库里·里钦斯犹他州的一名女子被指控用芬太尼毒害她的丈夫，她自己出版了一本关于他死后悲伤的儿童书籍，在长达一周的审判后，她被判犯有谋杀罪。
周一下午晚些时候，萨米特县陪审团开始商议，大约三个小时后做出裁决。她被判五项罪名成立，包括严重谋杀和严重谋杀未遂。
当法官宣读每一项有罪判决时，库里·里钦斯低头不语。她的判决定于5月13日。
在周一早些时候的结案陈词中，检察官指控这位三个孩子的母亲痴迷于表现出“特权、富裕和成功”，并杀害了她的丈夫，以帮助支付她苦苦挣扎的家庭翻转业务的债务，并获得“新的开始”。
与此同时，辩方称此案“草率”且“受偏见驱使”，并辩称州政府未能证明这些指控超出了合理怀疑的范围。
经过漫长的调查，35岁的Kouri Richins被控与2022年丈夫Eric Richins的死亡有关的严重谋杀罪。检察官指控她在他的饮料中掺入了致命剂量的芬太尼，这是她向两个人索要“迈克尔·杰克逊药物”后非法购买的
“Kouri Richins是一个郊区的母亲，房地产经纪人。她不太了解街头毒品世界，但她知道迈克尔·杰克逊死于吸毒，”检察官布拉德·布拉德沃思在周一的结案陈词中说。“她不知道如何订购街头毒品，但她知道她想要迈克尔·杰克逊的东西。她知道她想要它，因为它是致命的。这是致命的。它会杀人。她想要致命的，致命的死亡。”
她的指控还包括严重谋杀未遂，检察官指控她在丈夫死亡前两周的情人节给了他一个掺有芬太尼的三明治，试图杀死他，但没有成功。
Kouri Richins还被指控犯有保险欺诈罪，用他的伪造签名购买了一份10万美元的人寿保险，然后在他被指控谋杀后提交了一份索赔。
她不认罪，并且已经坚持认为她是无辜的.
她的丈夫，39岁的埃里克·里钦斯，于2022年3月4日被发现死在床上。根据指控文件，尸检确定他死于芬太尼中毒，他血液中的芬太尼水平约为致死剂量的五倍。根据指控文件，法医确定芬太尼是“非法芬太尼”，而不是医用级。
检察官声称，Kouri Richins在情人节事件前不久购买了非法的芬太尼药丸，并在他去世前再次购买，当时她据称要求更强的药物。
“向下的金融死亡螺旋”:检察官
在结案陈词中，布拉德沃思表示，由于房地产公司的债务，库里·里钦斯处于“财务绝望”之中，需要大量现金立即流入。他声称，她认为她会从丈夫的死亡中获得经济利益，却没有意识到他的资产是为他们的孩子托管的。
Bloodworth表示，2021年10月是Kouri Richins房地产业务“向下的财务死亡螺旋的开始”，她的债务越来越多，接近800万美元。
他声称Kouri Richins早在2021年12月就打算导致她丈夫的死亡，当时她与男友预订了2022年4月的假期。
Bloodworth说:“Kouri Richins没有想到Eric Richins会在4月份活着，她预订了这次旅行，因为她知道他不会了。”
布拉德沃思提到了证据，他声称这些证据显示她有意导致她丈夫的死亡。一名证人在审判期间作证说，2021年12月，Kouri Richins对她说，如果Eric Richins“死了”，“在许多方面都会更好”2022年2月19日，在涉嫌谋杀未遂的几天后，检察官说Kouri Richins给她的男朋友发短信说，“如果他能走开，你就能在这里!生活会如此完美!!"
Bloodworth说Kouri Richins试图掩盖她在丈夫死亡中的所谓角色，从拨打911开始。
“听听她是如何告诉911调度员埃里克死时她在哪里的。她在疏远自己，”布拉德沃思在电话再次播放给陪审员之前说道。“而不是，‘他没有呼吸了。他没有脉搏了。我必须想出该怎么办。“我需要帮助，”她说，“嘿，听着，我不在那里。我在我儿子的房间里。这是她的不在场证明。她在远离她谋杀埃里克的时间和地点。"
布拉德沃思还说，电话显示，911接线员要求库里·里钦斯在她丈夫身上表演心肺复苏术6分钟，然后她据称这样做了。“她并没有马上试图让他苏醒过来，”他说。
Bloodworth说Kouri Richins删除了她和许多人的短信和电话记录，包括她的前清洁工Carmen Lauber证明埃里克·里奇斯死前几周应库里·里奇斯的要求获取非法药物。他认为，Kouri Richins担心被调查，担心她在丈夫去世后删除信息，她手机上的搜索结果证明了这一点，如“警察能强迫你做测谎仪测试吗”和“能从iPhone中检索到删除的短信吗。”
当毒理学报告显示Eric Richins死于芬太尼过量时，Bloodworth认为Kouri Richins需要“解释”药物的存在-据称她计划这样做，声称她是应丈夫的要求为他买的。
Bloodworth认为Eric Richins并非死于意外用药过量，引用了他的朋友和家人的证词，他们说他没有使用非法药物。他还争辩说，他不是自杀而死的，他“完全有理由活下去”——最重要的是他的三个年幼的儿子。
“证据证明，库里·里钦斯谋杀、企图谋杀埃里克·里钦斯，她犯有两项保险欺诈和伪造罪，”他说。"证据不支持任何其他解释。"
辩方认为此案存在“确认偏差”
辩护律师温迪·刘易斯在结案陈词中辩称，该案从一开始就受到确认偏见的影响。
刘易斯说:“政府没有查看证据来确定发生了什么，而是确定了发生了什么，然后他们找到了支持证据。”。
刘易斯认为，没有“证据”表明埃里克·里奇斯死亡当晚的饮料中有芬太尼，调查人员没有调查他最近的墨西哥之行，辩方暗示这可能是芬太尼的来源，或者测试他床头柜上的一个旧药瓶。
刘易斯对劳伯的证词提出了质疑，劳伯是根据几项豁免权作证的。
“卡门·劳伯无法告诉你她买了芬太尼。她同意是侦探首先把芬太尼这个词放进她的嘴里，放进她的脑子里。在这种情况下，侦探告诉她，她买了芬太尼。埃里克死于芬太尼。你买了毒品。你买了芬太尼，”刘易斯说。"她接受了那篇报道，并对此进行了报道，因为她可能会失去一切。"
关于这件事，刘易斯说库里·李金斯和她的男朋友分手了，他们再也没有去旅行。在电话搜索中，刘易斯辩称，库里·里钦斯担心是因为她是无辜的。
“她当然担心。一个无辜的人会担心。任何人都会担心，如果他们刚刚发现自己是谋杀案调查的嫌疑人，”刘易斯说。“她会被吓死的。”
刘易斯谈到了库里·里钦的资金问题，承认倒卖房子的生意“举步维艰”，但他认为埃里克·里钦斯“对活着的库里来说更有价值。”
她声称，Kouri Richins因其悲伤而受到审判。
“他们想让你看着一个处于人生最糟糕时刻的女人，判断她的悲伤，”刘易斯说。“悲伤没有错的方式。”
刘易斯告诉陪审团，如果他们认为库里·里钦斯“意外获得了芬太尼”，并且埃里克·里钦斯自愿服用这些药丸并死亡，她认为这“不是严重谋杀”，他们“必须认定库里·里钦斯无罪。”
关于所谓的保险计划，刘易斯认为，国家没有证明超越合理怀疑，有任何欺诈或伪造。
“国家还没有证明他们的情况，”刘易斯说。“他们没有证据证明Kouri Richins杀害了她的丈夫，所以相反，他们试图向你展示尽可能多的证据，让你相信她是那种会这么做的人。”
在进行结案陈词之前，辩方提交了一份无效审判的动议，声称该州的结案陈词充满了“疯狂的猜测”，对Kouri Richins进行了非人化的描述，并对她的行为进行了不当的评论。该动议被驳回。
在他的反驳中，布拉德沃思承认该案件中的大部分证据都是间接的。
“人们不会拍摄自己毒死配偶的视频，”他说。"但是间接证据和直接证据一样好."
布拉德沃思认为，根据劳伯得到证实的证词，“有足够的证据证明”库里·里钦斯有罪。他还认为，辩方的大部分论点是基于试图解释在Kouri Richins的牢房中发现的一封信，检察官说这封信似乎概述了她哥哥的证词，指示他说她的丈夫从墨西哥获得芬太尼。
“本案的所有证据都证明，库里·里钦斯谋杀了她的丈夫，她三个孩子的父亲埃里克·里钦斯，”他说。“没有其他合理的解释。”
“尽管有所有的证据，Kouri Richins加倍指责埃里克，”他继续说。
在为期三周的审判中，库里·里钦斯没有出庭作证，辩方也没有传唤任何证人。
在他的证词中，该案件的首席侦探说，Kouri Richins为她的儿童书籍支付了一名代笔人。
在2023年5月被捕前一个月，这位三个年幼儿子的母亲出现在盐湖城ABC子公司KTVX的“好事犹他州”栏目中，以推广这本书。在这一部分中，Kouri Richins说，她结婚九年的丈夫“意外”去世，他的去世“完全让我们震惊”。
Jury finds Utah mom Kouri Richins guilty of fatally poisoning husband with fentanyl
Kouri Richins, a Utah woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl, who self-published a children's book on grieving following his death, has been found guilty of murder following a weekslong trial.
The Summit County jury began deliberating late Monday afternoon before reaching a verdict after about three hours. She was found guilty on all five counts, including aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder.
Kouri Richins looked down and remained still while the judge read out each guilty verdict. Her sentencing has been scheduled for May 13.
During closing arguments earlier Monday, prosecutors alleged that the mom of three was obsessed with appearing "privileged, affluent and successful" and killed her husband to help pay the debts of her floundering home flipping business and to get a "fresh start."
The defense, meanwhile, said the case was "sloppy" and "driven by bias" and argued that the state failed to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
Kouri Richins, 35, was charged with aggravated murder in connection with the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, following a lengthy investigation. Prosecutors allege she spiked his drink with a lethal dose of fentanyl that she purchased illicitly after asking two people for the "Michael Jackson drug."
"Kouri Richins was a suburban mother, real estate agent. She does not know a lot about the illicit street drug world, but she knows Michael Jackson died from taking drugs," prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said during closing arguments on Monday. "She doesn't know how to order a street drug, but she knows she wants the Michael Jackson stuff. She knows she wants it because it is lethal. It is fatal. It kills. And she wanted lethal, fatal death."
Her charges also include attempted aggravated murder, with prosecutors alleging she gave her husband a sandwich laced with fentanyl on Valentine's Day two weeks before his death in an initial, failed attempt to kill him.
Kouri Richins was also accused of committing insurance fraud by taking out a $100,000 insurance policy on his life with his forged signature and then submitting a claim following his alleged murder.
She pleaded not guilty and hasmaintained her innocence.
Her husband, 39-year-old Eric Richins, was found dead in bed on March 4, 2022. An autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication, and the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document. The medical examiner determined the fentanyl was "illicit fentanyl," not medical grade, according to the charging document.
Prosecutors allege that Kouri Richins purchased illicit fentanyl pills shortly before the Valentine's Day incident and again before his death, at which point she allegedly asked for stronger drugs.
'Downward financial death spiral': Prosecutor
During his closing argument, Bloodworth said Kouri Richins was in "financial desperation" due to her realty company's debts and needed a significant influx of cash immediately. He alleged she believed she would have financially benefited from her husband's death -- without realizing that his assets were in a trust for their children.
Bloodworth said October 2021 was the "beginning of the downward financial death spiral" of Kouri Richins' realty business, and that she had a growing debt picture nearing $8 million.
He alleged Kouri Richins intended to cause her husband's death as early as December 2021, when she was booked a vacation with her boyfriend for April 2022.
"Kouri Richins did not book that trip thinking Eric Richins would be alive in April, she booked it knowing he would not," Bloodworth said.
Bloodworth referred to evidence that he alleged showed she intended to cause her husband's death. A witness testified during the trial that in December 2021 Kouri Richins said to her that "in many ways it would be better" if Eric Richins "were dead." In February 19, 2022, days after the alleged attempted murder attempt, prosecutors said Kouri Richins texted her boyfriend, "If he could just go away and you could just be here! Life would be so perfect!!"
Bloodworth said Kouri Richins tried to cover up her alleged role in her husband's death, starting with the 911 call.
"Listen to how she tells the 911 dispatcher where she was when Eric died. She is distancing herself," Bloodworth said before the call was played again for jurors. "Rather than, 'He's not breathing. He has no pulse. I have to figure out what to do. I need help,' she's saying, 'Hey, look, I was not there. I was in my son's room.' That's her alibi. She's distancing herself from the time and the place that she murdered Eric."
Bloodworth also said the call shows that the 911 operator asked Kouri Richins to perform CPR on her husband for 6 minutes before she purportedly did. "She is not immediately trying to revive him," he said.
Bloodworth said Kouri Richins deleted her texts and phone logs with multiple people, including her former housecleaner, Carmen Lauber, whotestifiedabout obtaining illicit drugs at Kouri Richins' request in the weeks prior to Eric Richins' death. He argued that Kouri Richins was worried about being investigated and her deleted messages in the wake of her husband's death, as evidenced by searches on her phone such as, "can cops force you to do a lie detector test" and "can deleted text messages be retrieved from an iPhone."
When the toxicology report showed that Eric Richins died from a fentanyl overdose, Bloodworth argued that Kouri Richins then needed to "explain" the presence of the drug -- and that she allegedly planned to do so by claiming she got them for her husband at his request.
Bloodworth argued that Eric Richins did not die of an accidental overdose, citing testimony from his friends and family who said he did not use illicit drugs. He also argued that he did not die by suicide and had "every reason to live" -- foremost being his three young sons.
"The evidence proves that Kouri Richins murdered, attempted to murder Eric Richins and that she committed two counts of insurance fraud and forgery,"he said. "The evidence does not support any other explanation."
Defense argues case had 'confirmation bias'
Defense attorney Wendy Lewis argued during her closing that the case was impacted by confirmation bias from the start.
"Instead of looking at the evidence to determine what happened, the state has, they determined what happened, and then they found the evidence to support it," Lewis said.
Lewis argued that there was "no evidence" that there was fentanyl in Eric Richins' drink the night he died and that investigators failed to look into his recent trip to Mexico, which the defense had insinuated could have been the source of the fentanyl, or to test an old prescription bottle that was on his nightstand.
Lewis raised questions about the testimony of Lauber, who testified pursuant to several grants of immunity.
"Carmen Lauber was not able to tell you that she bought fentanyl. She agreed on the stand that it was the detectives that first put the word fentanyl in her mouth, in her head. She was told by detectives in this case that she bought fentanyl. 'Eric died of fentanyl. You bought drugs. You bought fentanyl,'" Lewis said. "She took that story and she ran with it because she had everything to lose."
On the affair, Lewis said Kouri Richins broke things off with her boyfriend and they never went on the trip. On the phone searches, Lewis argued that Kouri Richins was worried because she was innocent.
"Of course she's worried. An innocent person would be worried. Anyone would be worried if they just found out that they are a suspect in a homicide investigation," Lewis said. "She would have been scared to death."
Lewis touched on Kouri Richin's money troubles, acknowledging that the house flipping business was "struggling," but argued that Eric Richins was "worth so much more to Kouri alive."
She claimed that Kouri Richins was being judged for how she grieved.
"They want you to look at a woman in the worst moment of her life and to judge her grief," Lewis said. "There is no wrong way to grieve."
Lewis told the jury that if they believe Kouri Richins "accidentally obtained fentanyl," and that Eric Richins then took those pills voluntarily and died, she argued that it is "not aggravated murder" and that they "must find Kouri Richins not guilty."
On the alleged insurance scheme, Lewis argued that the state has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that there was any fraud or forgery.
"The state has not proven their case," Lewis said. "They don't have the evidence that Kouri Richins killed her husband, so instead, they have tried to show you as much evidence as they possibly can to convince you she's the sort of person who would."
Prior to delivering its closing argument, the defense submitted a motion for mistrial, alleging that the state's closing was full of "wild speculation," dehumanized Kouri Richins and inappropriately commented on her demeanor. The motion was denied.
In his rebuttal, Bloodworth acknowledged that much of the evidence in the case is circumstantial.
"People do not video themselves poisoning their spouse," he said. "But circumstantial evidence is just as good as direct evidence."
Bloodworth argued that there was "plenty of proof to convict" Kouri Richins based on Lauber's corroborated testimony. He also argued that much of the defense's argument is based around trying to explain a letter found in Kouri Richins' jail cell that prosecutors said appears to outline testimony for her brother instructing him to say that her husband got fentanyl from Mexico.
"All the evidence in this case proves that Kouri Richins murdered her husband, the father of her three children, Eric Richins," he said. "There is no other rational explanation."
"And despite all the evidence, Kouri Richins doubles down and blames Eric," he continued.
Kouri Richins did not testify during the three-week trial and the defense called no witnesses.
During his testimony, the lead detective in the case said that Kouri Richins paid a ghostwriter for her children's book.
A month prior to her arrest in May 2023, the mom of three young sons appeared on a "Good Things Utah" segment on Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX to promote the book. In the segment, Kouri Richins said her husband of nine years died "unexpectedly" and that his death "completely took us all by shock.
