Outwardly, James Craig appeared to be a model citizen. He had a 22-year marriage, a comfortable suburban home, and a thriving dental practice in Colorado. However, behind this facade, Craig was more than $2 million in debt and involved in three bankruptcies, according to police. He lost over $1 million investing in a worthless cryptocurrency, was scammed out of $600,000 in a Ponzi scheme, his dental practice was losing $120,000 monthly, and he was paying for his girlfriend's plane tickets to maintain an extramarital affair.

Craig's family life was equally troubled. Toni Kofoed, Angela’s sister, revealed that Craig was addicted to pornography and had repeatedly cheated on his wife. Whenever Angela attempted to leave him, he would plead for her to return.

Angela and James Craig on a family trip. Photo: *Facebook*

According to Kofoed, suspicious incidents began around 2017. Angela started feeling as though she had been drugged. When confronted, Craig claimed he was contemplating suicide and had given her sedatives to prevent her from intervening.

Angela was hospitalized three times in quick succession. On 6/3/2023, she drank a protein shake prepared by her husband, a common practice in their household. After exercising, she began feeling unwell and texted Craig, “My stomach is ok now but my head is not ok. It feels weird and dizzy. This is strange." Craig took her to the hospital.

At AdventHealth Parker Hospital's emergency room, Angela underwent tests, including MRIs, CT scans, and blood work, but was discharged without a diagnosis. On 7/3, still feeling unwell, she visited an urgent care clinic, again with no diagnosis. Her symptoms worsened on 9/3 after another protein shake. Unable to stand, she crawled on the floor before her children found her unconscious. She remained hospitalized until 14/3.

At 9:35 am on 15/3, Craig texted Kofoed, reminding her to give Angela her sinus medication. After taking the pill prepared by Craig, Angela was taken to UCHealth Anschutz Hospital at 11:08 am with severe headaches and dizziness. At 2 pm, she had a seizure, was admitted to intensive care, and placed on life support. Angela, a 43-year-old mother of six, was declared brain dead on the afternoon of 18/3. Craig refused an autopsy.

Craig's scheme unraveled when an office manager at his dental practice accidentally opened a package addressed to him on 13/3. Inside, she found a container labeled with a biohazard warning and the words "Potassium Cyanide". Recognizing Angela's symptoms as consistent with cyanide poisoning, the manager alerted colleagues, including Craig's business partner, Ryan Redfearn. When questioned, Craig admitted to ordering the potassium cyanide but claimed Angela had asked for it for suicidal purposes. He said he complied to appease her, not believing she would actually use it.

While Craig was on a phone call, Redfearn informed a nurse caring for Angela about the potential poisoning. The nurse contacted the police. On 16/3, acting on information from Craig's colleagues, police searched his home, seizing a water bottle, protein powder, a shaker bottle, two bags of white powder, and a tablet. Police also recovered notes from Craig’s phone titled "timeline," where he claimed Angela requested help dying after he suggested a divorce. He wrote that he agreed to provide poison, filling capsules with cyanide and preparing a syringe for Angela to use herself.

An autopsy revealed lethal levels of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient found in over-the-counter eye drops, in Angela’s body. Arsenic was also identified as a contributing factor. Craig’s Google search history, accessed through his Gmail account, showed searches for "How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a person?" and "Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?" on 27/2/2023, days before Angela first fell ill. In the following days, he searched for "How to make murder look like a heart attack," "lethal dose of tetrahydrozoline," "how long does it take to die from arsenic poisoning," "10 deadliest plants," "how to make poison," and "5 undetectable poisons."

Police discovered Craig purchased arsenic for $13 on Amazon on 27/2/2023, delivered on 4/3. On 6/3, the day of Angela’s first hospitalization, he ordered Oleandrin online, a toxic and potentially fatal chemical found in oleander plants. This shipment was intercepted by detectives. On 8/3, Craig ordered potassium cyanide from Midland Scientific, falsely claiming to be a surgeon needing it for research. The cyanide arrived at his dental office on 13/3. He also purchased 19 bottles of Visine eye drops from a store in Aurora, Colorado.

According to a toxicology expert, Angela's blood sample from 11:24 am on 9/3 showed high arsenic levels, causing symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, lightheadedness, and loss of balance. Her blood sample from 11:50 am on 15/3 revealed high levels of arsenic, cyanide, and tetrahydrozoline. The tetrahydrozoline levels were lethal, suggesting ingestion of "one or more bottles" of eye drops, which can cause cardiac arrest. A later blood sample from 8:21 pm on 15/3 showed even higher cyanide levels (3.7 micrograms/ml compared to 1.7 micrograms/ml earlier that day).

Prosecutors alleged Craig emptied a pill capsule and filled it with potassium cyanide, instructing Kofoed to give it to Angela. When these attempts failed, he injected her with a final dose of cyanide in the hospital. Security footage showed Craig holding a syringe before entering Angela's room, after which her condition rapidly deteriorated.

The investigation revealed that between late 2022 and February 2023, Craig met three women on dating websites and gave them money. From 22/2 to 25/2/2023, he attended a dental conference in Las Vegas where he met Karin Cain, a Texas dentist going through a divorce. They began a romantic relationship and discussed meeting again. Investigators found "intimate" and "sexually explicit" emails between them.

James Craig cries at the start of his trial on 15/7. Photo: *Denver Gazette*

During Angela’s second hospitalization, Craig exchanged loving messages with her, writing, "I miss you and want to be near you. I love you so much." Simultaneously, he planned for Cain to visit him on three different occasions in March 2023, coinciding with Angela's hospitalizations. He allegedly texted Cain after injecting cyanide into his wife’s IV. On 16/3, while Angela was dying, Cain flew to Colorado to see Craig. Cain was not implicated in the poisoning plot. After learning of Angela's death, believing it to be from natural causes, she texted Craig, "I'm so sorry for what happened to you this week. It's been hard."

Craig's trial began on 15/7. The defense acknowledged his infidelity and dishonesty but argued there was no concrete evidence linking him to his wife's murder. Prosecutors portrayed Craig as a cunning husband who plotted his wife's death to make it look like suicide. They argued he wanted out of his marriage but avoided divorce to protect his finances and image. Another alleged motive was to collect on Angela’s three life insurance policies and start a new life with his girlfriend. After his arrest, Craig allegedly offered a fellow inmate $20,000 to kill the investigating detective and another $20,000 to encourage others to lie and fabricate evidence.

On 30/7, James Craig, 47, was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges, receiving a life sentence without parole. He appeared to weep as his eldest daughter spoke of missing her mother and feeling betrayed by her father. "I should have been able to trust my dad," Miriam Meservy said through tears. "He was supposed to be my hero, but now he is just the villain in my story."

Tue Anh (*Independent, The Guardian, CNN*)