How a Utah Grief Book Author Ended up Charged With Husband's Murder

How did authorities connect Kouri Richins to fentanyl?

An acquaintance of Kouri’s identified as “C.L.” told detectives a week before she was arrested that she had asked sometime between December 2021 and February 2022 if C.L. could get her some painkillers for an investor with a back injury, according to the charging warrant reviewed by E! News.

About two weeks after dropping off hydrocodone at a house in Midway, Utah, that Kouri was flipping, C.L. said that Kouri asked specifically for fentanyl, saying the investor wanted something stronger.

C.L., who police noted in the warrant has a history of drug offenses, contacted a dealer in Ogden, Utah, on Feb. 11, 2022, and “procured 15-30 fentanyl pills from that dealer.” Kouri picked the fentanyl up at C.L.’s house and paid $900 cash, C.L. told detectives, according to the warrant.

Three days later, Eric became “very ill” after eating Valentine’s Day dinner and “told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him,” the charging warrant alleged. About two weeks later, according to C.L., Kouri asked for another $900 worth of fentanyl. C.L. said the pills were procured from the Ogden dealer on Feb. 26 and dropped off at the Midway property.