OGDEN, UTAH — The murder trial of Kouri Richins is underway. The defendant, a local author, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl at their home in Kamas, Utah, in March 2022. She is also the author of a picture book intended to help children survive sudden loss. The species has produced the loss and the manual for surviving the loss. The trial will establish whether the same hand produced both.
The book, “Are You With Me?”, was published in March 2023, approximately one year after the death it addresses. Its author appeared on local television to present it as a tool for grieving children, a group that included her three sons, and it sold. “It does steady business,” said Marlene Ketchum, who manages a children’s bookshop in nearby Park City. “We shelve it with the books about dying dogs. Customers do not ask about the author. They ask for more titles about the dog.”
Proceedings were relocated from Summit County to Ogden, court officials said, because of the volume of public attention. The gallery filled quickly; additional attendees joined a waiting list, which is the queue of the queue. “We seat the press first, the families second,” said Randall Voss, Deputy District Court Administrator for Seating. “The grief requires no credential. It was inside the building before we opened the doors.”
“We use it in sessions,” said Dr. Anne Okonkwo, a children’s grief counselor in Salt Lake City. “The book remains on the curriculum. The curriculum changes only after a verdict. Before a verdict, everything is fine. The paperwork has not said otherwise.”
Prosecutors allege the fentanyl was placed in a drink consumed by the victim on the evening before his death. The aggravated murder charge carries a possible sentence of life without parole. This bureau measures the distance between briefing and event; here the distance is measurable in publication dates. The book’s stated purpose, per its author’s promotional appearances, is to reassure children that sudden loss can be survived. The state’s filing states that the sudden loss had a supplier. The instructional text preceded the charge by approximately two months. Neither text has been recalled.
Filed as received: sudden loss, one (1) event, 2022; guide to surviving sudden loss, one (1) unit, 2023; aggravated murder charge, one (1) count, 2023; authorship of sudden loss, pending; trial, underway, Ogden.
