PARK CITY, Utah (Court TV) — Testimony in Kouri Richins’ murder trial revealed that while she may have been credited as the author of a children’s book on grief, she didn’t write the text.
Kouri Richins sits in court during her murder trial on March 12, 2026. (Court TV)
Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty to charges that she murdered her husband, Eric Richins, who died from an overdose of fentanyl at their family home in 2022. Prosecutors have accused Kouri Richins of placing the drug in a cocktail her husband was drinking.
On Wednesday, the lead detective in the prosecution’s case, Jeff O’Driscoll, returned to the stand to testify about Kouri Richins’ writing, including notes found in her nightstand and jail cell, as well as her children’s book.
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The book “Are You with Me?” was published months after Eric Richins’ death and was marketed as providing help for children who are coping with the loss of a loved one. The jury saw emails Kouri Richins exchanged with local producers of the show “Good Things Utah,” where she applied to promote the book. Those emails include Kouri Richins’ suggested talking points on grief and children, along with a promo code for viewers who want to buy the book.
But prosecutors introduced text messages Kouri Richins exchanged with her family about the book that made it clear she didn’t write it. In her televised interview, Kouri Richins said she wrote the book as a way to help her young children cope with the loss of their father, but in texts with her brother, DJ, she said that while the book is good for the boys, she also wrote it “to understand the book writing process to get ready for the big one!”
“The kids book wasn’t bad at all assuming everything turns out the way its supposed to cost $2500,” Kouri Richins told her family in a text. “The bigger book (yes we have to change names) I also want to talk to my attorney about other precautions to take to avoid a lawsuit from them for defamation or if changing names is enough. That book will be expensive. Just for the ghostwriter to write the manuscript, 130 pages is $5,000. I’m assuming it will be closer to 250 pages. So 10k for the manuscript. This lady does payment plans so you just pay per month as it’s being worked on. Total time 2-4 months.”
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Kouri RIchins’ handwritten notes were shown to the jury. (Court Exhibit)
In another text, Kouri Richins estimates she will earn $5.35 from each book sold on Amazon.
While Kouri Richins didn’t write the book, she did author a series of notes that detectives found in her home after her arrest. O’Driscoll testified that an orange notebook on her nightstand in the master bedroom contained detailed notes and a timeline about the day of Eric Richins’ death.
“He was cold, very cold so I pulled the blanket up on him, but his body just felt so strange to me, it was heavy is the only word I can think to describe it,” Kouri Richins wrote. “He was pale/yellow, mouth open. An urge came over me that this wasn’t good.”
Portions of a letter written while Kouri Richins was behind bars, known as the “Walk the Dog” letter, were also shown to the jury. While Kouri Richins’ defense has argued the papers were part of a new manuscript the defendant was working on, prosecutors argue it was intended to encourage Richins’ family to give false testimony in her case.
O’Driscoll is expected to be the final witness for the state in Richins’ murder trial.
