KAMAS, Utah (ABC4) — New evidence has been revealed in the Kouri Richins’ murder case claiming that she requested fentanyl from more than one person prior to the death of her husband.

Kouri Richins was charged with aggravated murder and attempted criminal homicide after being accused of poisoning her husband with fentanyl. Her case gained notoriety as she was arrested in 2023 shortly after she wrote a children’s book on grief. 

Throughout the case, prosecutors have claimed Kouri Richins obtained fentanyl from an acquaintance later identified as her housekeeper, Carmen Lauber. During the preliminary hearing, a detective testified to interviewing Lauber several times and said it was determined Lauber had allegedly procured an opiate for Richins and counterfeit fentanyl pills.

According to recently unsealed search warrants, Richins also asked a handyman working on her properties for fentanyl weeks before her husband Eric Richins’ death. The document — which was unsealed on Tuesday — says detectives interviewed the man earlier this year and he “divulged that [Richins] asked him if he could procure both fentanyl and propofol for her.”

The man allegedly showed police the text messages between him and Richins and sent copies of those messages to detectives. The document did not make mention of him procuring the drugs, only noting that Richins had asked him to.

Authorities said the handyman has since died in a traffic incident, but his phone is in the custody of the Heber City Police as part of a separate investigation. Prosecutors have asked for the cell phone to be used as evidence, and they noted Heber officials have agreed to release the phone if served a warrant.

A separate search warrant unsealed on the same day claims there is reason to believe there may be “additional journals or written recordings made by [Kouri Richins] inside the Richins home.”

The document says authorities believe this due, in part, to comments made in Kouri Richins’ recorded jail calls and messages and statements from Eric Richins’ family. The Richins’ home is managed by Eric Richins’ sister who gave police permission to search the home.

The trial is set to take four weeks and is tentatively scheduled for April 28 through May 22, 2025.