The highly anticipated trial of Utah mom Kouri Richins is finally headed to trial.
Kouri is the 35-year-old mother of three who is accused of killing the father of her children, 39-year-old Eric Richins, with a poisoned Moscow mule.
The alleged murder took place in March of 2022. Prosecutors believe that Kouri gave her husband the drink, which was determined to be laced with fentanyl, with the intention of killing him for financial gain.
Authorities claim that this was not Kouri’s first attempt at killing her husband of 9 years. She is also accused of trying to poison him with a fentanyl-laced sandwich weeks before his eventual death.
Police further suspect that Kouri, who was allegedly having an affair with her handyman, was not only after Eric’s life insurance policy, but also his whopping $3.6 million estate.
However, it is what Kouri did after her husband’s death that has brought even further shock and public attention.
A year after Eric’s passing, Kouri wrote and self-published a children’s book about grief. The book, entitled Are You With Me?, is meant to help children grapple with the loss of a loved one.
Kouri went on to promote the book in a local television interview.
“We have three little boys, 10, 9, and 6, and my kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we’ve experienced in the last year,” she said during the interview that took place just one month before she was arrested.
Kouri even dedicated the book to Eric with an inscription that read, “Dedicated to my amazing husband and a wonderful father.”
The mom of three is facing a slew of charges, all of which she has pleaded not guilty to. These charges include aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, and drug possession.
Jury selection for the case began on Tuesday and is expected to take two weeks. If Kouri is convicted, she could be facing life in prison.