 "Death by cyanide: How US dentist killed his wife by poisoning her protein shakes")
A Colorado dentist was found guilty on Wednesday (July 30) of killing his wife by lacing her protein shakes with poison in 2023. James Craig was sentenced to life in prison without parole by a jury in the US state.
The Arapahoe County jury convicted him of first-degree murder for killing Angela Craig. Prosecutors had accused James Craig of lacing his wife’s protein shakes with arsenic before giving her cyanide while she was hospitalised, leading to her death.
Let’s take a closer look.
How Colorado dentist killed his wife
James Craig, 47, killed Angela Craig, his wife of 23 years, with whom he shared six children, in March 2023.
Prosecutors alleged that Craig poisoned his wife with protein shakes. Angela first started feeling sick in early March 2023, when her husband began lacing her protein smoothies with arsenic, New York Times (NYT) reported, citing the police.
She was admitted to the hospital thrice in nine days leading up to her death. After complaining of headaches, dizziness and vomiting, Angela was showing signs of improvement.
However, she had a seizure just hours after being hospitalised on the day she died and after her husband had visited her, authorities said.
The case against Colorado dentist
Prosecutors argued James Craig’s motive for killing his wife was to get out of a marriage he felt trapped in. They said he did not want a divorce to protect his money and image.
His internet browsing history helped convict Craig of first-degree murder.
Just weeks before his wife’s death, the dentist had searched on Google: “How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human” and “Is Arsenic Detectable in Autopsy?"
Impact Shorts
More ShortsProsecutors said that to cover up the poisoning of his wife, Dr Craig tried to hire a fellow inmate to kill the detective leading the murder investigation. He also tried to bribe witnesses to lie about the case, according to the authorities.
During the trial in District Court in Arapahoe County, which lasted over 10 days, prosecutors portrayed Craig as having several affairs and being on the verge of bankruptcy.
Jurors were shown images from hospital security cameras with Dr Craig seen holding a syringe, which prosecutors claimed had cyanide in it.
Toxicology tests revealed that Angela Craig died of poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, the medication used in eye drops, according to the Arapahoe County coroner.
“She survived and fought for her life, and he found new ways to poison her,” Osama Magrebi, a deputy district attorney in Arapahoe County, said moments before Craig was sentenced.
James Craig’s defence argued that Angela Craig died by suicide. Attorney Lisa Fine Moses told the jury that the dentist’s “constant” cheating drove Angela to take her own life.
“Twenty-some years of him cheating on Angela Craig — he broke her. He broke her heart, her soul,” Moses said.
James Craig’s sentenced to life term
The jury found Craig guilty of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder in the first degree, solicitation to commit perjury, and solicitation to commit evidence tampering.
Arapahoe County District Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 33 years for the additional counts.
“Dr Craig unleashed a path of destruction as wide as a tornado and just as devastating,” Whitaker said. “Damage to his children, damage to Angela’s family, damage to his own family. None of the individuals that are here in the courtroom before the court today will ever be the same.”
Before the sentencing, family members testified about the impact of Angela Craig’s death.
Miriam Meservy, the couple’s eldest daughter, said, “I was supposed to be able to trust my Dad. He was supposed to be my hero, and instead he’ll forever be the villain in my book.”
With inputs from agencies
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