Prosecutors claim Kouri Richins, 33, poisoned Eric Richins, 39, last year by inserting five times the deadly quantity of fentanyl into a Moscow mule cocktail she mixed for him.
Following her husband's death, the mother of three self-published "Are You with Me?" a children's book about a deceased father with angel wings who watches over his sons. She advertised the book on television and radio, promoting it as a tool to help children cope with the loss of a loved one.
According to a court filing Friday, prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty after consulting with the victim's father and two sisters.
Following a hearing in June during which Richins' sister-in-law described her as "desperate, greedy, and extremely manipulative," a judge ordered Richins to remain in jail until trial.
Prosecutors claim Richins planned her husband's death for months, making financial arrangements and purchasing medications found in his system following his death in March 2022.
Richins' lawyers remind out that no narcotics were discovered at the family home following her husband's death. They've also argued that a witness, a housekeeper who claims to have sold the pills to Richins, had an incentive to lie because she was facing state and federal drug charges.
According to authorities, Richins altered the family's estate plans and obtained life insurance policies with benefits totaling roughly $2 million. Her lawyers argue that the prosecution's evidence based on financial reasons revealed she was "bad at math," and hence not guilty of murder.
Meanwhile, Richins is being sued for more than $13 million in damages for alleged financial malfeasance before and after his death.
Katie Richins, Eric Richins' sister, filed a case in state court accusing Kouri Richins of withdrawing money from her husband's accounts, diverting money intended to pay his taxes, and securing a false loan, among other things, before his death.
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