Closing arguments set in trial of children's book author charged with killinghusband

Lawyers are scheduled to make closing arguments at the trial of a Utah woman who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband and was later accused of killing him

PARK CITY, Utah -- Lawyers are expected to give closing arguments Monday in the trial of a Utah woman who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband and was later accused of killing him.

What was scheduled to be a five-week trial was cut short last week when defendant Kouri Richins waived her right to testify and her legal team abruptly rested its case without calling any witnesses. Richins' attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors didn't produce enough evidence over the past three weeks to convict her of murder.

Prosecutors say Richins, 35, slipped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a cocktail that she made for her husband, Eric Richins, causing his death in March 2022 at their home just outside the affluent ski town of Park City.

She also is charged with fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after her husband’s death, trying to kill him weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him black out, and other felonies, according to court documents. Richins has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The most serious charge — aggravated murder — carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.