The Colorado dentist charged with killing his wife allegedly fatally poisoned her so he could start a new life with his alleged lover, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
James Toliver Craig, 45, had flown in his mistress, a Texas orthodontist he had exchanged “sexually explicit” emails with, to Denver while the mother of his six children was dying in the hospital, allegedly by his own doing, investigators said in the document.
Craig had searched online for what poisons could kill a person without detection and ordered a canister of toxic potassium cyanide to his office just two days before his 43-year-old wife, Angela Craig, was admitted to the hospital after complaining of dizziness and headaches, according to the affidavit obtained by the Daily Beast.
Angela’s condition rapidly deteriorated after she was admitted last Wednesday and she was placed on a ventilator before being declared brain dead and then taken off life support on Sunday, police said.
The affidavit paints a picture of what led up to the alleged murder — including a troubled marriage, infidelity, financial problems and even a past incident in which Craig reportedly poisoned Angela.
Angela’s sister told police that Craig “had multiple affairs with several women, told Angela he had been addicted to pornography since he was a teenager and drugged Angela approximately five to six years ago.” She also said Angela said Craig “was on the verge of bankruptcy” for a second time.
She reportedly told her sister that Craig drugged her because he planned to commit suicide with a lethal injection and didn’t want her to try to save him before the drugs had the time to take effect.
In early March, when Angela began to exhibit symptoms and first went to the hospital she told her husband she “felt drugged” over text.
“Given our history I know that must be triggering,” Craig replied to her text. “Just for the record, I didn’t drug you. I am super worried though. You really looked pale before I left. Like in your lips even.”
Police believe she had been poisoned with arsenic at that time.
The dentist had reportedly used a computer at his office to search how much arsenic is needed to kill a person and placed orders for arsenic, cyanide and oleandrin — three deadly chemicals, according to a search of the device’s internet history.
Investigators believe he poisoned his wife’s protein shakes with the toxins and ultimately killed her with the cyanide he ordered to his office.
He told an office manager at his dental practice that he had a personal package that would be delivered to the office on March 13 and asked her not to open it. However, another employee accidentally opened it and when the office manager was resealing it, she found “a bio-hazard sticker and what said ‘Potassium Cyanide’ on a circular canister” inside, according to the affidavit.
She googled what the chemical was used for and discovered that Angela had been experiencing similar symptoms to what potassium cyanide poisoning causes. When Angela was readmitted to the hospital on March 15, she alerted Craig’s business partner and his wife of her discovery.
They then told a nurse at the hospital while visiting Angela that they were concerned she may have been poisoned with potassium cyanide. That nurse then called police as she was obligated to do as a mandatory reporter.
Craig reportedly tried to say he ordered the potassium cyanide for his wife because she was suicidal. He said she asked him to order it since he had the medical credentials to do so, but he didn’t believe she would have actually used it.
Investigators said Angela showed no signs of suicidal thoughts.
Aurora Police Department Division Chief Mark Hildebrand called the alleged poisoning “a heinous, complex and calculated murder.”
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