Investigators believe the mother of a Utah grief novelist who spiked her husband's drink with fentanyl may have contributed to his death. A Summit County Sheriff's Office detective also linked Kouri Richins' mother, Lisa Darden, to her former partner's 2006 "suspicious overdose" death.
No charges have been filed against Darden. She was unavailable for comment at her given phone lines. A detective investigating Eric Richins' March 4, 2022, death released the details in a search warrant affidavit. Authorities said he was discovered dead in his Kamas, Utah, home after commemorating his wife's company house closing.
A medical examiner found five times the deadly dose of “illicit” fentanyl in Eric Richins' system. Investigators contacted friends and determined that Darden's partner died unexpectedly in April 2006, according to the search warrant affidavit.
The document said the partner was a lady "with whom she was having a romantic relationship" and resided with. The autopsy confirmed the woman's "immediate cause of death was a drug poisoning from an overdose of oxycodone," the statement stated.
Further inquiry revealed that Darden was named the woman's estate beneficiary "a short time before her death," it stated. The detective wrote that the woman had oxycodone prescriptions and suffered from abuse. "She, however, was not in a state of recovery from addiction at the time of her death," he wrote. "Based on my training and experience, this would likely rule out the possibility of an accidental overdose."
The affidavit stated that detectives found Darden at the Richinses' house the night they celebrated Kouri's business deal. The affidavit also showed Darden expressing "disdain" for her son-in-law in chats with Kouri Richins. The cop said "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."
She said Darden's spouse died of opioid addiction and anything else is "a baseless conspiracy theory." Summit County "is well aware that opioid addiction and fentanyl overdose is a rampant problem throughout the country," Lazaro emailed Tuesday. The fact that Ms. Darden's partner was one of millions who died from opioid addiction is not'suspicious.' Tragic and regrettably common."
More: "Ms. Darden was not the only beneficiary of her love partner's life insurance. It shows her situation is typical of most American households." Aggravated murder and three counts of possession with intent to distribute were filed against Kouri Richins last year. She denies the charges and is in detention awaiting trial.
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