Kouri Richins: Utah mother denies witness tampering, says letter found in cell was excerpt from her new book
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Kouri Richins, the Utah widow who allegedly murdered her husband Eric Richins and wrote a book about grief, has come up with a novel explanation for an incriminating letter found in her prison cell claiming it was actually part of her new book.
The handwritten letter which was discovered last week was addressed to her mother Lisa Darden and allegedly contained instructions for Richin's brother to provide false testimony that Eric had obtained pills and drugs from Mexico before the fatal overdose, reports New York Post.
Prosecutors file motion alleging Kouri Richins of witness tampering
Prosecutors filed a motion against Richins stating that the six-page 'Walk the Dog' letter which allegedly contained instructions for her brother to repeat a "false narrative" amounted to witness tampering.
However, the suspect's defense team has now claimed the letter was an excerpt from a work of fiction she has been writing about her stay in a Mexican prison and that it was not meant to tamper with a witness.
According to court documents, the grief writer told her mother, "When I first got in here I was telling you how I was writing a book … those papers were not a letter to you guys, they were part of my freaking book … I was writing this fictional mystery book."
"I go to Mexico and I’m like trying to find these drugs … I’m writing about Dad … like me and Dad went to Mexico to find these drugs … you can very much tell that the whole thing is very much a story … then I get in the Mexican prison," Richins said.
"I said have Skye sneak me in some white strips because my teeth are getting yellow because all we do is drink coffee in the Mexican prison,” she added, referring to her lawyer, Skye Lazaro.
"We dispute the state’s characterizations and anticipate filing further briefing on these issues," said Lazaro and further added that the letter should not have been made public.
How did officials find Kouri Richins' letter?
The 33-year-old woman who is held at the Summit County Jail on charges of first-degree aggravated murder and second-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute suffered a seizure when she was given the wrong medication while in prison.
Following the incident, jail staff found her letter when they conducted a search in her cell. The letter read, "Eric told [redacted name] that he got Pain Pills and fentanyl from Mexico from workers on the ranch."
"[Redacted name] can reword [the narrative] however he needs to, but is super short not a lot to it," Richins' reportedly stated.