James Craig has been jailed for methodically poisoning his wife
The daughter of a man who was found guilty of killing his wife by slipping poison into her protein shakes delivered a powerful and emotional statement in court before his sentencing was announced.
James Craig, who once worked as a dentist in Colorado, was given a life sentence without any chance of parole. His conviction included not only the calculated murder of his wife, but also several deeply troubling charges like attempting to have a police officer killed and creating a deepfake video of his wife.
During the trial at Arapahoe County Court, prosecutors explained that the 47-year-old was involved in an affair at the time he began plotting the murder of his wife, Angela Craig, which took place in March 2023.
Prosecutors revealed that Craig had carefully mixed arsenic into his wife’s protein shakes over time. They added that he even gave her a fatal dose of cyanide while she was in the hospital, already in a weakened state. They argued that Craig was dealing with financial issues and did not want to go through a divorce, which may have led to his cruel decision.
The defense, however, tried to claim that Angela, who was 43, had taken her own life. They said she was devastated by Craig’s repeated affairs and had lost the will to live.
But when a coroner examined the body, the conclusion was clear. Angela died due to cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a chemical found in eye drops. Arsenic was also found in her system, making the circumstances even more alarming.
One of James and Angela’s daughters, Miriam Meservy, bravely stood in court and directed a heartbreaking message at her father.
"I was supposed to be able to trust my dad." she said. "He was supposed to be my hero, and instead he'll forever be the villain in my book."
She went on to say: "And it hurts so bad every day."
According to CBS News, Craig was clearly affected by his daughter’s words and appeared emotional. His son, Toliver Craig, also addressed the court and his father.
Their oldest child, Toliver, said: "It's hard to lose your mom, and then a few days after that, lose your dad. And then after that, you know, having to spend the next two and a half years having to untangle whatever he tells you."
"It's just been really hard not being able to mourn my mom."
The court heard shocking details about how Angela became increasingly ill, unaware that she was slowly being poisoned by her husband. Investigators also discovered chilling internet searches made by Craig. These included how to make a murder appear as a heart attack and how long arsenic takes to kill someone.
One particularly disturbing search he made was: "Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?"
Authorities also reported that Craig looked up whether there were poisons that couldn’t be detected and searched for “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human.”
He ordered potassium cyanide and had it delivered directly to the dental office where he worked.
Just two days after receiving the delivery, Angela drank a protein shake that left her feeling weak and dizzy. She ended up being rushed to a hospital in Denver.
Security footage later showed Craig holding a syringe before he went into Angela’s hospital room. Soon after his visit, her health took a dramatic turn for the worse. She eventually slipped into a coma and was declared brain-dead a few days later.
Although Craig was already facing a first-degree murder charge, the jury also found him guilty of other serious crimes. These included trying to get a fellow inmate to murder the lead detective handling the investigation.
In addition to that, he was convicted of trying to get someone to tamper with physical evidence and encouraging others to commit perjury in his defense.
One of the most unsettling accusations was that Craig tried to convince one of his own children to help him fabricate an AI-generated deepfake video. The goal was to make it look like Angela was thinking about ending her own life.
Before handing down the final sentence, Arapahoe County District Judge Shay Whitaker said: "Dr. Craig unleased a path of destruction as wide as a tornado, and just as devastating." She then sentenced Craig to life in prison with no chance of parole for the murder, and added 33 more years for the additional crimes.
Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley expressed his horror at the case, saying: "The evidence never stopped getting worse. Enlisting his daughter, to try to help him cover this case up, to fix this case was probably one of the more heinous things I've seen."
District Attorney Amy Padden also addressed the court, describing Angela’s passing as a “slow death” caused by the poisons. She added: "It wasn't something done in the heat of passion. It was deliberate."