Fentanyl and Drug-Related Homicides

Kouri Richins, the Utah author of a children’s grief book, is on trial in Summit County accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, by allegedly putting nearly five times a lethal dose of fentanyl into his Moscow Mule; opening statements began Monday and the proceedings are expected to run through March 26. Prosecutors say she faced about $4.5 million in debt, secretly took out nearly $2 million in life insurance and stood to inherit more than $4 million in estate, while the defense contends Eric’s Lyme disease and painkiller addiction could explain an overdose; expected witnesses include a housekeeper who says she sold fentanyl to Eric and an alleged affair partner.