Kouri Richins, the Utah widow accused of killing her husband with a fentanyl overdose and then writing a children’s book about grief, is accused of witness tampering, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
Richins faces murder and drug charges for allegedly poisoning Eric Richins with an overdose of fentanyl given to him in a drink the night he died. She has not yet entered a plea in the case and remains in custody, CNN previously reported.
On September 14, authorities searched her jail cell and discovered a six-page handwritten letter to her mother, Lisa Darden, with instructions for her brother to “testify falsely,” according to a motion for no contact order filed in a Utah court.
Kouri Richins is specifically accused of concocting a false narrative by requesting that her brother, Ronald Darden, tell defense counsel a specific story in an attempt to link her husband's death to his alleged purchase of drugs.
Prosecutors contend the letter amounts to witness tampering and have asked a judge to prevent Kouri Richins, who is accused of killing her husband Eric, from further contacting her mother and brother. Kouri Richins’ defense team says the letter is being misconstrued.
“On a good day, this is coaching of a witness, which is highly inappropriate, but really it’s witness tampering,” Greg Skordas, the attorney representing the family of Eric Richins, said Monday on “CUOMO.”
Kouri Richins, a children’s book author, is accused of poisoning her husband before writing a children’s book about grief. The court previously issued a gag order in the case, at the request of prosecutors, who said it was necessary to avoid tainting the jury pool and to guarantee a free trial.
Kouri’s defense team alleges the release of the letter, which the prosecution included in a court filing, is in violation of the gag order and have asked a judge to sanction the state.
Richins wrote a tear-jerker book about grief, “Are You With Me?,” a year after she allegedly killed Eric with the drink that includes vodka and ginger beer — and, in this case, fentanyl.
Her husband had suspected she was carrying on an extramarital affair, family attorney Greg Skordas has said.
Eric had previously told a friend he believed his wife was trying to poison him after he became sick following a Valentine’s Day dinner the month before his death.
The legal title to the home — which the couple bought for $400,000 in 2012 — was in Eric’s name, but mortgage payments were made from their joint account, according to ther lawsuit.
Summit County prosecutors recently said in a recent filing that they won’t seek the death penalty in the case. They said they reached the decision in “careful consultation” with Eric’s sisters and father.
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