UTAH — A Utah judge sentenced Kouri Richins to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday for the 2022 fentanyl poisoning of her husband, Eric Richins. A jury convicted her in March of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder in the killing, which occurred on March 4, 2022.

Prosecutors said Kouri Richins laced a Moscow Mule cocktail with nearly five times a lethal dose of fentanyl, killing her husband while their sons slept in their home in Kamas, Utah. Two weeks before the fatal poisoning, she attempted to murder him by dosing his sandwich with fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said she planned to inherit her husband's $4 million estate to pay off her business debts and run away with her handyman lover. She was also found guilty of insurance fraud and forgery after she allegedly signed to close on a multimillion-dollar real estate deal the day after his death.

The trial took place in Park City, Utah, beginning in February and lasting about three weeks with 13 days of testimony. Kouri Richins did not testify, and her defense team did not call any witnesses.

Defense attorney Wendy Lewis addressed the sentence at the hearing. "A sentence of life without parole is saved for the most heinous crimes," Lewis said.

Members of Eric Richins's family addressed the court at the sentencing. "He believed Kouri was the most evil person he had ever met," Katie Richins-Benson said.

In court filings, Kouri Richins's eldest son said, "I'm afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family." She also faces additional criminal charges related to her financial dealings in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.

After her husband's death, Kouri Richins wrote and published a children's grief book titled "Are You With Me?" She promoted the book on local television and radio stations before her arrest.