Detectives portrayed in court on Monday how they caught a Utah mother known for penning a children’s book about grief and melancholy as the primary suspect in her husband’s deadly poisoning. The multiday hearing will decide whether prosecutors have sufficient proof against her to continue with a trial.

Kouri Richins, 34 years old, faces several felony charges for purportedly murdering her husband with a deadly lethal dose of fentanyl in March 2022 at their house near Park City. Prosecutors say she slipped five times the deadly dose of the engineered opioid into a Moscow mule cocktail that Eric Richins, 39 years old, drank.

Additional charges recorded in March indict her of a prior try to kill her husband with a spiked sandwich on Valentine’s Day. She has been stubborn in keeping up with the fact that she is innocent.

Detective Jeff O’Driscoll with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office was called to the stand Monday to present the state’s key witness, a house servant who claims to have sold fentanyl to Kouri Richins on three events.

Other witnesses include relatives of the defendant and her late husband and companions of Eric Richins, who have described phone discussions from the day prosecutors say he was first harmed by his wife of nine years.

Utah state Judge Richard Mrazik is anticipated to judge on Tuesday whether the state has displayed adequate proof to go forward with a trial.

In May, Kouri Richins was found blameworthy on misdemeanor charges of attacking her other sister-in-law after her husband’s passing. Amy Richins told the judge that Kouri Richins had punched her in the face after an argument over access to her brother’s safe.

Besides the murder, assault and drug charges, Kouri Richins has been charged with mortgage extortion, fraud and insurance fraud for supposedly producing loan applications and falsely claiming insurance benefits after her husband’s death.

A year and a half after her capture, she may learn on August 27 if she’ll be put on trial.

The second day of her preliminary hearing starts at 10 a.m. at the Silver Summit courthouse. Richins is being held without bond in the Summit County jail.