The murder trial is underway for a disgraced dentist accused of poisoning his wife to death in hopes of running off with a new woman, according to investigators.

Courtroom proceedings began Tuesday, July 15, 2025, for James Toliver Craig, 47, of Aurora, Colorado, the sole suspect in the poisoning death of his wife, Angela Craig, according to NBC News. Officials allege Mr. Craig used potassium cyanide and tetrahydrozoline — the active ingredient used in over-the-counter eye drops — on multiple occasions in March 2023 to kill the mother of six. 

The victim reportedly fell ill on March 6, 2023, after drinking pre-exercise protein shakes believed to have been laced with arsenic. She was hospitalized three times in the ensuing weeks: on March 6, March 9, and March 15.

Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said in his opening statements on Tuesday that, as Mrs. Craig lay dying in a hospital bed — and doctors scrambled to identify the cause of her sickness — Mr. Craig administered the final and fatal dose of poison to secure certain death, according to NBC Denver affiliate KUSA. 

“Craig didn’t go into that room to save Angela’s life,” Brackley said. “He didn’t go into that room to fight for her or support her. He went into that room to murder her, deliberately and intentionally end her life with a fatal dose of cyanide.”

Mrs. Craig went into “rapid medical decline” and was eventually removed from life support and died March 18, 2023, as previously reported by Oxygen. 

James Craig’s coworkers detail suspicious behavior

Following Angela Craig’s final admission to the hospital on March 15, 2023, James Craig’s friend and business partner from the Summerbrook Dental Group, Ryan Redfearn, told one of Mrs. Craig’s nurses that he suspected the patient was poisoned, according to a 52-page probable cause affidavit by the Aurora Police Department and reviewed by Oxygen.

Redfearn reported that James Craig placed orders for potassium cyanide from the internet for the dental practice, despite not needing them for his work. 

Coworkers said the defendant allegedly requested that an office manager not open the delivery. However, another employee had, finding a canister with a bio-hazard sticker that read “Potassium Cyanide,” per the affidavit. 

Screenshots provided with the charging documents proved the orders were made using the defendant’s e-mail address.

The alleged motive

The prosecution alleges James Craig was driven by his desire to start a new life with his paramour, orthodontist Karin Cain.

For her part, Cain didn’t believe their three-week romance motivated James Craig to kill his wife, she told ABC News in July 2023. She denied knowing her lover was married, claiming, “If I had known what was true, I would not have been with this person.”

Receipts included in the affidavit showed Cain traveled from Austin, Texas to Denver, Colorado on dates that overlapped with the victim’s hospital stays.

“It appears James was flying this woman into Denver while his wife and the mother of his children was dying in the hospital,” affiant Det. Bobbi Olson stated in the affidavit.

Angela Craig’s sister, Toni Kofoed, told authorities it wasn’t the first time James Craig had poisoned his wife, either, per CNN. Plus, the wife allegedly accused James Craig of “run[ning] the dental office into the ground” amid financial ruin.

Koefed claimed the husband lost thousands of dollars while gambling in Las Vegas. 

“[Kofoed] stated Angela and James’s marriage had always been tumultuous,” Olson wrote. “James had multiple affairs with several women, told Angela he had been addicted to pornography since he was a teenager, and drugged Angela approximately five to six years ago. Angela told [Kofoed] that James drugged her (an unknown drug) because he planned to go into their bathroom and give himself a lethal injection of something and commit suicide. James told Angela he drugged her so she wouldn’t find him nor be able to save him, which would give the lethal drugs time to kill him.”

Redfearn told detectives James Craig filed for bankruptcy in 2021 and was “on the verge of bankruptcy again,” according to the affidavit. 

A staged suicide

While there exists no debate over whether Angela Craig was poisoned, the defense claims it wasn’t murder. 

On Tuesday, defense attorney Ashley Witham alleged the victim was “a very broken person” struggling to cope with an unfaithful husband, according to KUSA. She alleged the deceased requested her husband order the poison so she could take her own life. 

“She wasn’t about to tell people about her marital struggles,” Witham told the court. “She was saving face. She wanted attention.”

Following the victim’s first hospitalization, according to NBC News, there was video that showed Mrs. Craig confronting her husband about his alleged claims to medical staff that she was suicidal. The victim said, “It’s your fault they treated me like I was a suicide risk, like I did it to myself, and like nothing I said could be believed.”

James Craig told a caseworker with Child Protective Services that his wife had been suicidal ever since he intimated divorce in 2022, adding he had to revive her “on several occasions” in the months leading up to her death according to the charging documents. 

Detectives didn’t buy it. 

“Not one person has suggested or even seen any source of suicidal ideations from Angela,” the affidavit stated. “James had provided those statements to the Department of Human Services employees, who, after hearing those statements, felt that James was trying to make a point to have some source of the cover-up story to prevent his incrimination.”

Additionally, Dr. Ashley Peko, one of the physicians who treated Angela during her hospitalizations, testified to the court on Tuesday that Angela did not appear to be suicidal.

A suspicious search history

Screenshots included with the affidavit showed Google searches made by the defendant’s Gmail accounts. On February 27, 2023, days before Angela Craig first fell ill, James Craig allegedly searched, “How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human?” and “Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?”

They showed someone using James Craig’s account purchasing arsenic for $13 on Amazon that same day. It was delivered to the Craigs’ address on March 4.

On March 6, the same day the victim was first hospitalized, James Craig allegedly purchased Oleandrin — the toxic and potentially lethal chemical found in the oleander plant — online. However, Major Crimes thwarted the shipment by contacting FedEx.

Prosecutors believe that when the arsenic failed, James Craig allegedly purchased cyanide on March 9, 2023. When required by the seller to submit a usage statement, James Craig reportedly stated it was for work-related and scientific purposes.

The cyanide was delivered to the dental office on March 13, just two days before Angela Craig’s third and final hospitalization. 

A hired hit

Following his arrest, the defendant is also accused of offering to pay his cellmate $20,000 to have an Aurora Police Detective on the case killed, as reported by The Associated Press. The identity of the investigator has not been disclosed. 

The defense, however, plans to call into question the veracity of the cellmate’s claims, according to NBC News.

James Craig is also accused of offering $20,000 to incentivize others to lie under oath about Angela Craig’s purported suicide attempts. 

The defendant is charged with first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder, and solicitation to commit perjury. If found guilty, he faces life in prison. 

Trial will continue throughout the week and is expected to continue into August.