ANALYSIS: The prosecutor didn’t just talk about Eric Richins’ de@th, but told a longer story about relationships, money, and another man in Kouri Richins’ life — and that story ultimately convinced the 12 jurors
Kouri Richins poisoned husband for his millions because she’s an ‘incompetent’ businesswoman, prosecutors say: ‘Eric had to die’
Kouri Richins, the Utah mom who killed her husband and then penned a children’s book about their kids’ grief, offed her hubby because she was an egotistical social climber who wanted to get out of debt, prosecutors said in blistering closing arguments Monday.
“There was a way forward’’ for the conniving wannabe socialite, prosecutor Brad Bloodworth told jurors.
“Eric had to die.”
Kouri Richins fatally poisoned husband Eric because she needed money to boost her image and to run away with her illicit lover, prosecutors said.Kouri Richins/Facebook
Richins appears at ease in court during closing arguments Monday.APBut Richins’ lawyers countered in their own closings that the “sloppy’’ police investigation into their client was riddled with bias, speculation and conjecture.
The defense said prosecutors were asking jurors to convict the 35-year-old mom of three simply because she was “not grieving properly.”
Bloodworth kicked off the dueling summations by calling Richins “intensely ambitious” but also “unhappy” in her marriage to Eric Richins, with whom she shared three young sons,
Her home-flipping business was $4.5 million in debt because she was so “incompetent,’’ and she wanted to bail herself out with Eric’s $4 million estate and run away with her handyman lover, Bloodworth said.
Kouri, who lived with her husband and kids in Kamas, a suburb of wealthy ski town Park City, is accused of slipping fentanyl into Eric’s Moscow Mule cocktail March 4, 2022, killing him.
Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth presents closing arguments Monday.AP
She wrote a kids book titled, “Are You With Me?” a year later supposedly to help their sons process their loss and promoted it on TV and radio.
“She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money,” Bloodworth told jurors.
“Their prenup meant if she left him, she would also leave most of his money.”
Lisa Darden, Kouri’s mother, listens in court Monday.AP
The prosecutor explained that Kouri felt “aggrieved” because of her troubled upbringing — with her drunken dad landing in jail and her hard-gambling mom spending her time in casinos.
Richens also felt insecure about her social standing because of her former time as a housecleaner for rich people.
So she “carefully curated the facade of a privileged, affluent, successful business owner,” Bloodworth argued.
But “behind the facade, Kouri Richins was incompetent,” the prosecutor alleged. “She took tremendous risks.
Kouri couldn’t stand that she was a failed businesswoman, the prosecutor said.AP
“She borrowed money by any means necessary at exorbitant rates. She gambled other people’s money and lost. Her business was imploding.
“She was a risk taker,” Bloodworth said — and she gambled on killing her husband to dig herself out of her hole.
But defense lawyer Wendy Lewis argued that the case had reasonable doubt written all over, it in part due to a shoddy investigation where authorities failed to look for any evidence “that might show her innocence.”
“The investigation in this matter was nothing but sloppy,” Lewis said. “It was driven by bias. Speculation, conjecture — not proof.
“Every fact that the state has put forward … has another reasonable explanation,” the lawyer said.
The jury began deliberating around 3 p.m. Monday.
Kouri has been on trial for the past three weeks on charges of aggravated murder and related crimes for which she faces up to 25 years behind bars.
She’s pleaded not guilty.
