A Colorado dentist who plotted to kill his wife by slipping poison into her smoothies has been found guilty of murder — and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
James Craig, 47, was convicted on July 30 of first-degree murder in the shocking death of his wife, Angela Craig, 43, after a two-week trial that gripped the Denver suburbs. The father of six was also found guilty on five additional charges, including solicitation to commit murder, tampering with evidence, and perjury.
Angela, a beloved choir director and church volunteer, died in March 2023 after mysteriously falling ill multiple times over the span of two weeks. What no one realized at first was that her own husband — a practicing dentist — was secretly lacing her protein shakes with cyanide and eye drop solution.
During sentencing, Judge Shay Whitaker didn’t hold back.
“Dr. Craig unleashed a path of destruction as wide as a tornado and just as devastating — damage to his children, damage to Angela’s family, damage to his own family,” she said.
The case shocked even seasoned investigators. According to court documents, Craig began planning the murder in late February 2023, searching online for phrases like “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human” and “Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?”
He allegedly ordered both arsenic and potassium cyanide to his dental office. On March 6, Angela was hospitalized for dizziness and nausea. She was released — but returned three days later even sicker. By her third hospital visit, she suffered a fatal seizure and was taken off life support on March 18.
Prosecutors told jurors that Craig administered a lethal dose of cyanide during one of his hospital visits, while pretending to support his ailing wife.
“He didn’t go into that room to save Angela’s life,” prosecutor Ryan Brackley said during trial. “He went into that room to murder her.”
The case revealed a chilling double life. According to Angela’s sister, Craig had a long history of disturbing behavior: an addiction to pornography, multiple affairs, and a prior attempt to drug Angela years earlier. In text messages, Angela confided that he had once told her he planned to take his own life — and drugged her to keep her from stopping him.
Financial pressures may have also played a role. Craig had recently lost over $2,000 gambling in Las Vegas, and according to his business partner, his dental practice was failing. He had previously filed for bankruptcy and was reportedly heading toward another one.
Angela’s death leaves behind not only a grieving family, but a community stunned by the betrayal. What looked like a picture-perfect couple was, behind closed doors, a slow-motion horror story that ended in calculated murder.
James Craig will now spend the rest of his life behind bars — with no chance of parole.
The pig got what he deserves
The problem is that Colorado is a shitty blue state now, so there is no death penalty.
He should have gotten the DEATH PENALTY! Premeditated murder. Now the children have no mother. There is no reason to feed and cloth this murderer for life on the tax payers! It’s about time we clean out our prisons of these murderers! They are of no use to society…