ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A judge has determined there's enough evidence to prosecute a former Aurora dentist accused of poisoning his wife in 2023 and allegedly trying to get a fellow inmate to kill a detective investigating him.
James Craig was in court Friday for a preliminary hearing in connection with the "murder-for-hire" charges he now faces after prosecutors revealed earlier this year that he allegedly tried to convince an Arapahoe County Jail inmate to kill an Aurora police detective working on a case involving the murder of his wife Angela.
The judge presiding over the case agreed with prosecutors that the content of letters that James allegedly tried to pass of as belonging to his wife were "pretty indicative" that they were written by Craig.
In a ruling just before 5 p.m. Friday, the judge said information, details, background information, background history, and the fact that the inmate and Craig were in a cell together — all weighed together in her decision to prosecute the suspect.
After the judge presented her decision Craig's defense said he was pleading not guilty to the two additional charges, which are solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit perjury.
A pre-trial hearing is set for June 27 at 8:30 a.m., with jury selection beginning July 10 and 11.
The trial is expected to start July 14 and go until Aug. 1.
Arrest affidavit details wife's ill health, poison clues
James Craig, who practiced dentistry at Summerbrook Dental Group, was arrested after his wife, Angela Craig, 43, died on March 18, 2023 from lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant found in over-the-counter eyedrops. She suffered through several bouts of sickness where doctors could not determine the cause.
A 52-page arrest affidavit for James detailed how Angela Craig became sick multiple times in early and mid-March 2023 and was hospitalized, but doctors could not determine what was causing her symptoms. During one of the visits, a person alerted a nurse that he believed she had been poisoned, possibly by James, according to the affidavit. Around 12:30 a.m. on March 16, 2023, a detective learned about the decline of Angela’s health. As of that time, she was still on life support with no brain activity.
She was pronounced brain dead on March 18 at 4:29 p.m., according to the affidavit.
During a search warrant at the dentist office, police seized computers and they found from a single device that a user had searched many poison-related inquiries, including, “How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human” and “Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?” The user had also searched for chemical suppliers in Aurora as well as YouTube videos about making poison, including one titled “Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Sign of Foul Play."
Detectives also found messages, including travel plans, with a woman that were “intimate in nature and contained sexually explicit conversations,” according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also states that James made multiple orders for arsenic and cyanide.
Through the investigation, police noticed many similarities between Angela's symptoms and the effects of ingesting cyanide and arsenic, as outlined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A person told authorities they knew James made protein shakes for his wife when they exercised and that she had felt faint and dizzy after drinking them. The protein powder and shakers were seized in a search warrant. Police said in the affidavit that they believe the poison was in those shakes.
An alleged plot from jail to kill a detective investigating the case
James was arrested early the following day on a charge of first-degree murder after deliberation, but new charges have been added since: Two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence, two counts of first-degree solicitation to commit perjury, and one count of first-degree solicitation to commit murder. Those last two were filed on Nov. 22 of last year.
In court documents obtained by Denver7 shortly after those latest charges were added, prosecutors alleged James committed the crime between Oct. 19 and Nov. 15 of 2023. They also allege that Jamestried to convince an Arapahoe County Jail inmate to kill an Aurora police detective working on the case.
Testifying in court in May of this year, Aurora Police Detective Bobbi Olson, the lead detective on the case, said James had asked the inmate, who was going to bond out, to place letters in his garage and truck at his home to make it appear as if Angela had written them. Olson said the letters were supposed to convey that Angela was not happy with life, was suicidal and had learned her husband was having an affair. The intent was for law enforcement or defense attorneys to find the letters, according to Olson.
In exchange for placing the letters, James offered the inmate free dental work or money for their bond, but the inmate did not take James up on the offer and instead contacted law enforcement, Olson said.
The AP would go on to report in November of last year that prosecutors also alleged James "asked another former fellow inmate to find attractive women who would agree to testify at his trial that they had affairs with him and, after Angela Craig found out, they had refused to help her frame him."
James pleaded not guilty to the murder charge in October 2023, but has not yet entered a plea for the new charges.
A day before the more recent charges were filed, a judge allowed hist latest lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, to withdraw from the case after he cited a professional conflict, according to the Associated Press. Our partners at The Denver Post reported that Steinberg said James was persisting in a course of action that he “reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent,” and that James was insisting on action he “considers repugnant or… has a fundamental disagreement (with)."
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