New charges filed against a Colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his spouse’s protein shakes concentrate on his alleged efforts to kill a detective concerned within the case, authorities stated.
A spokesman for the Aurora Police Department confirmed the accuracy of a report from NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver in regards to the solicitation to commit first-degree homicide cost filed final week in opposition to James Craig, 46.
Craig was previously arrested and charged with first-degree murder within the March 18, 2023, dying of his spouse of 23 years, Angela Craig, 43. He has pleaded not responsible to that cost.
Citing an expert battle, Craig’s lawyer withdrew from the case simply earlier than prosecutors filed the solicitation cost final week. It wasn’t instantly clear if Craig has a brand new legal professional to talk on his behalf in regards to the new expenses, which additionally embrace solicitation to commit perjury.
According to data obtained by KUSA, Craig was in jail twice with the person he allegedly sought to have homicide the detective, as soon as in May and June 2023 and once more final month. The inmate has not been accused of any crimes in reference to the Craig case, the station reported.
Citing a number of sources accustomed to the investigation, the station reported that the detective who was the goal of the alleged plot labored on the investigation into Angela Craig’s dying.
The police spokesman declined to offer extra particulars to NBC News in regards to the allegations.
Authorities beforehand accused James Craig of dosing his spouse’s drink with cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a medicine present in eye drops. She first grew to become sick in early March 2023 and was admitted to a hospital on March 15 with a extreme headache and dizziness. Angela Craig later died after experiencing a extreme seizure, authorities stated in James Craig’s arrest warrant.
Investigators initially believed her dying was a results of poisoning by arsenic and cyanide, in response to the arrest warrant. But the county coroner later attributed it to a mix of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline.
Authorities have pointed to Craig’s web search historical past, which confirmed he sought info on whether or not arsenic was detectable in an post-mortem. They additionally pointed to his on-line purchases: Weeks earlier than his spouse’s dying, Craig ordered potassium cyanide from Amazon and had it delivered to his dental follow, the warrant reveals.
When James Craig’s enterprise accomplice discovered of the acquisition, he flagged it as suspicious to a nurse on the facility the place Angela Craig was hospitalized. There was no medical motive to purchase cyanide for a dental follow, he instructed the nurse, in response to the warrant.
The nurse, a compulsory reporter, then contacted authorities.
When the enterprise accomplice confronted James Craig about it, he initially denied shopping for the cyanide however later stated his spouse requested him to order it, in response to the warrant.
At a courtroom listening to final yr, Craig’s protection lawyer stated there was no direct proof displaying his shopper poisoned his spouse’s drink.
That lawyer withdrew final week on the day jury choice was supposed to start in Craig’s trial. The lawyer partly attributed his withdrawal to a perception that his shopper “persists in a plan of action involving the lawyer’s companies that the lawyer moderately believes is prison or fraudulent,” KUSA reported.
Jury choice has been indefinitely postponed, the station reported.
