Victim or manipulator? Colorado dentist's murder trial paints dueling portraits of wife in troubled marriage
Dr. James Toliver Craig, 47, is charged with first-degree murder in the March 2023 death of his wife, Angela Craig, a 43-year-old mother of six. Her cause of death was determined to be lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline.
In opening statements Tuesday in Colorado, defense attorney Ashley Whitham acknowledged the couple's rocky 23-year marriage but described Angela not as a victim of betrayal, but as someone who was emotionally broken, deeply private and at times manipulative.
"You're going to hear her own daughter describe her that she was also manipulating words," Whitham revealed to jurors Tuesday. "Again, that if she wanted to try to get something, she would be manipulative."
The Colorado couple's marital strife was laid bare in Tuesday's opening remarks. Prosecutors pointed to his relationship with a Texas orthodontist, Dr. Karin Cain, as the motivation for the murder. Cain has not returned Fox News Digital's requests for comment. The defense said the 47-year-old husband had extramarital affairs throughout the couple's marriage.
"Karin Cain was just like the others. This wasn't some new obsession," Whitham said.
Along with a series of affairs, Craig also allegedly used the website Seeking.com, advertising himself as "Jim and Waffles" and claiming a net worth of $10 million in search of "sugar babies."
Whitham described Angela as an "extremely private" stay-at-home mom of six who, due to her deeply held Mormon faith, was reluctant to share the couple's marital issues. She claimed Angela was isolated and someone who was "not about to tell people about her marital struggles" and who was "broken."
Defense attorney Kelly Hyman delved into the dueling strategies as the high-stakes murder trial kicks off. She noted that the defense's strategy to cast Angela as manipulative and unstable plays into their aims to create reasonable doubt and reframe the context.
"By doing so, the defendant implies that [he] wasn't responsible," she explained to Fox News Digital. "That could go to the heaty of the defense that Angela killed herself and that it was suicide."
While prosecutors argued Tuesday that Craig's alleged Google searches, chemical orders and romantic messages to his alleged mistress amount to premeditation, Hyman warned that speculative interpretation of digital evidence isn't always a slam dunk.
"A way to do this is to challenge admissibility and the reliability of the digital evidence. This can be done on cross-examination or through a defense witness to counter the digital forensic and timeline reconstruction," she said.
The defense argued Tuesday that investigators operated with "tunnel vision" and failed to investigate other leads. The defense said Angela's personal laptop was never seized or searched despite prosecutors showing images of her using it from her hospital bed to research symptoms.
"The defense could argue that the unexamined laptop may contain information supporting an alternative theory of events or potentially pointing to another person and/or a different timeline," Hyman said. "This omission may suggest an incomplete and/or biased investigation."
Hyman also noted that the absence of direct physical evidence, such as cyanide residue on containers or packaging, could work to the defense's advantage.
"The absence of direct physical evidence like poison residue on the protein shake containers or the victim's body presents a key argument for the defense to use," she said.
READ THE INCIDENT REPORT – APP USERS, CLICK HERE
GET REAL-TIME UPDATES AT THE FOX NEWS TRUE CRIME HUB
Investigators alleged in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital that, in the weeks before his wife's hospitalization and death, Craig used a dental office computer to search for "undetectable poisons" and how to obtain them, later purchasing arsenic and cyanide by mail, "how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human" and "is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?"
Alongside these online searches, investigators alleged Craig made YouTube queries such as "how to make poison" and "Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Signs of Foul Play."
Fox News Digital has reached out to James Craig's lead attorney, Lisa Fine Moses, for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trial date fixed after fire that killed family
Three men accused of murdering a mother and her three children in a house fire in Bradford will stand trial later this year. Bryonie Gawith, 29, and her children, Denisty, nine, Oscar, five, and Aubree Birtle, 22 months, all died in the fire on Westbury Road on 21 August last year. Sharaz Ali, 40, Mohammed Shabir, 45, and Calum Sunderland, 26, have been charged with their murders and with the attempted murder of Ms Gawith's sister and Mr Ali's ex-partner, Antonia Gawith. Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard set a trial date of 17 November at Bradford Crown Court after Mr Ali, who was the last of the accused to enter a plea, denied the charges against him. Mr Shabir, of Carlby Grove, Keighley, and Mr Sunderland, of Langbar Avenue, Keighley, have also denied the charges. All three men have pleaded not guilty to a further charge of Section 18 wounding with intent against Ms Gawith. Mr Ali, of Langbar Avenue, Bradford, was seriously injured in the incident. Doctors had been unsure if he would survive, but he was transferred from hospital to prison in April after making a "marked recovery" and appeared in court via video link earlier. His barrister, Mohammed Mawaz, said his client may appear via video link for some parts of the trial due to his health, but this would need to approval of Mr Justice Hilliard. All three defendants were remanded in custody. More on this story Men charged over fatal fire to face trial together
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Teenager accused of murdering 12-year-old remanded in custody until October
A teenager charged with stabbing to death Birmingham schoolboy Leo Ross has made a five-minute video-link appearance at a hearing before a High Court judge. The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, spoke only to confirm his name during legal discussions ahead of a trial planned to take place in February next year. Prosecutors allege the youth murdered 12-year-old Leo, who was stabbed in the stomach on a riverside path in the Hall Green area, on January 21 this year. Leo, a pupil at the Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy in Yardley Wood, died after being taken to hospital from the Shire Country Park, where members of the public had called emergency services. Mr Justice Wall, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday, extended the custody time limits in the case after hearing submissions from prosecutor Rachel Brand KC and defence lawyer Alistair Webster KC. The defendant has yet to enter pleas to charges of murder, assault, causing grievous bodily harm and having a knife in a public place relating to dates between October 22 last year and January 21. Adjourning the case for a pre-trial review hearing to be held on October 6, the judge told the youth: 'That's the end of today's hearing. 'You are going to have another hearing in the autumn. Until that time you are remanded in custody.'
CNN
4 minutes ago
- CNN
5 things to know for July 28: Gaza, Tariffs, Walmart attack, Missing mom and child, Pets
A federal judge has dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit against Chicago's 'sanctuary' laws. The suit claimed that these local statutes 'thwart' federal efforts to enforce immigration laws. However, Judge Lindsay Jenkins said the US lacked standing to sue. Similar suits have been filed against Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and four cities in New Jersey. Here's what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day. An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza. The analysis, conducted by the US Agency for International Development, contradicts the State Department's claims that were used to justify backing the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, a controversial organization that took over aid distribution in the enclave. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry and the UN, more than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces as they sought aid, with 60% killed while trying to reach GHF sites. Thousands of Palestinians are suffering from malnutrition and more than a dozen people starved to death last week amid Israel's humanitarian blockade. Even doctors and nurses are collapsing from hunger and exhaustion as they try to administer help. The US and the European Union have managed to avoid an economically crippling trade war. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shook hands in Scotland on Sunday after agreeing on the framework for a trade deal between two of the world's biggest economies. The agreement sets a 15% tariff on most European goods entering the US, which is higher than the 10% tariff Trump put in place on April 2 and significantly higher than the average of around 1.2% from before Trump's presidency. Yet it's lower than the 50% tariff Trump threatened in May when trade talks were stymied. Trump backed off that threat after speaking with von der Leyen, who called him to say the EU would commit to moving 'swiftly and decisively.' Police in Grand Traverse, Michigan, are praising bystanders who cornered the suspect in a violent stabbing attack. Bradford James Gille, 42, entered a Walmart on Saturday afternoon, waited inside for 35 minutes, then allegedly began stabbing random strangers with a foldable knife, authorities said. As the suspect fled into the parking lot, several bystanders gave chase, including an unarmed former Marine named Matt Kolakowski and his brother-in-law, Chris O'Brien. After another bystander, also a former Marine, pulled out his gun, the suspect dropped the knife. That's when Kolakowski subdued the attacker and held him until police arrived. 'I just turned into somebody that I haven't been in a long time and just stayed on top of him until the deputy ran up and jumped on top of him with a rifle in his face, and I helped the deputy arrest him,' Kolakowski said. All 11 victims – who are between the ages of 29 and 84 – are expected to survive. A California mother and her 8-month-old daughter are missing and haven't been seen for nearly two weeks. Family, friends and authorities are asking for the public's help in finding Whisper Owen, 36, and her infant daughter Sandra McCarty. Owen, who is also the mother of three other children, is described as 5'6', 145 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair. Sandra is 1'10', 17 lbs., with green eyes and brown hair. On July 15, the pair left Fresno to return to their home near Sacramento. A traffic camera last captured their vehicle — a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, license plate number 9LKH008, with damage to its driver's side headlight — shortly after 8 p.m. that night in Atwater. 'I'm desperate to find my daughter and her baby,' Owen's mother, Vickie Torres, told CNN. 'It's like she vanished into thin air.' Animal rescues and shelters across the US are reporting sharp increases in surrendered pets. Several of those organizations have told CNN that financial hardship is at the root of those owners' decisions. The cost of owning a pet — food, toys, grooming, vet visits, etc. — has increased in recent years. Some tariff-sensitive goods are expected to be even pricier in the months to come. Many pet owners are also facing a deterioration in financial stability, including the rising cost of living, debt burdens, an unexpected (human or animal) medical event or a job loss. 'It just breaks us to see people cry that they have to give up their animal because they have to move somewhere that's more affordable, and that place that's more affordable for them doesn't allow animals,' said Megan Larson, intake manager at Ruff Start Rescue in Minnesota. 'This is a very devastating decision that these people are forced to make. People don't want to do this.' GET '5 THINGS' IN YOUR INBOX If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. A new tax law limits how much itemizers may deduct and expands the amount non-itemizers may claim. The building-sized object initially appeared to be on a potential collision course with Earth. Now it may have a new target. 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' defeated a DC superhero to finish No. 1 at the box office over the weekend. The lucky fans who attended her farewell show in Las Vegas on Saturday night were treated to a starry lineup of surprise guests. The actress appeared in a new ad for the tech firm whose ex-CEO and HR chief were caught embracing on the 'kiss cam' at a Coldplay concert. Tom Lehrer, song satirist and mathematician, dies at 97Lehrer lampooned marriage, politics, racism and the Cold War in song, and was even nominated for a Grammy Award for best comedy performance (musical). However, he later abandoned his music career to teach math at Harvard and other universities. 15,000That's how many animals have been killed by a toxic algal bloom on South Australia's coastline. Fueled by a marine heat wave, the bloom has turned once-colorful ecosystems filled with thriving marine life into underwater graveyards. 'This is not about politics or borders or anything like that. It's about people helping people, and it's a community helping another community.' — Mexican firefighter Jorge Fuentes Fuentes is a member of the rescue group Fundación 911, which was one of the earliest first responders to the devastating flash floods in central Texas earlier this month. 🌤️ Check your local forecast to see what you can expect. That's why NASA and its international partners are developing a new way to measure time in space. Today's edition of 5 Things AM was edited and produced by CNN's Andrew Torgan.
