PARK CITY, Utah (Court TV) — A grief author accused of murdering her husband will face a jury next year.
Following a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Richard E. Mrazik set a trial date of April 28, 2025 for Kouri Richins . The trial is expected to last four weeks.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, looks on during a hearing Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
Kouri is facing a list of charges, including murder, for the death of her husband, Eric Richins, who prosecutors say was poisoned by a cocktail laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022. Kouri, who wrote a children’s book about her husband’s death, was charged with his murder one year later.
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In May, prosecutors filed an amended complaint against Kouri , adding financial crimes to the list of charges. The updated filing and its evidence forced a delay in the case, followed by a further delay after Kouri’s attorneys requested the prosecution be disqualified from the case before abruptly withdrawing themselves .
On Monday, prosecutors called a detective with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office to the stand who relayed his discussions with a housekeeper who allegedly sold the fentanyl Kouri is accused of using to kill Eric in March 2022.
On Tuesday, the hearing centered around an additional attempted murder charge filed in March that accused Kouri of slipping fentanyl into her husband’s favorite sandwich on Valentine’s Day, causing a severe but nonfatal reaction.
Summit County Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth defended the attempted murder charge by describing how he thinks Kouri learned lessons during the first unsuccessful attempt on her husband’s life that helped her carry out the killing 17 days later.
Prosecutors also relayed text messages between Kouri and her husband, as well as her friend and person with whom she was possibly having an affair.
Following the preliminary hearing, the judge ordered that Kouri be bound over on all charges, including homicide, attempted homicide, forgery and fraud. Kouri entered a plea of not guilty to 11 charges.
Kouri will be back in court Sept. 23 for a pretrial conference.
Scripps News Salt Lake City , an E.W. Scripps Company, contributed to this report.
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