Colorado dentist charged with poisoning his wife’s protein shakes faces new charges

A Colorado dentist accused of spiking his wife’s protein shakes with a fatal dose of poison faces two new charges, including solicitation to commit murder, officials said Friday.

James Craig, who was charged and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder last year in the killing of Angela Craig, is now also accused of first-degree solicitation to commit perjury, the state’s 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Additional details about the new charges were not immediately available.

The development came one day after Craig’s attorney withdrew from the case on the day jury selection in Craig’s trial was set to begin, NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver reported. 

The attorney cited a professional conflict and other reasons, including one that states the client “persists in a course of action involving the lawyer’s services that the lawyer reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent,” the station reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Craig has a new lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Angela Craig, a mother of six who was married to her husband for 23 years, died March 18 from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline poisoning, authorities have said. The latter is found in over-the-counter eyedrops.

She had gone to the hospital three days before with a severe headache and dizziness, according to an arrest warrant in the case. After experiencing a severe seizure, she was placed on life support and died, according to the warrant.

At a preliminary hearing last year, a prosecutor said that shortly after James Craig started an affair, his online search history included the phrases: “how to make murder look like a heart attack” and “is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?” according to the Associated Press.

According to the arrest warrant, the couple’s relationship had been strained for years, with James Craig having multiple affairs and Angela Craig repeatedly saying she wanted to leave her husband.

At the preliminary hearing, James Craig’s attorneys argued there was no direct evidence showing that he put the fatal dose of poison in his wife’s drink and they said he had been searching online for ways to take his own life, according to the AP.