A mother who once wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after the death of her husband has now been arrested for his murder.

Kouri Richins, a 33-year-old mother of 3 children, was arrested on Monday for the murder of her husband, Eric Richins, in March 2022.

She has since been charged with first-degree aggravated murder and three counts of possession of a controlled substance.

First responders were called to Richins’ home in the small town of Kamas, Utah in the middle of the night. They arrived at the home around 3.20am, where they found Eric Richins ‘cold to the touch.’

Kouri told police that Eric, who worked as realtor, drank a single Moscow Mule she made him to celebrate selling a house.

Richins said that she fell asleep beside one of her children that night, who she said was having a nightmare. She claimed to have discovered her husband’s body around 3.00am when returning to her own bedroom.

A medical examiner’s report eventually determined that Eric had actually overdosed on fentanyl. He had five times a lethal dosage of the synthetic opioid in his system.

According to court documents, the medical examiner determined that the fentanyl was not medical grade, meaning it was most likely purchased from a drug dealer.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators learned that Kouri had purchased fentanyl herself from an unnamed ‘acquaintance,’ who was facing two charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Just two days before Eric’s death, prosecutors allege Kouri payed this acquaintance $900 for 15-30 fentanyl pills.

‘The defendant told [the acquaintance] to leave the pills at the outdoor fire pit of the Midway, Utah house where there was cash waiting for her,’ a court filing reads.

After being interviewed by police, the acquaintance told investigators that she purchased the drugs for an investor she was working with. Kouri allegedly asked for something stronger, which she called ‘some of the Michael Jackson stuff.’

In the months immediately following her husband’s death, Kouri wrote a children’s book about dealing with losing a parent unexpectedly.

Her book, which was released earlier this year, is called ‘Are You With Me?’ She even made appearances on local media to promote it.

In April, Richins appeared on a show called ‘Good Things Utah’ on local station ABC4 in Salt Lake City.

‘My husband passed away unexpectedly last year,’ Richins tells the hosts. ‘It completely took us all by shock.’

Richins said that she wrote the book with her three sons, who are now ages 10, 9, and 6. She said it’s purpose was to ‘help other kids deal with this and find happiness some way or another.’

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