An Aurora dentist accused of fatally poisoning his spouse allegedly tried to pay one other inmate $20,000 to kill the lead detective on the case and pay the inmate’s ex-wife to bear false witness at his trial, prosecutors mentioned in court docket Friday.
James Craig is charged with first-degree homicide within the 2023 poisoning dying of his spouse, 43-year-old Angela Craig.
However shortly earlier than his trial was set to start in November, his legal professional abruptly stop the case over moral considerations and the 18th Judicial District Lawyer’s Workplace sought to file new prices within the case — solicitation to commit homicide and solicitation to commit perjury.
District Court docket Decide Shay Whitaker dominated that prosecutors had introduced ample proof to attempt Craig on the brand new prices throughout a preliminary listening to Friday, together with testimony from an Arapahoe County Jail sergeant and sheriff’s workplace investigator and two letters allegedly written by Craig.
Craig advised an inmate in his jail pod he would pay him $20,000 to kill the Aurora Police Division detective in command of his case together with two different inmates within the jail and one other police officer, the sergeant testified in court docket Friday.
Investigators haven’t been capable of match the title of the second officer Craig allegedly needed killed with anybody concerned with the case.
Within the letters, prosecutors say James Craig detailed how his fellow inmate’s ex-wife might pose as a pal of Angela Craig’s. He detailed his spouse’s private historical past, his a number of affairs and how one can entry an internet drive containing images that could possibly be edited to make it appear to be the ladies knew one another.
Craig provided to pay the lady $20,000 for that scheme and to search out different individuals to rent as witnesses to testify at his trial, prosecutors mentioned Friday.
James Craig’s protection attorneys argued that there is no such thing as a proof he was the writer of the letters and that the inmate had the motivation to mislead investigators.
Craig’s new trial on the entire prices is ready for July 14 by means of Aug. 1.
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