A grief author accused of poisoning her husband with a fentanyl-laced cocktail has claimed a damning letter found in her jail cell is merely an excerpt from her new book. Kouri Richins, 33, is facing charges of aggravated murder and three counts of drug possession with intent to distribute over the March 2022 death of her husband Eric Richins. Ms Richins allegedly killed her husband of seven years and father of her children by slipping a lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow Mule he later drank. Before her arrest earlier this year, Ms Richins self-published a children’s book about grief based on her children’s experiences after they lost their father. Last week, the 33-year-old was charged with witness tampering after a letter was found in her cell in which she allegedly asked her brother to “falsely” testify that her husband died after ordering drugs and pills from Mexico. But now, in a phone call to her mother, Ms Richins has claimed the incriminating letter was simply part of a fictional book she is writing about her stay in a Mexican prison, according to court documents. “When I first got in here I was telling you how I was writing a book … those papers were not a letter to you guys, they were part of my freaking book … I was writing this fictional mystery book,” Ms Richins says in the call, according to a court filing. “I go to Mexico and I’m like trying to find these drugs … I’m writing about Dad … like me and Dad went to Mexico to find these drugs … you can very much tell that the whole thing is very much a story … then I get in the Mexican prison … I said have Skye sneak me in some white strips because my teeth are getting yellow because all we do is drink coffee in the Mexican prison.” In the jailhouse letter, Ms Richins told her mother to instruct her brother, Ronald Darden, to testify that her husband got fentanyl from Mexico. “Here is what I’m thinking but you have to talk to Ronney,” Ms Richins wrote in the letter. “A year prior to Eric’s death, Ronny was over watching football and Eric and Ronny were chatting about Mexico trips. Eric told Ronny he gets painkillers [and] fentanyl from Mexico.” Ms Richins went on to write that Mr Darden “would probably have to testify to this but it’s super short not a lot to it”. She also said in the letter Mr Darden could take some liberties with the narrative as long as he got the point across. Prosecutors have previously said there is no evidence suggesting Mr Richins bought the fentanyl that killed him. In a request to the court filed on Tuesday, prosecutors said Ms Richins’ motion about the letter “contains factual errors and legal misunderstandings, rendering it unpersuasive at best”. Prosecutors have claimed that Ms Richins had previously tried to poison her husband after he consulted a divorce attorney on learning that his wife was $2m in debt. Ms Richins had also reportedly taken out at least four life insurance policies on her husband before allegedly poisoning him. Ms Richins has denied all the allegations against her. If convicted, she faces between 25 years to life in prison. Read More Grief author accused of killing husband with fentanyl allegedly asked brother to lie in letter found in cell Mother accused of killing husband with fentanyl-laced cocktail ‘misses her children’ in prison, lawyer says Utah woman who allegedly sold author Kouri Richins fentanyl used to poison husband appears in court

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Eddie Howe will send his Newcastle side into battle with Liverpool still haunted by the memories of their encounters last season. The Reds were the only club to complete a Premier League double over the Magpies, although they gained a measure of revenge when they went on to finish fourth – one place and four points better off than Jurgen Klopp’s men. However, Howe admits it does not take much to stoke memories of the Fabio Carvalho winner in the eighth minute of stoppage time which handed Liverpool victory at Anfield last August, or the red card in a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture which cost goalkeeper Nick Pope his place in the Carabao Cup final. Howe said: “I move on quickly from the game in the sense that then you have to prepare the next one, but I think the emotion of the game and the feeling and the memories of the game, they stay with you for some time. “The memories of last year’s games, they’re with me. I can visualise certain moments, but then you have to detach yourself from that and go, ‘right, how do we prepare this one?’, because whether it’s tactical or whatever the thing is that you think you can do better, it’s about then delivering that to the best of your ability. “There’s a lot of defeats in my management career that are still there and they just need probably the emotions stoking and they’ll come back to the forefront of my brain.” Newcastle’s resurgence, fuelled in large part by the wealth of their Saudi-backed owners, has seen them re-establish a rivalry with Liverpool which sparked a series of memorable encounters in the 1990s. Klopp has on more than one occasion taken aim at the Magpies, and the two coaching teams have at times enjoyed a frosty relationship on the touchline. However, Howe expressed surprise at the perception there is added needle between the two camps when they go head-to-head. Asked why he believed the rivalry had become so intense in recent seasons, he replied: “I don’t know. Has it? There will be moments and flash-points because they are two iconic clubs going against each other. Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe “Genuinely, I think the rivalry between Newcastle and Liverpool has always been there, historically. I don’t think it’s been ramped up particularly any more than it’s always been. “When the game’s been on historically over a number of years, it’s a game everyone will go, ‘I want to watch that, I want to see what’s going to happen’. “There will be moments and flashpoints because they are two iconic clubs going against each other. I don’t think it’s necessarily ramped up in the last two years.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Juanma Lillo says Man City ‘well managed’ as he fills in for Pep Guardiola On this day in 2014: Man Utd break British record to sign Angel Di Maria Daniel Dubois aiming to ‘bully and shake up’ Oleksandr Usyk in title showdown

As per close sources, it didn’t work due to their busy schedule and intense traveling