Utah mom accused of fatally poisoning husband denied bail
Jeff Paul reports on Utah mom accused of lacing her husband's drink with fentanyl.
Defense attorneys representing Kouri Richins, a Utah mom of three and children's book author accused of killing her husband in 2022, have filed to withdraw from the case, citing "an irreconcilable and nonwaivable [sic] situation."
Richins, now 35, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated murder and drug possession after she allegedly poisoned her husband of nine years, Eric Richins, on March 3, 2022, with illicit fentanyl as a means to collect millions in life insurance funds.
"Ray Quinney & Nebeker P.C. … is hereby providing notice that it has a professional duty to withdraw from its current representation of the Defendant. The ethical mandate for withdrawal results from an irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation," the withdrawal filing submitted on May 17 states. "It first emerged from the civil cases in which the Firm has been representing Ms. Richins, but is imputed to the Firm as a whole and thus requires the Firm to withdraw from its representation of the Defendant in this criminal proceeding."
The defendant's lead attorney, Skye Lazaro, noted that the matter "emerged from" a hearing in her client's case held on May 15, during which Richins' preliminary hearing was pushed back to June 18.
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Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three, who wrote a children's book about coping with grief after her husband's death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, looks on during a hearing Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Rick Bowmer)
"To properly safeguard the Defendant’s constitutional rights, this Court should immediately grant the Firm’s motion to withdraw and should immediately appoint new counsel to continue the vigorous defense of the criminal charges against Ms. Richins," Lazaro wrote in her filing.
In another May 17 filing, Richins' defense team filed a motion to disqualify state prosecutors, "and specifically Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth, due to his involvement in severe violations that compromise the integrity of adversarial fairness."
Defense attorney Skye Lazaro, left, talks to Summit County Chief Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth about delaying until June a preliminary hearing for Lazaro's client, Kouri Richins, during a hearing Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Park City, Utah. Richins, a Utah mother of three, who wrote a children's book about coping with grief after her husband's death, was later accused of fatally poisoning him. (Rick Bowmer)
Lazaro alleges prosecutors improperly obtained evidence, including jail calls and a letter considered confidential due to attorney-client privilege, to help build their case against Richins.
"The State will fully respond to the Motion to Disqualify Prosecution after the Court addresses the accompanying Motion to to Withdraw and Appoint New Counsel," Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The contemporaneous written and digital record, in part memorialized in the email exchange attached as Exhibit A to the disqualification motion, will establish that at all times the Summit County Attorney’s Office has acted professionally and ethically. Assertions to the contrary are false and actionable under Utah law."
Lazaro did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
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An obituary for Eric Richins describes him as an "avid outdoorsman and dedicated hunter." He enjoyed helping his family's cattle ranch and growing his "successful" masonry business. The obituary also describes him as a dedicated family man. (Facebook/Kouri Richins)
Prosecutors allege that Kouri, then 33, killed Eric, 39, in an effort to collect millions in life insurance funds and flip a $2 million Wasatch County mansion that was under construction at the time of Eric's death — an investment that his family said he did not approve of.
The night Eric died, authorities say he, Kouri and her mother, Lisa Darden, were celebrating Kouri's recent closure of the mansion in question.
Utah children's book author Kouri Richins had a contentious relationship with her husband wrought with financial disagreements before she allegedly killed him with fentanyl. (TownLift, Will Scadden/Facebook)
Kouri allegedly poured her husband a cocktail laced with fentanyl. A medical examiner determined that Eric had more than five times the lethal amount of the illicit opioid in his system when he died. The examiner also found "16,000 ng/ml of Quetiapine," described as an "atypical antipsychotic medication that is "widely used as a sleep aid," in Eric Richins’ gastric fluid, new charging documents state.
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The next day, Kouri allegedly closed a deal on the mansion "alone" after her husband was pronounced dead.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three, who wrote a children's book about coping with grief after her husband's death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, looks on during a hearing Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Rick Bowmer)
The suspect has also been charged with attempted murder in connection with an earlier Valentine's Day incident when she allegedly tried to poison her husband's sandwich. Eric noticed something was wrong and took his son's Epipen, as well as a Benadryl, and survived, according to court documents.
Kouri has maintained her innocence in her husband's death.
Following her husband's death, she wrote a children's book about grief titled, "Are You With Me?" and made local media appearances promoting the book in which she discussed her husband's death as her inspiration behind the book.
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