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PARK CITY — Fentanyl was not the only substance found during the autopsy for Eric Richins, whose wife is charged with murdering him in 2022.
A newly unsealed search warrant affidavit shows that he also had a small amount of quetiapine — a substance prescribed to his wife — in his system when he died.
Kouri Richins told an officer she used the pills as a sleeping aid, but the medical examiner said that is not the intended use of the medication, according to the warrant.
As part of the investigation into Kouri Richins and her husband's death, deputies were awarded a warrant to retrieve Intermountain Health records related to her prescription for quetiapine, an antipsychotic medication.
That information was part of a group of search warrants unsealed Thursday related to charges against Kouri Richins accusing her of killing her husband with a "massive overdose" of fentanyl. Judge Richard Mrazik granted a motion from the Summit County Attorney's Office in June to seal the warrants for six months.
The search warrant for medical records was the most recent of the released warrants, requested on March 15, 2023. No document has been released that shows whether the search warrant was served or whether investigators learned why the drug was prescribed to Kouri Richins.
Eric Richins, 39, died at his home on March 4, 2022, with five times a lethal dosage of illicit fentanyl in his system, charging documents state. Kouri Richins is charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; and three counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, two second-degree felonies and one class A misdemeanor.
In the time after her husband died and before she was arrested, Kouri Richins published a book to help families deal with unexpected loss.
The search warrants show that the investigation into Kouri Richins began long before the charges were filed. According to the warrants, family members expressed suspicion that Kouri Richins had something to do with her husband's death.
On April 12, 2022, a search warrant was issued for electronic devices in her home and officers took two iPhones, memory cards, multiple computers and two Apple Watches, court records state. Later that month, search warrants allowed officers to search for fentanyl and objects that might have trace amounts of fentanyl or show receipts for the drug, in three cars and at the family's home.
An April 2022 search warrant also allowed officers to search the iPhones and Apple Watches they found. Charging documents said Kouri Richins' phone showed it was locked and unlocked multiple times; it sensed movement and she sent and received messages before she called 911 to report her husband was cold to the touch.
Investigators also asked for permission to search through iCloud accounts, the phone of the person Kouri Richins texted the night of her husband's death, Ring doorbell camera footage, life insurance and loan information and an HP computer, court documents state.
No court hearings are currently scheduled in the Richins case. The judge ruled against dismissing her case in November after her attorneys claimed prosecutors broke professional conduct rules when releasing a letter found in her jail cell to the public.
