The Summit County Sheriff's Office arrested Kouri D. Richins Monday for the murder of her husband, Eric Richins.
The 33-year-old is charged with one first-degree felony count of aggravated murder, as well as three second-degree felony counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Eric Richins died of a Fentanyl overdose on March 4, 2022, according to a police search warrant.
The Richins family is one of the oldest and largest in Summit County. A notable member was Sheldon Richins, for whom Summit County's Richins Building in Kimball Junction is named.
Kouri told sheriff's deputies she and her husband were having a celebration together the night of March 3. She said Eric had consumed a shot of alcohol and a THC gummy.
Kouri said she went to bed in their kids' room that night and rejoined Eric around 3 a.m. When she felt he was cold and realized he wasn't breathing, she called 911.
But Eric's family members told investigators shortly after his death they suspected Kouri killed him. According to warrants, ?he warned them that if anything happened to him, she was to blame.?
Kouri claimed to have performed CPR on Eric, but fire and EMS first responders said that was unlikely, citing blood coming from his mouth.
During CPR, when responders asked where Eric's medications were, warrants state she claimed not to know because "the maid just puts medications in random places."
Kouri claimed her husband had a pain pill addiction in high school but no substance abuse issues since.
Friends and family told police they did not notice any behavior indicative of drug use, and no pain killers were found in the family home.
One of Eric's two sisters told investigators he had called her a few years ago from Greece. While he and Kouri were on vacation, a drink she handed him made him violently ill.
The sister alleged Eric believed Kouri had tried to kill him.
Eric holds a joint life insurance policy with his business partner Cody Wright. The two men ran the business C&E Stone Masonry.
A warrant states Kouri logged into the two men's life insurance policy in January 2022 and changed the policy. She removed them as each other's beneficiary and named herself as the policy's only beneficiary.
When the insurance company notified the men of the change, they were able to change it back. Before his death, Eric changed the beneficiary of his will and his power of attorney, replacing Kouri with his sister.
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