Colorado dentist sentenced to life in prison for fatally poisoning his wife

Our live coverage of the James Craig sentencing has concluded for today. Please scroll through the posts below to learn about today’s developments in court.

Dentist James Craig is lead away after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Centennial, Colorado, on Wednesday.

A jury today found Colorado dentist James Craig guilty of killing his wife in 2023 by poisoning her protein shakes.

Prosecutors called 48 witnesses during the trial to prove their case that Craig poisoned his wife Angela with protein shakes, gave her prescription capsules he had emptied and refilled with cyanide and injected her with a poisonous substance using a syringe.

Following emotional impact statements from family members, Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced the father of six to life in prison with no possibility of parole for his crimes.

Here’s what you should know:

The verdict: After deliberating for more than eight hours over two days, the jury found Craig guilty of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder in the first degree, solicitation to commit perjury, and solicitation to commit evidence tampering.

The impact statements: After the verdict was read, Angela Craig’s family members spoke about their loss and their contempt for her convicted husband. James could be seen sobbing as his daughter said that her “life, and the world, will truly never be the same” without her mom. Some of Craig’s siblings remembered and highlighted Angela’s character and one condemned James as “dishonest, a cheat and a heartless excuse of a human being.”

The sentence: Judge Whitaker said Craig created a “path of destruction as wide as a tornado and just as devastating.” She sentenced him to life without parole on the charge of first degree murder plus the maximum terms on the other charges, to be served consecutively.

The reactions: Following the sentencing, Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden declared that “Justice was served for Angela Craig.” Her brother said his family was “undoubtedly elated that James Craig will never be able to do this to another person.”

Jury finds James Craig guilty of first-degree murder

A jury has found Colorado dentist James Craig guilty of all charges in the March 2023 death of his wife Angela, including murder in the first degree. He now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

02:38 • Source: CNN

Jury finds James Craig guilty of first-degree murder

02:38

CNN’s Elise Hammond, Andi Babineau, Tori B. Powell and Taylor Romine contributed to this post.

Toni Kofoed, Angela Craig's sister, speaks at a news conference in Centennial, Colorado, on Wednesday.

When asked about how the six children of Angela and James Craig are handling the case, Angela’s sister Toni Kofoed declined to answer.

Three of the children were in court today for the verdict and the sentencing.

Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said an appeal to the James Craig murder case will likely happen, but said investigators will defend the guilty verdict.

The evidence in the state’s case against James Craig was “absolutely stunning,” Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said.

“It never stopped getting worse. It never stopped getting more surreal,” he said at a news conference today after Craig was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife.

During the weekslong trial, prosecutors laid out a host of evidence and called dozens of witnesses. They showed Craig’s search queries, texts between him and his wife and details about how he got chemicals delivered to his dental practice.

“It never stopped getting more aggravatingly stunning,” he said. “That’s a good way to describe it.”

He said that it was “very, very difficult” to read Craig’s own words — whether in letters or texts — to the jury, “knowing what they meant.” Angela Craig died in 2023, by which point she’d been hospitalized three times in 10 days with symptoms no one could initially explain. A coroner’s report later said her cause of death was acute cyanide and tetrahydrozoline poisoning, with subacute arsenic poisoning listed as a significant condition.

James Craig was found guilty of murder and several other charges today — but also not guilty of a lesser, non-included charge of manslaughter-caused or aided suicide.

This was included as an option requested by the defense, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said.

The idea is the defense attorneys “argue that the facts as presented to the jury — all of it through James Craig — through his letters, through his texts, through his words, that Angela inexplicably did this as a suicide or tried to enlist him as a suicide. The judge felt that there was enough evidence for that to go to the jury,” according to Brackley.

“Clearly the jury rejected that,” the prosecutor said.

In this case, if the jury found Craig guilty of killing his wife, they couldn’t also convict him on the conflicting lesser charge at the same time.

Because of that, it is accurate to say Craig was “convicted of all charges. He was found not guilty on a charge that he asked the jury to consider,” Brackley said.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley speaks at a news conference in Centennial, Colorado, on Wednesday.

Before the sentencing of James Craig started, at least eight jurors came back into the courtroom to watch – which is not a common move, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said in a news conference.

“That’s an unusual step – we don’t often see that, but these jurors came back to watch James Craig get sentenced,” he said.

Mark Pray speaks at a press conference in Centennial, Colorado, on Wednesday.

Angela Craig’s family is “elated” following James Craig’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, her brother said on behalf of her family.

“We are undoubtedly elated that James Craig will never be able to do this to another person,” Mark Pray said today at a news conference at the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s office.

He thanked the police and investigators who worked on the case as well as the healthcare professionals who cared for Angela while she was in the hospital after being poisoned by her husband.

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for our family,” Pray said. “We take comfort in the integrity and commitment shown by everyone who stood with us in pursuit of justice for Angela and her children. We thank you all so much for your support.”

There were over 10,000 pages of documents, two terabytes of data and more than 300 witnesses used as evidence against James Craig during his trial, said Michael Mauro, senior chief deputy district attorney.

That evidence “overwhelmingly pointed to James Craig’s guilt,” he said.

Craig wanted out of his marriage but didn’t want to initiate a divorce, so instead “he gave into greed and cowardice,” Mauro said.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden speaks at a news conference in Centennial, Colorado, on Wednesday.

Justice was served today as James Craig was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his wife, Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden said.

She said James Craig “vowed to love, protect and honor” his wife, but “instead he deceived her, he cheated on her, he lied to her, and he killed her.”

Padden said the outcome of the trial today “holds the defendant accountable” and that she hopes it brings some closure to Angela Craig’s family.

“I hope this conviction and life sentence in prison brings a measure of justice to Angela. To her children, family and everyone who loved her,” Padden said.

This post has been updated with additional remarks from Padden.

Officials in Colorado will soon hold a news conference after a judge sentenced James Craig to life in prison without the possibility of parole for poisoning his wife with a protein shake.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley, Sr. Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Mauro, Deputy District Attorney Osama Magrebi
and Mark Pray for Angela Craig’s family are expected to speak.

James Craig is led away following a verdict in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty, Colorado, on Wednesday.

Judge Shay Whitaker has sentenced James Craig to life in prison without possibility of parole today.

Craig was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury.

Speaking before determining the sentence, the judge said Craig created a “path of destruction as wide as a tornado and just as devastating.”

She talked about the loss that the family is feeling: “Everybody here shares a loss, whether that is a mother who is never there, whether that is a son who will be in prison for the remainder of his life.”

The eldest daughter of Angela and James Craig said in a tearful statement that “life, and the world, will truly never be the same” without her mom.

She went onto say that her dad has betrayed her trust.

“I was supposed to be able to trust my dad,” she said. “He was supposed to be my hero, and instead he’ll forever be a villain in my book.”

Attorney Osama Magrebi said the most important thing James Craig is guilty of is taking Angela Craig away from her friends and family.

A jury found Craig guilty of first-degree murder today. Ahead of his sentencing, Magrebi emphasized the mandatory penalty for the crimes he was found guilty of is life in prison without parole.

“There’s non-discretion before the court as to that sentence, but if there weren’t, that would still be the appropriate sentence for James Craig for what he did,” Magrebi told the judge today in court.

Judge Shay Whitaker speaks during James Craig's trial on Wednesday.

Now that family members have made their impact statements, Judge Shay Whitaker is sentencing James Craig.

Craig declined to speak.

Earlier this afternoon, a jury found Craig guilty of first-degree murder and other charges in his wife, Angela Craig’s death. She died in 2023 after Craig fed her poisoned protein shakes.

The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

James Craig is leaning forward in his seat, crying, as his 21-year-old daughter is giving an emotional statement to the court before his sentencing.

His defense attorney Ashley Whitham has her hand on his back while he is leaning forward, sobbing.

His daughter, who is standing facing the judge, is also crying as she talks about her mom. James Craig was convicted of first-degree murder.

“I want my mom. I want more than anything to go home at the end of the day and just give her a hug and call her and tell her about the crazy stuff that’s happened,” she said.

Another of Angela Craig’s sisters addressed her sibling’s killer during impact statements to the judge today in court, calling James Craig “dishonest, a cheat and a heartless excuse of a human being.”

“For years, you planned, you plotted and you schemed to break her for your own selfish, unfathomable ends but you never could,” Toni Kofoed said referencing James Craig, whom a jury found guilty of first-degree murder. “Angela was the picture of hope and optimism, and in true Angela fashion she wanted to help you, to understand you, to believe that you could be good.”

She described her sister as her “best friend,” who was strong, welcoming, devoted and kind.

Kathryn Pray, the older sister of Angela Craig, admonished James Craig in her victim impact statement, calling him a “a pretender and a liar.”

Angela Craig’s family never expected James Craig “would callously and cruelly without mercy take her life” while she was “in her own home with her own children around her,” Pray said.

While her husband committed these awful crimes, Angela Craig “never stopped trying to rebuild trust that was destroyed, never stopped trying to love the man that she had committed herself to, and he killed her for it,” Pray said.

Some of the jurors who are sitting in the back of the courtroom are crying after hearing emotional remarks from family members.

So far, some of Angela Craig’s siblings and children have told the court about who their sister and mother was. They recalled the abuse and betrayal Angela Craig, and the entire family, endured at the hands of James Craig, who was convicted of poisoning and killing her in 2023.

After the victim impact statements conclude, the judge will impose a sentence on Craig.

Rick Pray, Angela Craig’s oldest sibling, said their family found out on the way to the hospital to visit her that it was possible she was poisoned by her husband, James Craig.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Pray said it was “difficult” to be around James Craig because he was “pretty certain” Craig killed his sister.

The day before Craig got arrested was another difficult day, Pray remembers. He said Craig “came down the stairs and hugged me and I wasn’t in a hugging mood.”

Talking directly to Craig, Pray pleaded for him to apologize. “Think of your parents,” he said.

“Come clean and apologize to them so they don’t have to suffer,” Pray said. Pray mentioned earlier that Craig’s parents were also at the hospital the day his sister died.