CENTENNIAL — James Craig was on the clock.
A lady he’d met days earlier at a Las Vegas convention — a lady he mentioned he could be in love with — was coming to go to Denver. This lady, Karin Cain, thought he was dwelling individually from his spouse, Angela Craig, 43. She thought the married couple had been in the course of a divorce.
They weren’t, and that was an issue, 18th Judicial Assistant District Legal professional Ryan Brackley mentioned throughout opening statements at James Craig’s homicide trial Tuesday.
“They’re dwelling as husband and spouse, however he’s received an issue, he’s received a scenario, he’s trapped,” Brackley advised the jury. “And he’s received eight days. He’s received a countdown.”
Craig, 47, is charged with first-degree homicide within the dying of Angela Craig on March 18, 2023, from deadly doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant present in over-the-counter eyedrops.
Prosecutors allege James Craig purchased arsenic, eyedrops and cyanide days earlier than his spouse was poisoned to dying, searched on-line about find out how to poison somebody, was having an affair and confronted monetary difficulties.
Proof exhibits that Craig put poison in a smoothie he made for his spouse, Brackley mentioned, and that he later opened up a bottle of prescription capsules, changed the contents of the capsules with cyanide and inspired a member of the family to offer the lethal capsules to his spouse.
Brackley alleged throughout Tuesday’s opening statements in Arapahoe County District Courtroom that James Craig poisoned his spouse to eliminate her so he may begin a brand new life along with his paramour.
Craig’s protection legal professional, Ashley Whitham, dismissed the prosecution’s idea and mentioned Craig had been having affairs in the course of the couple’s marriage.
“This dishonest had been occurring for 23 years,” Whitham mentioned. “There have been numerous girls. This wasn’t nearly three girls or 4 girls, that is one thing that had been happening all through the entire complete relationship. And there may be nothing new about Ms. Cain. I do know the prosecution goes to argue that and inform you she is a few type of motive, she is rather like all the remainder of the ladies that Dr. Craig was having affairs with.”
Whitham accused police of conducting a biased investigation that wrongly centered on James Craig as the one doable suspect, and implied that Angela Craig died by suicide, suggesting she was remoted, overwhelmed and sad.
“She was damaged,” Whitham mentioned. “She was struggling.”
James Craig can also be charged with two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with proof, two counts of solicitation to commit perjury and solicitation to commit homicide. He’s accused of asking two completely different folks — together with his daughter — to cowl up proof within the case. Prosecutors allege he tried to pay one other inmate $20,000 to kill the lead detective on the case and pay the inmate’s ex-wife to falsely testify that Angela Craig was suicidal.
Earlier than Angela died, James Craig used a communal pc at his office to conduct quite a few searches about poison, prosecutors mentioned.
The searches on YouTube and Google included: “what number of grams of pure arsenic will kill a human,” “Is Arsenic Detectable in Post-mortem,” “Prime 5 Undetectable Poisons That Present No Indicators of Foul Play,” “find out how to make poison,” and “The Prime 10 Deadliest Crops (They Can Kill You),” based on a police affidavit.
James Craig ordered arsenic from Amazon.com on Feb. 27, the identical day that Cain booked a visit to Denver for March 8, Brackley mentioned. She later pushed her journey again to March 16, Brackley mentioned.
“I could be utterly in love with you after 3 days,” James Craig texted Cain, whom he’d met at a convention that began Feb. 22. Over roughly three weeks, the 2 exchanged 4,000 texts, 80 expressions of affection and deliberate a future collectively, Brackley mentioned.
“Perhaps she’s going to resolve to remain gone for a very long time,” James Craig texted Cain about his spouse on Feb. 28, 2023. “It could be exhausting for me to determine find out how to handle with the children, however it might undoubtedly make my life simpler.”
James and Angela Craig shared six youngsters and had been Mormon, Whitham mentioned. She mentioned Angela Craig’s religion was necessary to her and he or she needed to maintain the household collectively for spiritual causes, regardless of long-standing hassle in her marriage.
James Craig obtained the Amazon bundle of arsenic on March 4, and two days later, his spouse was admitted to a hospital with signs that aligned with poisoning, based on a police affidavit. James Craig purchased 12 bottles of Visine on March 8, 2023, then purchased extra the subsequent day, Brackley mentioned.
Angela Craig was launched from the hospital on March 6 however returned between March 9 and 14, 2023. Whereas she was hospitalized, James Craig ordered two further poisons — cyanide and oleandrin — from medical suppliers, based on the affidavit. (He by no means obtained the oleandrin as a result of the bundle was intercepted by police.)
Angela Craig carried out quite a lot of Google searches on her cellphone about what could be inflicting her sickness, Brackley mentioned. These searches included: “Inside shiver causes,” “Go to sleep, deep snore, inside tremors,” “Obstructive sleep apnea,” and “Inside tremors & chills.”
On March 15, whereas Angela Craig was house, James Craig texted a member of the family and reminded them to offer Angela Craig a prescription remedy. Inside 25 minutes of Angela Craig taking that remedy, she turned very sick and was rushed again to the hospital, the place she was put in intensive care and on a ventilator.
Angela Craig was declared mind useless and brought off life assist on March 18, 2023.
“He put cyanide within the capsule,” Brackley advised jurors.
Each he and Craig’s protection crew confirmed jurors pictures and video recorded by a surveillance digital camera put in contained in the Craigs’ house that pointed on the couple’s lounge and kitchen. In a single picture from March 9, the footage confirmed Angela Craig crawling on the bottom when she was overcome with ache. In one other clip, after her first hospital go to, the couple argued.
Angela Craig accused her husband of undermining her through the go to by implying to the docs that she’d harmed herself, and mentioned she thought it was odd that he didn’t ask for extra particulars about her medical care.
“Nobody of their proper thoughts would ever assume I’d kill myself earlier than I killed you,” Angela Craig mentioned throughout that argument. “No method. Identify one individual.”
Craig was charged along with his spouse’s homicide hours after Angela Craig was taken off life assist and died. The case was scheduled for a jury trial in December 2024, however was delayed when Craig’s protection legal professional, Harvey Steinberg, withdrew from representing Craig over moral issues on the day the jury trial was scheduled to begin.
One other of Craig’s attorneys, Robert Werking, withdrew from the case on July 1 after Werking was arrested and accused of setting his own residence on fireplace. Werking is receiving psychological well being therapy, his legal professional mentioned, and Werking’s spouse, who can also be an legal professional, is constant to characterize Craig throughout his jury trial.
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