Park City, Utah – A mother from Utah published a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death and was later He was found guilty of murder She finds out Wednesday how long she will spend in prison.
Corey Richins was convicted last March of aggravated murder for injecting her husband with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022.
Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-year-old real estate agent and house flipper, was millions in debt and was planning a future with another man. She opened several life insurance policies for her husband, Eric Richins, without his knowledge and mistakenly believed that she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after his death.
Jurors in Park City also found Richins guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a drug. Sandwich laced with fentanyl.
Her case captivated true crime fans when she was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book “Are You With Me?” About a boy coping with the death of his father.
Richins faces several decades to life in prison at her sentencing hearing on Wednesday, which would have been the day her husband would have turned 44. Her lawyers declined to comment before the hearing.
Amy Richins, Eric Richins’ sister, said after the sentencing that she was “so glad we got justice for my brother” and can now focus solely on supporting his children, who were 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.
In a memorandum filed by prosecutors before the hearing, the sons told the judge they would do so They feel unsafe if their mother is released from prison.
“I’m afraid if she goes out, she’ll come after me and my brothers, and my whole family,” said the older boy, now 13. “I think she’ll come and get us and not do good things to us, like hurt us.”
The middle child, now 11, said he was sad his father would not be present at the milestones. With his mother behind bars, he said he could “live a happy and successful life without fear of hurting me or anyone I love.”
The younger said he would be “very afraid” if his mother was released.
Judges in Utah typically impose sentences broadly rather than a specific number of years.
The most serious charge, aggravated murder, is punishable by 25 years to life in prison, or life in prison without parole. The prosecution did not seek the death penalty.
Jail time for attempted aggravated murder depends on the severity of the physical injury sustained. After taking a bite of the sandwich his wife left for him, Eric Richins developed hives, injected himself with his son’s EpiPen, drank a bottle of Benadryl and passed out, prosecutors said. Depending on the judge’s evaluation, Corey Richins could face 15 years to life, 6 years to life, or 5 years to life for this charge.
Two counts of insurance fraud, second-degree felonies, each carry a sentence of 1-15 years, and one count of third-degree felony forgery carries a sentence of 0-5 years in prison.
Judge Richard Mrazek has discretion to decide whether Richins’ prison sentences for each count will overlap or stack. Prosecutors have asked for no interference and urged the judge to grant her life without parole.
Richins also faces more than two dozen felony money charges in a separate case that has not yet been tried.
The trial was scheduled to last five weeks but ended early when Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team rested his case without calling any witnesses. Her lawyers said they were confident that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to convict her of murder.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding her guilty on all counts.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed the mother of three Like a money-hungry killer. They showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and earning millions in the divorce. Prosecutors also showed Internet search history from Richins’ phone, which included inquiries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how to put a poisoning mark on a death certificate.
The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors responded by showing him police body camera footage from the night of his death, in which Corey Richins told an officer that her husband had no history of using illegal drugs.
Defense attorneys also argued that the prosecution’s star witness, a housekeeper who allegedly sold fentanyl Corey Richins on several occasions, had a motive to lie for legal protection. The housekeeper was granted immunity for her cooperation in the case.