Utah Murder Suspect Kouri Richins Faces 26 New Felony Counts

Utah real-estate agent Kouri Darden Richins, already charged with aggravated murder for allegedly fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl in March 2022, was hit with 26 additional felony counts in Summit County’s 3rd District Court on Friday. The new case includes five counts of mortgage fraud, seven of money laundering, five of forgery, seven of issuing a bad check, and single counts of communications fraud and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity. Prosecutors say Richins, 34, obtained a $250,000 home-equity line of credit on Eric Richins’s premarital home without his knowledge in 2019, then used hard-money loans to expand her business, K. Richins Realty. By the day of Eric’s death, the company owed at least $1.8 million, rising to nearly $5 million within 24 hours, and Richins was “on the precipice of total financial collapse,” according to charging documents. Eric Richins’s estate is valued at roughly $5 million, and investigators contend the alleged financial schemes supply a motive for the homicide. The murder trial is set to begin in February 2026, and the newly filed fraud case may be tried separately. Defense attorneys criticized the timing of the fresh charges, arguing they are intended to bolster the state’s homicide case. Richins remains in custody and has pleaded not guilty.