Dentist accused of killing wife by poisoning her shakes charged with trying to have detective killed
DENVER — A dentist accused of killing his wife by poisoning her protein shakes, she is accused of pushing a fellow inmate to kill a detective investigating the murder case.
Prosecutors filed two new charges against James Craig last week: solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit perjury. The charging document does not say who Craig allegedly tried to kill, but an Aurora Police Department spokesman, Joe Moylan, confirmed late Wednesday that the alleged intended victim was an Aurora Police Department detective.
Online court records did not list an attorney representing Craig as of Thursday. A judge allowed Craig’s newest attorney, Harvey Steinberg, to withdraw from the case on November 21, citing a professional conflict, just as Craig was about to stand trial for first-degree murder in the death by Angela Craig. Prosecutors filed the two new charges against Craig the next day.
Craig’s trial has been postponed indefinitely. Craig, who has pleaded not guilty, will appear in court with a new attorney on December 16.
Angela Craig, 43, died in March 2023 of poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, the latter a substance found in over-the-counter eye drops, according to the coroner. The couple was married for 23 years and had six children together.
Craig was also previously accused of smuggling a letter out of prison with an inmate bound by an adult daughter. According to prosecutors, she was asked to make a fake video of Angela asking Craig to get her poison.
He is also accused of asking another inmate to post falsified journal entries in Craig’s home, purporting to show that Angela Craig committed suicide. According to court documents, the inmate refused. Craig’s original defense team pointed out that the inmate only contacted authorities after an initial hearing to review evidence in the case, which was widely reported in the media.
Prosecutors also allege that Craig tried a more elaborate and convoluted approach to shift the blame to his wife. In court documents, they said he asked another former inmate to find attractive women willing to testify at his trial that they were having affairs with him and that, after Angela Craig found out, they refused to help her frame him .