Kouri Richins’ handyman died in a motorcycle accident quickly after telling cops that the grief creator had tried to purchase fentanyl from him within the weeks earlier than she’s accused of utilizing the drug to fatally poison her husband, court docket paperwork reveal.
William Hayden Jeffs, 35, made the declare when he was interviewed by cops earlier this yr as a part of the long-running investigation into the 2022 loss of life of Richins’ husband, Eric Richins, KSL reported, citing newly unsealed search warrants tied to the case.
Jeffs, who had labored on a number of properties owned by Richins, had claimed the mom-of-three realtor had requested him if he might receive fentanyl and propofol for her within the weeks earlier than her husband drank the fatally-laced Moscow mule on March 4, 2022.
Through the interview, the handyman allegedly confirmed police copies of textual content messages that backed up his declare, the court docket papers state.
It wasn’t instantly clear when the interview occurred.
However, in a tragic twist, Jeffs ended up being killed in a visitors accident on Sept. 30 whereas he was out driving his Harley Davidson, based on the search warrants and an on-line obituary.
Within the wake of his loss of life, a decide granted a search warrant for Jeffs’ telephone for use as proof within the case towards Richins, based on the court docket filings.
The search warrant didn’t expose precisely what proof was obtained. It additionally stopped in need of revealing Jeffs’ response to Richins’ request for medicine, or whether or not he provided them.
Richins is accused of slipping her husband 5 occasions the deadly quantity of the artificial opioid into the Moscow mule cocktail after making an attempt — however failing — to spike his breakfast sandwich with road fentanyl weeks earlier, on Valentine’s Day 2022, at their residence close to Park Metropolis.
A yr after her husband’s loss of life, Richins then self-published an illustrated storybook a few father with angel wings watching over his younger son titled, “Are You With Me?”
Richins, who has repeatedly referred to as her husband’s loss of life sudden, mentioned she wrote the guide to assist her sons address the lack of their dad.
Prosecutors, nonetheless, have argued that Richins was each financially and romantically motivated to kill her husband as a result of she’d allegedly been having an affair and had mounting money owed that she hoped to resolve with the cash she mistakenly believed she’d inherit after his loss of life.
In an announcement following the revelation of the newly unsealed search warrants, Richins’ legal professional, Kathy Nester, mentioned: “It has been over two years since Mr Richins’ loss of life, and the state continues to be in search of proof and arising empty-handed.”
Richins — who’s been behind bars since her March 2023 arrest — has pleaded not responsible to a slew of costs, together with aggravated homicide and insurance coverage fraud.
She is ready to face trial subsequent April.
Supply hyperlink