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Utah Children’s Book Author Kouri Richins Gets Life Without Parole for Husband’s Murder

The judge said she is too dangerous to release and imposed the harshest sentence allowed.

Overview

  • Kouri Richins, who was sentenced Wednesday, will spend life in prison without parole after a March jury conviction for killing her husband with fentanyl.
  • Judge Richard Mrazik called her “too dangerous to ever be free,” and the punishment came on what would have been Eric Richins’ 44th birthday.
  • Prosecutors said she slipped about five times a lethal fentanyl dose into his cocktail and had tried weeks earlier to poison him with a fentanyl‑laced sandwich.
  • Investigators cited her phone searches on lethal doses and luxury prisons, messages with a romantic partner, and testimony from a housekeeper who said she sold her fentanyl under an immunity deal.
  • The couple’s three sons told the court they fear her release and now live with their father’s family, while her lawyers plan an appeal and a separate financial‑crimes case and a July restitution hearing remain ahead.