A dentist charged with murdering his wife and mother of his six children was allegedly having an affair and searched online about poisons that can’t be detected in an autopsy before lacing his wife’s protein shakes with arsenic and cyanide.
James Toliver Craig, 45, of Aurora, Colorado used a shared computer at his workplace to conduct multiple searches about poison before his wife Angela, 43, was declared brain-dead, according to his arrest affidavit.
The searches 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).’
Craig allegedly ordered the arsenic online on February 27 and received the package on March 4.
James Toliver Craig was arrested for murder on Sunday after detectives discovered his wife had been fatally poisoned
James and Angela Craig pose for a family picture with their six children aged eight to 20
Angela was admitted to a hospital with symptoms that aligned with poisoning two days later.
Craig drove her to a Colorado hospital at about 8:45pm Wednesday after she complained about headaches and dizziness.
Her condition deteriorated rapidly and she was soon placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.
The mother-of-six’s was soon declared brain-dead and doctors eventually made the decision to turn off her life support.
Her death was investigated by Major Crimes Homicide Unit detectives who initially discovered she was poisoned.
‘It was quickly discovered this was in fact a heinous, complex and calculated murder,’ Division Chief Mark Hildebrand said.
Craig flew a woman whom he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with from Texas to Colorado while Angela was in hospital fighting for her life.
‘It appears James was flying this woman into Denver while his wife and the mother of his children was dying in the hospital,’ police wrote in the affidavit.
Craig told the seller of the poison that he was a surgeon and intended to use the potassium cyanide for a medical procedure.
He proceeded to give the seller his dental license number and work email to order the poison.
Craig had the cyanide sent to his dental office, where an employee opened the package and saw what he had ordered, before resealing it and giving it to the dentist, who told his business partners that the personal package was a ring he had ordered for his wife.
Craig was a practicing dentist and part of the Summerbrook dental office, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2021
An individual close to Angela Craig’s family told the Daily Beast that she was a ‘phenomenal woman, outgoing, and the best mother you could imagine.’
‘She was very supportive of her husband, even working in his practice during financial difficulties.’
Craig and his practice, Summerbrook Dental, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2021, according to court records.
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.
Angela began experiencing symptoms of dizziness and headaches a few weeks aog and told her family.
She was examined in hospital at least twice prior to her Wednesday morning admission, but family members thought it was perhaps a sinus infection because she was susceptible to them.
The individual who spoke to the Beast said: ‘One of her brothers who lives in Salt Lake went out to be with her.’
There was, until her admission to hospital, no reason to suspect foul play.
But, after Angela was hospitalized, James apparently made himself scarce.
‘He had not been around the family much in the last few days,’ which, ‘led to some suspicion,’ said the source.
In a 2021 press release, Craig described himself as ‘happily married’ to Angela.
The release went on to say that the pair ‘have six children, and they all enjoy the outdoors, especially camping, snowboarding, fishing, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking.’
‘They also enjoy visiting theme parks and are often traveling to Disney, Universal, and Sea World.’
It noted as well, that James Craig volunteered with WE CAN HELP, an anti-bullying program sponsored by the Denver Police Department.
Poisoning is a rare method murder. According to studies, poisoning accounts for less than 0.5 percent of cases.
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