Jury finds Utah mom Kouri Richins guilty of fatally poisoning husband with fentanyl

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: ABC News

Jury finds Utah mom Kouri Richins guilty of fatally poisoning husband with fentanyl

She was found guilty on all five counts, including aggravated murder.

By Meredith Deliso
March 16, 2026, 8:46 PM ET • 12 min read

Kouri Richins, a Utah woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl, who self-published a children's book on grieving following his death, has been found guilty of murder following a weekslong trial.

The Summit County jury began deliberating late Monday afternoon before reaching a verdict after about three hours. She was found guilty on all five counts, including aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. ... Kouri Richins looked down and remained still while the judge read out each guilty verdict. Her sentencing has been scheduled for May 13.


Kouri Richins during closing arguments at the Summit County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, March 16, 2026.
David Jackson/The Park Record/Pool

During closing arguments earlier Monday, prosecutors alleged that the mom of three was obsessed with appearing "privileged, affluent and successful" and killed her husband to help pay the debts of her floundering home flipping business and to get a "fresh start."

The defense, meanwhile, said the case was "sloppy" and "driven by bias" and argued that the state failed to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

{snip}

Read more: https://abcnews.com/amp/US/closing-arguments-murder-trial-kouri-richins-utah-mom/story?id=131117904

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"Foundering," not "floundering"

[Scrivener7]

1. Could be either floundering or foundering.

[wolfie001]

2. I hadn't been watching any of this, just catching a glimpse every now and then

I was thinking "Why would a beautiful woman throw away her life and destroy her family?" And now I find out it was just about money. This is gonna be a movie soon. No doubt.

[snowybirdie]

3. Already has been

On Dateline, I believe.

[wolfie001]

10. I'm thinking a Hollywood thing with someone like Natalie Portman

Right?

[Miguelito Loveless]

4. "floundering" is correct,

as is "foundering"



flounder
verb
floundered; floundering ˈflau̇n-d(ə riŋ

intransitive verb
1
: to struggle to move or obtain footing : thrash about wildly
The poor horse was floundering in the mud.
2
: to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
… the normally surefooted governor floundered a moment like a prize pupil caught unprepared.—
Time

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Now that there are no more standards, of course it is.

Grammar & Usage > Usage Notes

Can a ship 'flounder'?

The difference between 'flounder' and 'founder'

The English language does not care if you are happy or sad. It is oblivious to your shrill entreaties for an orderly and sensible vocabulary. As proof of this supreme indifference we need look no further than the words founder and flounder, for no language that cares about its speakers would ever allow this kind of semantic cruelty to exist.

{snip}

M-W allows it now, but I suspect my 1938 Second International Dictionary tells a different story.

And good morning.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. flounder as a verb dates back in English to 1592

Oxford English Dictionary says:

1.a.i.
1592–
intransitive. In early use, to stumble (cf. founder v.). Subsequently, to struggle violently and clumsily; to plunge, roll and tumble about in or as in mire; also (with on, along, etc.), to move on with clumsy or rolling gait, to struggle along with difficulty. Of a horse: To rear, plunge; †to ‘shy’ (at an object).
1592
My foot did slide and..Flundring, almost flat on earth I go.
W. Wyrley, Lord Chandos in True Vse of Armorie 101
a1625
If she flownder with you, Clap spurs on.
J. Fletcher, The Womans Prize: or, The Tamer Tamed ii. vi, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher, Comedies and Tragedies (1647) sig. Ooooov/2
1687
He champs the bit..And starts a-side, and flounders at the cross.
J. Dryden, Hind & Panther iii. 90

Of obscure etymology.

Perhaps an onomatopoeic blending of the sound and sense of various earlier words; compare founder v. (Old French fondrer), blunder v., and the many verbs with initial fl- expressing impetuous and clumsy movements. Wedgwood and Skeat compare Dutch flodderen, to flounder in mire, to flop about: see the dialectal flodder v., which may have affected the development of the present word.

And, reading on in your "grammar" post, I note that it agrees with this - it's just saying that you shouldn't say a ship "flounders". But the OP article is about a business, not a ship.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. It looks as if a lot of things go back fsrther than I had thought.

If she flownder with you, Clap spurs on.
J. Fletcher, The Womans Prize: or, The Tamer Tamed ii. vi, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher, Comedies and Tragedies (1647) sig. Ooooov/2
1687

Goodness.

And good morning.

[TomWilm]

6. With that last name, she should have used Ricin ...

... that could also make better movie titles.

[tonekat]

7. And she made several tries!

Talk about "Black Widow"!