Murder trial shown haunting footage of dentist 'poisoning' wife he took out $4million in life insurance policies on
Aurora Police Det. Bobbi Jo Olson took the stand for the second time in the murder trial of father-of-six Dr James Craig, who was arrested on March 19, 2023 - the day after his 43-year-old wife, Angela, was taken off life support.
Craig has also been charged in relation to an alleged jailhouse plot to order a hit on Olson – calling her 'the worst, dirtiest detective in the whole world' – along with other victims, jurors have heard during nearly two weeks of testimony.
He's pleaded not guilty to murder, solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit perjury.
Prosecutors argue Craig poisoned his wife's shakes and administered fatal doses of arsenic, cyanide and tetrahyrdrozoline, a chemical found in eye drops, amidst mounting financial struggles and multiple affairs – particularly a budding romance with a Texas orthodontist.
Olson testified on Friday that the dentist had several policies with Kansas City and Lincoln Life insurance companies totaling $4 million in the event of Angela's death.
The detectives also outlined Craig's alleged movements in the days before and after his wife first got sick on March 6 – as the court was shown in-home surveillance footage from the family's kitchen.
Angela's relatives alternately smiled, wiped tears and laughed as they watched their late loved one interact with her children on camera.
But all lightness faded from the courtroom as footage showed Craig get up before 5am on March 6 – the date Angela first exhibited mystery symptoms after drinking a shake he prepared – to mix something in the kitchen and use the microwave.
He'd ordered arsenic to the family home two days earlier, Olson testified on Friday - and footage showed Angela consuming the drink he appeared to have made her.
Craig affectionately dog-whistled at his wife twice on the morning of March 6, and they discussed their child's car seat before he left the home, footage showed.
Angela began feeling ill and went to the hospital later that day, feeling 'heavy' and like her body wasn't working properly, jurors heard earlier in the trial.
On Friday, they watched as Angela accused Craig of 'failing' her the day after that first futile hospital visit - when doctors simply sent her home and told her to speak to her primary care physician.
'It may not be your call that they didn't do their due diligence or anything like that, but it's your fault they treated me differently,' she said. 'It's your fault … they treated me like I was suicidal … like I did it to myself.'
She complained that Craig 'didn't actually defend me' and his behavior was '100% selfish and had nothing to do with being there for me.
'You ask all the details, in every medical … everything, everywhere you go, and you didn't even ask.
'You didn't try to do anything,' she said. 'You just brought me home.'
Olson testified on Friday that records showed Craig had also ordered oleander and cyanide in the days after Angela first fell ill.
Date and time stamps from footage shown in court on Friday of Craig's trips to and from the family residence matched up with previous evidence about trips he made to the supermarket - where receipts showed his credit card purchased Visine - and the loading dock of a medical company from which he'd ordered cyanide.
An expert testified on Thursday that Craig's phone had pinged off towers corresponding to the locations.
Jurors also watched footage on Friday from the hospital on March 15 - the date of Angela's final admission - in which Craig appears to have what Olson called a 'thin white or clear object in his left hand.'
He later entered his wife's room for 'exactly 60 seconds,' she testified, before coming out and telling the nurse's station that Angela's arm hurt and her condition was deteriorating.
Doctors told Angela's family later that day that all brain activity had ceased - and she was taken off life support on March 18.
Craig's defense team - his third, after two others dropped out as the dentist racked up more charges from behind bars - argues that Angela was 'manipulative' and suicidal.
The jury has heard evidence about how Craig repeatedly claimed Angela wanted to end her own life, asked him to obtain poisons for her and engaged him in a game of 'chicken.'
Angela's friends and family have steadfastly testified that she loved life and being a mother - and was neither suicidal nor a risk-taker.
There was also no mention of the 'game of chicken' in a four-page explanatory timeline Craig detailed himself the day after Angela was declared brain dead, Olson testified.
Reading Craig's own words, she told the court how he claimed to have returned from the Vegas conference where he met his latest paramour on February 25 - then asked Angela for a divorce.
'She said she was just going to end her life,' Craig wrote in the timeline Olson read out. 'I begged her not to do that, but she said she couldn't get a divorce.
'She talked about driving her car into a pylon but was worried she wouldn't die but just be maimed,' he continued.
'That's when she started talking about poisons ... she asked me to research some poisons for her to find one that would kill fastest with high accuracy and the broadest spectrum.'
Angela asked him to poison her shakes and voluntarily consumed arsenic and tetrahydrozoline, he claimed.
Olson testified there was no evidence Angela ever searched for poisons. The court previously heard, however, of her desperate searches of her symptoms as she tried to figure out what was making her so sick.
The court has also heard that searches about poisons and their lethality were found on an exam room computer at Craig's dental practice.
Witnesses, including a former cellmate, another inmate and even Craig's 20-year-old daughter, have testified about his attempts to plant evidence and bribe witnesses to lie for him.
Annabelle Craig told the court last how week how her father, soon after his arrest, asked her to create a deep-fake video to clear him showing her mom asking for the lethal substances.
Four of Craig's mistresses from the months before Angela's murder have also testified at the trial. That included three 'sugar babies' he met on Seeking.com - and lavished with gifts like cars, money and out-of-state trips - and a Texas orthodontist he love-bombed and exchanged 4,000 texts with in under three weeks after meeting at a Las Vegas dental conference.
Two 'sugar babies' testified that Craig told them a divorce would financially cripple him.
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