Angela and James Craig.
“She brought me some crayons and markers and some coloring books and this teeny bopper book,” remembers Davis. “She was always there for you. She was a beacon of light when you were having a dark day."
It’s a memory Davis says she’ll “treasure," because it’s one of the last times she saw her friend.
On March 15, 2023, Angela, 43, was admitted to the hospital at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus near her home in Aurora, where she suffered a seizure and was placed on life support before being pronounced dead on March 18.
The next day, police arrested her husband, James Craig, 45, on charges of first-degree murder. A charge of tampering with physical evidence was later added.
James Craig.
The alleged motive? More than $3 million in insurance and a an alleged love affair with a Texas orthodontist he had met at a Las Vegas convention in 2023.
Dark Family Secrets
The case has shaken the couple’s close-knit community, where they were Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members. Married in 1999, the Craigs settled in the Denver area, where Angela was a choir director and family history consultant for the church and devoted mom to their six children, Toliver, Mira, Annabelle, Cleo, Nora and Violet. James was a popular dentist who handed out fresh-baked cookies to patients. He was also an elder in the church.
Angela and her family.
James’s business life was allegedly also in shambles. Angela told her sister that James had recently lost more than $2,000 gambling in Las Vegas and had “run the dental office into the ground” and their finances were dire, according to the affidavit.
His business partner Ryan Redfearn told police that he acquired James’ Summerbrook Dental Group in 2020. “Ryan described James as a risk taker and found out that he filed for bankruptcy in 2021, and was on the verge of bankruptcy again,” per the affidavit.
‘I Feel Drugged’
Investigators believe James began plotting Angela’s murder on or before Feb. 27, 2023, when they claim he ordered arsenic online and searched “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human” and “Is Arsenic Detectable in Autopsy?”
James Craig in court.Christopher Oquendo for the DailyMail.com
Christopher Oquendo for the DailyMail.com
According to the affidavit, James received the arsenic at his home on March 4, the day before Angela returned home from a visit to Utah.
In a March 6 text, Angela told James: “I feel drugged.”
James allegedly responded: “Given our history I know that must be triggering. 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.”
She later went to Parker Adventist Hospital complaining of dizziness and weakness. She fell ill again and returned to the hospital on March 9 where she stayed for six days.
In a series of texts to a friend on March 9 discussing Angela’s symptoms, James told the friend: “If it wasn’t my wife this would be kind of a fun puzzle to try to work out!”
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James Craig.Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office
Angela returned to the hospital the following day and had a seizure. Subsequently, she was placed on life support and died on March 18.
Friends were shocked to hear of her passing and couldn’t believe someone as healthy as Angela would die so suddenly.
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Those who knew Angela are shocked and saddened about what happened to their friend.
“You just got a pain in your heart, an ache,” says her friend Victoria about her death. “A good person shouldn’t be ended this way. She loved life. She loved her children. She loved all her friends. It is not fair.”
Says Davis: “It still doesn’t feel real. She was an incredible human being and everybody needs an Angela in their life.”
James hasn’t entered a plea and is scheduled for arraignment on Aug. 29.
source: people.com
