A dentist in Colorado accused of poisoning his wife to death in 2023 by lacing her protein shakes with cyanide and a chemical found in over-the-counter eyedrops has been found guilty of murder in the first degree and more on July 30, according to multiple news stories.
James Craig. Aurora Police Department.
After deliberating for more than eight hours, James Craig, 46, was found guilty of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree in the death of his wife of 23 years Angela Craig, whom he gradually poisoned over a 10-day period in March 2023. Also, Craig was found guilty of solicitation to commit perjury, solicitation to commit evidence tampering, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
The solicitation to commit first-degree murder comes from accusations that he tried to get a fellow inmate to kill a detective investigating his case.
In the afternoon on July 30, Craig was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors claimed that Craig killed his wife to avoid the reputational and financial ruin that can come with a divorce, to get a payout on his life insurance policy, and to continue an extramarital relationship he was having.
The dentist’s defense claimed that Angela Craig was suicidal and destroyed by her husband’s years of infidelity. Though defense attorneys acknowledged that poison was found in her system, the prosecution failed to prove that James Craig put it there. Craig did not testify at his trial, and the defense called no witnesses on his behalf.
In November 2024, Craig's trial was delayed after his attorney abruptly withdrew from the case right before jurors were to be selected. In February, Craig was charged with new offenses related to plotting the killings of four people, including a lead investigator in his case.
The 43-year-old mother of six children died in March 2023 from lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant found in over-the-counter eyedrops, that Craig allegedly mixed into her protein shakes, according to stories.
Police accuse Craig of buying arsenic and cyanide a few days before his wife was poisoned to death. Craig, who was having financial problems and having an extramarital affair, allegedly searched the internet to learn how to poison someone.
Prosecutors said that Craig even took a cyanide syringe into the hospital where Angela was admitted, suffering from a mysterious illness. After the dentist left his wife’s room, she rapidly deteriorated and eventually died.
On the dentist’s phone, police found notes stating that Angela Craig requested that her husband kill her with poison when he talked about wanting a divorce. In the document that was labeled “timeline,” Craig reportedly wrote that he bought poisons for his wife to take but that he would not administer them. The dentist told authorities that he prepared a syringe with cyanide and put the poison in antibiotic capsules his wife was taking, according to the stories.
Additionally, the dentist is charged with tampering with evidence and allegedly asked his daughter and another person to cover up evidence.
Initially, Craig purportedly dosed Angela Craig with arsenic. This incident sent her to the hospital. Then he was accused of dosing her with cyanide. After she recovered from her first hospitalization, he ordered more poison and dosed her again.
