One of Kouri Richins’ sons still wears his dad’s clothes to school. Another knows his father won’t ever be at another of his birthdays or teach him how to drive. The third has spent more than half his life without his dad.
In a Monday court filing, prosecutors said Richins has earned life in prison without parole for murdering her husband, Eric Richins, and that her children deserve to see her serve it.
“My dad was a good person and very thoughtful and kind and helped whoever needed help,” one boy said in the filing. “I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family. I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us. … I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be. I don’t miss Kouri, I will tell you that.”
Richins will find out her fate Wednesday — what would have been her husband’s 44th birthday — when 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik decides her sentence. She faces 25 years to life, or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After a 13-day trial in March, a jury found her guilty of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of insurance fraud and one count of forgery. Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose in March 2022.
“She murdered Eric in the presence of their children, using poison, and for money,” prosecutors wrote in the filing. “Such a person should never again lurk among the rest of us. Her children should never worry that they may one day encounter her.”
‘Once she is gone I will feel happy’
Prosecutors detailed the toll Richins’ boys faced in the aftermath of their father’s murder. All of her sons were under 10 when she killed Eric. They now are being raised by their aunt, Katie Richins-Benson, and her husband.
There are no greater victims than the children, who lost not only their father, but also their mother, prosecutors argued.
“I don’t want [her] out of jail because I will not feel safe if [she is] out,” one of the boys told prosecutors. “With [her] in jail, I will be able to continue to feel safe and live a happy and successful life without fear of [her] hurting me or anyone I love.”
The boy also told prosecutors his dad can’t coach him in sports anymore and can’t attend any of his games, birthdays or his eventual graduation.
One of the other boys was so young at the time of the murder, he has “limited” memories of his parents.
“When someone talks about Kouri it makes me feel hateful and ashamed. She took away my dad,” the boy told prosecutors. “[I]f she got out I would be so scared. … I’m worried that she would take me away. … Once she is gone I will feel happy and I will feel safer and relaxed and trust people more.”
Richins maintains life insurance policies on her children, prosecutors said, and if Mrazik sentences her to 25 years in prison — the minimum sentence — her sons will be in their 30s and may have their own families when she is released.
In addition to a sentence of life without parole, prosecutors argued that the court should place a continuous protective order in favor of Eric’s family members, according to the filing. That way, Richins would be prohibited from contacting Eric’s family unless they initiate contact — and Richins would not be able to benefit from her children’s life insurance policies.
“The boys deserve finality and should not have to revisit their father’s murder at future hearings or worry about the defendant’s potential parole,” prosecutors wrote in the filing. “Given the tremendous trauma and upheaval that the defendant inflicted upon their childhood, this court should ensure that she does not harm their adulthood. Not only should the defendant serve her life in prison, but she should serve her boys’ lives in prison.”
‘Rehabilitation is beneath her’
Prosecutors argued that Richins’ urge to prioritize a “facade of success over everything” was well-known throughout the trial, from her fraudulent borrowing to her publishing of a children’s book about grief “for money and attention after her husband’s death.”
Richins, prosecutors argue, has “well established that rehabilitation is beneath her.”
Immediately after the verdict, Richins blamed a “corrupt” judge and unfair jurors on her conviction, according to a text she sent that prosecutors cited in the Monday filing.
“I WILL expose this county, the prosecution, the judge, the Richins, the investigation. All of it,” Richins said in the text. “So they can lock me away for now that’s fine, it’s going to come back on them. It will come to an end. Not this year or next, but I’m not going away, I won’t be silent. I am going to expose them all for what they have done to me, my kids, my family. This injustice. They picked the wrong one. They think sentencing is ‘the end,’ ‘closure,’ it’s just the beginning... They haven’t seen anything yet.”
She ended the message with an emoji of a winking face, prosecutors said.
While detained, prosecutors allege, Richins continued to come after her husband’s family and others involved in the case.
She and her family released what they believed to be damaging information about Eric to the media, attorneys said. She accused her husband during the trial of two affairs, prosecutors continued, and the Richins’ children have become familiar with the “inescapable” media coverage of the case.
She also urged her family to harass her in-laws, prosecutors say.
Further, prosecutors said, Richins targeted investigators pursuing the case against her, such as causing her family to file “unfounded bar complaints” against Summit County attorneys.
“The defendant’s character is evident, despite her well-crafted facade,” prosecutors said. “Eric surviving Valentine’s Day, three years of pre-trial detention, and a resounding guilty verdict has only amplified the worst of her character; it did not remedy it. She has expressed no remorse and has indeed publicized the opposite.”
On top of a life sentence, prosecutors say Richins should be forced to pay restitution of nearly $1.4 million, based on the money she received from Eric’s life insurance policies.
Jordan is a breaking news reporter at The Tribune. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma and has written for the Houston Chronicle along with the Enid News & Eagle. When she's not reporting, she loves watching football, reading books and painting.