US grief book author Kouri Richins’ husband suspected she was having an affair
A husband allegedly killed by his wife who poisoined his drink “had reason to believe” she’d been having an affair for years.
The man allegedly killed by his wife, US grief book author Kouri Richins, “had reason to believe” she had an affair throughout their marriage, according to a family representative.
Eric Richins, 39, suspected that Kouri Richins, 33, was carrying on an extramarital relationship before she allegedly poisoned him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule in March 2022, family lawyer Greg Skordas told Fox News Digital.
“He’d had concerns previously, and he also had reason to believe she was having a relationship and that was continuing through their marriage … apparently in person,” Mr Skordas said.
Mr Richins also feared for his own safety, telling “some members of the family that he thought she was trying to hurt him,” Mr Skordas said.
“And said at one point, ‘If something happens to me, check out Kouri. I think she’s trying to kill me,’” Mr Skordas told the outlet.
The lawyer told The New York Post on Thursday that despite his alarming suspicions, Mr Richins stayed with his wife to spare their three young sons from growing up in a broken home.
“He lived for those boys,” he said.
“I believe he would have stayed in a less than desirable relationship if it meant he could do right by them.”
Mr Richins had previously told a friend he believed his wife was trying to poison him after he became ill following a Valentine’s Day dinner at home, according to court documents in the battle between the couple’s family for his $US3.6 ($A5.4m) million estate.
The slain man’s sister also told the court he became violently ill after Ms Richins gave him a drink during a trip to Greece several years ago — telling her he thought “his wife had tried to kill him”.
Meanwhile, Ms Skordas also sought to dispel public speculation that Mr Richins suffered from a drug problem and overdosed by himself.
“The government has alleged that the individual who sold the defendant the fentanyl, which ultimately caused her husband’s death has given them a statement and has admitted that she sold fentanyl pills to the defendant — that, in fact, she sold different types of opioids at different times,” he told broadcaster ABC4.
Mr Skordas told Fox 13 Now: “Everyone knew that he didn’t do opioids, he didn’t do drugs, he didn’t abuse controlled substances at all”.
Shortly before his death, Ms Richins allegedly tried to name herself beneficiary of his life insurance policy, but Mr Richins reportedly changed it back to his sister’s name without telling his wife.
He later warned his family that “if anything happened to him she was to blame,” according to court records.
The husband died on March 4, 2022, just a day before Ms Richins closed on a $US2m ($A3.7m) deal to buy a 2000 sqm — a deal for which he had refused to pay, according to documents obtained by radio station KPCW.
Two weeks later, she put the property back on the market, trying to more than double her money by flipping it for nearly $US5m ($A7.5m)
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Ms Richins later went on to pen a tear-jerker children’s book about coping with grief.
She faces charges of first-degree aggravated murder and multiple counts of second-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. She is due back in court on May 19.
This story appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.
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