Colorado dentist convicted of murder, gets life sentence for lacing wife's shakes with poison
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado dentist was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday in the death of his wife, whose protein shakes he laced with poison before delivering a fatal dose of cyanide.
District Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced James Craig to life without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Colorado. He was convicted of murder and other charges earlier in the day by a jury.
Prosecutors had said at trial that James Craig poisoned his wife Angela Craig over 10 days in March 2023. When those attempts failed, prosecutors said the dentist gave his wife a final dose of cyanide as she was hospitalized in suburban Denver with symptoms that puzzled doctors. She was declared brain dead soon after.
Craig stood in a hushed courtroom Wednesday afternoon as the jury delivered a litany of guilty verdicts on murder and other charges. His sentencing came soon after when Angela Craig's relatives tearfully testified about the impact of losing her, including one of the couple's six children who cast her father as a villain.
Angela Craig's older sister, Toni Kofoed, lamented the loss of phone calls, texts and trips with her sister where they could laugh and talk throughout the night.
'You have taken away our opportunity to grow old together,' Kofoed. said.
'Her life was not yours to take,″ Kofoed said in turning to the defendant. 'Angela had a love and a passion for life. She loved her children and, unfortunately, she loved you.'
James Craig appeared to shake with tears as his oldest daughter spoke about how much she missed being able to talk to her mother about her life and how she felt betrayed by her father.
'I was supposed to be able to trust my dad; he was supposed to be my hero, and instead he'll forever be the villain in my book,' the daughter, Mira Merservy, said.
The dentist declined to make any statement before he was sentenced. He was immediately handcuffed to be led out of court.
In court, James Craig's family members sat on Craig's side of the room and Angela Craig's family sat on the other. But afterward, they hugged each other and shook hands, many wiping tears from their eyes.
In addition to murder, James Craig also was found guilty of trying to cover up the killing by asking others to fake evidence and testimony that would make it appear that Angela Craig had killed herself or wanted to frame him for her death. He was found guilty of asking his daughter to make a fake video of her mother asking to be poisoned and of trying to get one inmate to kill the lead detective investigating his wife's death, among other things.
Jurors rejected his claim that his wife sought his help in ending her own life.
James Craig himself didn't testify during the two-week trial, and his attorneys didn't present other witnesses. The defense had suggested earlier at trial that Angela Craig may have taken her own life and faulted police for focusing solely on James Craig as a suspect.
However, prosecutors said the dentist had offered other conflicting explanations for her death to other people.
Toxicology tests determined Angela Craig died of poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient commonly found in over-the-counter eye drops, according to the coroner.
Prosecutors argued Craig wanted to kill his wife to get out of a marriage he felt trapped in, adding he didn't want a divorce so he could protect his money and image.
Prosecutors said photos from a hospital security camera shown in court depict Craig holding a syringe before he entered Angela Craig's room. After administering the fatal dose through her IV, Craig walked out and texted a fellow dentist with whom he was having an affair, Senior Chief Deputy Michael Mauro told jurors in closing arguments. His wife's condition quickly worsened.
One of Craig's attorneys, Lisa Fine Moses, told jurors earlier this week that the image was blurry and syringes that investigators recovered did not contain any poison. She also said the couple wasn't in financial trouble, and that Craig's cheating had been going on for years and had never been a motivation for murder.
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Slevin reported from Denver.
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