Children’s book author, Kouri Richins, faces life in prison if convicted of her husband’s death after he was found deceased in their home from a drug overdose. The 35-year-old author of “Are You With Me?” was charged with aggravated murder, attempted homicide, and several financial crimes in relation to the 2022 death of Eric Richins.
The Former Housekeeper
The grief author murder trial began on February 23, 2026, completing a full week of testimony from multiple experts and fact witnesses called forth by the prosecution. Several lab employees testified to the samples they collected from the crime scene, and their results, as well as multiple Summit County Sheriff’s Office officials. But one of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Carmen Lauber, was the Richins’ family’s former housekeeper.
Lauber concluded day four of testimony and returned the following morning to continue. She admitted to selling Kouri illegal drugs on four separate occasions, but upon cross-examination by the defense, they noted her story was inconsistent.
Lauber testified during the trial that she obtained fentanyl for Kouri, but a statement she provided to federal investigators in May 2023 said otherwise, according to the defense. Lauber’s supplier, Robert Crozier, claimed he was not selling fentanyl in early 2022, except for maybe 1 or 2 occasions, he sold Roxies to the housekeeper.
An undercover narcotics detective testified that Roxies from the street were known to be laced with fentanyl; however, when cross-examined, he conceded that he never encountered prescription-grade Roxies containing fentanyl.
Forensic Evidence and Hearsay
After the prosecution was done with Lauber’s testimony, they continued, but remained focused on the drugs found in Eric’s system. A phone call made by Kouri to the medical examiner was played for the jurors. They heard her ask about a supplemental report with additional testing results after her husband’s autopsy was performed.
After a forensic examination of Kouri’s phone was conducted, investigators found a search history containing death benefit insurance payouts, fentanyl poisoning, and deleted text messages.
Day six of the trial was concluded with testimony from the wife of one of Eric’s business partners. She testified that while the two couples were on vacation in February 2019, Kouri revealed she felt trapped in her marriage. Kouri said divorce was not an option because it would leave her struggling financially, because of a prenup she signed.
Financial Motive
The prosecution has been arguing since the beginning that the motive behind Eric Richin’s alleged murder is money. They allege Kouri murdered her husband in cold blood to gain his fortune and could ride off into the sunset with her affair partner without a care in the world.
Brooke Karrington, a Forensic accountant hired by the prosecution to review Kouri’s finances, testified to her findings from both personal and business aspects. In the months leading up to her husband’s death, records revealed that Kouri was broke. Her realty company was heavily in debt, and her bank accounts were overdrafted. She had been borrowing from banks to pay her reconstruction vendors and property purchases.
From January 2021 through March 2022, Karrington found 236 transactions resulting in insufficient funds, and a total of $5,600 in fees for bounced checks. Kouri owed $7.5 million in debt to her properties, lines of credit, loans, and other miscellaneous charges. She was paying around $80,000 a month to pay off that debt.
It is alleged that Kouri took out a $250,000 Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) in 2019 against her and her husband’s home, which they inhabited with their children. She signed the loan as Eric Richins’ Attorney in Fact, meaning he was blissfully unaware of said transaction. The money had gone towards her home renovation projects, and when Eric died, the line of credit had far exceeded its limit.
