• American woman faces trial for allegedly killing husband to claim life insurance
• Case draws attention after she published a children’s book on coping with grief

A mother in Utah, Kouri Richins, who authored a children’s book about dealing with grief, is now standing trial nearly four years after her husband’s death.

Prosecutors accuse her of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in 2022, claiming she aimed to collect a substantial payout from his life insurance policies.

Richins has pleaded not guilty as jury selection begins.

According to the prosecution, a family gathering to celebrate the sale of a property ended tragically when Eric was found dead in their bedroom.

She faces charges including aggravated murder, attempted murder, filing fraudulent insurance claims, and forgery, along with additional financial charges added in 2025 that are still pending.

The case drew national attention after Richins published a children’s book on coping with loss following her husband’s death and later publicly proclaimed her innocence.

Friends and family described the couple as having an apparently “perfect” marriage: Richins ran a real estate company, while her husband owned a stone masonry business, and they had three children together.

Court documents allege that she was heavily in debt, fraudulently obtained life insurance policies on her husband, and attempted to poison him multiple times. Prosecutors claim she stood to gain nearly $2 million from the policies.

Her defense team emphasized that Richins had waited years for the case to be heard by a jury, away from media narratives, and insisted that the prosecution must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

The defense also suggested the possibility that Eric could have ingested the drug himself and challenged some of the prosecution’s evidence.

Meanwhile, Eric’s family expressed support for the prosecution and law enforcement in building the case.

The trial is expected to continue through late March, after a judge denied the defense’s request to move it to another city within Utah.

If convicted of the most serious charges, Richins could face life in prison, though prosecutors have stated they will not seek the death penalty.

Investigators reported that Eric was found unresponsive on March 4, 2022, after a celebratory drink at home, and he was pronounced dead at the scene despite resuscitation efforts.

The medical examiner found that his body contained five times a lethal dose of fentanyl, which was illicit and had been ingested orally.