Judge denies renewed bail request for Kamas mother charged with murdering husband

PARK CITY — A 3rd District judge has denied a repeated request for bail from a Kamas mother accused of murdering her husband.

In a hearing Tuesday, Judge Richard Mrazik said that when he first considered bail after Kouri Richins was arrested in June 2023, she had structural ties to the community through her business and her children. Now, her children are under the guardianship of her husband’s family and her business is gone.

Related: Prosecutors dismiss drug charges against Kamas woman charged with murdering her husband

“There simply are not reasonably available means of mitigating her risk to the community and to herself or the strong incentive for her to flee the jurisdiction of the court,” Mrazik said.

He also said although she no longer faces the possibility of the death penalty, like she did when he last considered it, Richins is now charged with two first-degree felonies, meaning she could still spend the rest of her life in prison.

Richins is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder, first-degree felonies; two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, second-degree felonies; plus three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.

Mrazik granted a motion from prosecutors during Tuesday’s hearing to dismiss two counts of distributing a controlled substance, second-degree felonies.

The judge also denied a request from Richins’ attorneys to try her charge for attempted murder in a separate trial from the aggravated murder charge, ruling that the two were part of a common scheme or plan. He said in both instances, charges allege she purchased fentanyl, administered it to her husband in food or drink and left her husband alone.

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