The slain husband of Utah grief book author Kouri Richins was “very much in love” with his wife – even though he suspected that she was trying to kill him, the family’s lawyer said.
Attorney Greg Skordas, who is acting as a spokesperson for the Richins family, said Eric Richins was a devoted father and husband before Kouri allegedly poisoned him with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule in March 2022.
The 33-year-old mom of three then wrote a tear-jerker children’s book about grief and coping with the loss of a loved one.
“He was very much in love with his wife, even though it became fairly obvious that she was trying to undermine him professionally and … he at least suspected that she was trying to kill him at one point,” Skordas told The Salt Lake Tribune.
The attorney previously told The Post that the quintessential family man stayed with the accused wife-from-hell to spare their three young boys from growing up in a broken home.
“He lived for those boys. I believe he would have stayed in a less-than-desirable relationship if it meant he could do right by them,” he said.
Skordas has also said Eric “had reason to believe” his wife had been carrying on an affair throughout their 10-year marriage – and also feared for his safety.
He “said at one point, ‘If something happens to me, check out Kouri. I think she’s trying to kill me.’”
The couple got married at their Kamas home on June 15, 2013, but by at least 2016 she was allegedly stealing money from him and borrowing large sums on his credit cards, the news outlet reported, citing a petition in the probate case.
In 2020, he discovered that Kouri had borrowed $250,000 using a fake power of attorney and forging his initials on documents, according to the petition.
When Eric confronted his wife, she reportedly admitted to stealing the funds.
Kouri also allegedly stole at least $80,024 earmarked for Eric’s federal taxes, as well as at least $54,322 for his state taxes — and may have taken more money for a purpose that’s “yet to be discovered,” the petition states, according to the newspaper.
“There was no question that their marriage was on the rocks,” Skordas told The Salt Lake Tribune.
“And we believe that Kouri took some steps to manipulate their marital assets because of that. And we also believe that she took his life because of that,” he said.
The lawyer described Eric as a “very generous man” who donated his time to coach his kids’ soccer, basketball and baseball teams, and volunteered with the Summit County Search & Rescue.
“He just wanted to be very much a part of their lives, which is why he was so active in their extracurricular activities. What he liked to do was be a father. That was his favorite thing,” Skordas said.
Kouri allegedly threw a massive party at her brand new $2 million home on March 4, 2022 — just hours after she allegedly slipped her 39-year-old husband the poison.
She had dreamed of flipping the 22,000-square-foot property — rumored by locals to be a cursed money pit — despite her husband’s objections about the cost of the sprawling home.
Prosecutors believe Kouri poisoned Eric in an attempt to get money from his life insurance policy the same day he told her they would not be buying the mansion and that he was cutting her out of his will.
Authorities allege she had tried to name herself the sole beneficiary on Eric’s policy, but he had changed it back to his sister’s name without telling his wife.
Kouri later put the mansion back on the market, trying to more than double her money by flipping it for nearly $5 million.
She also went on to pen the children’s book, “Are You With Me?” to help her boys deal with the loss of their dad.
The widow is charged with first-degree aggravated murder and multiple counts of second-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, records show.
