About this episode

This episode explores the impact of Kouri Richins' actions on her children and the psychological effects of betrayal trauma.

The verdict is in. Kouri Richins is guilty of charges that she poisoned her husband with fentanyl. But this part that still lands like a gut punch — She wrote a children's book about his death and went on television to promote it. The jury took three hours. Three hours to convict her on all counts. Apparently, they didn't need much time. But verdicts don't raise kids. Her three sons were 9, 7, and 5 when Eric Richins died. They're preteens now, living with his family, trying to grow up under the weight of something most adults couldn't carry — a father gone, a mother in prison, and somewhere out there, a book she wrote using their grief as the raw material. This episode isn't about Kouri. It's about what research and case history actually tell us about children who land in exactly this position. We look at betrayal trauma — the specific psychological damage that happens when the person who was supposed to protect you was also the threat — and we pull the thread on two cases that rhyme with this one: Susan Wright's kids, quietly absorbed into their father's family after her 2003 conviction, and Betty Broderick's sons, who grew up split down the middle on whether their mother…

More episodes of The Case Against Kouri Richins

• Kouri Richins: What Eric Knew — and What It Cost Him · March 29, 2026 · 1h 18m
• Eric Richins' 44th Birthday, a Sentencing Date, and the Verdict His Family Fought For · March 28, 2026 · 29 min
• Eric Richins' Family, the Children's Book, and the Questions That Survive the Verdict · March 28, 2026 · 36 min
• Kouri Richins Convicted: The Appeal, The Psychology, and What Happens to the Story Now · March 25, 2026 · 15 min
• Eric Richins Got Justice — What Kouri's Conviction Means for His Kids and What Comes Next · March 23, 2026 · 13 min
• Kouri Richins Guilty: Eric Saw It Coming — So Did Bobby Curley. Neither One Survived It. · March 22, 2026 · 30 min

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