PARK CITY, Utah (Court TV) — In a motion demanding financial documentation involving her late husband’s trust, Kouri Richins accuses her sister-in-law of paying witnesses in her criminal trial.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, looks on during a hearing Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Kouri is charged with murdering her husband, Eric Richins, with a fatal dose of fentanyl in a Moscow mule in 2022. Prosecutors have accused Kouri of plotting the murder to cash in on Eric’s life insurance and trust accounts.
A new motion filed by Kouri’s defense accuses Eric’s sister, Katie Richins-Benson, of failing to comply with a subpoena requesting financial records for The Eric Richins Living Trust, which Katie controls. Katie’s attorneys provided Kouri’s defense with some of the requested documentation but withheld much of it, claiming that Kouri has no right to the information.
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But Kouri’s attorney said they need to see the full activities of the trust, including deposits, income and all payments made to any person or entity. Specifically, they want to see “copies of checks drawn out of your personal or business checking accounts made payable to any individuals connected in any way to the investigation and/or prosecution of Kouri Darden Richins.”
In a written response to the subpoena objecting to sharing the documents, Katie’s attorney conceded that payments were made to two people, identified as Brooke Karrington and Matthew Throckmorton, but identified them as former and current experts and said their correspondence with his client was shielded by privilege.
Richins is scheduled to stand trial for murder in February 2026.
