The Colorado dentist on trial for fatally poisoning his wife had been confronted by her about his infidelity in the months before the mother-of-six’s March 2023 murder, jurors heard on Friday.
Aurora Police Detective Molly Harris read out texts between Dr James Craig and his wife, Angela, 43, from just before Christmas in 2022 – three months before prosecutors allege he fatally poisoned her.
‘You had a month’s worth of chances to save your marriage, but what you wanted with her was more important to you than us,’ Angela texted her husband in December 2022, Harris testified. ‘I hope she was worth it.’
Angela told her husband she was just trying to ‘get through Christmas with the kids’ but ‘I don’t have anything left to give you after that.’
Craig protested: ‘It was not worth it, it absolutely wasn’t worth it … I used her to build up my own ego. I wasn’t emotionally attached or physically involved.
‘I already feel very validated by and loved by you. It makes no sense. I often found myself wondering what on earth I was doing because it didn’t fill any particularly void or anything. I was so happy with you.’
The exchanges made clear the couple had dealt with Craig’s’ infidelity before, however. Angela said she feared her husband ‘could have emails, phones, Venmo accounts, bank accounts and a whole life I know nothing about.’
Harris read out groveling texts from Craig sent in early January in which he claimed he ‘did this to myself’ and ‘I’m praying with everything I have … that I can show up better for you.’
Colorado dentist James Craig, right, is on trial for the March 2023 murder of his wife, Angela
Craig, 47, was arrested the dsy after his wife”s March 18, 2023 death; prosecutors allege he poisoned amid financial troubles and to pave the way for a new romance
‘I have been so dumb time and time again,’ the dentist wrote on January 4, 2023 – adding five days later: ‘I want you to know that I’m absolutely committed to this relationship.’
Craig said he was setting boundaries, reading psychology books and looking for a therapist – and the couple had returned to affectionate and everyday chit-chat via text when Angela fell in on March 6 with mystery symptoms.
Craig was arrested the day after Angela’s March 18 death and charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors allege he considered Angela a ‘problem’ and killed her to pursue his latest romance with a Texas orthodontist and to ease his financial strain – poisoning her with lethal substances including cyanide and a chemical commonly found in eyedrops.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges stemming from plots prosecutors say he tried hatching from behind bars – including ordering a hit on a detective and trying to get his teen daughter to fake evidence.
In the immediate days before Angela became sick, texts she exchanged with her husband that read out in court indicated they were working through issues and he’d shared deeply personal struggles.
Angela had just returned from a genealogy conference in Utah, and he’d just returned from a dental conference in Vegas – where prosecutors say he first struck up the new affair.
On March 1, Angela asked her husband if there was ‘anything else you’re not telling me or you’ve been keeping from me.
‘I honestly don’t want to ask, but I’m honestly scared not to,’ she texted.
Craig answered: ‘I really was in Las Vegas by myself, and I don’t want to sleep with anyone else but you.’
When asked if he was still in communication with any other women, Craig said ‘not any of the girls off of that site.’
Harris read out texts between the couple from during her illness – in which Craig repeatedly expressed his love.
The dentist was spotted crying during opening arguments and during emotional testimony from his oldest daughter, 21, who spoke about her close relationship with her late mother
While she was in the hospital on March 11 – five days after she began showing symptoms after drinking a shake he’d prepared – Craig texted: ‘I just woke up dreaming about making love you.
‘I love you and I want you.’
Other texts Harris read out from the period where Angela was hospitalized also showed Craig urging her to leave in an IV after her discharge so he could administer fluids and drugs to her at home. He also repeatedly suggested bringing her liquids to her bedside.
The jury was also on Friday shown emails from Craig’s personal address – jimandwaffles@gmail.com – detailing orders for oleander and arsenic.
He started searching poisons within days of beginning an affair with a Texas orthodontist, prosecutors alleged.
A new amazon account created with the aforementioned gmail address also ordered arsenic in late February, after Craig had returned from meeting his latest paramour at a dental conference in Las Vegas, the court heard.
He and the orthodontist exchanged 4000 text messages and 80 declarations of love in the weeks after their meeting, prosecutors allege.
The Aurora detective on Friday also told the court about searches discovered on a computer in an exam room at the dentist’s practice – where his office manager later spotted him working after hours in the dark instead of using his own laptop or office desktop.
A digital forensics examination revealed searches beginning February 27 that included: ‘How to make poison from oleanders,’ ‘Is arsenic detectable,’ ‘how many grams of purse arsenic will kill a human,’ ‘how to make murder look like a heart attack,’ ‘dosage of tetrahydrozoline that is fatal’ and ‘how long does it take to die from arsenic poisoning.’
While searches for poisons were being done on a computer at his dental practice, searches on Angela’s phone were routine and everyday, the detective testified – until March 6.
That’s the first day the 43-year-old began exhibiting symptoms that would kill her in less than two weeks.
‘Pre-workout supplement made me dizzy and eyes are blurry an hour later,’ she searched on her phone that morning, Davis testified.
Searches continued throughout the day: ‘Side effects of high blood pressure.’ ‘Dizziness slow focus tired head pressure hearing distortion.’ ‘Menieres disease.’ ‘Mini seizures.’
The next morning, she was searching urgent cares, then ‘signs of type 1 diabetes’ and ‘high blood sugar symptoms on skin.’
Craig’s defense lawyers, including Ashley Witham, pictured, have painted a picture of Angela as ‘manipulative’ and ‘suicidal’ – and Craig himself asked his daughter in a letter smuggled out of jail to make a deep-fake video of her mother asking him to buy poisons
By March 8, she was looking for an app to monitor her blood pressure and heart rate – and an app she could share with a loved one.
On the day before her final hospital visit, she searched: ‘Internal shivers causes.’ ‘Deep snore internal tremors.’ ‘Obstructive sleep apnea.’ ‘Internal tremors and chills.’
Her final search on March 15 – the day she’d be declared brain dead – was for an emergency room.
Jurors also heard on Friday how Craig, in the days before his wife’s death, had urgently texted his dental assistant to check if a package had been delivered to the office for him.
The court heard testimony earlier in the week about how Craig’s office manager found potassium cyanide in a personal package he’d ordered to his workplace – and told her not to open it.
On Friday, dental assistant Angel Amerine testified that, while his wife lay in the hospital, Craig kept texting her to see if a package had been delivered to the practice.
He’d never texted her about packages before, and she didn’t normally deal with deliveries, Amerine testified.
Craig also texted Amerine and other staff members about needing out-of-hours access to his office because he didn’t have his key, she added.
