SALT LAKE CITY — As Kouri Richins sits in jail awaiting trial on charges alleging that she murdered her husband by poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl, new documents show that her mother was investigated for a death similar in nature and could have played a role in her son-in-law's death.
"Nothing about this seems really surprising because we always felt that Kouri's mother was in some way involved in this," said Greg Skordas, the spokesperson for Eric Richins' family.
A search warrant issued in the Kouri Richins investigation shows how detectives looked into her associates, including Kouri's mother, Lisa Darden. In the warrant, a detective wrote that in 2006, Darden was "living with an adult female with whom she was having a romantic relationship. In April of that year, her romantic partner died unexpectedly.”
According to the detective, an autopsy performed on Darden's partner found she died from an overdose of oxycodone. While the partner had a prescription for the highly-addictive drug, the detective wrote in the warrant that she "was not in a state of recovery from addiction at the time of her death."
"This is just more — I think — evidence against Kouri even though it's purportedly looking at her mother," said Skordas.
The detective said that due to the current state of her recovery, it would "likely rule out the possibility of an accidental overdose.”
In addition, the warrant showed that Darden had been named to her partner's will just before her death.
"The parallels are really, very similar and kind of spooky," said Skordas.
"The fact that Ms. Darden’s significant other was one of the millions that suffered from, and ultimately succumbed to, opioid addiction is hardly 'suspicious. It is tragic, and unfortunately, quite common," said Richins' attorney, Skye Lazaro. "The fact that Ms. Darden was the beneficiary of her romantic partner’s life insurance policy is also not unique. It only demonstrates that her circumstances are no different than most families in America. To suggest otherwise is nothing more than a baseless conspiracy theory."
During the investigation into Richins, the detective wrote about the possibility of her mother taking part in Eric Richins' death.
“Conversations have been found on Kouri's phone showing disdain for Eric on Lisa's part," he wrote. "Based on Lisa Darden’s proximity to her partner’s suspicious overdose death, and her relationship with Kouri, it is possible she was involved in planning and orchestrating Eric’s death."
Richins was arrested in May 2023 and charged with aggravated murder in the death of Eric Richins. Since then, Kouri has been accused of instructing her family on how to testify, while details were released showing how she changed her husband's life insurance policy before he died.
A six-page, handwritten note written by Kouri to Darden, seemingly instructed her to have Ronald Darden, Kouri's brother, to falsely testify that Eric received drugs and pills from Mexico causing his death.
Richins' preliminary hearing is scheduled to start Apr. 17.
