A team of lawyers has dropped out of representing a Utah mother accused of killing her husband with fentanyl and then publishing a children’s book about loss and grief.
It was unclear why Kouri Richins’ private lawyers withdrew from the case; they cited only an “irreconcilable and insurmountable situation” in a court order asking to leave. Utah District Court Judge Richard Mrazik in Salt Lake City granted the request after a closed hearing on Monday.
The move could delay the case against Richins, who has been adamant about maintaining his innocence. No new lawyer had come forward to represent her as of Tuesday.
Richins, 33, is accused of killing her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow mule cocktail she mixed for him at their home near Park City in March 2022. Additional charges filed in March accuse Richins of trying to poison him with fentanyl in a sandwich a month earlier.
Prosecutors accuse Richins of making secret financial deals and purchasing the illegal drug as her husband began to harbor suspicions about her.
After her husband’s death, Richins self-published an illustrated storybook about a father with angel wings caring for his son, titled “Are You With Me?” The mother of three repeatedly called her husband’s death unexpected and many praised the book for helping children through the loss of a close relative.
In the year following her arrest, the case of a once-beloved author accused of profiting from her own violent crime captivated true crime enthusiasts.
Richins’ lead attorney, Skye Lazaro, argued that the evidence against her client is shaky and circumstantial. Lazaro and other attorneys for Richins did not return messages Tuesday seeking comment on his withdrawal from the case.
Eric Richins, 39, died amid marital discord over a multimillion-dollar mansion his wife bought as an investment. She also opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, with benefits totaling nearly $2 million, prosecutors allege.
Kouri Richins had a negative bank account balance, owed creditors more than $1.8 million and was being sued by a creditor at the time of her husband’s death, according to court documents.
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