Mom who wrote book to help kids grieve after their dad's death will now stand trial for his murder
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Kouri Richins
Kouri Richins will stand trial for the murder of her husband, Eric Richins.
Eric died in March 2022 after being allegedly fatally poisoned by his wife Kouri.
She is believed to have mixed with fentanyl into a cocktail he drank, sparking the 39-year-old's death.
A medical examiner later found five times the lethal dosage of fentanyl in his system.
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Following Eric's passing, Kouri penned a children's book aimed at young people dealing with the loss of a parent - her own kids whom she shared with her late husband in particular.
Titled Are You With Me?, the book 'follows the story of a child who has lost their father, but who is reminded that his presence still exists all around them, just like an angel watching over them'.
Kouri went on to be charged and arrested in connection to Eric's murder in May 2023 and has since been hit with further accusations that she tried to kill her husband in the weeks running up to his death - but her plan didn't work.
It's said that the 34-year-old purchased a sandwich for her husband and laced it with fentanyl. He managed to survive the ordeal after using his son's EpiPen after breaking out with hives from eating the sandwich.
Kouri is now facing a total of 11 charges including attempted murder, multiple counts of forgery, intent to distribute a controlled substance, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud, the New York Times reports.
In a new update, a judge has now ruled that Kouri will stand trial and is expected to do so sometime next year.
On the second day of her preliminary hearing on Tuesday (August 27), Utah state Judge Richard Mrazik said that prosecutors had presented enough evidence against her to proceed with a jury trial.
At the hearing the mother pleaded not guilty to all charges she's facing, said CBS News.
A jury selection is scheduled to start on April 28, 2025.
As to why Kouri allegedly killed her husband, prosecutors believe that Kouri did it for financial gain because of the debt she was in. She was also supposedly planning a future with a man she was said to be having an affair with.
But the mom-of-three's lawyers are confident that a jury will rule in her favor.
"We firmly believe the charges against Kouri do not withstand thorough scrutiny and are confident that a jury will find the same,” they said in a statement following Tuesday's decision.