"Shortly after the dinner, Eric became very ill. Eric believed that he had been poisoned," the arrest warrant says. "Eric told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him."
Kouri Richins' desire to purchase an abandoned mansion may have played a role in her decision to allegedly murder her husband, according to a spokesperson for her husband's family.
The children's grief-book author allegedly wanted to buy a multimillion-dollar home in Utah says the spokesperson, and then have her husband, Eric, a successful mason, oversee a renovation of the property so that they could flip it for a profit.
"She seemed to be really almost inappropriately interested in the value of that house," attorney and Richins' family spokesperson Greg Skordas tells Inside Edition.
A warrant obtained by Inside Edition Digital alleges that Kouri initially told officers she brought her husband a Moscow mule in bed to celebrate the fact that the couple had closed on the house back on March 4, 2022, and then went to sleep with one of their three sons because he was having a "night terror."
She said that when she returned to her bedroom her husband was cold to the touch, according to the warrant.
The warrant says that investigators became suspicious when a search of her phone showed movement during the time Kouri claimed to be sleeping in her son's bed and revealed that text messages had been deleted from the device.
Kouri went ahead with signing the papers for the new home the very next day, and then threw a party to celebrate.
Skordas says that while this certainly raised a red flag for the family, "the family already had a lot of red flags."
Investigators eventually determined that Eric's death had been caused by a fatal dose of fentanyl that was "ingested orally," according to the warrant,
"He expressed to some of his family members that if something ever did happen to him, that [Kouri] should be investigated," says Skordas.
That may have been the result of an alleged previous attempt on his life.
KOURI RICHINS AFFADVIT FOR SEARCH WARRANT
The warrant alleges that Kouri had purchased fatal quantities of hydrocodone and fentanyl prior to her purchase of the fentanyl she allegedly used to spike his drink on the night of his death.
An acquaintance of Kouri told police that after she requested "some of that Michael Jackson stuff," he provided her with $900 worth of fentanyl twice in February 2022.
On Feb. 11, 2022, police say Kouri procured between 15-30 pills from the dealer.
"Three days later, on February 14, 2022, Eric and defendant had a Valentine’s Day dinner at their Kamas home," the warrant alleges. "Shortly after the dinner, Eric became very ill. Eric believed that he had been poisoned. Eric told a friend that he thought his wife was trying to poison him."
Kouri received that second batch on Feb. 26, 2022 according to the warrant, and on March 4 Eric suddenly died.
She later went on to write a children's book about grief, which included an illustration of her husband with angel wings on the cover.
The mansion meanwhile is in contract for $3.75 million according to the realtor.
Kouri is charged with aggravated murder and three counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
She is being held without bond and a detention hearing is set for May 19. Her attorney Skye Lazaro declined to comment on the charges.
