Former staff and patients of the Colorado Mormon dentist now charged with killing his wife by poisoning her slowly with spiked protein shakes have told of their disbelief over his arrest.
James ‘Jim’ Craig, 45, is being held on suspicion of murdering his wife of 24 years, Angela, by poisoning her with potassium cyanide.
She first started feeling sick on March 6. By March 15, she was in hospital for the third time complaining of headaches and nausea, and quickly suffered a seizure. She was taken off life support on March 18.
Prosecutors say her husband, who’d been having an affair with an orthodontist in Texas, wanted to start a new life with his lover.
The bombshell allegations have left former friends, colleagues, patients and staff shell-shocked.
James ‘Jim’ Craig, 45, is being held on suspicion of murdering his wife of 24 years, Angela, by poisoning her with potassium cyanide
‘He was the most amazing boss, he poured thousands into my education… this is just devastating,’ Courtney Lyons, who spent four years working with Craig, told DailyMail.com.
Lyons, who lives in Michigan, met the family at TGI Friday’s, where she worked as a waitress for many years.
‘They would come in four nights a week, religiously, and I was their server.
‘They seemed like the perfect family. I’ve never met a better woman or mother than Angela. She was the most amazing woman. She was a saint. She just found time for everyone and everything.’
She said the pair seemed to have a happy marriage.
‘All we saw was how he adored her. He spoke so highly of her.’
He eventually offered Lyons a job as a marketing director at his dental office, and paid for her to take courses for the role.
‘I guess we could do this for another 16 years’, wrote Angela in a gushing anniversary post beneath this photo, taken when the pair were newlyweds in 1999
‘All we saw was that he adored her,’ said former staff, who worked with Craig at his dental practice and called him a ‘family man’
Craig and his wife during a trip to London. Her sister told police how she stood by him through ‘multiple affairs’
The couple in a recent photo with their six kids. It’s unclear who will care for them now
Craig with his two young daughters. Staff say he was a family man who never crossed the line
Craig’s former staff told DailyMail.com how he was constantly giving away dental treatment and hosting ‘free’ days for patients. Above, one of the many ‘patient appreciation days’ he hosted
The couple made their marital home in Aurora, Colorado, with their six children aged eight to 20. It is here Craig is said to have poisoned his wife
Lyons said the only flaw she and others could see in him was that he was too generous.
‘We would tell him that out of every dollar he made, he’d give 99 cents of it away or to someone else. He ran free dentistry days, he paid us all so well.
‘I’m not surprised there were money problems,’ she said, alluding to the fact he had filed for bankruptcy.
She added that the family was Mormon and didn’t drink, but weren’t forceful in their beliefs.
‘Not one person expected this.’
She told how he treated staff like royalty, always investing in their education and paying them well.
Craig admitted to drugging Angela five or six years ago and referenced the incident in a text message to his wife while she was hospitalized. These texts show how she struggled with symptoms for weeks before she died
The couple continued to discuss her symptoms, before she told him the day before she returned home that she needed to make sure she ‘doesn’t feel like vomiting’ before they sleep together
Angela resorted to an oxygen tank because she was struggling with her breathing so much
Patients and friends were equally surprised.
‘This is so shocking. He has been my dentist for years,’ said one patient upon seeing the Aurora Police Department’s announcement of his arrest.
‘I used to temp for Dr. Craig. He seemed like a great dentist and a devoted family man. Very sad indeed,’ Danae Dael remarked.
None of Angela’s grieving family, including her sister Toni, who spoke with police, have commented on the tragedy.
It’s unclear who will now care for their six children, the oldest of whom is 21.
Craig’s parents in Utah did not immediately respond.
James Toliver Craig was arrested for murder on Sunday after detectives discovered his wife Angela Craig, 43, had been fatally poisoned
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk