A Judge Said James Craig Was as Destructive as a Tornado — Where Is the Killer Now?

In the days leading up to Angela Craig's death, she repeatedly went to the doctor in order to figure out what was wrong. The 43-year-old was wasting away in front of her friends and family, who drove her to urgent care as well as the hospital, reported CNN. Her symptoms started March 6, 2023, following her usual protein shake. Angela and her husband James Craig lived in Aurora, Colo. with their six children, where by all accounts they were happy.

Following her workout, Angela texted James at work to say she was feeling "funny and dizzy." James is a dentist who owned his own practice. A few hours later James took Angela to the hospital but doctors could find nothing wrong. Her symptoms continued, as did her texts to James who seemed appropriately concerned. Angela could have never guessed that she was actually texting with her killer. Where is James Craig now? Here's what we know.

Two years after Angela died, James was convicted of first-degree murder, two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence, two counts of solicitation to commit first-degree perjury, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder, per CBS News. One of James and Angela's children spoke following the verdict where he said it was tough losing his mom and then his dad three days later, when he was taken into custody.

During James's sentencing, Judge Shay Whitaker said he "unleashed a path of destruction as wide as a tornado, and just as devastating," before handing the former dentist a life sentence without he possibility of parole. He is serving his sentence at Brent County Correctional Facility in Las Animas, Colo. "I'm supposed to be able to trust my dad," said his daughter Meservy. "He was supposed to be my hero and instead he will forever be the villain in my life."

The conviction for solicitation to commit first-degree murder stems from an incident that occurred after James was arrested. While in jail awaiting trial, he asked another inmate to kill the lead investigator in the case. Regarding the tampering with physical evidence and first-degree perjury convictions, those were based on the fact that James asked his daughter to make a deepfake video of Angela wherein she was contemplating suicide, which was part of James's defense.

In a 52-page probable cause affidavit, investigators laid out what happened to Angela Craig at the hands of her husband. They noted that James bought potassium cyanide and arsenic, the latter of which he likely put in his wife's morning protein shakes. James's internet search history showed that he conducted numerous searches related to poisoning, including, "How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human" and wanted to know if it was detectable in an autopsy.

As far as James's motive goes, investigators found two reasons that might have driven him to murder his wife. The first was his affair with a woman named Karin Cain, an orthodontist from Austin, Texas whom he met a dental conference in Las Vegas in February 2023, per CBS News. The first time Angela went to the hospital was a week-and-half after the two met. Cain later cooperated with police, telling them she had no idea James was planning on killing his wife.

The second potential motive is financial in nature. His business, Summerbrook Dental, was under which led James to file for bankruptcy in 2020. Shortly after, his then-friend Ryan Redfearn became a partner. Angela's life insurance policy would have given James $3.4 million. It was Redfearn who tipped police off about James after an employee told him about a shipment of postassium cyanide he received at the office. A dentist would have no reason to order that.