made by Eric’s sisters and father. However evidence continues to emerge that paint a pretty clear picture of Kouri if you ask me. On September 18 2023, it was found that Kouri asked her brother to provide a false story about Eric buying drugs. Most recently, Kouri’s anti-psychotic prescription for Quetapine was also found in Eric’s system during the autopsy. Quetiapine is prescribed for things like bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental health diagnoses. This medication was prescribed to Kouri and not Eric. It is not clear what was the formal indication for her being prescribed this medication; however, a warrant has been issued to search her medical records for more details.
So as of today, Kouri remains in custody for the aforementioned charged. Additionally, Kouri has two lawsuits filed against her:
- Katie, Eric’s sister, is formally suing Kouri for $13M USD regarding all of the money stolen from the estate. Kouri is suing Eric’s estate for half of the value of the marital home as well as the proceeds from the sale of C&E Masonry.
Alec & Taryn Wright: Bought Eric & Kouri’s home in X for around $409,000 USD. They are claiming that she knowingly sold them a home that was infested with poisonous mold, and that in order to fix the problem, it would cost them more than what the house was worth. Additionally, they state they have suffered a series of medical issues linked to the mold and are facing financial ruin to fix the problem. Kouri denies these allegations.
There you have it. This seemingly perfect family was hiding many dark secrets. What do you think? Would Kouri have gotten away with it had she not had her phone searched?
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Quinn: Thank you for joining us for another episode of "Beyond the Unknown." If you have a story you’d like to share, please email us at moody.mediaprod@gmail.com or reach out on Instagram. Who knows, your story might be featured in our next episode!
Joli: All of our sources for this episode can be found on our website: beyondtheunknownpod.com.
And don’t forget, if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review! 2
Quinn: Until next time, listeners. Stay curious and remember that the unknown is always just beyond the shadows.
Both: BYEEEEE
