A Utah judge handed down several rulings Tuesday in the case of a grieving author accused of murdering her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail.
Judge Richard Mrazik granted the state’s attorney’s motion to dismiss two drug distribution charges against Kouri Richins, 34, before her trial in April for the alleged murder of her husband Eric Richins, 39. ABC Reports 4.
He also agreed to try four counts of mortgage fraud and forgery separately from the murder charge.
But Mrazik denied Richins bail for a second time on Tuesday, ruling that she posed a flight risk and potential danger to herself and others after her attorneys used certificates she earned in jail-run programs as evidence that the mother of… Four has been a model inmate since she was first detained in May 2023.
He now faces charges of aggravated murder, attempted criminal homicide and two counts of fraudulent insurance claims.
A Utah judge denied bail to Kouri Richins, 34, for the second time, leaving her behind bars until her trial in April for allegedly murdering her husband.
Judge Richard Mrazik also granted the state’s attorney’s motion to dismiss two drug distribution charges Tuesday.
Prosecutors have argued that Richins slipped an obscene amount of fentanyl into her husband’s Moscow Mule cocktail on March 3, 2023 amid financial disputes related to their $2 million, 10-acre home.
They claimed that Eric had discovered that his wife had taken out and spent a $250,000 home equity line of credit, withdrawing $100,000 from her bank accounts, and spending more than $30,000 on her credit cards.
Kouri also stole about $134,000 from her husband’s business intended for tax payments, according to previously filed court documents.
He even allegedly purchased four different life insurance policies, which totaled more than $1.9 million between 2015 and 2017.
However, the couple signed an agreement that would grant them the sale of the house before Eric’s death.
Then, just a day after Richins called police to report that she had found her husband “cold to the touch” at the foot of their bed, affidavits for search warrants showed that Kouri signed the closing documents for the couple’s house and invited friends to a party. where she was drinking and celebrating.
Prosecutors have argued that Richins slipped an obscene amount of fentanyl into her husband’s Moscow Mule cocktail on March 3, 2023 amid disputes over financial issues related to their $2 million, 10-acre home.
Court documents further stated that Kouri first attempted to kill her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl just a month before she allegedly served him the spiked cocktail.
Prosecutors have alleged that a sandwich she bought him on Valentine’s Day was left with a note in the front seat of his truck.
After his death, Kouri also benefited financially after writing a children’s book about grief.
She said in an interview that she was motivated to write the book after searching Amazon and Barnes and Noble and finding “nothing” to help her children “cope” and dedicated the book to Eric.
Kouri promoted it on television and radio, describing the book as a way to help children grieve the loss of a loved one.
He later wrote a children’s book about grief, stating that he was trying to help his children “cope” with the loss of their father.
Since then, Richins’ attorneys have tried to get Mrazik to separate the charges of attempted criminal homicide, two counts of mortgage fraud and two counts of forgery from the charges related to Eric’s murder.
They argued that her alleged attempt to poison her husband on February 14 and the day of his death, March 3, 2023, did not meet the definition of a “single criminal episode” and should therefore be tried separately. .
“The prejudice Ms. Richins will face if jurors are allowed to consider two separate alleged acts involving an alleged intent to cause death cannot be underestimated,” the defense team argued in a motion last week. according to ABC 4.
“The fact that the allegations related to February 14 are entirely speculative and circumstantial makes the prejudice toward Ms. Richins even deeper.”
But state prosecutors opposed separating the charges, saying they are all connected as part of a “common scheme or plan” of criminal activity, alleging that Richins went from alleged fraud on his property to ultimately taking the life of his husband.
“The evidence supporting each of the crimes establishes a direct and truly discernible relationship between the nine crimes,” they argued.
“Considering the crimes together, the defendant’s parasitic behavior forms an arc of increasingly aggressive, risky, opportunistic, and audacious actions necessary to perpetuate the defendant’s facade of achievement and success.”
Ultimately, Mrazik ruled that the alleged Feb. 14 murder attempt occurred just 17 days before Eric’s untimely death, and in both cases there were text messages allegedly indicating that Kouri obtained fentanyl, gave him food or drink, and fled the scene.
But he said that due to possible unfair bias, the four counts of mortgage fraud and forgery that allegedly occurred in 2021 will be tried separately.
“There is too much temporal distance and too much dissimilarity,” said the judge, KSL-TV reports.
Richins appeared in court Tuesday as the judge handed down sentences.
Defense attorneys had also tried to get Mrazik to reconsider his refusal to grant bail to Richins, arguing that the fact that he no longer faces the death penalty – in addition to the dismissal of the two drug charges – offers an opportunity for a new discussion. in his release.
In court, attorney Kathy Nester characterized the mother of four as a “bright, committed and curious woman” who wants to get involved in her case. Park Record reports.
“As a mother, there is no way Kouri Richins would leave her children, no matter what anyone tells them…She would never leave her children,” Nester told the judge.
He went on to argue that Richins does not have the means to move elsewhere.
‘He literally has no resources to leave the country and resettle somewhere else. She would have no ability to support herself,” Nester said, urging the judge to release Richins and impose measures such as an ankle monitor or house arrest.
But Mrazik said with the loss of her connections to the community over the past year, with her children being wards of her husband’s family and her business gone, there is nothing tying her down as she faces a possible life sentence. . .
He praised her for using her time in prison “as productively as possible,” but said the possibility that she could die in prison “creates a powerful incentive for (Richins) to harm herself or the witnesses in this case and flee the police.” jurisdiction of the court if released on bail, Fox 13 reports.
As Mrazik handed down the ruling, members of the Richin family hugged and gave each other reassuring handshakes.
Still, Nester expressed hope in his client’s case.
“With two charges dismissed and four others dismissed, the defense has more confidence,” he said as he left court Tuesday.
“The case against our client is rapidly narrowing, exposing deeper weaknesses at every turn.”
