True Crime with Kendall Rae - Dentist Poisons Wife's Protein Shakes

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

45-year-old Colorado dentist, James Craig, was charged with first-degree murder after the painful, drawn out death of his wife, Angela, by poisoning. Sadly, this wasn’t even James’ first time trying to poison his wife, but this time he was successful. The Angela Pray Craig Children’s Fund Donate to NCMEC through my campaign!  https://give.missingkids.org/campaign/kendall-rae/c438796 This episode is sponsored by: Stitch Fix Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail]

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So today we are going to be talking about a very recent case, wild case, all of the details in this one really blew my mind. And this is actually something that happened locally to me here in Colorado. And so I've been wanting to talk about it for quite some time. And there's definitely enough information available at this point to go ahead and do so. This is also one that so many of my friends and family have asked if I'll be covering because we've all been kind of watching this on our local news and as it's all developed more and more details come out and it's just like I said mind blowing. But anyway, let's go ahead and get into today's case

working me talking about James and Angela Craig. James Craig, a dentist, a Mormon family man who poisoned his wife to death. And you won't believe how all of this played out. It's a very sad story. There are now six children who have no mother and whose father is being and whose father is being accused of murdering their mom and will likely end up in prison for a very long time, hopefully. And it's just heartbreaking the way that this family was destroyed by this man. I mean, he is truly evil. But what's so strange about it is he was pretty well known as being this great person, this loving father that he was admired by most of the people who worked with him. And I say most because I actually

know someone, a friend of a friend who gave me permission to talk a little tiny bit about her experience working for him as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's go ahead and start with the background on these two, starting with Angela Don Prey, which is her maiden name. She was born on April 15th, 1970, meaning her birthday just passed. She was born in Dodge City, Kansas, and was the youngest of 10 siblings. And eventually, she meets James Craig, and the two of them end up getting married on December 18, 1999, and they went on to have six children of their own and raise them here in Colorado in Aurora. Now Angela or Ange, as her friends referred to her, was destined to be a mother and was

a very loving, wonderful mother who was loved so much by her children who now have to live life without her. Together they have five daughters Nora, Jane, Mira, Belle, Violet Joe, and Cleo, and then they also have one son named Toliver. Now family and faith were definitely the two most important pillars in Angela's life. She dedicated a lot of her time to raising her children in the Mormon church. She was an active member of the LDS church, and during her lifetime,

she served as a choir director, teacher, youth organization leader, and family history consultant. And I just wanted to say before we continue that I know a lot of you have thoughts and opinions on the Mormon Church. And I just want to avoid, if we can, bashing on the Mormon Church or saying that this happened because they were Mormon, because that's really not relevant to the story as a whole. And I myself have opinions whole. And I myself have opinions on the Mormon church, like I do on pretty much all religions. But I also know that there are very, very good people in the Mormon church and in all religions,

just like there are some bad people in them as well. Obviously, you're entitled to whatever opinion you want. I just ask that if you comment on the fact that they were Mormon, that you do it in a constructive, non-hurtful way, because it's just not productive to turn the comment section into a shit talking fest about the Mormon church, and would probably be offensive to her friends and family who may read these comments. And so I know it's something that will come into your mind, but I'm just asked that we keep our feedback constructive and helpful. Like I always say, it's the internet. People are gonna say what they're gonna say. I just like to put out a reminder that family and friends could read these comments and that a lot of them probably are Mormon as well. So sometimes it's better to just keep things in our minds. At the end of the day, this woman suffered a slow and painful death from someone who was supposed to love and protect her, and I don't think bashing on her religion is helpful.

So that's all I'm going to say on that. So a lot of people who knew Andjwell say that she was a very funny person with an unbounded sense of humor and was also very quick-witted and smart. She also really tried to live by her personal values. She was very giving, generous, always willing to help someone out. She's also described as having a very energetic personality, but many also say that she could be quiet and reserved at times, especially around people she didn't know that well, but

she was also very quick to warm up to people. Angela also loved animals. She loved food trucks, which who doesn't. And when it comes to TV and entertainment, she was really into anything that had some comedy element to it. And she also loved mystery shows. At 43 years old, Angela had already done a lot of good in her life. She had raised six children who loved her. She had impacted many people around her, helped many

people who sometimes she didn't even know that well. She was always willing to be there for anyone. And she was truly a gift to those in her life who loved her. Now let's talk about Angela's husband Jim Tolliver Craig who went by James. He was born February 11th 1978 and from the outside looking in he appeared to be a successful man a family man and seemed to be for the most part well-liked by people in his church and in his business He was a husband father man of the church as well-liked by people in his church and in his business. He was a husband, father, man of the church, as well as a respected dentist. In his early career, James Todd

as an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Dentistry for three years, and then in 2006, went on to open his own dental practice in Aurora, Colorado called Summer Brook Dental. I am so excited that Stitch Fix is one of the sponsors practice in Aurora, Colorado called Summer Brook Dental. I am so excited that Stitch Fix is one of the sponsors of this show because I am a huge Stitch Fix fan. I have been using their service, paying for it on my own for years.

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Kendall Ray. That's Stitchfix.com slash Kendall Ray for $20 off today. Stitchfix.com slash Kendall Ray. I'm Dr. Jim Craig and I practice at Summer Brook Dental Group. My approach to dentistry begins with sincerely listening to the patient and wanting to find out more about where they're coming from and what they're looking for and what they want. One of the things that makes summer brook dental so unique is our ability and willingness to comfortably treat patients who have high anxiety about dental procedures. Most dentists don't want to see those types of patients in their practice because it's difficult and it can be hard to overcome that anxiety. I thrive on that though. I love the challenge. I love creating an environment where people are surprised at how comfortable they are. I like to put together some options for the patient because dentistry can be expensive. Dentistry can be scary. Dentistry can be uncomfortable. Not every treatment plan can fit every patient. And so I want to let the patients know

what's possible so that when they leave this office, they feel like they own their own treatment plan. And that way, we make sure that we're giving the patients exactly what they want. But under the façade that he had built for being this successful family man, there was a lot lying beneath the surface. And lying is probably the right word for that because he was a liar and a manipulator and a cheater and eventually all of that cut up to him. And according to Angela's sister Tony, their marriage had definitely seen better days, things were not going well.

While Angela was alive, she often confided in her sister about how unhappy she was in the marriage and other things going on in her personal life. And I'm glad to hear that while she was alive she did have someone that she felt close enough with to talk about these things. And one of those big things was that James had been cheating on her for quite some time. And it wasn't always with the same woman, but it was always the same story. She would find out, he would apologize profusely and promised to make things right to fix their marriage. However, staying true to his word never seemed to be his real priority. And not only was James a failure when it came to his marriage, but he was also a failure

when it came to managing his personal and professional finances. And this is a staggering number. But by 2023, James was actually in $2 million, $2 million worth of debt. He lost thousands and thousands of dollars by getting into a terrible cryptocurrency investment, which unfortunately a lot of people over the past few years have lost money in crypto currency. And not only that, James also fell victim to a Ponzi scheme, which obviously that does happen to people

they fall victim to Ponzi schemes and oftentimes it's because they're vulnerable and they get into a bad situation or they are told to make a investment in and they get into a bad situation, or they are told to make a investment in cryptocurrency, and it's going to pay off, and a lot of people have really suffered from that. And I feel bad for them. But the thing with James is he never really seemed to learn. And even though he was in so much debt, he liked to gamble. He loved to spend time in casinos, and more often than not, he would lose more than he came in with. But like I mentioned earlier, Angela was a very loving and forgiving person and she would always forgive James. And I can imagine that it was hard to think about the idea of walking away from him and

all of his bullshit after the many times that he had hurt her and hurt their family financially. I mean, at the end of the day, this was the man she loved who promised to protect her and to take care of her and a man that bothered her six children that is not an easy situation to walk away from by any means. And you know, we can't blame her for hoping that eventually things would get better. Obviously hindsight is 2020, and I'm certain that if she knew what was going to happen to her, she would have made different choices. But she wanted what was best for her family and had hope that James could change. But unfortunately, things just got worse. When it came to his business, Summerbrook Dental, at its peak, it was losing $120,000 a month.

And James had to hand the reins over, so to speak, to his business partner and lifelong friend, Ryan Redfern. And there were times where he wasn't able to hire the help he needed because he couldn't financially do so. And so, Angela would have to step in and help with the business, which she was always willing to do anything she could to help people. So like I mentioned, I know a friend of a friend, so I don't know her personally, but she

gave me permission to talk about briefly what it was like working for James. She didn't get into a lot of detail, but basically she told me that he was a total creep, and that oftentimes he would ask her to stay after hours so that he could train her personally, which made her feel really uncomfortable. She sent me these text messages that she said I could share, and they're not like super crucial to the story overall, but getting an idea of how he talked, I think is kind of interesting. So in one of these text messages, he says, maybe if you ever have time on Saturday or something, we could get together at the office, and I could devote some time, one-on-one, to teaching you how to make crowns on the Zurich machine, which I don't know really what that is, and how to do class

fillings and stuff. That way, if we do get the chance to work together, you will be much faster. And this part is really interesting. At the end of this message, he says, I hope your boss is nicer to you once you do go back. If he's not, just let me know and I'll stab him or something for you. And then he puts a laughing emoji. Another message he sent said, man, I really hope I get to keep you.

I want what's best for you and your family too, and I will support you no matter what. It's funny because I have a Sura Act training class in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend, and I was so close to asking if you wanted to go yesterday to learn more about how to design crowns, but then I was like, no, that's not enough notice, and she has a family to take care of here in town.

I'm just so excited to get you trained up. I wish I had known yesterday how you were feeling. I'm also so sorry for the position you're in now with your old boss, not an easy 24 hours for you, I know. So like I said, she was getting some creepy vibes from him, so take those messages as you will. They seem rather unprofessional to me. And not only was he losing control of his business,

but his personal life was about to be turned completely upside down. And like I mentioned before, James had a history of infidelity and had cheated on Angela several times throughout their relationship in the past few years were no different. While he was at an out-of-state dental conference, he met a fellow dentist named Karen and the two of them began having an affair. Karen was also married, but in While he was at an out-of-state dental conference, he met a fellow dentist named Karen, and the two of them began having an affair. Karen was also married, but in November of 2022, she filed for a divorce against her husband,

with the hopes that James would do the same, and the two could finally be together. Now, whether or not James had asked her to leave that marriage, or promised her that he would do the same and that they could be together is unclear. Wouldn't be surprised, but again, we don't know if that's true. But the timing is interesting here because according to James, he had asked his wife, Angela, for a divorce in December of 2022. So very recently. And this was heartbreaking to Angela after she had stood by his side for so many years and raised

children with him, helped with his dental firm. And this really was the catalyst to what became Angela's very serious, depressive thoughts and suicidal ideation. But again, I want to make it clear that this is according to James. But I'm here today to focus really on what happened to Angela and how her life was ripped away from her before she or anyone else could do anything to stop it. Because James is much more than just a shitty husband and a bad businessman, he is also a murderer. So that brings us to March 6, 2023, which this video goes up May 1st. So that's only two months ago. So obviously more and more is going to come out in this story. I'm going to cover most of what we know at this point.

But that is when Angela began exhibiting symptoms of a mystery illness. And like most people do in this situation, she texted her husband about it. And luckily, we do have access to Angela's text messages which paint a real clear picture of how all of this played out. Now I'm not going to read through every single text message involved in this case because there are a lot and it would take a very long time. But I'm going to do my best to read most of them and to summarize the rest in a way that makes sense.

Now I will have a lot of the full text messages on the screen so you can pause and read them all if you want. And if you are listening to the podcast version of this show, you might want to come to the YouTube to see all the text messages in full, which reminder to all of you watching, I do have a podcast version of the show, it's called True Crime with Kendall Ray, and if you're ever wanting to listen on the go, that's a great option. But anyway, back to March 6th, Angela texts James, and she says, you're welcome baby, I love you too. I think my body is not letting the caffeine this morning either,

which I'm assuming might have been a typo for liking. My stomach feels fine, but my head feels funny and dizzy. Very strange. And then James replied, it's been a week since caffeine for you. Maybe your body is saying no thank you. I did a full scoop of caffeine and a full big scoop of the B vitamins. Is this how much you normally take? I'm super shaky.

And I just have to say this is such a manipulative tactic. James is fully gaslighting Angela at this point, trying to make her feel like her symptoms are similar to what he's experiencing and kind of minimizing what she's going through when he knows exactly why she isn't feeling good. Of course, he's not going to say, oh, honey, you know, you're feeling shaky because I drugged you. But still big piece of shit behavior here. But Angela goes on to say that she doesn't normally take a full scoop of the B vitamins in the protein shakes. And James just says, oops, sorry, baby. Obviously, he's trying to give her this illusion that she's

not feeling good right now because he put too much B vitamin in and maybe because there was too much caffeine in the protein shake that he made her, which she saw as a nice gesture, which many people would think that a husband making protein shakes for their wife is nice to do.

And he did this often. James was known as being a good husband on the outside to many people. But in reality, she's not feeling good because James poisoned her. So Angela ends up saying, it's okay, it'll wear off. And then she also adds that her eyes are having trouble focusing and that she feels like she's moving

through thick gel. And in these texts, James is acting super concerned about her and even asks if she needs him to come home from work. And that is a pattern that you are going to see throughout this whole case. James acting super concerned and confused about what is possibly happening to his wife, trying to help figure out what's going on.

When in reality, he knows exactly what's going on, that he is trying to kill her. Mornings are coming on strong with dark and bold from community coffee. Mm. I feel like busta-lose, ah. Busta-lose, come on. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick- get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get or at your local grocery or community coffee.com. This summer, go to the movies. Project it on the side of a mountain.

Discover a new favorite restaurant, your campsite. Find yourself when you lose your signal. Discover a new playlist, Mother Nature. Make your summer special at the Kia Summer Sales event with a dependable Kia SUV or powerful sedan Kia movement that inspires call 800333 for key effort details always drive safely of an N7523 Again, I'm getting ahead of myself here, but arguably the most concerning thing in these text messages happens when Angela tells James that she is feeling as if she's been drugged and his response is fucking insane. James literally says,

given our history, I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn't drug you. I am super worried though. You looked really pale before I left, like in your lips even. And yes, you are hearing that right. He said, given our history, this must be triggering. What is he talking about? I will be getting into more details of this later on, but this is not the first time that James has drugged Angela. Now, Angela doesn't really seem to respond to this, but she does go on to tell James a little bit more about how she's feeling and even suggests that she could be having a stroke. And as the day goes on, she begins to feel worse and worse.

And so she ends up going to Parker Adventist Hospital to get checked out with a doctor, but she was released that same day. Because despite feeling dizzy and heavy in her body and having blurry vision, doctors didn't really have an explanation for what was going on, so they sent her home. The hope was that whatever Angela was experiencing would kind of pass quickly, and she'd be back to her normal self.

And this is something Angela will continue to say in the following days. Angela was a very positive person, and she believed that whatever she was feeling would eventually just go away. So James continues to put up this front that he is very concerned about what is going on in his wife's health. So in the next couple of days between March 6th and March 9th, Angela's condition didn't completely improve, but she remained positive.

And she also insisted that James continued going to work. At one point, on the seventh, she suggested that it could have been a sinus infection that turned into an ear infection, and that's what's causing all of these problems. And James is repeatedly playing the supportive husband role. Throughout their texts, he's pretending to care about her symptoms and pretending he wants answers just as badly as she does. The two of them talk about her blood sugar, and James says that he spoke with someone who believes that Angela might have diabetes, but she doesn't really seem convinced that

that's what's causing her sudden illness. And obviously I can't confirm this, but as I was reading through these text messages, there was something on March 8th that really jumped out to me. And it's very interesting. Angela actually sounds like a few of her symptoms were starting to clear up. And in response, James said that he would be coming home to have lunch with her. Even though he's trying to make it sound like he's happy about her improvement, it's possible he was coming home to poison her lunch. And that theory is further backed up by the fact that the following day, her symptoms get

much worse. Also that same day, Angela isn't responding to his text messages. And so he sends her a text message saying, I'm going to trust that you are sleeping and not dead somewhere. I just finished up with what I needed to do at work. I just left the office. I'm going to stop at King's Super's on my way home and grab a couple of ingredients to make dinner tonight.

Love you, and then he follows up a little while later with, okay, all done with groceries, I'm headed home to make you some dinner. First of all, that wording is obviously very disturbing and bizarre, but I think it really shows his true intentions of what he is hoping has already happened. Even though James is frequently texting her, asking for updates on how she's doing,

I can only imagine that he is hoping that she is in fact dead somewhere, because that is what he wants. And unfortunately, she ended up so sick on March 9th that she returned to Parker Adventist Hospital where she stayed for the next five days. So after she's admitted to the hospital, James begins texting Ryan Redfern's wife, Michelle Redfern. And again, Ryan is James' business partner and a very close friend of his.

And his wife, Michelle, has her PhD in nursing. And while she wasn't actively treating Angela, obviously when you're in a situation like that, you reach out to people you know in the medical field and see if they have any opinions or can help with what's going on. Like I keep saying, James is only doing this to further create the front that he cares so much about his wife and just wants to know what is happening to her, although he knows exactly what is going on. In their conversations, Michelle continually asks about Angela's condition and she learns that she wasn't doing great. In these text messages,

James is explaining to her that during her first overnight at the hospital, she was consistently vomiting and had low blood pressure. And he also explained that doctors had done a handful of blood draws, but all the panels came back okay. She also was testing negative for autoimmune disorders and negative for diabetes. So he and Michelle go back and forth talking a bit about her blood pressure, and Michelle makes a couple of suggestions, such as having her thyroid and adrenal glands checked. She even suggests that Angela could possibly have a tumor. And by reading these messages, you can tell that Michelle is genuinely concerned about

her friend and wants to stay updated on everything that's going on. But every update is just sadder than the last. At this point, she is barely holding down any food and all of the tests are coming back negative, so they still have no idea what's going on with her. Doctors even did a CT scan of her chest and abdomen and found nothing. And then once again, James makes a super disturbing comment. He tells Michelle that if it wasn't his wife, this would be a super fun puzzle to figure out.

Puzzle. As if this is all a fucking game to him. I can't imagine Josh saying that to someone if I was sick in the hospital and he had no idea what was going on with me. There is no way in hell he would ever say anything like that, let alone think it. That it's a puzzle, a fun puzzle.

That is just one of the most bizarre things I think I've ever heard in all the cases that I've covered. James also makes a very strange comment this time to Angela be a text that says, I feel a lot less anxiety knowing that you are hooked up to monitors. And if I can't get a hold of you, it's not because you're dead. Now this is the

second time that he has mentioned her being dead to her as she is already going through all of this fear and anxiety and pain. Why would you say that once, but then twice? It is so bizarre. It's hard to even wrap your mind around people that are able to think this way and act this way when they know exactly what's going on. Why would he make such terrifying comments to her at a time where she's probably already freaking out, very scared and very confused? So then on March 10th and 11th, it's clear that she's feeling just as sick as she has been and saying things like, my head hurts so bad and how she still can't keep any food down.

And despite feeling like shit, Angela continues to express her appreciation for her husband in their text messages, which God makes me feel sick thinking about. She's thanking him for taking such good care of her and their children while she's in the hospital. She's constantly asking to make sure that he's doing okay, even though he's literally not the one dying in a hospital bed. Meanwhile, she's barely sleeping, barely functioning, barely eating, and every specialist that has checked on her in the hospital has no idea what's going on. She's got to be terrified, and still she's checking on him and expressing to her how thankful she is for him.

It's heartbreaking, and that just shows you the type of person that Angela was, she was selfless. And then, even without answers, doctors still have no idea what the fuck is happening. She is released from the hospital. They ended up discharging her on March 14th, even though she would be back in the hospital less than 24 hours later. At 11 o'clock, on March 15th, Angela checks

into the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora after she began experiencing crippling headaches and dizziness. Now I have experienced with both of these hospitals and in my opinion, University of Colorado Hospital is probably the best in our state. Obviously, I haven't experienced all of them, but I have had great medical care there in the past and they're known for being kind of the top of the top here.

So it's good that she went there, but any progress that she had made had completely gone away at this point and her condition was getting a lot worse. So one of her brothers ends up going to the hospital and then James ends up going shortly after that. But by 2pm, Angela ends up having a seizure and is then placed on life support in the ICU. She remained on life support for three days and then sadly on March 18th at 4.29pm, she was pronounced brain dead, and she was taken off life support shortly after on March

21st. But in those days between arriving at the hospital and eventually losing her life, a lot of the questions that everyone around her had finally were answered. And I just want to quickly preface that a lot of the information on this case in general has come from the arrest affidavit. And because a lot of the names in it are redacted, I've done my best to piece things together based on context clues to get a clear picture of who said what. So on March 15th, the same data Angela was admitted to the hospital for the third time,

Ryan Redfern got a strange call from a woman named Jacqueline, who worked at Summerbrook Dental. And what Jacqueline told Ryan on the phone was information that she had just gotten from the office manager at Summerbrook Dental, whose name is Caitlin. Caitlin told Jacqueline that back on March 6, which is the same day that Angela got sick, she noticed that James came back into work after hours and she notices him slip into exam room 9 and he starts working in there on the computer but he has the lights off which she thought was very odd. Now it is a little strange that he had all the lights off although some people do like to have the lights off when they work on a computer, so it's not like extremely weird, but what was weird to her was that he has his own office with a computer in it.

So why is he randomly in this exam room on the computer? Then she tells Jacqueline that about 30 minutes after she left the office, she got a text from James saying that he was having a personal package delivered to the office. And he told Caitlin not to open the package, but just notify him when it arrived. And this was definitely strange to her, but nothing to, you know, sound the alarm over, at least not yet.

Caitlin then explains to Jacqueline that this personal package ends up arriving at the office on Monday, March 13th. But before she has a chance to intercept it, another employee, not knowing what it was, opened it. Obviously, this was by accident. They didn't know that this was a personal package for James. They thought it was, you know, just something for the office. But when Jacqueline then goes to seal it back up, she can't help but notice something. She notices that in this package, there is a canister that has a sticker on it that says biohazard.

And then she reads that the canister is filled with potassium cyanide. So she kind of brushes this off. It seems a little weird to her, but she figures it's probably something for the office. So she ends up just reselling the package and lets James know that the package arrived. But just a few days later,

when she hears about Angela in the hospital, she decides to Google potassium cyanide. The more she thought about it, the more curious she was. And considering there is no medical reason that James would need potassium cyanide at his dental practice, she looks into it more. And as she's researching it, she realizes that all the symptoms

Angela is experiencing matchup with ingesting potassium cyanide. Obviously, at this point, red flags are going off for her like crazy. So that's when she contacts Jacqueline and when Jacqueline hears about this, she knows she has to tell someone. So then she calls Ryan Redfern and tells him everything. And once he has all this information and Angela at this point is back in the hospital, he knows he has to do something, he has to tell someone what he knows. And this entire phone call that Ryan had with Jacqueline happened on the way to the hospital.

So as soon as he gets there, he goes and tells a nurse. Obviously, as soon as any nurse would hear this, hopefully they would call the police. And that's exactly what the nurse who got this information did. She immediately contacted Aurora PD and then the major crime unit or MCHU got involved information dead. She immediately contacted Aurora PD and then the major crime unit or MCHU got involved right away. And what happens next is really fucked up. Not long after Ryan

filled in the nurse on what he thinks could be happening and she contacts police, he is then in the car with his wife Michelle and James calls him and gas lights him into thinking he made a big mistake. On the call, James tells Ryan that he heard disturbing information from the nursing staff and then Ryan doesn't hesitate to respond by saying, well, yeah, this is suspicious and I had to tell someone. So then James, not knowing that the package had been opened, and that people know what was actually inside, tries to say that the package was actually a new ring for his wife. He tells Ryan that the package had never been opened and accused him of lying about what was inside.

Now at this point we know that James is a lying piece of shit, but Ryan makes it clear to him that he's not backing down, so James starts to change his story. He goes from trying to convince him that this is a ring he bought for his wife we love so much that it is actually potassium cyanide. But don't you worry, he insists that he was never going to poison his wife with the potassium cyanide, he only ordered it because Angela asked him to. He tells Ryan, and then later on a social worker, that Angela was depressed and was contemplating taking her own life.

So she asked him to order potassium cyanide. And he did, which doesn't make sense anyway. You were going to assist your wife in killing herself? He tries to explain that away by saying he didn't think she would actually use it. Then why would you order it, bro? Then this motherfucker has the audacity to say that this whole situation is comparable to a game of chicken. A game of chicken.

So Ryan, of course, tells all this to investigators. And if James was pissed about what Ryan told the nurses before, as you can imagine, he was certainly pissed when he found out that Ryan had shared all the text messages with detectives. In a very long text message to Ryan, James said that if he was ever friends with him, he would listen to him when he asked Ryan not to speak too law enforcement under any circumstances. All of these text messages for you to read on the screen because there's a lot.

But this is gaslighting to the end degree, man. James tries to tell Ryan that he is, quote, no obligation to answer their questions unless he is served a subpoena. And then he tells Ryan that he will, quote, do more damage than good to his family by continuing to insert himself into this. He goes on to say there's just so much Ryan doesn't know about. And maybe if he hadn't gone and opened his mouth about something he didn't have the full picture of, then none of this would be happening to him.

So he's literally trying to guilt rip Ryan and blame him for the situation he is in now that he is being investigated for a crime that he absolutely and intentionally did commit. James continues to shit on Ryan in his text message, saying that he had always been someone who believed the opinions of others before coming to him first. And really, all these text messages are just one long threat, if you ask me. From a man who is desperate and knows that his time is limited. So at this point, Ryan obviously is realizing, holy shit, this guy really did this. He murdered his wife.

And so he shares all of these text messages with authorities. He also tells detectives about his relationship with James and how the two of them have known each other for a really long time back to going to dental school together. So if anyone was going to be loyal to James, it would be Ryan. And I think it says a lot that he was so quick to offer up this information to police and to accept the fact that his friend,

his pretty much lifelong friend at this point, could do something so heinous. Dr. Rick here, with another telltale sign you're turning into your parents, getting particular about your drive-through order. Don't pull away yet. I like to check the bag because one time they forgot to give me extra ketchup.

People are waiting. I'm only seeing four nuggets. Buh, buh, buh, buh, wait, nope, there's five. Progressive can't help you from becoming your parents, but we can help you compare rates on home insurance with home-coded explorers. Progressive casualty insurance company affiliates in third party insurance compares and rates not available in all states or situations, prices vary based on how you buy.

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MLSN of the 14165-4, not available in North Carolina. Ryan also told detectives about James' financial struggles, and how he had somewhat recently taken over the dental practice, and an attempt to keep it from going bankrupt. Turns out James had actually filed for bankruptcy in 2021, and it was looking like he was going to have to file for it again. And he also talked to them about the marital issues. He knew that James and Angela were experiencing. And in both Ryan and Michelle's interviews with the major crimes detectives, they spoke

about what had been going on with Angela in the last week or so, and shared with them all of the text communications they had with James during that time. Detectives also interviewed Caitlin, who confirmed everything that she had seen in that package on March 13th. She also tells detectives about how weird she thought it was that while Angela was in the hospital, James was texting her up, asking how the dental practice was doing, asking about business things, which she thought was incredibly weird. You would think that would be the last thing on your mind when your wife is sick, very,

very sick, and you have no idea what's going on. And this is absolutely bizarre, but it turns out, according to Caitlyn, that while they were at work on March 14th, James came up to Caitlyn and just casually mentioned how his wife Angela believed that he had poisoned her again. Like why would you bring that up? Also, on March 16th, a CPS case worker named Sidney Romero contacted an MCHU detective to let them know what James told her about his wife being suicidal. Sidney shared the same story about how James had ordered the potassium cyanide

because that's what Angela wanted, although he didn't think she would actually take it. James also had told her that her depression was the result of him telling her that he wanted a divorce back in December of 2022, which again, he said was sort of the catalyst for all of this. Apparently, Angela had tried taking her life many times, and James being the big old hero he is her life many times and James being the big old hero he is saved her every time. And big shocker here, I know, but turns out no one in Angela's life said that she was struggling with depression or suicidal ideation. Obviously, it's possible she was and wasn't telling anyone. I think we can all agree that it's probably doubtful. Of course, that's what James wants people to believe that she wanted to take her own life and that she did this to herself.

James even told Sydney that he was, quote, positive that Angela's toxicology would come back positive for substances, which is obviously information that she related to detectives. Now, like I said earlier, this is not the first time that James poisoned Angela and get this. The only reason he said he did this was because it was the only way he could think of to stop Angela from stopping him from taking his life. Are you stupid or something? I'm a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Bro, what? So with all this information, obviously, detectives have every reason in the world to execute

a few search warrants that would give them all the evidence they needed to make an arrest. So on March 16, three search warrant applications were submitted and granted very quickly, one for Summer Brook Dental Office, one for Craig's home, and one for an address that is still redacted. By 8.30am, Aurora PD arrived at the redacted location where James was located and collected his phone, wallet, and laptop, as well as Angela's phone. By 8.45, another unit was executing the search at Craig's home where they seized multiple types of protein powder, multiple workout-style shaker bottles, a computer tablet, two different zip lock bags with unmarked white

powdery substances inside, and a water bottle located on an exercise bike. Lastly, at 11.45am, detectives executed a warrant at the Summerbrook Dental Office. And it was there that they seized a hard drive from the computer in Exam Room 9, where he had been on the computer in the dark late at night after hours. And a hand vacuum found in James's office, which appeared to contain a white, powdery substance inside. The contents of the hard drive were looked at on March 17th, and if James didn't look guilty before, this definitely seals the deal. For starters,

when the Google Chrome page was opened, the account that logged in belonged to James, and the name on the email was Jim Craig, and the associated email was Jim and Waffles at gmail.com. Detectives quickly learned that this email account was relatively new and was first created on February 27th, 2023. And this led them to believe that he made this email account specifically to look up information regarding poison and order it. Clearly dude thought he was slick. And when looking at his search history, there were several specific questions When looking at his search history, there were several specific questions typed into Google. How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human? Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?

How to make poison? Top five undetectable poisons that show no signs of foul play and the top deadliest plants that can kill you. It's also very clear that he was trying to figure out that cyanide is often undetected by doctors, and when it is detected, it's too late. The search history also shows an Amazon purchase that was made on February 27th.

And do you wanna guess what that purchase was for? Arsenic metal. So on March 4th, just two days before Angela started to experience symptoms, the arsenic was delivered. And this was kind of shocking to me, but it only cost 13 bucks. And this wasn't the only purchase that he made when looking through the Jim and Waffles at Gmail.com email, detectives found a conversation between James and a woman named Cassie Rodriguez.

Now Cassie works for Midland Scientific, a chemical distribution company, and she was following up with James regarding his purchase of potassium cyanide. In order for this company to ship you the product, you need to sign waivers and confirm what the chemicals will be used for. And, well, no shock here, but James lied. Once again, and said that he was a surgeon, and that he needed potassium cyanide for some kind of experimental, cranial facial reconstruction. And James loves to just make these lies even more interesting, so he actually told her that

if this experiment was successful, it would be published in the National Institute of Health. He signed the form about the usage of the chemical and it was shipped and delivered on March 13th, the same day that Caitlin said she saw the package at the dental office. But wait, there's more. There was actually a third order placed on March 6th for Oliandrin, which is a poisonous chemical found in an Oliander plant. However, this item hadn't even shipped yet, so investigators were able to intercept it before it was delivered.

But sadly, by then, it was too late for Angela anyway. And this likely will not surprise you, but the last thing that they found in James' email was communication with his mistress. Turns out that while his wife was in the hospital dying because he poisoned her, James was booking flights and making plans to see this other woman. And he actually flew her out to Colorado from Austin, from March 8th to March 10th, which overlaps with when Angela was practically on her deathbed. There were also flights booked for this woman on March 20th, but an email correspondence between the two shows

that she had found out about Angela's passing and was worried about being there to comfort him as a friend knowing that the two were so much more. By this point, investigators are starting to establish motive and they're pretty sure that he killed his wife, poisoned her, so that he could start a new life with his mistress. In a conversation with Angela's sister, Tony, confirmed how bad things were between James

and her sister, Angela. She said that things had been really bad between them for more than 16 years, and this probably won't surprise you, but Angel was actually planning on leaving him. Tony confirmed how bad their situation was at home and how bad their financial situation was and the financial situation at the dental practice as well. And I'm sure you're thinking if Angelou was already planning to leave him, why wouldn't he just let her? She could leave, he could be with his mistress, but there's obviously another big part of the motive here. It turns out that Angela had three separate life insurance policies.

And with James' financial troubles, it's possible he thought that this was the solution to fix it all. And it turns out that James even told Tony that he was the one who refused in autopsy for his wife. Tony was begging that they get an autopsy done, but James told her that if they didn't know what happened before she died, they're not gonna be able to figure it out after. So the arrest affidavit was finally released

on March 18th, and James' Tolliver Craig was arrested for the murder of his wife, the mother of his six children. And on March 23rd, he was officially charged with first degree murder. Tonight, a Colorado dentist is behind bars accused of a heinous, complex, and calculated plot to slowly poison his wife to death. Police say 45-year-old James Craig allegedly purchased arsenic and cyanide and secretly dozed his wife Angela in protein shakes. The

arrest affidavit showing text messages between he and his wife the week before her death. Angela complaining, my head feels funny and dizzy. Even riding, I feel drugged. Angela rapidly declined and was pronounced brain dead Saturday at a local hospital before being taken off life support. Alarm bells went off for Craig's long-time business partner when he heard of Angela's strange and sudden symptoms. A colleague had recently opened a package addressed to Craig at the dentist office containing potassium cyanide.

He alerted a nurse at the hospital of his suspicions, leading investigators to Craig. According to the affidavit, investigators finding Craig had conducted numerous online searches about poisons, including how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human, and is arsenic detectable in an autopsy? He has remained in custody without bail, and his status hearing was held

on April 7th. And during this hearing, James sat quietly next to his lawyer while two of his six kids sat in the back of the courtroom, and I cannot imagine how traumatic that was for them. I feel so bad for these kids to lose their parents, both of them, in very different ways. And how do you even begin to process all this? It's just sick. And as of this hearing, we learned that Attorney John Kelner might be seeking additional charges beyond first degree murder if anything more is discovered as a result of the investigation. And as for their children, I'm sure a lot of you are concerned in wondering what's going to happen with them. As of right now, I was able to figure

out that two of them are staying with a paternal uncle, although I'm not sure where the other four are. Three of them are over the age of 18, so it's possible that they are not living with relatives at this time, but I just send them my best, and I know all of you do too. It's a beyond tragic situation. So on March 24th, Angela's family released this statement. We are heartbroken over the loss of our sweet Angie. She was deeply loved by both the prey and Craig families

and this is a very difficult time for all of us. We thank God for the knowledge that we will be able to be reunited with her someday. We are overwhelmed by the love and service extended to us by those who knew and loved her here in Aurora. We are so grateful for the compassion and concern that everyone has shown for Angie and would ask for your continued thoughts and prayers. We also invite you to allow us some time to mourn her passing in privacy. Police are calling this a heinous, complex, and calculated murder.

And I can only hope that the Justice System will work in favor of Angela and her family. So what's next for this case? Well, the next hearing is May 22nd, so that's coming up quickly, and then the next hearing after that is June 2nd, as of right now. And if you are interested in supporting the Craig Children, who, like I said, have lost two parents in very different ways, there is a GoFundMe page to help pay for their care and living expenses, and if you're able to, I encourage you to make a donation, I definitely will be on behalf of this channel.

God is just such a heartbreaking story, and it's really hard to wrap your mind around how you could kill someone who you must have loved at some point, who gave you six children. I just, God, sometimes I just don't have words for these fucking people. It is mind-blowing every time, no matter how many cases I cover,

when spouses kill each other, it just, I can't understand it. I can't understand it. It's so sick. So, maybe I'll end up doing an update on this case, maybe some trial coverage. We'll see. But, yeah, that's pretty much everything that we know so far.

That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. From joyful occasions to the unexpected, first Franklin financial makes loans for living, offering fixed rates and flexible terms on loans up to $15,000. The next time you're looking for some extra cash to help make ends meet, come see the friendly Franklin folks, or visit us at 1ffc.com to learn more.

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