A judge has ruled that a Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death will serve life in prison without parole for his murder. Kouri Richins was convicted in March of poisoning her husband, Eric, with fentanyl in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of insurance fraud, forgery, and attempted murder for a previous poisoning attempt. Prosecutors said she was in debt and had taken out life insurance policies on her husband. Her sons, now in the care of relatives, expressed fear of her release. Richins maintains her innocence and plans to appeal the conviction.

Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and life sentence for the deaths of his wife and son have been overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court because the court clerk at his trial suggested he was guilty. But the disgraced lawyer won’t be leaving prison anytime soon. Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh, which likely means there will be another lengthy trial for the case that because of the combination of money, power, Southern accents and treachery has become a true crime sensation with several streaming miniseries, best selling books and dozens of true crime podcasts. Murdaugh will remain in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.