Money, a mansion, and multiple attempted murders lie at the center of the Kuri Richens murder trial that begins today in Summit County, Utah. After years of delays, including multiple requests for a change of venue, the Utah real estate professional and mother of three faces life in prison on multiple criminal charges related to her husband Eric’s death.
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As the trial begins, learn more about the maneuvers, dealings, twists, and ins and outs of this eye-opening investigation.
Who is Cory Richins and why did this case garner national attention?
Cory Richins was the owner of K. Richins Realty LLC in Utah. Eric was a successful mason and owned his own business. In March 2023, she published a children’s book called Are You With Me? This work depicts a father growing angel wings and watching over his son.
When, a little more than a month after the book’s release, she was charged in connection with her husband’s death, the contrast between her public persona and the revelations of years of financial misconduct and multiple attempted murder charges fueled intense media coverage.
What exactly is Cory Richens accused of?
Cory Richens is charged with one count of aggravated murder, one count of attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud, and one count of forgery. Some of the charges relate to an alleged attempt to murder her husband before later succeeding.
Prosecutors said Eric broke out in hives in 2022 after eating food prepared by Khouri. He later told a friend that he believed Kouri had tried to poison him. A few years ago, during a trip to Greece, Eric drank something Kouri gave him and became ill, telling his sister that he believed his wife had tried to kill him.
Kouri maintains his innocence.
What do prosecutors say happened the night her husband died?
Kouri said she made her husband a Moscow Mule cocktail on the night of March 4, 2022, to celebrate the sale of a property she was representing. She then went to sleep in one of the children’s rooms because Eric was having night terrors, but when she returned to the bedroom he was “cold to the touch,” she said.
The coroner found that Eric had five times the lethal dose of “illegal” (non-medical grade) fentanyl in his system, and that the drug was ingested orally.
The state’s key witness was the Lichins’ housekeeper, Carmen Lauber, who told detectives that she sold Kouri dozens of fentanyl pills that she had obtained from a drug dealer named Robert Crozier. Lauber was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.
How will the defense explain her husband’s death?
The defense is expected to argue that Lauber did not give Kouri the fentanyl and that he lied to protect his legal rights. No fentanyl was found in Richins’ home, and the identified dealer, Lauber, said he was in prison at the time he is believed to have sold the fentanyl to Lauber.
In a letter to her mother hidden in a book in her cell, Khouri described her husband’s death as an “accidental overdose.” Prosecutors have characterized the letter as part of an attempt to coax his brother into testifying that Eric bought the drugs himself.
How important is the alleged financial motive?
Financial motives appear to have included keeping Kouri’s real estate business afloat. According to the indictment, in the five months leading up to Eric’s death, the real estate company “realized revenues of $170,000 while monthly debt payments exceeded $250,000.” The company was found to have borrowed from dozens of lenders, and Khouri is suspected of using hard money loans to purchase additional properties in November 2021.
The next month, prosecutors believe Mr. Khoury took a high-interest loan for $2.9 million and put the unfinished mansion under contract. She had planned to close on the property the day her husband died, but postponed the closing until the next day.
“On the day of Eric Richens’ death, K. Richens Realty owed hard money lenders at least $1.8 million, and the day after Eric Richens’ death, it owed nearly $5 million,” the documents say.
Cori had taken out multiple life insurance policies in the years before Eric’s death, totaling nearly $2 million in benefits. At the time of Eric’s death, court documents say he had a negative bank account balance, owed more than $1.8 million to lenders, and was facing a lawsuit.
Without her knowledge, Eric consulted a divorce and estate planning attorney in 2020 to change his will and form a living trust. He placed his property under the control of his sister, Katie Richens-Benson, and transferred partnership interests in his business to a trust. He also made the trust the beneficiary of a $500,000 life insurance policy.
What other charges are still pending?
In late June 2025, multiple charges related to financial crimes were filed against Richins, including multiple counts of mortgage fraud, money laundering, forgery, and issuing bad checks, as well as one count each of wire fraud and “pattern of unlawful activity.”
The fraud charges, which are still pending, allege that Richens unknowingly used a $250,000 home equity line of credit (HELOC) on a home her late husband owned before they married. Richins then allegedly invested the money in a real estate business.
Richins is also accused of stealing more than $100,000 from her husband’s stone business and tens of thousands of dollars from her husband’s credit cards.
Richins’ attorneys, Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis, said in a statement: [after the initial murder charge] This highlights the weakness of the state’s ongoing murder charges, as these fraud charges cannot even be triggered unless there is a conviction. ”
Kouri Richins is also the subject of multiple civil lawsuits. That includes a lawsuit filed by a real estate customer in 2022 alleging severe water damage and toxic mold were not disclosed before the home was purchased. In addition, Eric Richins’ sister sued Khouri, his mother, brother, and real estate agent for financial misconduct.
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