Kouri Richins was sentenced on Wednesday by Judge Richard Mrazik, who ruled that she was “too dangerous to ever be free,” according to US media reports.
Prosecutors said Richins murdered her husband, Eric Richins, in 2022 by serving him a drink containing five times the lethal dose of fentanyl. Authorities said the killing allowed her to inherit approximately $4 million and benefit from an additional $2 million in life insurance policies that she had secretly obtained.
Investigators also alleged that Richins had attempted to poison her husband weeks earlier by lacing his sandwich with the synthetic opioid, leaving him seriously ill.
Following Eric Richins’ death, Kouri Richins authored a children’s book titled Are You With Me?, which she said was intended to help her three sons cope with the loss of their father.
The case attracted widespread attention across the US state of Utah because of the contrast between the book’s subject matter and the murder allegations.
Richins, 36, maintained her innocence throughout the trial. During sentencing, she reportedly addressed her children in court and described herself as “broken” without them and their father.
She also acknowledged marital infidelity, saying both she and her husband had relationships outside their marriage.
Statements from the couple’s children, read in court by therapists, painted a troubled picture of family life. According to reports, one son said he would not feel safe if his mother were released, while another claimed she was “always drunk” and said he did not miss how life used to be.
“I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be,” one child’s statement said, according to court coverage by US media outlets.
