A shocking revelation has emerged in the case of a dentist accused of killing his wife by putting poison in her protein shakes. Police claim that the accused, James Craig, asked a fellow jail inmate to plant letters to make it look like his wife was suicidal.
The inmate was instructed to place the letters in Craig's garage and truck at his home, according to Aurora police detective Bobbi Olson's testimony at a court hearing. The plan was for the letters to be written by Craig but made to appear as if his wife, Angela Craig, had penned them.
Angela Craig, a 43-year-old mother of six who had been married to James for 23 years, tragically passed away in March 2023 due to poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a substance commonly found in over-the-counter eye drops, as confirmed by the coroner.
It is alleged that Craig purchased poisons online just before his wife started showing unexplained symptoms. However, Craig's defense team has countered that there is no direct evidence linking him to the poisoning and have accused Detective Olson of harboring bias against their client.
According to Olson, Craig offered money to pay for the bond for the inmate to be released from jail or perform free dental work in exchange for planting the letters but the inmate decided not to take him up on the offer, the detective testified.
The inmate instead contacted law enforcement, she said.
The defense argued that the inmate was not a credible witness.
One of Craig's lawyers, Andrew Ho, pointed out that the inmate only contacted authorities after an initial hearing to review the evidence in the case last summer, which was widely covered by the media, and that the inmate could not accurately identify the color of Craig's truck.
However, a judge agreed prosecutors had presented enough evidence for Craig to also be tried on the new charge involving the inmate, filed last month, of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence. The inmate's name was redacted from the document.
"Is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?"
Craig was already charged with first-degree murder and another count of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty to those two charges in November 2023.
Last July, a police detective testified that Craig searched online for answers to questions such as "is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?" and "how to make murder look like a heart attack" a few weeks before she died.
Renowned attorney Skye Lazaro, specializing in cases involving poison, suggested to "48 Hours" contributor Natalie Morales that Craig's defense may argue that police acted hastily in arresting him. Lazaro remarked, "It's essentially a three-day investigation," referring to the time it took for police to charge Craig with his wife's murder.
As per a work bio and online video, Craig served as an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Dentistry for three years and has been practicing dentistry in the Aurora area since 2006.
Residents in the neighborhood expressed shock, with neighbors informing CBS Colorado that they were taken aback by the news.
"I keep praying for the kids because they lost both parents at the same time," shared neighbor Karen Lucero.
Craig's trial is set to commence on Aug. 8.
