Trial date set for Kouri Richins

Kouri Richins looks on during a hearing held Monday, August 26, 2024 in Park City, Utah. Photo: AP Photo // Rick Bowmer

A Utah judge has scheduled Richins’ trial to begin on February 23, 2026, with jury selection set for February 10, confirming the case will be tried locally despite defense efforts to move it elsewhere.

PARK CITY, Utah — After more than two years of legal delays and mounting national attention, the high-profile murder case against Kouri Richins now has a trial date.

A Utah judge has scheduled Richins’ trial to begin on February 23, 2026, with jury selection set for February 10, confirming the case will be tried locally despite defense efforts to move it elsewhere. Richins, a children’s book author and Park City-area resident, is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, Eric Richins, in March 2022 with a lethal dose of fentanyl allegedly slipped into a cocktail.

The Summit County Attorney’s Office charged Richins with aggravated murder and multiple financial crimes, including insurance and mortgage fraud, in 2023. Since then, the case has faced numerous delays — including the withdrawal of Richins’ original legal team and, more recently, the failed attempt to change the trial venue due to concerns about pretrial publicity.

Earlier this spring, 3rd District Court Judge Richard Mrazik denied the defense’s motion to move the case out of Summit County. Richins’ attorneys appealed that ruling to the Utah Supreme Court, but the high court declined to intervene, clearing the way for the case to proceed in Park City.

Both the prosecution and defense had requested an expanded jury pool and in-person juror questioning, citing the intense media coverage, but those motions were also denied.

In a statement shared with TownLift, Richins’ attorneys, Kathy Nester and Wendy Lewis, said they were relieved the case is moving forward. “After two years in jail, we are relieved Kouri has a trial date. She is ready for the truth to come out — and for the false narratives that have defined this case to be confronted in a court of law.”

Richins remains in custody at the Summit County Jail as she awaits trial in one of the area’s most closely watched criminal cases in recent memory.