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Kouri Richins: Author suspected of murder 'hid truth' about husband's death, claims body language expert

Internationally famed body language expert Patti Wood analyzed a TV interview given by Kouri Richins a year after her husband's suspicious death

KAMAS, UTAH: An author, accused of killing her husband, reportedly "hid the truth" about the murder said a body language expert who analyzed her "defensive" tells in a TV interview. While appearing on a daytime show, Kouri Richins, 33, detailed how she fought her anguish with her therapeutic book just a year after she allegedly poisoned her husband Eric with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule.

"We don't feel her underlying passion about the messaging when she's talking about her children," said internationally famed body language expert Patti Wood after watching the interview, The Sun reports. "She doesn't smile. She doesn't talk about it. She doesn't move forward toward the host... It's more rote and automatic, which could be grief and loss, but it's more than anything detachment from what she's talking about."

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On March 4 last year, Summit County deputies discovered Eric, 39, dead upon arrival at the couple's Utah home after 3 am. Kouri, a children's book author and real estate agent told the officials at the time that he had taken a THC gummy and enjoyed the cocktail she prepared for him in bed while celebrating a home she had recently sold. One of their three sons apparently had a nightmare due to which Kouri had to leave her husband to be with her children, she told the authorities. However, when she returned to her bedroom, she discovered her husband cold and in a lifeless state. She immediately dialed the police after that. 

Kouri promoted her book detailing her loss

Richins sat down with local ABC affiliate KTVX for a segment called 'Good Things Utah', a year later, to promote her book describing the loss. She said that her husband's death was unexpected and it deeply affected her and her children. She said grieving was about "making sure that their spirit is always alive in your home."

"It's - you know - explaining to my kid, just because he's not present here with us physically, doesn't mean his presence isn't here with us," she told the hosts. Richins went on to explain that for the past one year she had introduced three C's to her three boys, which are connection, continuity, and care, to help them get over their tragic loss. The hosts organized a promotional giveaway of the children's book but it has now been removed from the Amazon website. 

What else did Wood say?

The body language expert came up with another interesting observation. She said that Kouri used the term "you know" 40 times during the interview which might be a way to protect herself. She continued that it might just have been a desperate cry to be heard by those in the room. The expert, however, also said that phrases that "cut up communication" can reveal a "lack of honesty."

"So when you make a definitive statement, typically when you're telling the truth, there's strength and delivery that goes from the first word to the end of the sentence," Wood told the outlet. "When you're saying it and there's no interruption, that's one of the indications of a true statement. So when you have an interrupter like 'you know,' it's breaking up a sentence. It makes it easier for you to lie. It's not a straight-off indication of deceit, but it does make it easier because it's harder for (the listener) to distinguish."

Wood analyzed Kouri's outfit

The mother of three wore a brown hooded leather jacket and dark jeans and sat with her hands gripping her crossed legs. "That is not standard for an interview," Wood said. "I would think that they would've told her some things that would be normal to wear."

She explained that in TV interviews like this, "you don't wear heavy things. You don't wear the color brown, you don't wear hooded wear, but what it does do is it protects her." Wood said that Kouri can "hide and protect" herself by wearing thick fabric with long sleeves. She said that it can even point out the fact she's "hiding the truth." According to Wood, her defensive position could also be a way to find confidence while reminiscing about the topic of her husband's death. Kouri's hands were held "tightly" which showed "her tension" and being unsure. "She does gesture but her gestures come after her statements, showing a lack of confidence," Wood said.