Centennial, Colorado.A Colorado dentist who was found guilty of killing his wife by putting poison in her protein drinks and then giving her a lethal dosage of cyanide while she was in the hospital was given a life sentence on Wednesday.
James Craig was given the mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole by District Judge Shay Whitaker for a first-degree murder conviction in Colorado. After he claimed he desired a divorce due to his numerous extramarital affairs, a jury found him guilty of murder and other crimes, rejecting his allegation that he had assisted his wife in killing herself.
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During the trial, prosecutors claimed that James Craig poisoned his wife, Angela Craig, over a ten-day period in March 2023. Prosecutors claimed that after those efforts failed, the dentist administered a last dose of cyanide to his wife, who was hospitalized in a Denver suburb and exhibiting symptoms that baffled medical professionals. Soon after, she was pronounced brain dead.
As the jury handed down a long list of guilty verdicts on Wednesday afternoon, Craig stood in a quiet courtroom. One of the couple’s six children, who portrayed her father as a villain, and other family members of Angela Craig gave moving testimonies about the pain of losing her before he was sentenced.
Toni Kofoed, Angela Craig’s older sister, bemoaned the absence of phone conversations, texts, and outings with her sister when they could chat and laugh late into the night.
“You have denied us the chance to age together,” Kofoed remarked.
Kofoed turned to the defendant and stated, “You didn’t have the right to take her life.” Angela loved life and was passionate about it. Unfortunately, she loved you just as much as she loved her kids.
As his eldest daughter talked about how much she missed being able to talk to her mother about her life and how she felt betrayed by her father, James Craig seemed to shudder with sobs.
The daughter, Miriam Mira Meservy, inhaled through tears and remarked, “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.” Craig’s lawyer gave the defendant a back pat as Meservy was speaking.
Toliver Craig, the couple’s son, claimed that he and his mother didn’t always get along. However, he set an alarm on his phone that continues to sound at 10 p.m. every night for two weeks after she passed away. All it says is “Mom.”
He remarked, “I’m sad there’s not more time with her.”
Prior to his sentencing, James Craig refused to speak. He was then brought out of court in handcuffs.
Angela Craig’s family sat on one side of the room in court, while James Craig’s family sat on the other. However, many of them wiped tears from their eyes as they shook hands and hugged one another.
In addition to murder, James Craig was convicted of attempting to conceal the murder by requesting that others fabricate testimony and evidence that would suggest that Angela Craig had committed herself or that he intended to frame him for her demise. Among other things, he was found guilty of trying to persuade a fellow prisoner to kill the chief detective looking into his wife’s death and of encouraging another daughter to create a phony video of her mother requesting to be poisoned.
During the two-week trial, James Craig did not testify, and his lawyers did not call any additional witnesses. The defense had previously accused authorities of concentrating only on James Craig as a suspect and implied that Angela Craig might have committed suicide.
Prosecutors claimed that the dentist had given other persons contradictory explanations for her death.
According to the coroner, toxicology tests showed that Angela Craig, 43, died from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline poisoning, which is a common chemical in over-the-counter eye drops.
The prosecution contended that Craig wanted to kill his wife in order to escape a marriage in which he felt stuck and that he didn’t want a divorce in order to preserve his wealth and reputation.
They said that before entering Angela Craig’s room, Craig was seen clutching a syringe in pictures from a hospital security camera that were exhibited in court. In closing arguments Tuesday, Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Mauro told jurors that Craig contacted a fellow dentist he was having an affair with after giving her the lethal amount via her IV. His wife’s health rapidly deteriorated.
Craig obviously wanted to leave his marriage, but he gave in to greed and cowardice by killing him, according to Mauro, who spoke after sentencing was completed.
“Angela was not suicidal, the jury declared emphatically. According to the prosecutor, she was unaware of what had occurred to her and did not participate in it.
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The daughter of the Craigs is now spelled Miriam Mira Meservy instead of Merservy in this revised narrative.
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Denver is where Slevin reported from.
