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Utah judge to decide whether author of children's book about grief will face trial over death of her husband – Winnipeg Free Press

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah woman who authorities say poisoned her husband and then published a children's book about coping with grief is due in court Monday for a multi-day hearing to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence against her to proceed with the case.

Kouri Richins, 34, is charged with several serious crimes for allegedly killing her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl in their home in a small mountain town near Park City in March 2022. Prosecutors say she mixed five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a Moscow Mule cocktail that 39-year-old Eric Richins drank.

In March, she was charged with further charges, alleging that she had previously attempted to kill him with a sandwich laced with alcohol on Valentine's Day. She continues to maintain her innocence.

FILE - Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who wrote a children's book about dealing with grief after her husband's death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, looks on during a sentencing hearing May 15, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool, File)

FILE – Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who wrote a children's book about dealing with grief after her husband's death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, looks on during a sentencing hearing May 15, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool, File)

Utah State Judge Richard Mrazik had postponed the hearing in May after prosecutors said they would need three consecutive days to present their evidence. The case was further delayed when Kouri Richins' team of private attorneys withdrew from representing her. Mrazik concluded she could no longer afford the costs of her private representation and appointed public defenders Wendy Lewis and Kathy Nester to take on her case.

In the months before her arrest in May 2023, the mother of three self-published the children's book “Are You with Me?” about a father with angel wings who watches over his young son after his death. The book could play a key role in prosecutors' attempts to portray Eric Richins' death as a calculated murder with an elaborate cover-up. Prosecutors accuse Kouri Richins of making secret financial arrangements and purchasing the illegal drug when her husband began to suspect her.

Both the defense and prosecution plan to call witnesses and present evidence to support their accounts in the case. Mrazik is expected to rule after the hearing whether the state has presented enough evidence to proceed with a trial.