Cory Richins was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing her husband Eric in order to inherit a large sum of money.
Her case had caused a sensation after it was discovered that after the death of Eric Richins she had written a children's book about grief.
After a weeks-long trial, the eight-member jury found Richins, 36, guilty of felony murder for poisoning her husband with fentanyl in March 2022, causing his death. She was also found guilty of attempted felony murder for trying to kill him weeks before his death on Valentine's Day.
She was also found guilty of insurance fraud and forging his life insurance.
She and her husband, Eric, had three sons. The oldest son, now 13, told the court he misses his father, not his mother.
During the trial, evidence was presented that the defendant was millions of dollars in debt, had taken out life insurance policies on her husband, and was having an extramarital affair.
Prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses, including the woman who allegedly supplied Richins with the drugs he used to kill her husband. Prosecutors said during the trial that she mistakenly believed she would inherit his estate, worth more than $4 million, after his death.
For more than a year, Richins played the role of a grieving widow, even writing a book called “Are You With Me?” to help her children – all three of them – cope with the loss. The book was dedicated to her husband, whom she described as “a wonderful husband and a wonderful father”…
