Colorado dentist accused of poisoning wife told colleagues they were playing game of ‘chicken’

The Colorado dentist charged with murdering his wife by poisoning her protein shakes railed against colleagues who found the chemicals he used to allegedly kill her, warning them not to speak to police unless subpoenaed and claiming there were things they ‘didn’t know’. 

James ‘Jim’ Craig, 45, is charged with murdering his wife Angela, the mother of his six kids, by slowly poisoning her to death with potassium cyanide. 

Angela died on March 18, four days after being admitted to the hospital with dizziness and nausea. She first started feeling sick on March 6, and visited hospital twice before she was admitted before her death. 

According to bombshell charging documents, Craig was having an affair with a Texas orthodontist who he flew to Colorado while his wife fought for her life in the hospital. 

He’d had multiple affairs over the years, had run his dental practice ‘into the ground’ and had gambled away thousands of dollars, according to his wife’s family, who say she had tried several times to leave him throughout their 16-year marriage, but that he stopped her every time. 

In frustrated texts to his business partner after his wife died, James Craig complained about the fact colleagues had reported their concerns to police and claimed they didn’t know the full story 

He fumed at his colleagues that they shouldn’t speak to police unless they were subpoenaed, and even ordered them not to respond to him

Angela Craig, a mother of six, was taken off life support on March 18. She is shown with her husband 

The family’s home in Aurora, Colorado. 

Text messages contained within the affidavit also reveal how he tried to worm his way out of charges after his colleagues found the potassium cyanide he had ordered to their office. 

He at first claimed it was a ring for his wife, then conceded that it was indeed poison – but claimed she had ordered it for herself. 

When they disproved that lie, he admitted ordering it – but claimed it was part of a game of suicide ‘chicken’ the pair played. 

‘James said he ordered the Potassium Cyanide, but didn’t think she would actually take it. He described the situation as being similar to a game of chicken.

‘At that point, Ryan [Redfearn] told James to stop talking and get a lawyer.’ 

He also claimed his wife was suicidal, hooked on opioids, and that he’d once drugged her in the past – but only so that she couldn’t stop him from taking his own life. 

In texts to his business partner’s wife, he shared photos from inside the hospital as his wife sought treatment 

Craig admitted to drugging Angela five or six years ago and referenced the incident in a text message to his wife while she is hospitalized 

The elaborate stories compound incriminating Google searches he carried out for ‘how to mix poison’ in the days before his wife died. 

He also complained about a delay in the shipment of more potassium cyanide on March 9. 

The affidavit also reveals how James had poisoned his wife before, years prior. 

When she began feeling sick on March 6, she texted him telling him she felt as though she’d been ‘drugged’.

Disturbingly, he replied: ‘Given our history, I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn’t drug you.’ 

Her sister later told police that he’d drugged her years prior, and claimed it was an effort to knock her out for long enough for him to kill himself undisturbed. 

For days before she died, he texted her incessantly asking her how she was feeling, and what was wrong with her. 

He expressed concern for her and told her he loved her, all the while claiming he had no idea what was causing her illness. 

James and Angela Craig pose for a family picture with their six children aged eight to 20

James Toliver Craig was arrested for murder on Sunday after detectives discovered his wife Angela Craig, 45, had been fatally poisoned