By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-24 02:05:12 | Updated at 2024-11-30 02:52:19
6 days ago
A Colorado dentist who was accused of poisoning his wife's protein shakes last year faces new charges as his lawyer has bailed due to possible 'criminal' conduct.
James Craig was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder in March 2023 for allegedly dosing his wife, Angela, with a fatal dose of potassium cyanide, resulting in her death.
He then tried to persuade one of his daughters to dispose of key evidence in the case against him. Craig was also accused of trying to convince a fellow jail inmate to plant suicide letters in his residence.
The former dentist now faces charges of first-degree solicitation to commit perjury, according to a statement from the state's 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office, in addition to the first-degree murder charge to which he pleaded not guilty.
This comes one day after Craig's attorney withdrew from his case on the day jury selection for his trial was set to begin, NBC News reported.
The attorney said that he had a 'professional conflict' as well as other reasons, including that Craig 'persists in a course of action involving the lawyer's services that the lawyer believes is criminal or fraudulent,' the outlet reported.
Earlier this year he was charged with felony count of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence after his plot with his daughter was revealed.
On April 10, the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office filed a motion to add another 'tampering with physical evidence' count to the accused's charge sheet.
James and Angela Craig pose for a family picture with their six children
Earlier this year he was charged with felony count of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence after it was revealed that Craig tried to persuade one of his daughters to dispose of key evidence in the case against him
James Craig was arrested for murder after detectives discovered his wife Angela Craig, 43, had been fatally poisoned
Aurora Police Detective Bobbi Olson, the lead detective on the case, said that she spoke with an inmate who was imprisoned in a cell near Craig.
She told the judge and court that Craig reportedly told the inmate about his charges and asked them to place letters in his garage and truck at his home.
Olson testified that the letters were allegedly written from inside the prison and meant to appear as his deceased wife had written them.
According to the detective, the letters were meant to show that Angela was not happy with her life, felt suicidal and was aware about her husband's affair.
She testified that the entire point of those letters being written and spread across the house was so that law enforcement or defense attorneys could find them letters.
Olson also told the court that the accused murderer had offered the inmate free dental work or money in exchange for scattering the letters across his house.
However, the inmate did not take up the offer and instead contacted the authorities.
In a preliminary hearing last year, a prosecutor said that shortly after Craig started an affair, his online search history included the phrases: 'how to make murder look like a heart attack' and 'is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?'
According to the arrest warrant, their marriage had been strained for years with Craig having multiple affairs and Angela repeatedly saying she wanted to leave her husband.
His defense attorneys claimed that there was no direct evidence showing he had put the fatal dose of poison in his wife's drink and claimed Craig had been searching online for ways to take his own life, according to Associated Press.
Craig was arrested in Aurora, Colorado after his wife began feeling unwell after drinking a shake that her husband made her on March 6.
The mother of six visited the hospital multiple times over the following ten days and complained of nausea and dizziness.
According to the charging documents, Craig had researched poison on his office computer
Text messages Craig exchanged with Angela while she was in hospital fighting for her life
On March 15, her brother took her to the hospital again where she had a seizure and lost brain function.
While his wife was in hospital, Craig's mistress - who was uncovered to be 49-year-old Texan orthodontist Karin Cain - flew to Colorado to be with him between March 8 and March 10.
The husband and wife exchanged text messages throughout her hospital visits revealing that Craig had drugged Angela before and she was becoming suspicious of him as her condition worsened.
'Are you nauseous?' he asked his wife.
'No. I feel drugged,' she replied.
'Given our history, I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn't drug you. I am super worried though. You really looked pale before I left.'
Prosecutors allege that Craig first gave his wife the poison on March 6, in a shake he mixed before their workout.
According to the charging documents, Craig had researched poison on his office computer.
Search terms included: 'how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human'; 'Is Arsenic Detectable in Autopsy'; 'Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Signs of Foul Play'; 'how to make poison,' and 'The Top 10 Deadliest Plants (They Can Kill You).'
Angela Craig was taken to the hospital on March 15. She died on March 19, after four days on life support
Craig's mistress was uncovered as Texan orthodontist Karin Cain, 49. Pictures obtained exclusively by Dailymail.com show her in medical scrubs and a pair of sneakers
The text exchanges throughout Angela's hospital visits show Craig sending declarations of love.
At one point he apologized for not bringing her flowers in hospital, and said he was looking forward to her returning home and to the marital bed.
'I love you. It was so nice hanging out with you and just watching a show and snuggling,' he wrote on March 7 - the day after he allegedly administered the poison.
He tells her: 'I'm planning on coming home to eat lunch with you though.
'I'll need to ask you what you're hungry for and bring it to you. I'm kinda feeling just a smoothie or something.'
She tells him she's not hungry.
While she wrestles with her nausea, headaches, exhaustion and vomiting, Craig texts her repeatedly, telling her he loves her and wants her to recover.
'I'm going to trust that you are just sleeping and not dead somewhere,' he says at one point, when she fails to reply to his text.
He says he is 'heading home to make you some dinner.'
On March 9, Angela is in hospital. As her symptoms worsen, Craig texts his wife: 'Man, baby, you've got to stop scaring me like this! I love you so much, and I'm not used to all of this excitement!'
At the same time, prosecutors say, Craig's mistress was visiting him, having flown in from Austin, Texas.
On March 10, with his mistress still in town, Craig texts his wife: 'I wish I could have stayed longer. I love you and am so glad you seem to be doing better.'
On March 11, he tells his wife: 'I just work up dreaming about making love to you. I love you and I want you.'
As she is discharged, he tells her: 'I can't WAIT to see you at home in my bed tomorrow!'
She says she needs to stop vomiting before she can think about sex.
Craig is meanwhile ordering more poison, with a delivery of cyanide dispatched on March 13.
On March 14, she returned home, and accused her husband of trying to poison her, he told a confidant.
Craig allegedly first gave his wife the poison on March 6, in a shake he mixed before their workout
Craig told investigators Angela had been intentionally overdosing on opioids since had asked for a divorce in December 2022
Craig's internet history showed he placed an Amazon order for 'Arsenic Metal 99.9999% Crystalline Metalloid 10 grams for Element Collection' among other poisons he ordered online
'James told her when Angela was discharged she made accusations that James had poisoned her,' the charging documents state.
'Angela said something to James along the lines of "there are poisons they don't test for".'
Back home, her condition dramatically worsened and she was readmitted on March 15, suffering a seizure and never regaining consciousness.
Craig's mistress expressed wanting to comfort him on March 16, as Angela's condition worsened.
'I am sorry I am not a part of your world to be of more help to you and instead I am pulling you away,' she wrote.
'This is so hard. I want to be and do whatever I can to support and encourage you and I don't want to add to what has become an incredibly difficult time.
'I do want to give you any comfort I can but I do not feel it is right for me to mix in with those gathering to mourn Angela either and I do not want to meet your family as a friend and conceal what I feel for you.'
Craig was reported to authorities by a coworker who became suspicious of his behavior and the poison deliveries.
The dentist also refused to have an autopsy conducted on his wife, despite pleas from concerned friends who were worried the cause of death may be genetic and passed to her children.
Craig had allegedly ordered the arsenic online on February 27 and received a package at home on March 4.
The dentist's home and business were raided and police seized protein powders, shakers, a computer tablet, phones and two Ziploc bags with powdery substances
Craig admitted to drugging Angela five or six years ago and referenced the incident in a text message to his wife while she is hospitalized
His second package arrived at his work on March 13, which was discovered by an employee who opened the box and found a biohazard sticker on a canister marked 'Potassium Cyanide'.
After googling the compound, she found that Angela's symptoms were similar to that of cyanide poisoning. She then heard Angela had been readmitted into hospital and told Craig's business partner of her discovery.
He then told a nurse, during a visit to check up on her. The nurse called police, and her death was then investigated by Major Crimes Homicide Unit detectives who determined she was poisoned.
Craig had told investigators that his wife had intentionally overdosing on opioids since he had asked for a divorce in 2022.
The dentist's home and business were raided and police seized protein powders, shakers, a computer tablet, phones and two Ziploc bags with powdery substances.
A data analysis of his devices revealed the chilling searches he had conducted online, including a $13 Amazon order for 'Arsenic Metal 99.9999% Crystalline Metalloid 10 grams for Element Collection.'
When police combed through his email account jimandwaffles@gmail.com they found additional purchases of poison, according to the affidavit.
Mark Pray, 55, Angela's brother spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com and said he wanted to thank the Aurora detectives and the DA's office for their 'unwavering dedication for seeking justice' for his 'beloved sister's senseless murder.'
'The heinous actions of her killer have left a void in the lives of her children, our family, her countless friends, and the world, depriving us of Angie's love and light,' he said.
According to Pray, 'This cowardly act, driven by self-absorption, is a stark reminder of the depths of human depravity.
'The recent revelation of evidence tampering serves as damning proof not only of his guilt in orchestrating Angie's torment and demise but also of his utter disregard for the well-being of those around him, including his own children.'
Pray continued, 'He manipulates and exploits anyone and anything to evade accountability for his monstrous deeds. However, his reckoning is inevitable. Whether in this life or the next, justice will prevail, and he will face the consequences of his actions.'
The couple had been married for more than 20 years and were parents to six children - five girls and a boy - aged eight to 20.
