Woman pleads not-guilty in poisoning death of husband

GENEVA, Ill. (AP) - A suburban Chicago woman has entered a not guilty plea to charges she fatally poisoned her husband after prosecutors said she failed in a previous attempt.

Julia L. Gutierrez of Geneva is charged with first-degree murder in the January death of 53-year-old Eduardo Gutierrez. She entered her not guilty plea on Friday before Kane County Circuit Judge D.J. Tegeler.

The 53-year-old Gutierrez was indicted recently on two murder counts alleging she gave her husband a smoothie spiked with a fatal amount of prescription sleeping pills.

Tegeler denied a request by Assistant Public Defender Julia Yetter to set a bail amount for Gutierrez. She was ordered held without bond and placed on suicide watch at her initial hearing. The watch was rescinded after authorities determined she wasn't a threat to herself or others.