The prosecution accused Richins, who was charged with poisoning her husband to death, of witness tampering in relation to the letter. They believe that it instructed her brother to feign ignorance and attribute his death to a "pill from Mexico".

Kouri Richins, the Utah mother who was accused of poisoning her husband Eric before writing a book for children about grief and dealing with loss -- tried to explain away the letter that the prosecution had found in her cell.

A court filing last week via FOX 13 Now revealed that deputies discovered a six-page handwritten note written by Richins for her mother Lisa. The note contained instructions about how Lisa should convince her brother Ronald, who is her sister, to testify in her favor. According to prosecutors, she hoped that his testimony would cast suspicion on her late husband, accusing him to have gone to Mexico in order to buy drugs before his demise. Her mom was also asked to purchase Crest White Strips so that Skye Lozaro could give her the box during a visit.

On September 15, the prosecution asked Richins to stop contacting her brother or mother. The judge has yet to rule on this request. Richins called her mother the next day to explain the contents of the email.

According to court documents filed by prosecutors Tuesday , she stated, "When I first came in here, I told you that I was writing my book... those papers weren't a letter to your guys, they were a part of freaking my book."

"I was working on a fictional mystery novel... I went to Mexico to try to find these drugs. I'm writing about Dad... Like me and Dad went Mexico to find these drug... You can tell that this is a very interesting story," she continued. "Then, I go to the Mexican prison... Skye, I asked you to give me some white strips as my teeth were yellow from drinking coffee all day in the Mexican prison.

The court filing was a response to a one by Richins' attorney who claimed that the release of the letter violated the gag order. The prosecution called the motion "unpersuasive" and rebuffed any suggestions that the release of the document violated the attorney-client privilege.

They first pointed out that Richins claimed the letter to be a "work by her own fiction writer," and in it she seemed to speak directly to his mother, not to her lawyer. In their response, they stated that Richins was asking her mother to facilitate the witness tampering of her brother in order to get him to support a false narrative.

The court said that even if it accepted the defendant's farfetched explanation, that the letter was a note about a fictional Mexican jail, the letter still would not be a privileged communication between an attorney and a client because it wasn't addressed to the counsel of the Defendant in order to obtain legal advice. The content of the correspondence makes it clear who the recipient is.

Richins' lawyer said in a statement that they "disagree with the State's characterizations" and expect to file further briefings on these issues.

This letter was just one of the three letters prosecutors used when they filed for a No Contact Order. On September 13, they claim Richins read a letter written by another inmate to her mother, something that is reportedly prohibited. She allegedly called her mother the next day and read a multi-paged letter to her, but did not speak it herself. Later that day, the Summit County Sheriff's Office searched her cell and found the letter "Walk the Dog," "hidden" in an LSAT preparation book.

The search did not reveal the other letters.

The letter that was found began with "Walk The Dog!! The top of the letter was written in large letters. However, the rest had nothing to do canines. According to prosecutors instead, she claimed that her attorney "wants link Eric getting pills & drugs from Mexico," saying to her mother, "So, we need some sort of connection."

Here's what I was thinking, but you need to speak to Ronney. He'd probably have to give testimony, but it is a very short statement. He must tell Skye in the meeting next Monday," she wrote before revealing what she wanted her brother tell her attorney.

"A year before Eric's death Ronney and Eric were watching football on a Sunday, and Eric was chatting with Ronney about Eric's Mexico visits. Eric told Ronney that the workers on the ranch get him pain pills and fentanyl imported from Mexico.

She wanted Ronney's claim that Eric had told him to not tell her "because I wouldn't like it because I always said I thought he was high every night, and won’t take care of our kids" (there are photos in my phone of Eric lying on the floor. Ronney should also have Eric's texts about getting high."

She then allegedly said she wanted her brother, Ronney, to testify that Eric had told him to hide his drugs inside an allergy pill container in his truck, so no one would find them. Then, she claimed Eric would conceal his drugs within Kouri's luggage whenever they traveled together, "so if they got caught, Kouri would get in trouble and not him." According to prosecutors, she also wanted Ronney's sister to testify that "she has never taken any kind of pill and doesn't enjoy them."

Kouri also wrote that she was afraid her mom's home and phone were bugged. She asked her mother to personally meet Ronney. "Tell Ronney I need him do this. Bring me home, and we'll get these damn b*tches! Prosecutors claim that she yelled out.

On March 4, 2022, paramedics were dispatched to the home Eric and Kouri Richards after receiving a report of an unresponsive man. EMS tried to revive Eric but he died at the scene. Kouri was arrested and accused by police of killing her husband. She allegedly obtained a fatal dose of fentanyl through an acquaintance.

Kouri was busy in the months before her arrest promoting her book for children, "Are You With Me? The book, "Are You with Me? ", was released on March 6, 2023. According to its Amazon listing, it "gently guides kids through the painful experience of losing someone they love."

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Title: Kouri Richins' Explanation for Jail Cell Letter Slammed as 'Far-Fetched' by Prosecutors
Sourced From: www.toofab.com/2023/09/20/kouri-richins-prison-letter-explained/
Published Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 22:01:43 +0000

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