Maham Khan

ISLAMABAD: With angel wings on its cover, the children&rsquo;s book told the story of a father watching over his son from heaven, a tale Utah mother-of-three Kouri Richins said she wrote to comfort children grieving the loss of a parent. It would later be revealed that she had poisoned her own husband six months earlier. On May 13, a Utah judge sentenced Richins to life in prison without parole for the 2022 fentanyl murder of her husband, Eric Richins, 39, as reported by ABC News The date was not incidental. It was Eric&#39;s birthday. He would have turned 44. The book was called &ldquo;Are You With Me?&rdquo; Richins published it in the months between killing her husband and her arrest, appearing on local television, speaking about loss, and building the image of a widow doing her best. A ghostwriting company helped produce it, according to CNN. Her mother mailed a copy to the Summit County Sheriff&#39;s Office with a note describing Kouri as a &ldquo;devoted wife.&rdquo; However, investigators were less convinced. Eric Richins was found unresponsive at the foot of the couple&#39;s bed on March 4, 2022, in their home near Park City, Utah, United States. A medical examiner determined he had died of fentanyl poisoning, at five times the lethal dose, as reported by several American news outlets, including the New York Times and CBS News. The fentanyl was illicit. There was no therapeutic explanation for the concentration found in his system. And it was not the first attempt. On Valentine&#39;s Day, six weeks earlier, Eric had consumed a fentanyl-laced sandwich, suffered a blackout and respiratory distress, and survived only after a family member administered an EpiPen, according to CNN. He called a friend afterward and said, &quot;I think my wife tried to poison me,&quot; as per the New York Times. He was right. The father of three would be dead within weeks. The motive, prosecutors argued, was financial and cold. By early 2022, Richins had accumulated approximately $4.5 million in debt, according to several local news outlets, including The Park Record and CNN.&nbsp; She had taken out fraudulent credit lines in Eric&#39;s name, opened life insurance policies on him without his knowledge, and purchased a $2 million mansion he had refused to fund. She closed on that property the day after he died, according to CBS News. Eric had been quietly preparing to leave. He consulted a divorce attorney in 2020 and restructured his estate to exclude her, according to KPCW, a public radio station in Kouri&rsquo;s city. Prosecutors argued Kouri did not know this and believed she stood to inherit millions. The digital record was direct. Searches recovered from her phone included &quot;What is a lethal dose of fentanyl?&quot;, &quot;How is poisoning marked on a death certificate?&quot;, and &quot;Luxury prisons for the rich America,&quot; according to AP News. The family housekeeper testified that Richins had purchased fentanyl pills on at least four occasions. While in custody, Richins was found with a handwritten six-page letter allegedly instructing family members to tell investigators Eric had sourced the fentanyl himself, as per CNN and KPCW. The defense called it fiction. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting her on five felony counts, including aggravated murder. At sentencing, the boys she had written the book for delivered statements of their own. The middle son, now 11, testified that his mother locked him inside the house when she was intoxicated. He said he would feel safer if she stayed in prison, according to CBS News. Judge Richard Mrazik sentenced her to life without parole, calling her &quot;simply too dangerous to ever be free,&quot; as reported by KPCW. She wrote a book about children who lose their fathers, yet her own children lost theirs &mdash; and she was the reason.

Kouri Richins reacts to impact statements from the Richins family during her sentencing in 3rd District Court in Park City, Utah. (AFP)

Americas

Utah woman Kouri Richins is sentenced to life without parole for murdering her husband with fentanyl after writing a children’s book about loss while portraying herself as a grieving widow.

Kouri Richins wrote about losing a father after killing one

Reuters

NEW YORK: US federal prosecutors urged a judge on Tuesday to sentence Sean &quot;Diddy&quot; Combs to more than 11 years in prison this week following the hip-hop mogul&#39;s conviction on prostitution-related charges. The prosecutors sought &quot;at least 135 months&#39; imprisonment&quot; and asked the court to fine Combs $500,000, according to the court filing. US District Judge Arun Subramanian is due to sentence Combs during a hearing on Friday in Manhattan. Combs, 55, faces up to 20 years behind bars after a jury on July 2 found him guilty following a two-month trial on two counts of transporting male prostitutes across state lines for illicit activities. The case included allegations of assault and coercion. The jury acquitted Combs on the most serious counts he faced, racketeering and sex trafficking, charges that could have landed him in prison for life. Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to appeal his conviction. His defense lawyers last week urged the judge to impose a 14-month sentence, arguing Subramanian should not consider evidence of abuse by Combs of his former girlfriends because jurors acquitted him of coercing them into sex. Under such a sentence, Combs would be released by the end of the year because he would be credited for the time already spent in jail at Brooklyn&#39;s Metropolitan Detention Center following his September arrest. During the trial, prosecutors said Combs coerced two of his former girlfriends to take part in the performances, sometimes known as &quot;Freak Offs.&quot; Both women testified that Combs physically attacked them and threatened to cut off financial support if they resisted the encounters. Lawyers for Combs argued there was no direct link between what they called domestic violence and the women&#39;s participation in the &quot;Freak Offs&quot;, a strategy that ultimately resulted in their client&#39;s acquittal on the sex trafficking and racketeering counts.

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U.S. prosecutors are seeking over 11 years in prison for Sean "Diddy" Combs after his federal conviction. He was acquitted of the most serious charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

Articles tagged with "US Prosecution"

Kouri Richins wrote about losing a father after killing one

US prosecutors seek more than 11-year sentence for Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Kouri Richins wrote about losing a father after killing one