Hidden True Crime - Jailhouse Plot to Frame His Wife EXPOSED - Captain America a Code Word?! | James Craig Day 2 Recap

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

Today’s testimony brought secret poison deliveries, late-night computer searches, an office affair, and jailhouse letters offering money for fake testimony. This case just got even more wild.. and Hidden True Crime was in the courtroom to bring you all the latest. About Hidden True Crime: What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Client was paid $1,000 for their testimonial, creating a conflict of interest. Outcomes vary. 3.3% base APII as of January 30th, 20206, is representative variable and earned on funds swept to program banks. 0.65% new client boost for three months on up to $150,000. Direct deposit $1,000 a month and fund an investing account for a 0.25% increase. Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, member FINRA, SIPC, not a bank. Hello, hidden gems. Thanks for your patience while we prepare all of our information from date, of the James Craig murder trial.

James Craig is a Colorado dentist accused of poisoning his wife, Angela, with cyanide and other deadly substances back in March of 2023. And now, before I get into everything that happened in court today, I want to tell you a little bit about the trial and what it's like sitting in there. First off, I want you to know that hidden true crime has not been approved of. as media the last two days. And that means that while in court, we are not allowed to have cell phones and we are not allowed to have computers and we are handwriting our notes opposed to the media that gets a laptop and phones to write notes. I also have good news though. Today we were

officially labeled as certified media. So today things have changed. So thank you for your patience while we prepare every night to bring you every single thing that happened in trial because we know that this is not live streamed. We know that you guys are relying on us because we are in the courtroom. Let's get into it. One more thing, actually, before we jump in. I also want to share, I met somebody today that knew Angela. And Angela was her volleyball coach. And she served the volleyball a little bit differently than the other players. And she sort of danced with her feet. It was like her own style. And one coach, there were multiple coaches, Angela was the assistant coach. And one coach sort of really pushed this girl to stop that, to serve in the more traditional

way, serve the volleyball. And Angela jumped in and Angela said, no, let this girl. be her. Let her do it her way. This is her way. And she would call her by name, which I'm not saying right now, to keep her privacy. But she said, let her be her. And I couldn't think of a more beautiful story. It made me just love Angela all the more. Let her be her. Embrace yourself. So I wanted to start out with that story of Angela because it really touched me. For those that don't know about this case, because I realize that the family, Angela Craig's family, has been quite private when it comes to the death of their mother and their sister and their daughter. For those that are new to this case is such an important one. We have an entire backstory for you.

Please check it out so that you can follow along with our daily updates. Let's jump in. So this all happened, again, the crime back in March, or the alleged crime. I should say, back in March of 2023. James Craig, Dr. James Craig. The defense always calls him Dr. Craig. But Dr. James Craig walked in the courtroom, wearing a light gray suit and a yellow tie.

His salt and pepper hair was slicked back, not a strand out of place, and he looked calm, collected. Honestly, maybe even a little too polished for a man facing a first-degree murder charge. He looks quite dapper every day. And just behind him sat a row of familiar faces. His mom, dad, two brothers, and their wives.

Across the aisle on the prosecution side sat three of James's and Angela's adult children. One heartbreaking detail. James' father was heard saying that their oldest son, Tolliver, is rotating where he sits. Sometimes behind his father, sometimes behind the prosecution, caught in an emotional tug-of-war between the man accused and the woman they lost. This isn't just a courtroom drama. It's a family unraveling in real time. It is heartbreaking. The jury was brought in just before 9 a.m. They do not have assigned seats, which I find interesting. Every time the jury comes back in, they are all seated in different seats, sort of rotating. I sort of notice different jurors each time they rotate their seats.

James sat at the defense table taking notes. He takes a lot of notes and he's actually quite expressive. He sat at the defense table flipping through images pulled from surveillance cameras inside their family home, including what looked to be footage from the kitchen, the same kitchen where prosecutors say Angela was slowly being poisoned. Watching him review that material, calm and focused, it was chilling, like a man studying someone else's life or maybe the scene of where his own crime began. First up on the witness stand was Blair Cullen, a registered nurse, now working at

U.S. Health. But back in 2023, Blair was a travel nurse at Parker Adventist Hospital moving between units as needed. On March 12th, 2023, Blair was working a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. shift on the hospital's medical surgical floor. Angela had a crash overnight, also called a rapid response. A rapid response crash is an emergency call when a patient's condition is rapid. deteriorating, but they're not yet in cardiac arrest. So to put it simply, it means get help now. Angela's oxygen levels dropped quickly. A normal level is between 90 and 100 percent, and hers was in the 50s. Angela laid in her hospital room, dimly lit, quiet, with just a pull out couch or chair and a small bathroom tucked in the corner. James appeared to be asleep, seemingly unaware, that Angela was unresponsive,

her skin pale, wrenched in sweat, her breathing fast and shallow, according to her medical records. Angela's alarm first went off around 12.15 a.m. Her heart rate had spiked to 130. A clear sign something was seriously wrong. Nurse Blair immediately called in the rapid response team. Hospital staff cleared the room, meaning James was asked to leave, so they could focus on stabilizing Angela. They put her on oxygen and started running a full panel of tests, blood cultures, levels to check her heart, a checks x-ray, a basic metabolic panel to look at her electrolytes, and even an EEG to check her brain activity. Angela was given a full liter of fluids, but nothing changed. She still wasn't responding. And then the team decided to use physical stimuli, sort of massaging her sternum,

and turning on the lights, rustling around the room, anything to try to snap her out of it. Eventually, Angela started to come to, but she was confused and disoriented. Something was not right. During cross-examination, Blair walked the jury through standard hospital protocol. Nurses are expected to check on patients about once an hour, and they usually gently knock before entering the room. However, these checks don't always happen on the hour, meaning no one can really expect exactly when a nurse will be walking in.

She confirmed once again that Angela's heart monitor alarm went off around 12, 15 a.m., which is when she went in, but she couldn't give an exact time of the visit she had made before then. Blair wasn't sure if James was in the room during her very first check-in that night, but she did remember he was present when she documented her initial bedside report. After that, 1215 alarm. Angela was given fluids and had blood drawn between 1239 and 1245. And even though James had apparently been asleep when the first alarm started, Lur testified that once he was awake, he was attentive.

He stayed by Angela's side, didn't interfere, and didn't push back when staff asked him to leave the room so they could work on stabilizing her. Next on the stand was Caitlin Romero, and this was a big witness. These days, Caitlin is a revenue cycle manager at Fit to Smile Dental in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, but back in 2023, she worked for James Craig, Dr. James Craig. Caitlin was the office manager at Summerbrook Dental for about six months, working closely with the operations manager of Fit to Smile, Jackie Calderon. The state then lifted off several exhibits to show the jury. Exhibit 160 was a photo of the outside of the office building where Summerbrook Dental was located. Exhibit 161 was a photo of the Summerbrook office entry door. Exhibit 162, the waiting room. Exhibit 163, the hallway. Exhibit 164, a doctor's office for

Dr. James Craig and Dr. Hannah Pirates. Exhibit 165, James's desk. Exhibit 166, Examine 66, Examine 68. It was a disc that showed a video taken by police walking down the hallway and turning the corner into the exam room. Well, Kaelin testified that Ryan Redfern, who was associated with Summerbrook Dental. And from her backstory, we know that Ryan was James' close friend from dental school and a dentist as well. Ryan, along with his practice called Fit to Smile stepped in as managing partners for Summerbrook after James had mentioned some financial difficulty. Caitlin said she worked directly with Ryan and Jackie Calderon on all things from finances to staffing and day-to-day office operations.

Caitlin had been brought on shortly after Ryan and Fit to Smile stepped in to help stabilize Summerbrook back in February of 2022. She told the court about March 6, 2023, the day everything started to unravel. That morning, at around 7 a.m., she saw James at the office. Oddly, he had been late to their usual 645 staff huddle. When he finally showed up, he apologized and explained that he had been working out with Angela earlier and made her a protein shake. Yes, he talked about this. And after he made her that protein shake, she was now not feeling well, adding that he might have put too much protein powder in the shake, maybe wondering if he was the person and the protein shake the problem. Interesting, right? A couple of hours later, James told Caitlin again that Angela still wasn't feeling well and he was leaving to take her to urgent care. As the prosecution continued talking about what led to him leaving, including a phone call, Dr. Craig took, defense attorney Moses jumped in, this is Lisa Moses, jumped in with a hearsay objection and the judge sustained it, cutting that part

short. To avoid hearsay, Caitlin said that after receiving a phone call, James left the office. She doesn't remember him calling throughout the day after he left as far as what had happened leading up to Angela getting sick. Caitlin said that the previous week, James told her that Angela had been in Utah for a conference. I think that's that genealogy conference she went to with her sister Tony. But back to March 6th. After the office closed at 4 o'clock for the day, Caitlin stayed to finish up some work and James came back in at around 5 or 5.30. She had to open the hallway door for him, which was just behind her desk because the doors were locked. And as she was, let him in, he was on the phone and made his way towards the direction of his office area.

Jurors were then shown a few photos from inside the Summerbrook Dental Office, giving a glimpse into James Craig's professional world. Exhibit 162 was a shot of the waiting room. Four Navy and white chairs lined up neatly against navy blue walls with a large Summerbrook sign front and center. On the wall across from those chairs was a rack of neatly arranged magazines. Exhibit 163 showed the hallway, same color scheme, navy and white. walls, clean and minimal, polished and professional. Exhibit 164 took the jury inside James Craig's personal office. One Navy accent wall gave the room a modern touch with two desks positioned back to back. James' own desk was noticeably cluttered, dual computer monitors, a scanner,

and a laptop. So back to March 6th again, Kaelin recalled that not long after James returned to the office, she was wrapping up her day. And as she walked down the hallway toward the staff exit, shutting things down for the night, something caught her off guard. James's office was dark, the lights completely off. When she rounded the corner, she stopped in her tracks. There he was, sitting alone in exam room nine, Dr. James Craig, an exam room nine. The lights were out there too. The only glow in the room came from the computer screen James was using. It was eerie. And Caitlin said she had never seen him do that before. When she asked what he was doing, James told her that he wasn't sure if the other doctor,

Hiana, would be coming in and he wanted to work alone. He mentioned that Angela was doing okay, but admitted it had been a very stressful day. So he came back to work to get some things done. And after leaving the office that evening, Gailon got a text from James. He let her know a personal package would be delivered and asked her not to open it. Just leave it on his desk, he requested. She actually, what she did was simply like the message and never respond. Something admittedly I do a lot, those that texts me know.

You just don't always have the time. You let people know you receive the message. So after she simply liked this message and kept on moving, however, it did, the message struck her as odd. In all of her time at Summerbrook, personal packages had never been sent to the office. It was out of the ordinary and it definitely stuck with her. And then came March 9th. That afternoon, James told Caitlin that Angela had been admitted to the hospital. He'd been in and out of the office all week as Angela was bouncing between urgent care and the ER.

But it was something James said during a phone call that really raised red flags. He told Caitlin he didn't think Angela would make it through the night. And then in almost the same breath, he shifted to worrying about his production level and patient load at the office. As Caitlin shared this with the jury, James sat at the defense table shaking his head. He does this a lot, guys. Shakes his head or nods. And at this moment, he shook his head. On Friday, March 10th, James texted Caitlin again, asking if anyone would be at the office.

He said he'd forgotten his keys and needed to grab his laptop. A few days later, on March 13th, that mysterious personal package he had been asking for finally arrived. At my bank, I was literally getting pennies using wallfronts. Cheching, there's this much that I'm getting an interest in. I didn't have to do anything. Clients like Angela earn up to 4.2% APY on their cash with the Wealthfront cash account. Get started at Wealthfront.com. Client was paid $1,000 for their testimonial, creating a conflict of interest.

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checking in, asking if it had shown up yet. That day, while Caitlin was helping a patient in the exam room, a front desk employee walked in and handed her a sealed silver foil package. Caitlin was a little bit confused. It had no address on it, and it was again, this sealed foil package. It didn't look like something that had been mailed. So Keelan asked if it had come in a box, and the employee handed that over too, along with the invoice for the box. Caitlin saw that the box was labeled with a bright biohazard sticker and it was addressed to Dr. James Craig. She told the employee not to open any personal packages that come directly to James and then placed the foil packet back inside the box. But just to be safe because she did notice this biohazard sticker, she decided to open the invoice thinking maybe it was some fentanyl that the office had been expecting for dental procedures.

Well, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. The invoice read potassium cyanide. Katelyn closed the box, and as told, said it on James's desk. She said she didn't retape the box. He just simply put it in his office. But later, curiosity got the best of her, as it often does, with many of us, and she decided to Google potassium cyanide. Kately testified that she had never seen potassium cyanide delivered to Summerbrook or while working for fit to smile. And shortly after, she did see James carrying a round cylinder, about eight inches long, it appeared to be sealed with brown construction paper, and he took it into the exam room. Caitlin said that she never talked to James about the potassium cyanide.

And on March 15th, James walked up to Caitlin's desk and told her he needed to leave. Angela was headed back to the hospital again. Not long after, he called and made that chilling comment again, the one that said he wasn't sure Angela would make it through the night. Caitlin left the office at around 3 p.m. and she was feeling increasingly uneasy. That's when she picked up the phone and called Jackie Calderon, operations manager.

And a few days earlier, Caitlin Googled potassium cyanide about symptoms and read about how it affects the body. She wanted to know what it would look like if someone had perhaps ingested potassium cyanide. The effects of cyanide poisoning seem to match everything James had been saying about Angel's condition, and Caitlin couldn't shake the feeling that it all might be related. Well, Caitlin, of course, was asked then.

Well, why didn't she say anything about the cyanide in March 13? and she said, and this is a quote, because thinking that somebody was capable of possibly poisoning someone is not something that I was taking lightly, end quote. When she saw James taking the package to the exam room on March 13th, she thought that there could be a reason. After speaking to Jackie,

Caitlin called and spoke to Ryan Redfern and his wife Michelle. She was about to discuss what she told Ryan, but there was an objection from the defense. And finally, she said that after speaking to everyone on the phone, Caitlin decided to call the police and tell them about cyanide being delivered to the office. Well, Caitlin went on to testify that the Summerbrook office was equipped with surveillance cameras, but the footage was routinely deleted within 24 hours. The recording was then shown to the court hallway video from the Summerbrook office dated

March 16th at 1223 p.m. This was taken by officers as they searched Summerbrook Dental collecting evidence. The next exhibit shown was Exhibit No. 53, a document containing text messages between Caitlin and names. Caitlin testified that she screenshoted these messages and sent them to law enforcement, but the document appeared to have some messages unrelated to the case excluded. The defense then went on to voir dire, Caitlin, confirming that what was in front of her was not the actual screenshot she took. When the defense, Vaudir, a witness, they ask a few questions to make sure the witness is allowed to speak on a certain topic. It's usually done to check if the witness has the right knowledge or experience before the jury hears their testimony.

To the best of her knowledge, the messages were accurate, but the defense was quick to say that she couldn't confirm because she wasn't the one to make the document. The defense then objected to Exhibit 53 as a whole due to it being an incomplete document with messages excluded, but the prosecution withdrew this exhibit and replaced it with one containing all their messages. The new exhibit was Exhibit 224 A through G, which are actual screenshots that Caitlin had sent to the police from the time period of March 6th through 13th. Once again, the defense of why Deard, Caitlin, they brought up the fact that the screenshots weren't all of the texts from March 6th.

They were just the ones that started at 606 p.m. And the text ending on March 13th might have not have been the final text that day. There were also no text from March 14th and 15th in Caitlin's screenshots. And with that, the defense objected once again, but this time it was overruled. They were admitted. And cross-examination, began. Well, under cross-examination, Caitlin confirmed that she worked at the Summerbrook location from September 22 until March, 2003, before transferring to another fit-to-smile office. And during her time at Summerbrook, she worked closely with James and one other associate dentist named Dr. Hannah Peretz, acknowledging that Dr. Peart's role was very different than Dr. Craig's.

The defense pressed Caitlin on the nature of her relationship with Dr. James Craig, initially asking if the two were close. Oh, yeah. She responded that they worked together before ultimately admitting that James had initiated an emotionally intimate relationship. This was new.

This was new information to everyone. So witness Caitlin testified that she often confided in her about his personal struggles and used a separate phone number to send more personal non-work-related message. Next, the defense presented Exhibit 164 and asked Caitlin to identify the bag visible on the floor in the photo.

She said she recognized one as belonging to James but couldn't identify the others. Exhibit 165, which we saw earlier, depicted a desk with a laptop connected to a monitor. Caitlin noted she wasn't present when the photos were taken. The court was then shown Exhibit 168 again, the hallway walkthrough video. Caitlin then described how the computer login system functioned at the Summerbrook office. There was a staff login on the desktops in the exam room. You could also switch the profile if you needed to by going to the bottom corner and clicking switch profile. She recalled that on March 6th, James needed help getting in the office because his truck, where he kept his keys, was in the shop.

She let him in while he was on the phone and they each went their separate ways. James tore the direction of his office, Caitlin back to hers. During questioning, defense attorney Moses noted that exam room nine was located beyond James's office, making it more private. Caitlin agreed. She also testified that James never told her he was leaving, and she didn't hear any doors closed. Still, she was startled to find him in the exam room. When he noticed her, he was able to shift the computer screen out of her view, and she noticed this.

Defense attorney Moses asked Caitlin whether James would have known her end-of-day routine. She replied that she wasn't sure, noting she was often the last one in the office. And given their friendship, she grilled Caitlin about the fact that she had known James was still there. She would have made a point to say goodbye before leaving. And it's important to know that James nodded a lot during this part. He was actually very expressive as a whole while Caitlin was on the stand. Anyway, returning to the topic of the office surveillance cameras, Caitlin clarified that she did not install them herself and never personally reviewed any footage.

It simply just wasn't her job. Defense Attorney Moses then shifted focus to the mysterious package. Caitlin testified that another employee, Katie, opened the box and found something silver inside. Katie handed Caitlin a sealed foil envelope along with the invoice, explaining both came from the package. Caitlin admitted that she opened the invoice, but she never unsealed the foil. She added that she had no idea what happened to the silver cylinder or where it ultimately went. In the early hours of March 16, 2023, Caitlin was. went to the Aurora Police Department, hoping to share everything she knew and what had been

troubling her. She told detectives that James had spoken about having issues with his wife. When defense attorney Moses challenged her suggesting she had initially denied this, Caitlin responded, I told them yes in my statement. That was a quote. However, she admitted that she had not disclosed their emotionally intimate relationship or the personal text messages he sent from a separate phone number. Kaelin testified that she was aware that James and Angela were having problems, but she never asked questions or tried to get involved. Moses pointed out that prying wasn't necessary, because James often volunteered personal details on his own, and Caitlin agreed. And with that, we broke for lunch. But Caitlin was not done.

Because after lunch break, the jury was shown a series of exhibits containing text messages between James and Caitlin, including some group messages. On March 5th, James messaged Caitlin about a computer, one that originally belonged to him that was given to her. He warned her it might contain personal information, and Caitlin testified that she later turned the device over to police. The following day, March 6th, Caitlin texted James to coordinate a phone call with a patient. James replied that he planned to come into the office unless Angela was still feeling sick, and Caitlin noted that during this time, Angela was mostly at home caring for their two youngest children,

both under the age of nine, often referred to as the littles. because they were much younger than the four older children. And at one point, James mentioned that his brother and sister-in-law were coming into town to help with the kids or the littled so that he could continue working while Angela was sick. Then on March 12th, Caitlin reached out again asking if James wanted her to reschedule any appointments at the office. There were also group text messages going over his availability during that time. On March 9th, there were messages exchanged about how Angela was feeling. That same day, Caitlin also sent a question in a group text about billing, knowing James would likely respond. A few days later, on March 13th, Caitlin texted James asking if he could prescribe

pain medication for her roommate, and James replied that he couldn't. It was against protocol to prescribe controlled substances without an in-person evaluation. Standard medical practice requires a doctor or dentist to see a patient face-to-face before issuing such a prescription. While reviewing group message threads from March 14th to 15th, Attorney Moses asked Caitlin to clarify that James wasn't the one initiating every conversation. So some were started by others in the group. Moses also pointed out that Caitlin hadn't personally turned over James' laptop to police. Instead, she had given it to Jackie, who then handed it over to law enforcement. And with that, cross-exam was complete. Now, I want to give a few personal thoughts on the defense.

today. I noticed that it seems that Moses, Lisa Moses, almost seems to be doing a lot of narrating rather than questioning. It almost felt like she was testifying. At one point, Kaelan even said, are you asking me a question? She said yes, because it was such a statement. She didn't ask a question. She said a statement. But there were no objections from the prosecution when it came to this. It felt like they could say object, you know, there's testifying, but no objection, suggesting she was testifying and not questioning. Moses also has a very different approach from defense attorney, Whitham. And we had only heard from Whitham yesterday. So today was the first time we saw Moses leading cross-exams. She is more abrasive, and I can't help but wonder

if her more argumentative, abrasive style might turn some of the jurors off. I know that in the Chad Daybell trial after the trial concluded, jurors remarked that John Pryor's approach turned them off. And in the Richard Allen trial in Delphi, Indiana, one juror in an interview with murder sheet said that she did not like Rosie's approach. And both had sort of the similar style. But I digress just a few things I noted. Back to the questioning of Caitlin. It was time for redirect. Prosecution was backup. And during redirect, Caitlin explained that any work-related text between James and her happened on his work phone, not his personal one. She also cleared up the situation about the pain medication.

She said that her roommate was dealing with tooth pain at the time and was going to get into the dentist next day. As for the laptop, Caitlin said that James had given it to her so she could work from home. According to her, he told her that everything on it had already been deleted before he gave it to her to use. So she was asked why she put the foil package back in the box after Katie handed it. it to her. And Caitlin said she did it because that was the box it came in. And so she just put it back. The state started asking a question about the office expecting a delivery of fentanyl, but the defense

objected saying that question was out of scope. The objection was overruled and the state showed that at some point James and Caitlin spoke about fentanyl and a personal package. But the fentanyl was not brought up between the dates of March 6th and 13th. Caitlin was asked as she was aware of an apartment that James supposedly had, because he mentioned, if you guys remember to Karen Kane, day one, we learned that Karen King thought he had an apartment. They asked if she knew of an apartment James supposedly had, and she answered no. She also testified that she had a meeting with two male detectives who she told about James having marital issues. She was then asked to confirm some of the names of the people included in their group chats, including other office assistants and Dr. Pirates. Up next,

the jury was able to ask Caitlin some questions as well. The first one, was. And this was the first time, by the way, that the jury had questions. And I always find it interesting when after a certain, you know, testimony of a witness, they have a lot or they have none. Of course, Caitlin was a big witness and she was on the stand for a very long time. So here were the juror questions. Number one, who were the office packages usually addressed to? And Caitlin explained that they were usually addressed to Summerbrook Dental Group. The next one was, were the lights on or off in exam room nine when James was using the computer? Caitlin answered that she believed they were off. Next, they asked if she still had their original text messages on her phone,

the original text thread, and Caitlin said no. And lastly, was the computer in exam nine? Was it a desktop or a monitor? She explained that it was a desktop. But following up on those juror questions, it was clarified that the last question was about the computer in James' office, not exam room nine. And she didn't have any answer for that. She didn't know if it was a monitor or a desktop. She also confirmed with the prosecution that the package invoice absolutely said Jim Craig personal. That's in quotes. Jim Craig personal. However, when the defense went to do follow-up questions, they hard pressed her on the fact that the invoice also said some were brook dental on it.

However, Caitlin never recalled that being a thing ever, ever, ever. Hence, it was the personal package. The next witness to take the stand was Dr. Michelle Redford. Dr. Michelle Redfern is the wife of Ryan Redfern, the partner of Summerbrook Dental. She shared that she first met Angela back in 2002, so over 20 years ago, in Kansas City, when their husbands were in dental school together. Michelle has an impressive background herself with a bachelor's and master's degree in nursing and eventually earning her PhD.

She told the jury that her family was very close to the Greggs. Although Michelle isn't involved in the day-to-day at her husband's dental practice, she said she shows up for birthdays, celebrations, and considers herself the quote-unquote morale booster of the team. She also gave some insight into the dental business, explaining that the different branches of Fit to Smile are named based on their locations, though Summerbrook kept its original name even after it was acquired. Michelle testified that Jackie is the operations director for Fit to Smile, and Caitlin was the office manager at Summerbrook. In March of 2023, Michelle reached out to Angela when she found out she was sick. After getting no response,

she decided to text James. James replied, quote, thanks Michelle. It's been pretty rough, not having any answers. I get pretty nervous not having answers. They did so many tests. They have done four or five different blood draws. The regular blood panels all come back okay, and she is negative for autoimmune disorders, negative for diabetes. Her A1C was 5.5. The main issue they seem to be concerned about right now is blood pressure. They dumped five liters into her over 24 hours, and she looks super puffy and swollen. But her blood pressure is barely 100 over 60. Yesterday morning, it was 56 over 44. So although that is the main concern that the doctors have, my main concern is just how she's really feeling, really pretty crappy. They are going to keep her one more night and

hopefully she can come home tomorrow sometime. End quote. In another text, James Craig, wrote, quote, if it wasn't my wife, this would be kind of a fun puzzle to try to work out, end quote. Michelle said that she continued asking James medical questions as Angela's condition worsened, and while he did his best to answer, neither of them had any idea what was actually going on. Then when Angela crashed in the ICU, James sent Michelle two photos, one of Angela and another showing her vitals, along with more details about the situation. At that point, Michelle and her husband Ryan decided they needed to go to the hospital, and they drove there in separate cars as Ryan was coming from work and Michelle from home.

On the way there, Michelle got a phone call from Jackie. There was an objection in court when the topic of that call came up, followed by a quick sidebar between the attorneys and the judge. After the sidebar, Michelle testified that on the way to the ER, she did a three-way call with Jackie and Caitlin. She asked Jackie to phone Caitlin in based on what Caitlin was saying. She wanted to talk to Caitlin herself, not just Jackie. So on the call, Caitlin confirmed that she saw the package of potassium cyanide delivered to James at the office.

After the call, at some point, she called Ryan to ask how far away he was and informed him about the call she had just had with Caitlin and Jackie. And when Michelle finally found out that Angela had been admitted from the ER to the ICU, she didn't immediately pass on the information about the cyanide to the medical staff. James, Angela's brother Mark, their family bishop and Ryan were there as well. And at some point that night, she learned that Angela had been pronounced brain dead. Even though they arrived at the hospital separately, Ryan and Michelle ended up leaving together, and during the drive home, they made a few phone calls. One of those calls came from James. He told Ryan that he had just learned some distressing information.

And that's when Ryan confronted him. He asked James directly about the package. And at first, James tried to brush it off. He didn't want to talk about it, only later claimed. mean it was a ring for Angela. But after a bit of back and forth, Ryan cut through the excuses and told him straight. He knew the package was potassium cyanide. He said, quote, we don't use that in dentistry. Why would you order that? End quote. And all James could say was, quote, oh, Ryan, what have you done? He repeated this question several times before finally admitting that it was cyanide. The package was cyanide

and not a ring. Ryan asked again, why would he order that? And James replied by saying that he Angela asked him to purchase it. Can you believe that? Oh, Angela made him do it. When Ryan asked why Angela wouldn't have just ordered it herself, James said that she didn't have the right credentials. When asked why he would order it at all, he said that Angela wanted to take her own life. And it was a game of chicken. Wild, right? That's pretty much his defense, though. Next, the prosecution focused on establishing just how well Michelle really knew Angela. They wanted to lay the foundation to show that Angela didn't seem like someone who wanted to take their own life. Michelle reiterated that their families were very close and Angela even babysat Michelle and Ryan's two children, children two times a week

in the early 2000s while she worked. Michelle testified that she didn't believe that Angela wanted to take her own life. She also said that she didn't know Angela to play games like chicken and she wasn't a risk taker or gambler. Well, Michelle went on to testify that at one point, Ryan asked James a pretty direct question, whether they had life insurance. Follow the life. insurance. We all know that, right? James responded very clearly. Everyone has insurance. So the prosecution asked Michelle if she would describe Angela as manipulative. And this is important because, again, in opening statements yesterday, they said that witnesses would describe Angela as manipulative. So her answer, Michelle's answer was a simple and firm no. During cross-examination, Michelle acknowledged

that while their families had been close since the days when Ryan and James were in college, the relationship had become distant, more distant over time. The defense grilled her for once describing it as being more on the fringe for her relationship with Angie or Angela. And Michelle argued that didn't mean that they couldn't be close. They did continue to see each other every few months going to dinner or spending several hours together when they could. But the defense pressed Michelle for more specifics.

She admitted that the last time she and Angela spent time alone together was about a year and a half before Angela got sick. More recently, they'd only seen each other at their kids' wedding receptions and at a joint office party hosted at the Craig's house. The defense also honed in on the fact that Angela didn't respond to Michelle's text messages about how she was doing. Michelle responded to this by saying, quote, well, she was sick. Next, the business was brought up.

The defense argued that maybe Michelle didn't think Angie was good for the business and that the business wasn't doing well. Michelle agreed that the business was not doing well, but she said it was not Angie's fault. Absolutely not Angie's. However, the defense argued that a one point Ryan wanted Angela out and that Michelle had once stated that Angie wasn't Ryan's quote, unquote, cup of tea. However, even after that, they still all communicated. There was even an office event held at the Craig home where three office staffs were getting

together. The defense argued that Michelle distanced herself from Angie that night. but Michelle didn't consider it distancing. She texted Angie asking if she could help with the event, but she didn't want to make Angie too uncomfortable, but just saying like, hey, can I help? And Angie responded that she was willing to clean for the event, but she wouldn't cook.

But there was more to it. It's not that she just wouldn't cook. She wasn't being defiant. She was planning on getting catering. And that's what Michelle explained. She wanted to cater it. She didn't want to cook for it. Michelle also testified that Ryan told her,

about James confiding in him about problems in his marriage. Angela, on the other hand, never confided in Michelle about any of it. She explained that Angela was a private person, and looking back, Michelle said she wishes she would have opened up more. And honestly, I've got to say that this hit home to me. Michelle's saying that Angela was a private person. And looking back, Michelle says that she wishes that she had opened up more about her marriage. James was certainly opening up about it.

James was telling all of his friends he had marital problems. James was having an affair, having affairs right and left, where Angela was isolated, probably not talking to her friends. In fact, there's a text. It's in our backstory. There's a text. It's so sad where Angela was with her sister, Tony, who she considered one of her best friends.

And James Craig is telling her not to tell Tony about all of their marital problems. It's so sad to me. And Angela, you know, being a private person, didn't confide in her friend Michelle. And Michelle said, looking back, she wishes she would have opened up. It's just, I think so often that women that are in abusive relationships feel scared to open up or are manipulated into not opening up. And I think it's important to just have those open and honest conversations. Michelle told law enforcement that she never reached.

out to Angela about the marriage issues because she knew Angela did not like to talk about personal things and she didn't want to make a bad situation worse. After getting no response from Angela when she was sick, Michelle started communicating directly with James. He kept her updated on what was going on medically and at one point Michelle told him she was actually relieved that Angela was finally being admitted to the hospital. The defense circled back to the particular text message James had sent, he said that if all of this weren't happening to his own wife, it would actually be a fun puzzle to try to solve. And Michelle had replied with one word response, truth. So on the stand, though, she explained that if this had been a case study, like something that

she studied in her profession and in school, not real life, they'd both be eager to figure this out. Again, she has a PhD. And as she spoke, James could be seen at the defense table. nodding, seemingly in agreement. During cross-examination, they'll testify that on March 15th, after hearing from Jackie that Angela had been admitted to University Hospital, she offered to come. Defense attorney Lisa Moses suggested that James may have asked Michelle to be there specifically because of her medical knowledge and to have her eyes on the situation, but Michelle pushed back on that idea saying she wasn't there in any professional capacity. She went simply as a friend, a friend of Angie's. She said, quote, as it turns out when she's brain dead, a friend was what

she needed, end quote. On redirect, the prosecution asked Michelle when exactly she spoke with police. She explained that she had gone to the hospital on March 15th, arriving sometime between 430 and 4.45 p.m. She was not interviewed by detectives until much later between 2.30 and 3.30 a.m. on the morning of the 16th. So she was there for 12 hours. doing a police interview at 3.30 in the morning without any sleep. Michelle once again said that she was relieved that Angela had been admitted because it meant that the hospital could run the right test and hopefully get some answers. When asked why she did not follow up with Angela more directly,

Michelle said she was trying to be respectful. She knew Angela was sick, didn't want to overwhelm her, especially since she could get updates from JAPS. As she put it, there was no need to keep badgering Angela when she's sick. The fourth witness on the stand was, Oleg Gumselves. He is the asset protection specialist at a store called King Supers. Aurora Police Department had contacted him, asking him to use the last four digits of two credit cards, specific date ranges, and amounts of purchases to provide the specific details of what

was purchased and video footage, if that was available. So using their system called Secure by Apparis, he was able to gather the receipts for four transactions. Two were four marks. Two were four March 8th. One was, get this, guys, one was 12 packages of vising eye drops. The other was just random grocery items. Then on March 9th, two more transactions, seven packages of vising eye drops, and the second purchase was assault alternative. He wasn't able to gather any of the surveillance video because by the time the police reached out on June 26th, their window of keeping footage, which is 30 to 45 days, that had already passed. So no surveillance video. Packages and packages of And remember in opening statements, and if you guys don't remember, I'll remind you in opening

statements, the defense showed pictures of the house, of the Craig House, and showed their food stores that they were LDS, Mormons, and had a big food storage and suggested that all these vizing eye drops might be for food storage. So on cross exam, the defense argued that he was just asked to provide transaction details for a specific date range, not long-term timeframes and certainly not for a general pattern of items purchase. They also argued that he was not asked to look up purchases for Angie's card to see her history, and their final point that they wanted to prove with Oleg was that anyone can use James Craig's card. It didn't have to be James, and there was no camera footage to prove it was him. Next was Rachel Meeks. She is the director of investigations for UC Health who

coordinates the release of information to law enforcement. She was contacted by Detective Bobby Olson to get surveillance footage of the hospital. More specifically, they wanted video of Angela had been brought in, the person who took her in, and then Dr. James Craig arriving, as well as a black sedan. She explained that once she locates a person on their security camera, they have another team that can quote unquote bookmark that person and follow them around the hospital on the cameras. I love it. In the end, she uploaded nine clips worth over an hour of footage to the evidence portal given

to her by Bobby Olson. And at this moment, I want you to know, I jump to another seat so I could better see the screen because I thought we were about to watch video surveillance. I was wrong, but we'll keep going. Video clips began what they have. We didn't see them, but what they have are from 1030 a.m. on March 15th until noon. There was also relevant material at 1058 a.m. The video footage did not include any footage from Angela's hospital room because they don't have cameras in the actual rooms for privacy reasons. That makes sense. The cross-examination focused on metal detectors. as Rachel had mentioned there being cameras near the metal detectors.

She said everyone had to go through these metal detectors. So on redirect, Rachel testified that she had seen security footage showing Angela being wheeled out of her hospital room on a bed. She also explained how the hospital's metal detectors work. They're designed to catch weapons like guns or knives, like big things. Rachel said that James, they wouldn't, by the way, pick up things like a pen, like a writing pen. And she said that James Craig walked into the hospital carrying a large bag. She did clarify, though, that smaller items,

would not trigger the detectors. So I was thinking that we'd be watching those surveillance videos. I think that what they're doing right now is setting the stage. They're setting foundation, making sure everybody knows how they got these videos before they show them. But that is definitely sort of a preview into what's to come further on into this trial. The final witness for the day was Jennifer Harriman, who is in, you guys, this is good too. Final but wild.

Listen to this. So the final witness for the day, was Jennifer Harriman, who is an inmate service technician at the Arapaho Jail, where James is currently being held. And part of her job is to open mail that is returned to the jail as undeliverable. By the way, wouldn't that be a great book, the person that opens jail mail? So when mail is returned because it's undeliverable, she opens it. And when she does that, she is looking for things like criminal activity, threats, contraband, etc. And if she finds anything, she gives it over to the deputy or police involved in the inmates' case.

She testified that in mid to late April of 2024. The letter was sent back to the jail. And this letter initially sent from James Craig was addressed to William Walbon, a formerly incarcerated individual. So the letter started with James saying, quote, Hey, Will and Becca. And it ended with Love Jimmy in the letter. And in the letter, James offered Will,

money and free dental care in exchange or assistance in selling a story to his defense and procuring others to be fake witnesses. It included talk of things like burner phones and fake IDs to avoid detection. And within that letter was a letter to the would-be fake witnesses. So it was like a letter within a letter. So you have the letter to William saying, this is what we're going to do. And then he writes another letter to the would-be witnesses that his buddy William is going to find. So this letter to the would-be witnesses included a role for attractive women to play a part and use code words like Harry Potter and Captain America. It also included a plan for these fake witnesses, these fake attractive female witnesses to claim that Angela had offered them money to help stage a setup, making it look like James was trying to kill her so she could gain leverage in a divorce. I know. It's so crazy. But yet what's crazier is this is actually like pretty much his defense right now in court.

So in other words, he's trying to say, look, my, he's framing his wife. He's framing Angie, the victim, saying, which is despicable, but he's saying, let's say that Angie was trying to frame me for her murder so that she can have leverage in our upcoming divorce. I mean, talk about twisty. Talk about sick. I think that might have been where I put Suss A.F. By the way. On cross-exam, the defense focused on whether or not inmates know that their mail is going to be gone through when it is returned. Then she shifted, defense Moses, to Detective Bobby Olson and the letter that was apparently found. Apparently, Jennifer was supposed to provide the letter after she opened and read it.

and was like, yikes, Captain America, Harry Potter, heads up, she's supposed to provide the letter to Bobby. And after finding it, she secured it and placed it at their front desk. So after one day when the letter was still there, she contacted Detective Bobby Olson to come and get it at her convenience. And it seems as if they were implying that the defense was implying that the letter had been there so long it possibly could have been tampered with or that it could have been that maybe it wasn't the original letter. They also brought up the possibility that letters going out of the jail are also read. So why wasn't this letter read when it was being mailed out, not and not just read when it was

returned? Well, on redirect, Jennifer explained everything. Jennifer confirmed that she does not go through any legal mail. And she knows it's legal mail based on how it's marked, either with names, letterheads, or any of the sort that shows its legal mail. And then when asked if she goes through outgoing mail, she actually said sometimes she does, but not always. Other times she simply does not go through outgoing mail, mostly just incoming mail. And the reasons for going through any outgoing mail would be if an inmate has been placed on watch by the DA,

if their full name is not on the outgoing mail, or if it feels like contraband may be inside. Then she opens it to check. After that, she was released from the stand, and court will be back in session tomorrow. Before we left, the prosecution shared that Bobby Olson will be on the stand for a very short period tomorrow to lay the foundation for things like the collection of cell phones, computers, evidence photos, etc. But it won't be her like main testimony. I also, before we conclude, just want to thank those of you who watched my own personal story over on the Mormon Stories podcast and YouTube channel with my friends Mindy Caldwell and John Dillon. I was very nervous to do that. People didn't ask me to do it for a long time.

I finally decided to say yes, but I just want to say thank you for your kind comments. Thank you for subscribing here at Hidden 2 Crime. Thank you for supporting us here at Hidden 2 Crime for following along with my trial recaps as we try our very best to bring you the latest from this Colorado courtroom. May justice be served. Before I switched to Wellfront, my APY was probably 0.1.

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