Latest news with #BobbiJoOlson
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Murder trial shown haunting footage of dentist 'poisoning' wife he took out $4million in life insurance policies on
The adulterous Colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife had taken out life insurance policies totaling $4 million on her, the lead detective in his case testified on Friday. 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 - 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.
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Dentist's terrifying plot to kill detective investigating his wife's 'poisoning' revealed at murder trial
Accused wife poisoner Dr James Craig asked his hardened former cellmate to help him find assassins to kill a detective and other inmates, the shackled felon told Craig's murder trial on Wednesday. Nathaniel Harris, currently incarcerated while awaiting trial on forgery and motor vehicle charges, told jurors he was testifying at the request of his 'wife,' Loretta - citing his 'moral compass' as another reason. Harris was housed for months in 2024 with Craig after the dentist's arrest in connection with the poisoning murder his wife, Angela, 43, who was repeatedly hospitalized with mystery symptoms before her death in March 2023 Prosecutors argue Craig killed her with a lethal mix of cyanide, arsenic and tetrahydrozoline, a chemical found in eyedrops, amidst financial troubles and a budding extramarital romance - and have added other charges stemming from his alleged activities behind bars. Bald, bearded and covered in tattoos, Harris repeatedly eyeballed Craig from the stand. He told the court how Craig had 'followed [him] around like a puppy' in jail, offering a 'blank check' for help arranging the hits and with other machinations the dentist was coming up with to clear his name. Harris also told the court he'd received nothing in exchange for his testimony - and had in fact turned down a probation offer. Craig spoke 'in detail' about Aurora Police Det. Bobbi Jo Olson - 'that she was out to get him ... that she was lying on him, fabricating evidence,' Harris testified. Jailhouse witnesses testified on Wednesday how Craig asked them to plant evidence - a fake journal of Angela's in which she professed to be suicide - as well as to kill other inmates and a lead detective on the dentist's case Craig also 'wanted me to get out and take pics of [another officer's] son getting off the school bus' for intimidation, Harris testified. Regarding Olson and other names Craig provided, Harris testified, 'he wanted me to source out somebody that could find and kill them. ' 'Before things got out of hand, I told him I would handle it,' Harris testified, explaining how he allegedly brushed off Craig. 'Because he was going to start talking to other people.' Craig had talked about paying $20,000 or more for help, he said. The dentist also told him about 'an F150 with $5,000 cash and a .308 sniper rifle,' Harris testified. Harris followed none of Craig's instructions, he said, and also hid within his legal mail a letter Craig had asked him to send his ex, Kasiani Konstantinidis. Harris repeatedly asked his own lawyer several times to come get the damning letter, with no result, he said. That's when he 'took matters into my own hands,' Harris testified. He called his current romantic partner, Loretta - described by Harris as his 'wife,' though the court heard he's still legally married to Konstantinidis - and told her to alert the prison to the letter. Sgt Nicholas Hudson, who works at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility, testified on Wednesday about receiving a phone call from Loretta. He set up a cell search the next day, ostensibly for drugs - not even telling his deputies that the real goal was to find the letter, he said. Hudson did not initially locate the letter and surreptitiously asked Harris for help. The felon told him where it was and that gave him permission to read it, he added. The officer read out portions of the letter, intended for Harris' ex-wife,to the court. It outlined 'roles' Craig wanted played by Harris' ex-wife, her sister and other women they'd recruit. Konstantinidis, the letter instructed, was to pretend to be 'a friend of Ang's ... how you met and how far back your friendship goes is up to you. Angela 'confided in you that she had used the threat of suicide in the past to try to manipulate me,' Hudson read. 'She also told you she was never serious about following through.' The recipient's sister was instructed to pretend to be another friend Angela met at a genealogical library - with the letter instructing her to go familiarize herself with the location to seem more believable. 'The next part is crucial,' the letter continued. 'The worst, dirtiest detective in the whole world is on my case. Her name is Bobbi Jo Olson. 'We have to discredit her.' The letter's solution to this was for someone to lie and say they'd reached out to Olson with information favorable to Craig but had been ignored. This 'role' player was to feed this story to investigators and/or the media. The letter also asked for Konstantinidis to find a person to discredit the office manager of his dental practice, Caitlin Romero, who testified earlier in the trial about noticing potassium cyanide in a personal package Craig had delivered to his workplace - and told her not to open. Romero had googled the symptoms of potassium cyanide, connected it with Angela Craig's mystery symptoms and raised the alarm with her managers - who soon told authorities. The letter asked for someone to claim they'd heard Romero bragging 'that she'd set me up in some way' or to make it 'sound like she fabricated evidence' or 'how she ordered the cyanide that killed Angela.' Confusingly, the letter wanted this role-player to claim 'Caitlin said she did what she did because her bosses ... pushed her to do it and said they gave her a huge financial incentive to help them.' Konstantinidis took the stand later on Wednesday and testified during cross examination that it would be 'very accurate' to describe her ex as having 'a reputation for untruthfulness.' She said she'd been on the phone with Det. Olson when she received the letter in the mail, stopped opening it and left it outside under a mat to be picked up by law enforcement. Harris, however, was not the first former fellow inmate of Craig's to testify in the trial - and to claim the dentist solicited help with criminal plots from behind bars. Kacy Bohannon, who'd also been incarcerated with Craig in 2023, continued testimony he'd started late on Tuesday. He told jurors how Craig 'was going to rewrite a journal - it was supposedly [Angela's] - about committing suicide, about how bad life was ... and how she wanted to take her life. 'So he had asked if I would be able to go and ... get into his home and put this into his garage or put it into his pickup truck that was parked in the street,' Bohannon testified. Craig 'said he could get my bond paid ... and even throw in dental work,' Bohannon testified. The dentist even gave him a rough map of his home - but 'I walked right back to my cell and tore it up and flushed it,' Bohannon said. 'I didn't want any part of it once I realized what was going on,' he said. Bohannan, like Harris, testified that he'd received nothing in exchange for his testimony. He came forward after his release, he said, because 'I just had this feeling ... almost like sick. 'I just wasn't right, that I knew what he told me, and I felt like I needed to reach out and tell someone.'
