Kouri Richins and the Rising Trend DHS Just Warned America About

Ten days before jury selection begins in her aggravated murder trial, Kouri Richins' name appeared in a place no defendant wants to be — a Department of Homeland Security intelligence bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies nationwide warning that domestic partners are increasingly using poisons to kill. The January 2026 bulletin documented seventeen cases since 2014, at least eleven ending in death, and cited Richins' upcoming trial as part of a pattern DHS says is accelerating. The substances being used — fentanyl, cyanide, antifreeze, eye drops — are chosen specifically because they mimic natural illness, and Richins is accused of using the most potent one on the list.

Prosecutors allege Richins spiked her husband Eric's cocktail with a fatal dose of illicit fentanyl on March 3, 2022, after a failed attempt two weeks earlier on Valentine's Day using a fentanyl-laced sandwich. Eric was found dead in their Kamas, Utah bedroom with approximately five times the lethal dose in his blood. The medical examiner confirmed the fentanyl was street-grade, not prescription. The alleged motive tracks with the pattern DHS identifies across these cases — financial desperation. Prosecutors say her realty company owed lenders at least $1.8 million while Eric's estate was worth roughly $5 million. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

What makes the Richins case a centerpiece of the DHS warning is what almost happened after Eric died. His death was initially treated as an overdose, not a homicide. In the weeks that followed, Richins wrote a children's book about grieving and promoted it on morning television. If investigators hadn't dug deeper, if the toxicology hadn't revealed illicit fentanyl at a concentration that doesn't occur by accident, this case could have closed as one more opioid statistic. That's exactly what the DHS bulletin warns about — poisoning deaths that look like something else entirely.

This episode places Richins' case alongside three convicted spousal poisoners who nearly got away with it — James Craig, Lana Clayton, and Stacey Castor — and connects them to America's collapsing autopsy infrastructure. The national autopsy rate has fallen from 19% in 1972 to 8.5%, with natural-looking deaths autopsied just 4.3% of the time. Death certificates are wrong roughly a third of the time. DHS is now telling law enforcement this is a growing threat. Kouri Richins goes to trial February 23, 2026, with jury selection starting February 10 in Park City. She is one of seventeen. Those are the ones we know about.

#KouriRichins #KouriRichinsTrial #DHSPoisoningWarning #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #SpousalPoisoning #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #AggravatedMurder #TrueCrime

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Episoder(296)

Kouri Richins Couldn’t Spell Fentanyl But Used It to Kill

She searched “if someone is poisned what does it go down on the death certificate as.” Not overdosed. Poisoned. Her own word. In part four of our five-part definitive series, we lay out the digital ev...

8 Mai 18min

Kouri Richins Hired a Locksmith Two Days After Eric Died

Unlock at 3:06 a.m. Speaker at 3:08. The 911 call two minutes later. That’s the timeline. No frantic calls to family. No calls to friends. Just a precise, measured sequence that suggests a woman who k...

7 Mai 16min

Kouri Richins Bought Fentanyl at a Gas Station. Twice.

She bought the pills. She asked for stronger ones. She asked for the strongest thing available. And then she put them in her husband’s drink. In part two of our definitive five-part Kouri Richins seri...

6 Mai 16min

Kouri Richins: The Prenup Clause That Made Murder Pay

A prenuptial agreement. One clause. If Eric Richins died while they were married, Kouri would inherit everything. Divorce meant walking away with nothing. Death meant millions. That single clause in a...

5 Mai 21min

Three Innocent Children that the Kouri Richins’ Verdict Can't Fix

The verdict is in. Kouri Richins is guilty of charges that she poisoned her husband with fentanyl. But this part that still lands like a gut punch — She wrote a children's book about his death and wen...

31 Mar 12min

Kouri Richins: What Eric Knew — and What It Cost Him

Eric Richins knew something was wrong. He documented it. He restructured his estate, told his attorney he was protecting his children from his wife, and took legal steps to put his fear on the record....

29 Mar 1h 18min

Eric Richins' 44th Birthday, a Sentencing Date, and the Verdict His Family Fought For

Eric Richins restructured his estate roughly eighteen months before he died. He told his attorney exactly why: to protect his children from his wife. He knew something was wrong. He documented it. He ...

28 Mar 28min

Eric Richins' Family, the Children's Book, and the Questions That Survive the Verdict

The jury came back guilty. For the family of Eric Richins, that word carries everything they fought for over four years of investigation, hearings, and trial. And yet the questions that settle into a ...

28 Mar 36min