AURORA, CO – A local dentist, facing charges for allegedly murdering his wife by poisoning her protein shakes, is now under scrutiny for a new accusation. According to law enforcement, the accused attempted to manipulate evidence by soliciting a fellow inmate to plant forged letters suggesting his wife was suicidal.
Detective Bobbi Olson of the Aurora Police Department testified on Wednesday about the new allegations against James Craig. KMGH-TV reported that Craig allegedly asked the inmate to place the letters in his garage and truck. The inmate, who believed the letters were penned by Craig, was under the impression that they were designed to appear as though Craig’s wife, Angela, had written them.
Angela Craig, a 43-year-old mother of six, was married to James Craig for 23 years before her untimely death in March 2023. The coroner’s report revealed that she died from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline poisoning, the latter being a substance typically found in over-the-counter eye drops.
The prosecution alleges that Craig purchased the deadly substances online shortly before his wife started showing unexplainable symptoms. Craig’s defense team, however, insists that there’s no concrete evidence to prove that he laced his wife’s shakes with poison and have accused Detective Olson of bias.
In a surprising turn of events, the inmate refused Craig’s offer of money or free dental work in exchange for planting the letters. Instead, he alerted law enforcement about the proposition. Craig’s defense team has challenged the credibility of the inmate as a witness, citing that he only contacted the authorities after a widely publicized initial hearing and could not accurately identify the color of Craig’s truck.
Despite the defense’s objections, the judge ruled that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence for Craig to face trial on the new charge of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence. This charge was added last month to Craig’s existing charges of first-degree murder and another count of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence. Craig pleaded not guilty to the initial charges in November 2023.