Author: Mapuf

Mismatched Murderous Minds

Chapter 1. 

“Kouri did not give fentanyl to Eric on purpose. It was an accident! She bought it for Avigail in New York to kill her husband!” 

Young aspiring journalist Emily-Grace had never purchased illegal drugs or been to New York but the idea that Kouri Richins bought fentanyl in Utah to send to New York seemed fanciful. And to kill a man there? Even more fanciful! 

But whether true or not, it provided a whole new angle for a special television report – and Emily-Grace was not going to pass up the opportunity! 

She had not expected such words when she contacted Kouri Richin’s mother, Lisa, to discuss Kouri’s conviction for murdering her husband Eric Richins by putting fentanyl in a drink. Rather, Emily-Grace had been interested in Eric’s very religious Morman family and their relations with both Eric and Kouri. 

When a Utah jury found Kouri guilty “beyond reasonable doubt” of killing Eric there was universal condemnation of her character by media and podcast commentators. It was generally accepted that Kouri had been motivated by money, status and a desire to be with her lover. 

While Emily-Grace accepted that Kouri was guilty of murder she did not easily accept that these factors were sufficient motivations. Afterall, Kouri had access to money for a comfortable life despite personal business failings and Kouri’s lover was hardly the sort of man that such an ambitious woman would consider for more than a temporary diversion. 

The conviction of Kouri Richins for murder was the main topic of conversation in almost every office in Utah in following days. Emily-Grace’s workplace was no different, and she ended up discussing it with her boss, Anna, and another colleague at television station ABC4 (KTVX-TV). 

Anna – a few years older than Emily-Grace -- suggested that Kouri wanted to “escape”.
“Escape! Escape from what?” Emily-Grace asked.
Anna: “I once had a Mormon boy-friend and he wanted to get married. Then I met his family and heard their plans for us – their plans! And I decided a big no! If you ask me, Kouri must have been trying to escape from stifling control exercised by Eric and his Mormon relatives.”
Emily-Grace: “They did not seem to think much of her character and abilities.”
Anna: “You have heard of coercive control? A bit like that!”
Emily-Grace: “You think Eric was that bad?”
Anna: “I don’t know, but I once read that when you are very unhappy you can get a very distorted idea of what being happy looks like and how to get it. So, people can become reckless!” 

Emily-Grace’s other colleague, who was quite a bit older said: “There was this television show about murder and it claimed that the main reasons for murder were always money, sex and revenge.”
Emily-Grace thought for a moment and then asked: “You think it could be revenge against Eric’s family? Why?”
The colleague slightly shrugged her shoulders, saying: “I am not saying it was the main factor, but maybe Kouri thought they were trying to drive a wedge of some sort between her and her children.”
Anna: “I hadn’t thought about that. Is this why she wrote the book? To rub into them that she had won?”
Emily-Grace’s other colleague: “She didn’t write Are You With Me? She paid someone to write it!”
Anna: “Well, she probably didn’t personally care what was written. Only paid money to make a point to Eric’s family. And, by saying that she wrote it jointly with her boys makes the point that it is Kouri who has the real strongest relationship with them.”
Emily-Grace: “And maybe this is why she wanted to publicize it so much?” 

The three women sat in silence for a moment before Emily-Grace said: “But even if all this is true – a desperate desire to escape an existing domestic situation and a desire to obtain some specific goals – there must have been a particular event or spark that prompted her to kill him when she did.” 

When she later spoke to Lisa, Kouri’s mother, Emily-Grace wondered whether this Avigail from New York provided the spark? 

Lisa told Emily-Grace that she did not want to say too much because Kouri was appealing her murder conviction. Emily-Grace took this at face-value because Lisa seemed to be straight-forward and unimaginative – a very ordinary woman of limited ability! Strangely, Lisa’s square body and face bore little resemblance to Kouri with her rather delicate features. While Lisa confirmed many of Emily-Grace’s suspicions about the nature of Eric and his family, Lisa suggested an even more complex and nuanced story to be investigated and perhaps told.

It involved Kouri’s association with a possible – even probable – murder in New York, a place both geographically and culturally far from Utah! This story, as told by Lisa, suggested that Kouri met a woman named Avigail at a wellness retreat who wished to kill her husband and that Kouri initially purchased fentanyl to send to her.

Emily-Grace was skeptical, but if Lisa’s account was to be believed, Kouri was emotionally manipulated by Avigail who related a story of extreme hardship – including as a Jeffrey Epstein child abuse victim – and a very abusive marriage to an older, wealthy husband who was a well-connected New York lawyer. 

“What is the last name of this Avigail?” asked Emily-Grace. “How can I contact her? What about the name of the lawyer?” Lisa gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to Beryl. She went to the MyNewLife retreat with Kouri. She won’t talk to me.” 

Beryl was reluctant to talk when Emily-Grace called. “I just want to forget this whole thing.” Emily-Grace was unsure what Beryl knew of Lisa’s claims about this Avigail so she decided to raise the issue indirectly by just referring to Kouri’s time at the wellness retreat.” 

“You have been talking to Lisa?” asked Beryl. “She told you some story about Avigail?”
Emily-Grace: "Yes. About wanting her husband killed.”
Beryl gave a short laugh. "It’s bullshit. I mean it was clear that Avigail hated her husband, but she lives in New York and why should she need Kouri to get fentanyl. It is just stupid!”
“Did Kouri spend much time with Avigail?”
“Yes, she ended up talking to her all the time. I thought Avigail was very manipulative, but Kouri was fascinated by her.”
“Do you know her last name? Surname?”
“No.”

Emily-Grace: “One last question please. Lisa said that Kouri had given her an envelope when she came back from the retreat and told her not to open it unless told to. When she eventually opened it there was only a blank piece of paper.”
Beryl again gave a short laugh: “Lisa asked me about this to. There was no envelope. She is clutching at straws.”

Realizing that she would get no more information from Beryl, Emily-Grace thanked her and hung-up the phone. 

But before proceeding further with this narrative, we need to go back to Kouri, her life and her murder trial and conviction. 

Chapter 2.   

Kouri was born in Utah into an unhappy family and had a difficult childhood, particularly as her mother was a compulsive gambler and her father spent considerable time in jail over an alcohol related traffic death.

Kouri graduated from high school and went to college part-time. Financial pressures meant that she often worked as a house cleaner after study , and she eventually took a job in a super-market at the check-out counter. Very attractive – some would say cute looking – Kouri had no trouble attracting men.

One day Eric Richins, an very fit-looking man with a pleasant face, was at the check-out counter when one of Kouri’s co-workers cheekily suggested that he should ask Kouri for a date. It was not long before Kouri became pregnant and they decided to marry. She was little more than a teenager with little life experience but had an underlying ambition for something better than her previous circumstances and the idea of family life with Eric was appealing.

Like Kouri, Eric was no intellectual but was from a conservative Mormon family, worked hard as a partner in a construction sub-contracting business and – being nearly a decade older than Kouri – already had his own home. 

Eric’s Mormon family were very involved in his life, and his mother had even presented Kouri with a pre-nuptial agreement on the eve of her wedding – when she was already pregnant with Eric’s child!

Kouri felt Eric’s family were not very accepting of her but she was determined to make the best of the situation and put effort into trying to please them and Eric -- and eventually had three children! 

Eric had an unpleasant side to his personality. While outwardly nice to everyone, Eric liked being in control and found it hard to relax. He would often arrive home after work and, while never physically violent to Kouri, would speak harshly to her or just ignore her. At such times Kouri would look forward to the next time that Eric would go on one of his long hunting trips with his best friend and business partner, Brian.

As a result of several instances of unprovoked or excessive anger, including one on a hunting trip that nearly broke their friendship, Brian had suggested that Eric undertake an anger-management course and he eventually started a journal in which he tried to write about his feelings if they seemed to be overwhelming him. 

After 5 years of marriage and the birth of three sons Kouri was looking for a way out of the situation. It upset her that the pre-nuptial agreement meant that her “family” home remained solely owned by Eric and he refused to change the situation – suggesting that this was not possible because his own parents had financially assisted him with its purchase! 

Kouri began to think of possible ways to own her own house and decided that she could make money by buying properties, renovating them, and selling for a profit – a process commonly known as house flipping. When she suggested this idea to Eric he was dismissive about her ability to do this. In any case, he said, she should be happy being the good wife looking after the children and the “family” home – a comment that riled Kouri because she felt the “family” home could never be hers! 

Eric was also getting a little tired of Kouri who shared few interests with him apart from the children. Kouri was not an outdoors type of person – and certainly not a hunter for horned trophies to put on the wall. Moreover, Eric’s parents and siblings had made it clear that they were not enthusiastic about socializing with Kouri who they thought was not serious enough about religion and its responsibilities.

Oddly, one of the sisters had taken to referring to Kouri’s sons as “my boys” – a term which increased Kouri’s sense of insecurity! This sense was heightened when Kouri was told by a school friend that Eric had been seen in a bar in another town hugging a woman. When Kouri confronted Eric he said she was just the wife – “a stupid chick” -- of a man that he and Brian sometimes hunted with and was going through a hard time with him. Eric claimed to have only been consoling her, but Kouri did not believe this and Eric ended up spending several weeks living with his parents. 

Kouri then decided to make – what she thought as – a business move. Despite having no equity in the family home, she managed to obtain $250,000 against it by claiming that Eric wanted to borrow the money and that she had power of attorney to set this up. This was to be the initial stake in her future house flipping business.

Eric was furious when he found out and asked his parents and siblings what he should do. They advised divorce and Eric’s brother-in-law arranged an appointment with a divorce lawyer. But Eric did not file for divorce because he was concerned about access to his children and about how Kouri would use his anger-management issues against him in any custody dispute. 

Instead of divorce, Eric moved the family home into a legal trust vehicle and appointed one of his sisters, Katie, as the trustee in the event that anything happened to him. Kouri was not informed about this move. 

Kouri promised to repay the $250,000 when she flipped her first property – and did so by borrowing funds against another property that she had purchased. Kouri tried to partially mollify Eric by telling him that his construction business would get many renovation contracts from her house flipping.

Kouri’s had visions of herself as a business executive that were not matched by reality. She could see a business possibility but was not as good at measuring probability of success. It was not long before she was in almost continual debt to several banks and other (often short-term) lenders and moving funds between various accounts to try to stay afloat. 

An example was to be revealed sometime later in her murder trial. Kouri tricked her “best friend”, Chelsea, by claiming to have sold her a house and be passing on Chelsea’s monthly mortgage payments. In reality Kouri had not officially transferred title to Chelsea but had instead transferred it to someone else. Kouri had effectively sold the house twice! Chelsea and her family were evicted from the house after Kouri was arrested for Eric’s murder. 

Eric Richins died on the evening of 3 March 2022 from a massive overdose of fentanyl -- about five times what would normally be considered fatal. He was 39 years old and there was no other plausible explanation for his death. Kouri, who was the only person in the house at the time apart from the children all aged 10 or less, claimed to not know where fentanyl came from and how it entered Eric’s body. 

Police body-cams recorded both emergency and police activities after they arrived following a 911 call by Kouri. She is shown to be very upset and police helped her call her mother Lisa who soon arrived.

The body-cam recordings showed that neither Kouri or Lisa showed much concern for the children who would almost have certainly been awake because of the commotion involving the presence of emergency personnel and police. Kouri even, at one stage, noted that they would be awake with “ear to the door” but made no move to attempt to comfort them. 

Eric’s sister, Katie, arrived and almost immediately exerted her authority asking “where are my boys” – ie her nephews – and soon telling one of the police: “I am everything for his will” and “I am his power of attorney.” 

Kouri was convicted of murder on the basis of motives – financial and desire to be with her lover – and evidence that she purchased fentanyl. 

Chapter 3.   

After talking to Beryl as suggested by Lisa, Emily-Grace reconsidered what she knew and felt confident about, and what only might be true. 

She was confident that Avigail was a real person at the MyNewLife wellness retreat when Kouri and Beryl were there. Avigail hated her husband, wanted to get away from him and was very manipulative. Kouri spent a lot of time with Avigail and was apparently fascinated by her.

There might have been an envelope, but there was no indication about what it should have contained except that Kouri believed it would help her case. 

Emily-Grace told herself that logic said she should give up on this issue and find a more believable story to report on to boost her career. But she could not put the issue aside and she continually ran scenarios through her mind, trying to flesh-out the story that Lisa had told her. 

A possible scenario, constructed by Emily-Grace, was: 

Avigail was worried that she would lose custody of her children if she filed for divorce. Avigail fantasized about killing her husband but was afraid that, however it was done, there would be an evidence trail leading back to her. During a walk in the garden of the wellness retreat, Avigail asked Kouri to help her get fentanyl so she could poison her husband. Kouri had agreed and Avigail had given her a large amount of cash to buy the fentanyl and take it to her in New York. The prospect of going to New York would have excited Kouri and she envisioned Avigail – who would receive a large amount of money from life-insurance if her husband died -- as an investor in her house flipping business. 

Emily-Grace herself had never been to New York so her imagination liked the idea of Kouri being excited about going there! 

Court proceedings showed that Kouri asked her occasional house-cleaner if she knew how to get fentanyl and it was not long before it was supplied. Then what happened?

Based on what Lisa had said and some indications about Eric’s personality, Emily-Grace imagined another scenario which went as follows: 

Kouri was in her kitchen about 9 pm handing over a cash payment to her house-cleaner after receiving the fentanyl when she heard Eric come into the house. Kouri quickly led the house-cleaner to the front door passing Eric on the way. While Eric was surprised to see the house-cleaner there at that time he said nothing because he was in one of his bad moods and went straight to the kitchen. After receiving the fentanyl Kouri had been uncertain where to store it and when she heard Eric come home she had grabbed a glass from a shelf and put the fentanyl in it. When Kouri had returned to the kitchen after seeing off the house-cleaner, Kouri was horrified to see that Eric has poured his beer into the very glass in which she had put the fentanyl. She moved to take the glass from Eric, saying “don’t drink that”, but Eric pushed her away saying “leave me alone” and then proceeded to again berate her for “stealing $250,000”. Eric then got up and took the glass of beer into the dining room. Kouri’s mind sensed that Eric was in danger but her emotions paralyzed her – if something happened, then he deserved it! The children had just been put to bed so Kouri was now left alone to think about the situation. She stayed in the kitchen and did nothing! Eric apparently did not quickly drink the beer so it was sometime – perhaps half an hour before Kouri heard him leave the dining room and go to their bedroom. It was perhaps another half an hour before Kouri summoned the courage to go to the bedroom where Eric lay on the bed not moving. Kouri changed into her pajamas and tried to decide how to handle the situation. This series of events had not been her plan but the end-result was – at least in part -- what she wanted. Eventually, after several hours, she decided that she must call the 911 emergency number. 

After constructing these possible scenarios in her imaginative mind, Emily-Grace was still left with the issue of the envelope. 

When Kouri eventually indicated to Lisa that she should open it Lisa was surprised that it contained only a folded blank sheet of paper. Kouri began screaming when told about this, saying again and again: “It’s Avigail. It’s her fault. Avigail killed Eric.” When Kouri told her lawyers the story she had told her mother about purchasing the fentanyl to give to Avigail, they pointed out that Kouri had no evidence to support this claim. Even if it was true, they said, Kouri had at least engaged in a conspiracy to murder Avigail’s husband. Moreover, Kouri could not explain he how Avigail had managed to swap the agreed and signed document – if it had ever existed -- with a blank piece of paper in the envelope for her. While Lisa was in favor of Kouri now making the envelope claim in court about fentanyl for Avigail, Kouri’s mind focused on “beyond reasonable doubt”. She intended to completely escape the murder charge by denying any knowledge about fentanyl. As it turned out, her confidence – once again -- far exceeded her ability! 

Chapter 4. 

Emily-Grace’s career as a young journalist had been much less interesting than she had imagined when she got her first bottom-rung “production assistant” job with ABC4 (KTVX-TV). Her father had died from cancer when she was sixteen and with two younger siblings Emily-Grace felt that she should get a job. Her mother knew that she was very intelligent, curious and loved to write, so a sort of informal compromise was reached when Emily-Grace was offered a job with a local media outlet – she could live at home without any payment as long as she cared for her younger brother and sister and kept the house while her mother worked long-hours as a cleaner. 

Emily-Grace was later to reflect that her difficult family background was not dissimilar to that of Kouri Richins and that probably made her initially sympathetic to, and curious about, her life and circumstances.  

Emily-Grace decided to visit the MyNewLife wellness retreat to finally try and draw a line under all this and get on with a more sensible professional life. She did not dare tell her boss, Anna, as she was concerned she would be told to “stick to the real world” even if her ambition and imagination was appreciated.

Emily-Grace did not have a car so she travelled to the retreat on one of her free days spending many hours on public transport and finally in a taxi. Arriving unannounced at MyNewLife, Emily-Grace felt she had little choice than to introduce herself as a journalist who wanted to write a feature article about regional wellness retreats for a new health magazine that was to be soon launched in New York. She did not mention ABC4 (KTVX-TV) because she feared it might create suspicion given Kouri Richin's well known interview appearance to promote her book -- “Are You With Me?” -- about how she and her children had copped with grief after Eric’s death! 

This ruse gave her the excuse to ask the manager about clients who came to the retreat and any possible New Yorkers who could provide positive recommendations. This request was firmly rejected on confidentiality grounds. Emily Grace had made no headway and was about to leave so when she noticed that a middle-aged woman, who was a dressed as a cleaner – and was possibly an illegal immigrant – had been watching her carefully after over-hearing some of her questions. 

The journalist in Emily-Grace decided to try one last thing before she admitted that she had been silly and naïve to believe the story told by Lisa, so she waited until the cleaner had finished her shift work and followed her to her car. 

“I am scared they will deport me or they will kill me?” she blurted out even before Emily Grace could say more than a few words. 

The cleaner had been in the main office wiping things when Avigail came in wanting to use the photocopier. Avigail must have pressed the wrong button on the machine because it made more copies than she wanted and she quickly tried to grab them as they kept coming out and spilling on to the floor. Just then Kouri came into the office and together they very quickly collected all the pieces of paper and left. However, when the cleaner started to wipe down the copier she saw that a sheet had fallen between the copier and the wall. She took it out to give to Avigail and Kouri but also quickly saw that there were some words about killing someone. The cleaner had immediately been gripped by fear that Avigail and Kouri might see that she had read it, so she crunched it up and threw it in the bin. When she later emptied the bin she retrieved the paper. She thought she understood its meaning but as an illegal immigrant she could not report it to the police. Still, she had reasoned, the document was too consequential to be simply discarded, so she had kept it – in her car! 

The document was headed “Covenant for Life and Death” and said: 
“Avigail Slavin and Kouri Richins both have husbands who are aggressive and manipulative, creating fear and distress in them and their children. Their situations are so bad that both Avigail and Kouri have at times contemplated suicide but have been constrained by the knowledge that this would leave the children at the mercy of abusive and unstable fathers. Both husbands are wealthy men with influential families and have threatened to deny Avigail and Kouri access to their children in the event of divorce. Avigail and Kouri pledge to help each other in any way possible to change these situations and accept that it may be necessary for their husbands to be permanently removed from the scene.” 
At the bottom were signatures of “Avigail Slavin” and “Kouri Richins”. 

It was only in seeing this document that Emily-Grace finally realized how much Kouri – and possibly Lisa -- had been lying! But just as importantly for Emily-Grace, there was a very exciting story to follow up on in New York! 

Chapter 5. 

There were two problems to be faced before Emily-Grace could go to New York, and she decided to ask her boss at ABC4 (KTVX-TV) to help on both. Anna sat for a while reading the signed document and then said: “Kouri Richins signed many documents in her strange career. Can you get some examples that were presented as evidence in the trial?”

Several hours later an excited Emily-Grace was back in front of Anna with several signature examples. After examining these and again looking at the Covenant for Life and Death document, she said: “Wait here.” Emily-Grace knew that her boss would consult further up the line but was anticipating a positive result – particularly as Kouri had appeared on ABC4 (KTVX-TV) to promote a book about how she and her children had copped with grief after his death! 

It seemed like eternity and Emily-Grace felt crushed when her boss returned with a solemn look. “It was a hard sell”, she said as a smile began to cross her face. “Utah is a Mormon state and there is a lot of sympathy and respect for the Richins family here. We need a good research report before considering any further production for showing. Focus your report on Avigail and not Kouri who is still guilty of killing Eric!” 

Emily-Grace knew that she now had a “once in a life-time” career opportunity! “
Just remember that you are working for us”, added Anna who understood how ambitious Emily-Grace was. “Be careful and call me twice a day – morning and evening! Go to accounts, they are expecting you. They will give you funds – not a lot, but enough to get you to New York and keep you there for a few days.” 

The next task was to find contact details for Avigail Slavin in New York. A simple Google search turned up a number of possibilities but Emily-Grace did not have a photo of Avigail whom Kouri’s friend Beryl had described as a “tallish blue-eyed blond with a good figure”. Emily-Grace had better luck when she Googled “Neville Eisenberg lawyer” which gave a telephone number for his law firm, and even more luck when “Neville Eisenberg Avigail Slavin” yielded a photo of them together attending a social function which was reported in an online monthly Jewish magazine. 

Emily-Grace was very excited as she boarded the airplane for her first ever flight and – even more excitingly – it was going to New York. She had booked a modest hotel room in the center of the city which appeared to be not too far from Neville Eisenberg’s law firm offices. 

Even before she unpacked her single piece of luggage, Emily-Grace called Neville’s law firm on her cell-phone. Put through to Neville’s secretary, Emily-Grace introduced herself as a young independent journalist from Utah wanting to write some profiles of “women behind the careers of successful lawyers”. His secretary did not sound convinced and Emily-Grace feared that she had no other way to get to Avigail. She called Anna in Utah as agreed and then spent a depressing evening alone in her hotel room desperately trying to think about what to do next.

It was a relief when her cell-phone rang a little after 10 next morning. “Emily-Grace? This is Avigail Slavin. I understand that you want to interview me about women behind successful male lawyers.” 
Emily-Grace felt her heart rate go up and took a deep breathe while doing her best to sound calm: “Yes. It would be great if I could talk to you.” 
Avigail sounded pleased. “We can meet at twelve o’clock at a café.”
Emily-Grace was disappointed that she had not been invited to Avigail’s home – wherever it was -- but she had asked where Emily-Grace was staying and said she would find a nice café in the area. Fifteen minutes later Emily-Grace received a text message with an address. 

There was something intimidating about Avigail that made Emily-Grace feel uncomfortable. This discomfort increased when Avigail pressed her on where the article was likely to be published and what other “wives or partners” she was contacting. This last question, which Avigail repeated, took Emily-Grace by surprise. She had, stupidly she realized, not thought about this and had no answer. 

Avigail smiled: “I know who you are. You have photos on Instagram. What do you really want?”
Emily-Grace again admonished herself: “I am sorry that I tried to deceive you. I need to do a background story on Kouri Richins and it is hard to get people in Utah to talk about her relationship with Eric’s Mormon family which are very respected. Kouri’s friend Beryl, who was with you at the MyNewLife retreat told me that you spent much time talking with Kouri and might have some insights.” 

Avigail showed no sign of surprise. “I saw reports of her murder trial. She was nice but I thought she was not very smart. Killing her husband and getting caught!”
Emily-Grace thought she noticed a note of contempt as Avigail spoke her last words. Avigail pushed her chair back and standing up said: “I am afraid I can’t help you. Now, I have things to do and must go.”
She shook the hand of Emily-Grace and left. 

Chapter 6. 

Emily-Grace was thankful that Utah time was a couple hours behind New York so she had most of the morning to think about how to tell Anna that she had met Avigail but had learnt nothing.

She was about to make the dreaded call when her cell-phone rang.
Emily-Grace?” asked the caller.
“Yes”.
“This is Neville Eisenberg. I think you met my wife Avigail yesterday. If possible, I would like to meet you today.”
“Yes. Of course! When? Where?”

Neville said there was a small park near the stand where he bought his coffee several times a day, and they settled on three o’clock. Neville turned out to be aged in his mid-fifties, with both pleasant appearance and personality. He showed little sign of being aggressive in the way the “Covenant for Life and Death” document had suggested. 

“My secretary told me that she gave Avigail your number. I assume you did meet?”
Emily-Grace was surprised: “She didn’t tell you?”
“I didn’t ask. Can you tell me why you wanted to meet her?” 
Emily-Grace was now confused but repeated her story about wanting to know more about Kouri Richins.
Neville nodded: “My secretary thought so and urged me to meet you.”
“Your secretary?”
“She read about Kouri Richins being at a wellness retreat. Her cousin is part-owner and she had booked it for Avigail.”
Emily-Grace suddenly felt that her investigation might be going somewhere: “Your secretary is very efficient.”
“She has been with me for fifteen years. I don’t know what I would do without her.” 
“Avigail has had a tough life”, Neville continued. “Her parents hide their Jewish ancestry in Russia. She married and moved to Israel with her husband Oleg while her daughter Natasha from a previous relationship lived for a while with her parents in Russia. Oleg started drinking when his work ambitions failed and they divorced. They eventually came here and he has become a pest.” 

Neville lowered his head and seemed to hold his coffee cup more tightly: “I was hoping you might tell me about the wellness retreat. Avigail came back changed in some way. I don’t know how to describe it.” 
Emily-Grace then decided she had to take the plunge. “I think your wife wants to kill you!”
Neville looked at her for a moment, gave a slight smile, and said: “Avigail? Why do you think that?”
“Because Kouri Richins told her mother that she purchased fentanyl for Avigail to overdose you”.
Neville laughed, before saying: “Don’t be silly! Are you trying to create some story to get attention? Money?” 
Neville was now clearly angry, and Emily-Grace did not know what to say next. Neville just said, “I hoped you enjoyed the coffee”, and left without a further word. 

After Neville walked-off a young woman and young man approach Emily-Grace. Both appeared to be in their mid-twenties and well-dressed.
The young woman simply said: “I am Natasha. This is my boy-friend John.”
Emily-Grace was surprised: “Natasha? Oh! Avigail’s daughter?”
“Yes.” “Can we talk?” asked Natasha, motioning toward the bench where Emily-Grace had sat with Neville.
“How did you know who I was?” asked Emily-Grace. “And how did you find me?”
“John’s mother is Neville’s secretary. That’s how we met. John has told her all about Avigail.” 
“She is a heap of shit”, said John in an angry voice.
“No”, said Natasha. “She is my mother. She is just psychologically ill.”

John was not finished. “When Avigail punched and kicked Natasha, Neville said nothing. Even when he did, Avigail would say: 'She is my daughter, not yours!'"
Natasha put her hand on John’s arm trying to calm him. John swallowed his next words and grimaced before relaxing a little. 

Emily-Grace momentarily thought to ask about “punched and kicked” as she recalled that Kouri Richins had punched Amy, Eric’s sister, a few days after his death following a conversation about his financial decisions. 

But Natasha’s cellphone rang, and looking at caller ID she put a finger to her mouth indicating to John that he should be quiet. John was closer to Natasha than Emily-Grace and she could see his anger return as he listened to the conversation.
After listening for a while Natasha said: “I cannot come tonight. I need to ....”
Emily-Grace did not hear what the caller said next but it clearly had an effect on Natasha. “Alright, I will come.”
Natasha lowered her phone and looked at John. She then turned to Emily-Grace and said: “I need to look after my siblings tonight.” 

It was clear to Emily-Grace that there was a problem but not knowing what it was she waited for Natasha to say something. She looked at John whose face showed anger but also an apparent determination not to speak. So, Emily-Grace decided that she needed to plough ahead: “I don’t know how serious all this is, but I will tell you what I told Neville.”
Natasha was clearly shocked but said nothing. John appeared less surprised and asked if Emily-Grace had the photocopy of the agreement signed by Kouri and Avigail.

When Natasha saw it she turned to John and asked: “What should I do?”
John clearly did not know what to say to her and after a pause turned to Emily-Grace and asked: “What will you do?”
Emily-Grace had thought about this and said: “I don’t know.” 

Emily-Grace noticed tears forming in Natasha’s eyes as she struggled with the situation, and then said: “I know she hates him.”
After a pause, Natasha added: “I love my siblings. If she did kill Neville, she would go to jail and they would have no parents.”
John was again stirred, saying to Natasha: “You always say that you would be a better parent to them than those two.”
This prompted an angry response from Natasha: “Shut-up John.” 

Natasha’s eyes were suddenly focused on something that appeared to be over Emily-Grace’s right shoulder. Her face froze as she said: “Oleg!”
Natasha turned to John and said: “I just saw Oleg. He was watching us.”
John: “That bastard.” Turning to Emily-Grace, he said: “You need to be very careful.”

John’s tone caused Emily-Grace to tense and she asked: “Why? Who is Oleg?”
Natasha: “My mother was married to him.”
Emily-Grace: “Oh! Neville talked about him. Said he was a pest!”
Natasha: “He is a bit crazy. Tells people he is an Orthodox Jew. Always asking my mother for money.”
John: “He’s a junkie.” 
Natasha then asked Emily-Grace: “What will you do now?”
Emily Grace: “I don’t know. I could go to the police, but …”
“No. No!” said Natasha. I will talk to my mother.” 
“Then I will walk back to my hotel”, said Emily-Grace after a pause. “It is close.”
“I will go with you”, said John who then looked at Natasha seeking some approval. “If Oleg is near he might follow her.”

Natasha nodded and they had barely left her when John quietly said: “I wanted to talk to you. Tell you about Avigail and her tricks”.

Chapter 7.

John was anxious to talk: “That call was from Avigail. She wanted Natasha to baby-sit the children tonight because she and Neville are going somewhere. When Natasha said she couldn’t, Avigail put her young sister on the phone while saying: 'Natasha hates you and does not want to look after you!'."

Emily-Grace looked at John with a questioning look: “She said that?”
John: “Typical Avigail! She could easily pay a baby-sitter. But she tries to manipulate Natasha because she knows that Natasha cares for those kids.” 

Given what she already knew about Avigail, Emily-Grace was not surprised that Avigail would do this and briefly wondered whether such psychological manipulation of children was a factor somewhere in the Kouri Richins story. 

John: “Avigail is not Jewish. Never was! She and Oleg forged some documents about being Jewish to get money and permission to live in Israel. Oleg had to leave Israel when he stole money and then did the same here.” 

This was the third and different account of Avigail’s life that Emily-Grace had heard. According to Kouri’s mother Lisa, Avigail had told Kouri that she was trafficked from Russia to New York as a Jeffrey Epstein victim. The second version, according to Neville, was that Avigail and her parents were really victims of antisemitism in Russia and, together with Oleg, she emigrated to Israel and then the United States. This third version, as told to John by Natasha, was that neither Avigail nor Oleg were ever Jewish but were both highly intelligent liars and fraudsters. 

John continued: “Oleg ended up in jail here for two years and then changed his surname – strangely, to Newton! I think he imagines himself as some genius like Issac Newton. Wants to be special! Avigail then began hanging out at the synagogue where she met Neville. Oleg was angry when he got out of jail and has hassled Avigail ever since.”
Emily-Grace: “Does Neville do anything about it?”
John: “No. He is too piss-weak!” 
Emily-Grace: “Why does Avigail want to kill him?”
John: “Neville sometimes says things to my mother. She’s been his secretary for many years. He thinks Avigail was reasonably happy until the birth of their second child. She had status as the wife of an important Jewish lawyer. Apparently, he is a friend of the president of Israel!”
Emily-Grace: “Did she become religious? Like a real Jew?”
John: “It’s hard to tell for sure but I think it is pretense and more about status.” 

As they walked a little further, Emily-Grace thought about the report she needed to write and said: “Kouri Richins could have just got a divorce. Avigail could get a divorce!”
John: “Yes. My mother told me about Kouri Richins. She thinks Neville also wants a divorce. He has not said so to her but she knows that he has met with a divorce lawyer.” 
Emily-Grace: “You mean they both want to divorce? So, why does Avigail want to kill him?”
John: “Life insurance money is probably one reason. My mother says there is a lot. Avigail even forged his signature on one policy so she would get more money but someone in the insurance company knew Neville and called my mother. Neville was shocked but as far as my mother knows he did nothing about it.” 

Emily-Grace took an extra breadth as she thought about Kouri Richins forging signatures on life insurance policies. 

John continued: “The other reason might be afraid that Neville would try to limit her access to their children if they divorce.”
Emily-Grace: “Why would he do that?”
John: “Natasha is not the only one Avigail has been violent with. There was some incident at a synagogue when Avigail kicked a kid – and this caused lots of problems. Neville knows she is violent and seems to get nervous if he has a business trip for a few nights. I guess he is worried. That is why he asked my mother to find a good wellness retreat that might calm her down.” 

Emily-Grace: “I have tried to think about what Avigail and Kouri talked about at the retreat. I suppose Avigail could have suggested that Kouri approach Neville at his normal coffee stand, strike up a conversation, and slip the fentanyl into his drink.”
John: “I have seen photos of her. She is quite attractive and it would probably have worked.”
Emily-Grace: “But the big question is, was Avigail ever going to try to have Eric killed?”
John: “Probably ask Oleg to do it!”
Emily-Grace: “Is he really that bad?”
John just shrugged his shoulders and said: “His Instagram and Facebook pages have lots of photos of him with guns. Hunting!” 

Chapter 8. 

Natasha called Emily-Grace mid-morning the next day. “I talked to my mother last night”, she said. “John came with me and got into an argument with her. Neville was still there and he said something that John thinks you should know. He said that he would not let some journalist wreck his family.” 

Emily-Grace sat looking out of the window of her hotel room thinking about what to do next. The view was bleak – just another grey looking building – and she thought how nice it would be in Utah -- leaving her mother’s home in the morning and going to her work. And, with much less stress than she now felt! 

Her cell-phone rang. “This is Neville Eisenberg. I have a proposition for you. I will give you $50,000 to leave New York and forget everything you know about Avigail and any connections to Kouri Richins.”
Emily-Grace took a deep breathe.
Neville clearly heard it. “How much do you get as a journalist?” he asked. “I bet it would be less than that for a whole year.”
When Emily-Grace did not answer, Neville said: “Alright, $100,000. You will be wise to take this offer. Avigail is very angry!”
There was a clear threat in those last four words. Emily-Grace looked out the window once again and after a pause said: “Ok.”
Neville: “I will meet you at 4pm at the same place as last time. Make sure you are on a flight to Utah tonight!” 

Emily-Grace’s mind was in turmoil as she sat in the taxi on the way to meeting Neville. She was betraying what she had perceived as her ethics, but there seemed little point in pursuing a story that was going no-where. And the money was needed. Her mother deserved some relief from the many hours she worked as a cleaner. And, Emily-Grace was not even sure she would still have a job in Utah! 

Neville was waiting near his usual coffee stand with a cup in his hand. He motioned Emily-Grace to a quieter place further into the small park, turned to face her and then handed her a small package taken from a plastic bag while saying: “Emily-Grace, this is the $100,000 that you asked for to stop persecuting my wife Avigail.” 

Emily-Grace thought there was something strange about Neville’s words. They seemed very formal and rehearsed. She then noticed that a man was standing about 3 meters to her left and he was filming them.
Neville smiled: “New York has very heavy penalties for blackmail. Not to mention the end of your journalistic career!” 
Emily-Grace felt her heard sink as she watched Neville and the man with the camera walk away. She sat on a bench with the package still in her hands for some time trying understand how this had happened. She felt a need to toss the package into a nearby bin but checked herself. That would achieve nothing -- and maybe even make a bad situation worse! 

Her cell-phone rang. It was Avigail and she had a clearly triumphant voice: “Emily-Grace, you know that New York prisons are not like those where stupid Kouri is. Much dirtier and more dangerous. A lot of women get raped. I might even organize it.”
When Emily-Grace did not respond, Avigail gave a short laugh and hung up after saying: “Bye-bye!” 

As she packed her bag in her hotel room, Emily-Grace did not pause to try to book a flight to Utah. She felt too numb to think about anything other than packing her bag and getting to the airport -- away from this hotel room and away from New York! She had opened the package and saw that there were many $100 bills but she made no effort to count it. For a moment she thought of leaving the money in the room but she reached out to get it before she opened the door. 

When she did she found a man blocking the way. He was tall with dark short hair, just as John had described Oleg. She tried to close the door, but he grabbed her and put his hand over her face. He then stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, pulled her slacks down to her ankles and pushed her back onto the bed. For a moment Emily-Grace thought that she was going to be raped, but Oleg had something else in mind. “The money. Where is it?” Oleg grabbed the plastic bag and tore open what remained of the package. He grabbed a glass from the desk and turned to Emily-Grace saying: “Don’t move!”

The hotel room and bathroom were small enough for Oleg to reach into the washbasin as he kept an eye on her through the open door and half-filled the glass with water. 

Relieved that she was not going to be raped, Emily-Grace relaxed a little as Oleg sat in a chair while never taking his eye off her. “That Kouri was so stupid”, he said. “All she had to do was come here and put the fentanyl in Neville’s coffee at the street-stand he always goes to. Avigail would have been free of him – and with lots of money! Now you – some stupid journalist – are causing more problems!” 

Sensing that Oleg wanted some sort of communication with her, Emily-Grace tried to sit up on the bed but Oleg menacingly said: “Stay there!” Her hands were still free so she put her right-hand to her mouth to take out the cloth, but Oleg angrily said: “Not yet.” 

“Not yet!” Emily-Grace felt another sense of relief as she took some comfort that this ordeal might soon be over. 
Oleg said: “I will let you go if you promise to leave New York and never write or talk about this to anyone.”
Emily-Grace nodded. She briefly thought of the irony that she was leaving anyway. Oleg stood up and took the cloth out of her mouth with his left-hand and offered her the glass of water with his right-hand. “Drink this. It will get rid of the taste.” 
Emily-Grace was momentarily disarmed by the apparent switch to kindness, but there was a tone of insistence in his voice that disturbed her.

There was a knock on the door. Oleg turned but did not move to answer it. Emily Grace managed to get out a small cry of “help”. The door opened and Neville appeared. He was breathing heavily but managed to say to Oleg: “Avigail told me you would be here.”
Oleg gave a short laugh: “She told me you would be here with $100,000!” 
Neville appeared surprised, paused for a moment and then asked: “Why would she tell you that?”
Emily-Grace sensed that Neville’s mind was now answering his own question. If it was not answering, Oleg intended to! “You are a fool, a sucker”, he said sneering at Neville: “She wants you dead. Wants me to do it. But, no thanks! I will just take the money.” 

As Oleg tried to leave with the plastic bag Neville stepped in front of him, but Oleg easily threw him to the floor and ran out of the room. Neville was breathing very heavily and Emily-Grace helped him standup.
“I am sorry”, he said. “I did not want this. Avigail is not all bad. She is basically a good mother. I need to protect my family.” 
Emily-Grace was shaking and looked toward the bathroom door. “I need to wash my face”, she said.
When she came out Neville was drinking the water from the glass. She said: “No. Not that! I think Oleg was trying to poison me.” 
Neville gasped, took a step toward the bed and then collapsed on it. Emily-Grace quickly called hotel reception. When emergency staff arrived less than 20 minutes later Neville was still breathing.

Emily-Grace then called Natsha who arrived about an hour later – and together they went to the hospital where Neville was. On the way in the taxi Natasha called Avigail. As far as Emily-Grace could tell listening to the conversation, Avigail did not give much of a response. 

Several police arrived at the hospital about the same time as Avigail who began to display great emotion when told that Neville was dead. Natasha moved to console her mother, but Emily-Grace noticed that Avigail made only a momentarily effort to reciprocate.

Emily-Grace suddenly thought about the police-cam footage of Kouri Richins after they arrived following her 911 call. In contrast to Kouri’s excessively performative and insincere anguish and foot stamping, Avigail presented a more constrained and -- frankly – believable act. 

Avigail turned to Emily Grace: “Why was he there with you? Were you trying to blackmail him about some fanciful idea – or was it simple prostitution?”
Emily Grace was taken aback by this attempt to implicate her and did not know how to respond. She looked at Natasha who was looking at her mother and crying.

A plain-clothes detective had now arrived and took the two uniformed police officers aside. After a minute or so he came up to Emily-Grace and said: “We need to go back to the hotel room.” 

Sitting in the police car Emily-Grace tried to process the situation. Would they believe anything that Avigail had said? One of the first things that the detective did in the hotel room was to put on latex gloves and put the glass which Neville had drank from in a container. Another detective arrived, and then a forensics team, and Emily-Grace was asked several times to describe all that had happened – and fingerprinted. It was a long process and it was soon midday – almost 3 hours after Oleg had first appeared. 

“Where will you stay tonight?” The question from one of the detectives jolted Emily-Grace who had not thought this far ahead. Just then Natasha and John arrived. When the detective asked the same question again, Natasha said: “With us. She will stay with us.”

Emily-Grace felt a surge of relief! The detective looked at Natasha for a moment and then nodded. “We will need to talk more tomorrow.” He then paused for a moment, before saying: “This Oleg might …”
John cut him off, saying: “She will be safe with us.”

Chapter 9.

As they entered the hotel lift the only thing that Emily-Grace could say was “thankyou”. 
“We do not have a spare bedroom, so you will have to sleep on the couch”, said Natasha.

Emily-Grace could almost feel the anguish that Natasha was experiencing. John poured 3 small glasses of wine, but Natasha stayed in the kitchen. She emerged about 15 minutes later and Emily-Grace could see that she had been crying. “I am worried about the children. Is there some way we can keep my mother out of this. Not blame her for Neville’s death or anything else?” 
Emily-Grace had already noted that Natasha had never used “Mum” when referring to Avigail and understood that Natasha was more concerned for her siblings rather than her mother. Yet, Avigail was still her mother! 

There was a knock on the door and John opened it after looking through the peak-hole.
Avigail strode in and said: “I made a mistake. I believed Kouri. She manipulated me by saying how bad her life was and begged me to help her. I only agreed to sign the note to please her.” 

Emily-Grace thought the idea that Kouri had manipulated Avigail to be ridiculous. Avigail was by far superior in intelligence, guile and certainly a better actor! 

Avigail’s words sounded rehearsed. She then paused and looked at everyone. To Emily-Grace it seemed Avigail was trying to evaluate the reaction to her statement. Natasha seemed to accept what Avigail had said and moved toward her with her arms extended but John, ever protective of Natasha, took Avigail by the arm and led her to the door!
Natasha began sobbing saying: “She is my birth mother”. 

Emily Grace felt uncomfortable staying with Natasha but was fearful of staying by herself in a hotel, so – after checking with the police the next morning – she booked a flight back to Utah. Both Natasha and John accompanied her to the airport.

There was not much conversation in the taxi, but Natasha’s use of the term “birth mother” prompted Emily-Grace to think about the fact that both Kouri and Avigail had three children with husbands which they didn’t seem to like. When Emily-Grace referred to this, Natasha said:“I once asked her why she kept having children and she said they grow up and go away.”
Emily-Grace: “I don’t understand.”
John: “Avigail likes being in control. It’s easier to control kids when they are small and at home. This is why Natasha should have left home earlier than she did.” 

Emily-Grace let the subject drop, but later reflected on an earlier conversation in Utah when it was suggested that the “Are You With Me?” book was about emphasizing to Eric’s family that she was in control. 

When Emil-Grace got off the plane, a message from John informed her that Oleg had been killed by police in a shoot-out after he was stopped by police trying to leave New York. The $100,000 was found with Oleg and the police decided that it should probably – after further enquiries -- be returned to Emily-Grace as the rightful owner. Emily-Grace had already denied any attempt at blackmail and said Neville had just showed up at the meeting with the money and had attempted to convince her to “stop looking for a story to write connecting Avigail with Kouri Richins”. 

This was not quite the truth as Emily-Grace skipped telling the police that she had initially agreed to accept the money. She had no proof that a man had filmed her meeting with Neville and she mentioned it to no-one.

Chapter 10. 

There was not enough evidence to charge Avigail with – or likely convict “beyond reasonable doubt” – any crime. Avigail claimed that she only signed the “Covenant for Life and Death” note with Kouri to please her. 

The death of Neville Eisenberg was reported in various media outlets as due to a heart-attack. Several reports described him as being survived by his loving wife Avigail and three children. 

This left the issue of Emily-Grace’s report for her employer ABC4 (KTVX-TV)! A discussion with Anna -- and her boss – after she had returned to Utah led to the conclusion that the relatively small television station could do nothing with her “research”. It was now more a New York story than a Utah story and there was no-one who could or wanted to be interviewed on camera. While she was disappointed, Emily-Grace had impressed the people above her and was told she would now be given the opportunity to pursue more Utah stories and even present them on camera. 

There was clearly a story to be written – and published somewhere – but Emily-Grace decided that it would be unfair to Natasha. She decided that if she was to receive the $100,000 she would give it to Natasha to help her and John get on with their lives away from their small apartment and – crucially – away from Avigail! 

It was only few weeks later that Emily-Grace heard that Avigail had appeared on a New York pod-cast to talk about Neville and how his untimely death had affected her and the children. When asked how she was coping, Avigail said she was busy caring for her children and was doing some writing. 

“Writing! Writing what?” Emily-Grace was sure that whatever Avigail was writing, it would be self-promoting and lies – just as with Kouri Richins! The only difference was that Avigail was likely to be less loquacious. 

Shocked at this certain Kouri-like self-promotion, Emily-Grace decided that she needed to reconsider her decision not to write about the whole affair. She would use pseudonyms instead of real names in some cases and write it as a work of fiction. 

Even before she wrote her first words, Emily-Grace knew the article or novel would conclude with:

“Kouri and Avigail were mismatched murderous minds. Kouri, a woman of average ability, eventually saw murder as the only way to achieve her outsized ambitions. It began when she fell under the influence of Avigail, a brilliant narcissist who aimed to manipulate Kouri’s ambitions for her own malevolent desires. Avigail ultimately gave little thought to the price paid by Kouri as she enjoyed the benefits of her own plotting.”