Sons claim they are scared of mother after Kouri Richins, widow who wrote book on grief, sentenced to life for murder

A jury also found her guilty of four other crimes, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder, for trying to poison her husband with a fentanyl sandwich weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day.

A Utah judge sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and two of her children made statements through social workers claiming to be afraid of her.

Her sons, two of whom are 11 and 13 years old, said they would feel unsafe if their mother were ever released from prison. The children said Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of starving children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked food.

“You took my father away for no reason other than greed, and all you cared about was yourself and your stupid friends,” said the middle son, now 11. He described having to be “a parent” to his younger brother because his mother wasn’t watching over them. Richins made the boy paranoid about sitting on his father’s side of the bed, telling him he could die too, he claimed.

The eldest son, now 13, said he also felt like he had to care for his siblings, noting that his mother often locked him in his room while she drank.

Richins stood at the podium in a lime green prison uniform as she asked her sons, who were not present in the courtroom, “Please don’t give me up.” She encouraged them to always “be like your father.”

Richins’ case is infamous because of the book she wrote about grief after the death of her husband.

Called Are you with me?follows the story of a child who has lost his father but is reminded that his presence still exists all around them, according to a description on Goodreads.

During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and making millions in a divorce. Prosecutors also showed Internet search history from Richins’ phone, including questions about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how poisoning is listed on a death certificate.

Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-year-old real estate agent with a home-exchange business, was millions in debt and was planning a future with another man. She had taken out numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge and mistakenly believed that she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after his death.

The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors responded by showing police body camera footage from the night of his death, in which Kouri Richins tells an officer that her husband had no history of illegal drug use.

Prosecutors have not sought the death penalty.

Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simply too dangerous to ever be free” as he handed down the sentence on the day her husband would have turned 44.

Her lawyers said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins adamantly maintained her innocence and said the verdict was “an absolute lie.”

Reported by Associated Press.

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