A team of lawyers has withdrawn from representing a Utah mother accused of killing her husband with fentanyl and then publishing a children’s book about loss and grief.
It is unclear why Kouri Richins’ private lawyers withdrew from the case; they cited only an “irreconcilable and irrevocable situation” in a court filing requesting their departure. Judge Richard Mrazik of Utah District Court in Salt Lake City granted the request after a closed hearing Monday.
The move could slow down the trial against Richins, who has insisted on 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 fatal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow mule cocktail she made for him at their home near Park City in March 2022. Additional charges filed in March accuse Richins of attempted poisoning. him with fentanyl in a sandwich a month earlier.
Prosecutors accuse Richins of making secret financial arrangements and buying illegal drugs after her husband became suspicious of her.
After her husband’s death, Richins self-published an illustrated storybook about an angel-winged father watching over his young son, titled “Are You With Me?” » The mother of three has repeatedly called her husband’s death unexpected and many have praised the book for helping children cope with the loss of a close relative.
In the year since her arrest, the case of a once-beloved author accused of profiting from her own violent crime has captivated true crime fans.
Richins’ lead attorney, Skye Lazaro, had argued that the evidence against her client was questionable and circumstantial. Lazaro and Richins’ other attorneys did not respond Tuesday to messages seeking comment on their withdrawal from the case.
Eric Richins, 39, died amid marital discord over a multimillion-dollar mansion his wife had purchased as an investment. She also took out numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, with benefits totaling nearly $2 million, prosecutors say.
Kouri Richins had a negative bank account balance, owed more than $1.8 million to lenders and was being sued by a creditor at the time of her husband’s death, according to court documents.
ABC News
