Couple who bought a home from Utah grief mom accused of murdering her husband with fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule SUE her after ‘hazardous’ mold left them with slew of mystery illnesses and facing financial ruin

• A Utah family say they face financial ruin after they bought a house from children’s grief author Kouri Richins which was full of mold 
• The Wright family claim they purchased the property from Richins’ real estate company three years ago, only to discover perilous levels of mold levels
• It rendered the home uninhabitable and has left them paying the mortgage on a house they are no longer living in while paying rent on a second property

A Utah family is holding children’s grief author Kouri Richins accountable for their near financial devastation after purchasing a renovated house from her, which they claim they had to evacuate due to hazardous levels of mold together with a slew of unexplained health issues.

‘There was no trying to right any of the wrongs that she had thrown at us. We’re just innocent bystanders in her path of destruction,’ Taryn Wright, 38, told Dateline on Friday night.

The Wrights say they bought the house from Richins’ realty company three years ago, only to discover dangerous levels of mold. 

It left the home uninhabitable while they remained on the hook for the mortgage to both the home and their rent for where they are living now. 

The couple began their lawsuit against Richins and her realty firm in November 2021, about six months before she was charged with her husband’s murder on March 4, 2022.

Richins’ legal team has denied the murder accusation, asserting a lack of substantial evidence. 

Prosecutors say Kouri Richins, 33, poisoned Eric Richins, 39, by slipping him five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow Mule cocktail she made for him last year.

After her husband’s death, the mother of three self-published a children’s book titled ‘Are You With Me?’ about a deceased father wearing angel wings who watched over his sons. 

She promoted the book on TV and radio, describing the book as a way to help children grieve the loss of a loved one.

The Wrights’ civil lawsuit, filed in Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court, alleges breach of contract and fraud, claiming that Richins knowingly misrepresented critical information about the property’s condition and value, acting recklessly and with disregard for the truth.

The Wrights are now seeking compensation for repairs to property damage which they argue constitute a complete loss, together with damages for various health issues that allegedly began soon after moving into the nearly 2,000-square-foot home in January 2020.

In a court filing earlier this year, Richins’ lawyers denied the allegations, asserting that her company, Richins Realty, provided comprehensive disclosures, and the alleged defects could have been identified through a proper survey of the home.

The house, located in Heber City, southeast of Salt Lake City, was part of Richins’ house-flipping business which she launched in 2019. 

But financial troubles soon plagued the business, with Richins owing lenders $1.8 million by February 2022, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege Richins engaged in fraudulent activities such as theft, forgery, and deception as her debts mounted, even using a fraudulent power of attorney to secure a $250,000 line of credit against her husband’s property, among other allegations.

Val Maynard, the man who sold the house to Richins, said he was thrilled with her offer of $215,000, despite the property’s known need for significant repairs due to water damage. 

He had lived there for years and was willing to sell after his wife’s passing.

Maynard claims he was transparent with Richins about the necessary work, but after the sale, subcontractors began extensive renovations without apparent proper permits. 

The house was presented as being in ‘pristine’ condition when it went on the market in October 2019, according to Taryn Wright. 

The family were not told about previous water damage or any plumbing and roof issues. The couple purchased the property for $409,000 in January 2020.

‘We envisioned having barbecues and hosting and just spending time with family and being able to look out at that beautiful view,’ Taryn Wright said to NBC News. 

Shortly after the first springtime rain, the Wrights noticed a musty smell in the basement. 

Mold was found behind a new dresser and water pooling on the floor in their son’s room. 

The family also began to suffer from various health problems, including asthma, fungal infections, joint pain, and brain fog.

‘We were constantly going to the doctor. There was never like, “Oh, this is what’s wrong with you.” It’s just kind of like, “Oh well, you’ll just get over it.” It was super, super hard,’ Taryn Wright said.

In August 2022, the family had the house inspected, revealing ‘hazardous’ mold levels throughout. 

Some mold samples were a hundred times higher than what would be considered safe. 

The Wrights were forced to evacuate their home immediately upon discovering the mold and moved into a relative’s rental property and leaving their belongings behind, fearing contamination. 

They also tried unsuccessfully to contact Kouri Richins for assistance with remediation.

Text messages between Richins and a realtor suggest that she may have been aware of the mold issue before selling the house. Yet despite possible knowledge of mold, the house was presented as ‘pristine.’

The lawsuit, described as a last resort by Alec Wright, has placed the family in a precarious financial position. 

‘If we’re not able to find the means to get back into our home, financially, we’ll be ruined,’ Alec Wright said.

The family say they had invested substantial sums into their home with repair costs now set to exceed what they paid to buy the house.

Before Richins’ murder charge, the Wrights had hoped their lawsuit would recoup their losses, but their situation now appears dire, with Taryn Wright saying the family risk losing everything.

A judge earlier this year ordered Richins to remain in jail pending trial. 

Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty against Richins after conferring with the victim’s father and two sisters. 

Prosecutors say Richins planned at length to kill her husband, making financial arrangements and purchasing drugs found in his system after his March 2022 death.

Richins made major changes to the family’s estate plans and took out life insurance policies on him with benefits totaling nearly $2 million, prosecutors allege. 

Her attorneys counter that the prosecution’s case based on financial motives proved she was ‘bad at math,’ not guilty of murder.

Richins, meanwhile, is facing a lawsuit seeking over $13 million in damages for alleged financial wrongdoing before and after his death.

The lawsuit filed in state court by Katie Richins, the sister of Eric Richins, accuses Kouri Richins of taking money from her husband’s accounts, diverting money intended to pay his taxes and obtaining a fraudulent loan, among other things, before his death.