Utah

Couple who bought house from Utah mom charged with killing husband feel like ‘bystanders in her path of destruction'

The pair says they have faced financial hardship and mystery illnesses since buying a home from Kouri Richins. They've moved out because of mold problems.

FILE - Kouri Richins,
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

A Utah family blames the children’s grief author Kouri Richins, who has been accused of fatally spiking her husband’s cocktail with fentanyl, for their near financial ruin since buying from her a remodeled house that they say they've had to evacuate because of “hazardous” levels of mold and an onslaught of mysterious medical problems. 

"There was no trying to right any of the wrongs that she had thrown at us,” Taryn Wright, 38, told “Dateline” in her first interview about her lawsuit against Richins. “We’re just innocent bystanders in her path of destruction.”

"Hazardous” levels of mold in the home Alec and Taryn Wright bought three years ago from Richins’ realty company has left them teetering on the edge, struggling to pay the mortgage on a house they no longer live in, and barely able to cover rent on the home they live in now, they told “Dateline.” 

The couple sued Richins and her realty company in November, roughly six months before she was charged with murder in the March 4, 2022, death of Eric Richins. 

Richins’ lawyers have denied the murder allegation, saying in a court filing after her arrest that there was no substantial evidence to support the charges. After her husband’s death, Richins wrote the children's book “Are You With Me?” about grief.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com here.

Contact Us