Utah Grief author Kouri Richins is on trial for her husband's death by poisoning

A judge has ruled that Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who published a children's book about grief following the death of her husband and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, will go on trial.

Third District Judge Richard Mrazik ruled Tuesday that with the evidence presented, prosecutors had sufficient probable cause to charge Richins, 34, with alleged financial crimes and murder charges in connection with the death of her husband, 39-year-old Eric Richins, in March 2022.

Prosecutors accuse Kouri Richins of drugging a sandwich she gave her husband for Valentine's Day in February 2022. The murder attempt, which he survived, was presumably the result. The following month, prosecutors say, she spiked his cocktail with a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

According to a police report, Kouri Richins called 911 in the middle of the night in March 2022 to report that her husband “felt cold.” First responders were unable to resuscitate Eric Richins and he was pronounced dead. A medical examiner later found a lethal dose of fentanyl in his system that was five times the fatal dose.

Kouri Richins vehemently protested her innocence and pleaded not guilty to all eleven charges on Tuesday.

Summit County Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said on the second day of Richins' preliminary hearing Tuesday that she texted a man she was having an affair with the day after Valentine's Day 2022, writing that if her husband “could just disappear … life would be so perfect.”

Witness statements and deleted text messages recovered by police also reportedly indicate that Kouri Richins purchased the Valentine's Day sandwich at a local diner and fentanyl pills from the family's housekeeper.

Defense attorneys argued that investigators could not prove that the drugs Kouri Richins purchased from the housekeeper matched those found in her husband's body because no fentanyl was ever found in the Richins' home.

In the months before her arrest in May 2023, Kouri Richins, a mother of three, self-published the children’s book Are you with me? The book's plot revolves around a father who watches over his young son after his death. In the book, Kouri Richins dedicates her work to her “wonderful husband.”

Prosecutors could try to use the book against Richins by claiming it was written to cover up her alleged crimes.

Judge Mrazik called a pretrial conference for September 23, at which the prosecution and defense would discuss jury selection.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press.