Why Kouri Richins’ Sons Didn’t Testify During Her Murder Trial

In the absence of testimony from Kouri Richins’ sons, a jury found the children’s book author guilty of aggravated murder in the deadly poisoning of their father, Eric Richins.

The kids weren’t silenced, instead, prosecutors opted to share the Richins children’s victim impact statements during their mother’s sentencing hearing on May 13, 2026.

The devastating admissions from their three boys may have potentially swayed Judge Richard Mrazik to impart a sentence of life without parole on Kouri, who was millions of dollars in debt and having an affair when she laced Eric’s Moscow mule with five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in March 2022.

Kouri initially claimed Eric died from a brain aneurysm, and about a year later, she penned a children’s book on grief titled Are You With Me? “to try and understand not only how to grieve as a widow, as a wife, but also with my kids,” she previously said.

In May 2023, she was arrested for aggravated murder and three counts of possession of drugs with intent to distribute.

Prosecutors said she was motivated to kill her 39-year-old husband for money and to start a new life with her paramour.

“There's no way that any human being can listen to those opinions and positions of the children and not be heartbroken,” Peter Tragos, attorney and host of the Lawyer You Know podcast, tells A&E Crime + Investigation. "She has changed that for them forever because of her own selfish desires and greed.”

The Richins boys were 9, 7, and 5 when their dad was killed at the family’s home in Kamas, Utah.

In a statement read by his counselor at the hearing, the eldest son alleged his mom was always drunk and would lock him in his bedroom.

“I'm afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family,” he wrote, advocating for Kouri to be sentenced to life behind bars. “I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us... I miss my dad, but I do not miss how my life used to be, I don't miss Kouri, I will tell you that."

While the middle child accused his mom of taking “everything away,” the youngest said he wants his mother to “go to prison forever,” stating, “If she got out, I would be so scared; really mad, and I wouldn't want to go with her anywhere.”

He also expressed his fear of being separated from his paternal aunt and uncle, who have taken over as the boys’ caregivers.

“Once she is gone, I will feel happy, and I will feel safer and relaxed and trust more people,” he wrote.

“One consideration to avoid putting them on the stand is the trauma that it can inflict on the child,” Tragos explains.

The potential that their individual testimony might have contributed to her conviction could also cause the kids agony in the future.

“They would have to live with that guilt. One day, they may look back and think it was their fault,” he says.

There’s also the risk of cross-examination, “which could have been brutal and twice as traumatic as just taking the stand if you were actually called at trial,” Trager adds.

While the children’s statements were “really sad and heartbreaking to listen to, the legal reality of it is not as heavy because the minimum she was going to go away for was 25 years,” he points out. “By then, the kids would all be adults, and she wouldn’t be able to come and take them, legally.”

Beginning on February 23, 2026, Kouri was tried on one count of aggravated murder, one count of attempted aggravated murder, two counts of insurance fraud and one count of forgery in connection with Eric’s death.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges, however prosecutors successfully argued that Kouri laced her late husband’s cocktail with a deadly amount of fentanyl the night he died.

And it wasn’t the first time she poisoned Eric.

Prosecutors said she tried to kill him twice before—once on Valentine’s Day 2022, and once during a vacation to Greece.

According to the state, Kouri was motivated to kill Eric for “pecuniary gain because she was in financial distress.”

“She also did so because she planned a future with her paramour and divorcing Eric Richins would leave her without any proceeds from his home or business and possibly without custody of their children,” court documents reviewed by A&E Crime + Investigation read.

A forensic accountant testified the mom of three was $7.5 million in debt when she killed Eric.

At the time of his death, Kouri stood to gain more than $2 million in life insurance money, including funds from a policy that she fraudulently took out on her husband shortly before she fatally poisoned him.

The victim’s family told police that Eric was planning to divorce Kouri before he was murdered.

The mom of three’s trial lasted about three weeks, and jurors took just as many hours to convict the defendant of every count against her.

Kouri did not testify in her defense, however she shared a lengthy statement with her kids at sentencing. She hasn’t been able to speak to her children since early 2024 when her husband’s family took custody of the boys.

"I know that right now you may not believe me, that you believe I took Dad from you, and that's OK. I still will always love you,” she read aloud, in part. “I'm asking that you please just don't give up on me. I'm coming home, not today, not this year, but we're going to make this right. Our justice system will get this right, although this courtroom can't seem to.”

Kouri faced a minimum of 25 years in prison, but Mrazik ordered Kouri to life in prison without the possibility of parole because he deemed her “too dangerous to ever be free.”

She was also sentenced to up to life prison for attempted murder, up to 15 years each for the two counts of insurance fraud and up to five years for forgery, to run consecutively.

Kouri’s attorneys said they plan to appeal. “I will appeal and fight the charges, no matter how long it takes,” Kouri said at her sentencing. “Not because I have anything to prove to this court, to state, to the Richins family, or to the world. But I do have something to prove to you three. I do care what you boys think.”