A Utah mother of three who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death will be tried for his murder, a judge decided on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Kouri Richins, 34, poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, 39, in March 2022, mixing a lethal dose of fentanyl into a cocktail he drank. A month earlier, on Valentine’s Day, she had tried to kill him by spiking his favorite sandwich, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Ms. Richins had killed her husband for financial gain, as she was deeply in debt, and that she was planning a future with a man she had been having an affair with.

Ms. Richins faces a total of 11 charges, including attempted murder, multiple counts of forgery, intent to distribute a controlled substance, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud. Ms. Richins has denied any wrongdoing. She pleaded not guilty to all counts, according to The Associated Press, and her trial is scheduled to start on April 28, 2025.

“We firmly believe the charges against Kouri do not withstand thorough scrutiny and are confident that a jury will find the same,” her lawyers said in a statement.

Ms. Richins, who wrote a children’s book about grief, was charged with murder last year.

In March 2022, Ms. Richins and Mr. Richins were celebrating the closing of a home sold by Ms. Richins, a real estate agent, according to court documents. She made her husband a Moscow Mule, which prosecutors allege Ms. Richins drugged and then brought to their bedroom, where Mr. Richins drank it in bed.