The Utah couple who bought a converted mansion from Kouri Richins, who wrote a book about grief after allegedly murdering her husband, blame the mother for their near-financial ruin.
Taryn and Alec Wright said they have been plagued by “dangerous” levels of mold, a spate of mysterious medical problems and a host of financial stressors in the three years since Richins sold them the house.
“There was no attempt to correct any of the wrongs that had been caused to us,” Taryn, 38, told “Dateline” in her first interview about her lawsuit against Richins.
“We are simply innocent bystanders in their path of destruction.”
The Herber City home was the first Richins sold as part of his home remodeling business.
Richins is accused of slipping her husband Eric Richins a deadly Moscow mule laced with fentanyl in March 2022, after a day of arguing over a $2 million mansion she hoped to sell and for which he refused to pay.
Richins allegedly poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, 39, with fentanyl on the night of March 3, 2022, at their home in Utah. Facebook / Kouri Richins
He closed the deal the next day and hosted a party at the mansion with 10 friends.
The Wrights had sued Richins and her real estate company six months before the gruesome murder, alleging that she sold the house without disclosing a series of defects.
The previous owner, Val Maynard, also confirmed to “Dateline” that he told Richins that the house needed major repairs since there had been “a lot of water damage.”
The house where Kouri Richins and Eric Richins lived with their children.AP
After an inspection found no problems, the Wrights bought the house for $409,000, almost double what Richins bought it for.
But just a few months later, after the first spring rains, they found mold on the wall of their son’s room and a puddle of water on the floor.
Since then, they say they have had to evacuate the house numerous times and spent thousands of dollars trying to replace walls and windows ruined by mold, only to discover that the house also had serious structural problems.
Richins with her mother Lisa Darden (right) and her aunt at her wedding in 2013.Facebook
A home inspection in August 2022 found “dangerous” levels of the fungus in the basement, with spores spread throughout the house.
They have also suffered a series of illnesses and health problems (long-term asthma and fungal infections, joint pain and mental confusion) that forced them to seek medical treatment.
“We were constantly going to the doctor,” Taryn said. “I never thought, ‘Oh, this is what’s wrong with you.’ It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, well, you’ll get over it.'”
“It was super, super difficult,” he added.
They were eventually forced to leave the house and are struggling to continue making mortgage payments.
Additionally, they barely cover the rent on the house they have since moved into, they said.
In a court filing earlier this year, Richins’ attorneys denied the Wrights’ allegations and claimed the company made “excessive disclosure.”
The lawsuit is a last resort for the Wrights, who said they repeatedly tried to contact Richins about the best way to fix their house.
“We didn’t hear from her,” Alec Wright said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn