AURORA, Colo. — A new charge filed against James Craig – the former Aurora dentist accused of poisoning his 43-year-old wife – centers on allegations he plotted the murder of a police detective from his jail cell, 9NEWS Investigates has confirmed.
Craig is charged with murder in the death of his wife, Angela, who died in 2023 after ingesting lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient commonly found in Visine. His trial was supposed to begin with jury selection last week, but was postponed indefinitely as his attorney withdrew from the case. Then prosecutors filed two new charges.
Among those charges was a count of solicitation of first-degree murder.
Court documents did not identify the intended victim, but multiple sources familiar with the investigation confirmed the target of the plot was an Aurora police detective. That detective – who 9NEWS is not identifying – worked on the investigation into Angela’s death on March 18, 2023.
According to court documents, Craig is suspected of trying to get another inmate in the Arapahoe County jail to kill the detective.
Records obtained by 9NEWS show that Craig and the other inmate were in jail together in May and June of 2023 – and again last month when the other man was arrested on an auto theft charge. The other man has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to the alleged plot to kill the investigator.
According to an arrest affidavit from Aurora Police, Angela went to a hospital three times before her death – on March 6, March 9 and March 15 – after becoming faint and dizzy. She was still alive when Aurora police detectives began investigating how she ended up in the hospital.
According to the affidavit, Craig used an office computer to research and buy "undetectable poisons." He also ordered crystalline metalloid arsenic from Amazon a few weeks before his wife's death. Five days before her death, according to the document, Craig received a package at his dental practice. It was opened by an office attendant who found a biohazard sticker and a circular canister labeled "potassium cyanide."
According to the affidavit, Craig’s business partner in the Summerbrook Dental Group told hospital nurses that he suspected Angela had been poisoned because of Craig recently ordering potassium cyanide for their dental practice. That resulted in an investigation into her death.
Craig is next due in court in connection with his wife's death on Dec. 16. It’s possible he’ll have a new attorney, but it’s not clear when a new trial will be scheduled.
Contact 9NEWS investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: at kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.