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In her first comments since her arrest for murder, Kouri Richins she's "anxious" to get to trial, slamming authorities for taking "an innocent mom away from her babies."
Kouri Richins, the Utah mom accused of killing her husband with a poisoned Moscow Mule before writing a children's book about grief, is addressing the public for the first time since her arrest.
In May 2023, Richins was arrested and charged with aggravated murder and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, more than a year after her husband Eric was found dead in his bed at the age of 39. She was later hit with more charges, including mortgage fraud, insurance fraud and forgery.
She has yet to formally enter a plea but maintained her innocence in new statements to Dateline this week.
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Grief Author's Texts with 'Paramour' Before & After Husband's 'Murder' Revealed by Prosecutors
View Story"I've been silent for a year, locked away from my kids, my family, my life, living with the media telling the world who they think I am, what they think I’ve done or how they think I’ve lived," she told the outlet. "And it's time to start speaking up."
"You took an innocent mom away from her babies. This means war," the mother-of-three continued.
After her legal team withdrew from her case this month, Richins said that while she's "extremely disappointed where we’re at right now with this case," she's also "anxious to prove my innocence. I'm anxious to get to trial."
Richins claimed her team was "forced" to withdraw from her case, while her former lead attorney Skye Lazaro said an "irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation" was behind the decision.
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Grief Author Tried Poisoning Husband with Valentine's Day Sandwich Before Murder: Prosecutors
View Story"It was not a personal choice of any counsel on my defense team," claimed the author. The move came after the defense team accused prosecutors of listening to jail phone calls recorded without their consent, after someone on the defense team didn't use a phone app shielding attorney-client calls.
In a filing laying out their case against Richins, prosecutors accuse her of killing her husband with fentanyl because she wanted to be with her lover, as well as for financial gain.
They claim she was more than $3.1 million in debt at the time of his death -- saying "her bank accounts were exhausted, and she was spiraling toward total financial collapse." Prosecutors also say that, on the day he died, Eric's estate was worth an estimated $5 million -- and believe Kouri thought she would benefit from his death.
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