Kouri Richins Was Sentenced to Life Without Parole on Her Dead Husband's Birthday. Her Sons Asked for It
Kouri Richins Was Sentenced to Life
Without Parole on Her Dead
Husband's Birthday.
Her Sons Asked for It.
Life without parole. On what would have been Eric Richins' 44th birthday. In a lime green jail uniform. After googling the lethal dose of fentanyl, how poisoning appears on a death certificate, and luxury prisons. Her own three sons, through counselors, said they would feel happy when she's finally gone.
The Day It All Landed
May 13, 1982 was the day Eric Richins was born. May 13, 2026 was the day his wife was told she would spend the rest of her life in prison for killing him. Nobody scheduled this deliberately — the sentencing date was set weeks in advance. But when Judge Richard Mrazik walked into 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah on Wednesday morning, that was the date on the calendar, and everybody in the room knew it.
Kouri Richins stood at the podium in a lime green jail uniform. She had prepared remarks for her sons, who were not present. She asked them not to give up on her. She encouraged them to always be like their dad — the man she had poisoned with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl, in a Moscow Mule, in their family home in Francis, Utah, in February 2022. Before that she had tried to poison him on Valentine's Day, in a sandwich. He survived that one. He didn't survive the cocktail.
The judge said Richins is "simply too dangerous to ever be free." The sentence was life without the possibility of parole. Her three sons — aged 13, 11, and 9 at the time of sentencing — had asked for exactly that.
What Judge Mrazik Ordered
What Her Sons Said
The three boys were not in court. Their statements were read by counselors. All three asked that their mother never be released from prison. What they described of their childhood — their actual lived experience of being Kouri Richins' children, before any of this became public — was not the picture she had constructed for the world. The cold food. The drunk mother. The hurt animals. The boyfriend she cared about more than them. The older one parenting the younger one because nobody else was doing it.
"I want her to go to prison forever. Once she is gone, I will feel happy."
"You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, and you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends. You were not playing the role as a real mother does."
"There is nothing Kouri will not do and no one she will not hurt to achieve her own selfish ends. I am not the only one that is afraid — there are three little boys who instead of fearing those who love and adore them, worry constantly that Kouri might show up one day and take them away. Eric's sons deserve so much better. They are not bargaining chips, they are not cash cows, they are not props for some twisted children's book about grief and loss."
"His life was taken through calculated, intentional actions motivated by greed, control and desire for a different life with someone else. He was a light to his sons, to the boys he coached, and to our entire community. A light that was taken way too soon."
"Such a person should never again lurk among the rest of us. Her children should never worry that they may one day encounter her."
Her Statement. All of It.
Kouri Richins used her time at the podium to speak directly to her sons. She maintained her innocence. She said she would appeal. She said she would fight "no matter how long it takes" — not for the court, not for the state, not for the Richins family, not for the world, but for her boys. She asked them not to give up on her. She told them to always be like their dad.
"I will appeal and fight these charges no matter how long it takes. Not because I have anything to prove to this court, to the state, to the Richins family or to the world, but I do have something to prove to you three."
— Kouri Richins, at sentencing · May 13, 2026Her attorney Kathryn Nester told the court: "Everything else she has ever held dear in her life has been stripped from her. It is her hope that in openly and honestly sharing her love and hopes and dreams for her boys with you, you will see what it is inside of her that is worth saving." The judge was not persuaded. The sentence was life without parole, consecutive on all counts.
What She Googled. What She Planned. What She Collected.
The trial, which ran in March 2026 and ended early when the defence rested without calling a single witness and Richins waived her right to testify, produced a paper trail that the jury apparently found sufficient. They deliberated for just under three hours. These are the things in evidence:
The Children's Book She Wrote About Grief.
After Poisoning Him.
Shortly after Eric Richins died — after Kouri had collected the life insurance, after she had told their sons their father was gone — she self-published a children's book about grief. It was presented as a loving tribute. A grieving mother helping her children process loss. She promoted it publicly. She did media. The book exists. Eric's sister-in-law, at sentencing, put it plainly: Eric's sons "are not props for some twisted children's book about grief and loss." The jury found her guilty on all counts in under three hours. The book is still findable online.
Where Is Everyone Now?
Kouri Richins will be committed to Utah State Prison. She has announced her intention to appeal. Her defence team confirmed they would file. Given the consecutive sentences on all counts and the life-without-parole on the primary charge, the appeal faces an extremely steep climb.
Eric Richins' three sons — aged 13, 11, and 9 at sentencing — are in the care of his sister Katie Richins-Benson and her husband Clint. Temporary custody was transferred to them on May 6, 2024. The boys asked, through counselors, that their mother never be released. The judge agreed.
Eric's sister Amy Richins, speaking outside the courthouse after the hearing, asked the public to remember Eric rather than focus on Kouri. "Today, we invite everyone to remember Eric and his generous spirit by performing a kind act for a stranger," she said. "The world lost a wonderful man, and it will take all of us to embody his kindness." His soccer team, his father said, still breaks the huddle saying: "One, two, three, Eric."
We have covered this case in full from the beginning. The receipts were always there. The jury needed fewer than three hours to read them. The only question left now is whether the appeals court will need longer — and whether three boys in Utah will spend their teenage years waiting to find out.
