Trial starts for Colorado dentist accused of poisoning wife during affair

Jury selection kicked off Monday for the high-stakes trial of James Craig, the hometown dentist accused of poisoning his wife’s protein shakes while secretly carrying on a sordid affair and plotting a new life without her.

James Toliver Craig, 47, is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation 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.

Defense attorney Kelly Hyman outlined the strategic battlegrounds she expects to see in the courtroom as Craig’s murder trial unfolds.

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Craig’s defense, led by Lisa Fine Moses, has already pursued two cornerstone motions, a motion to suppress electronic evidence and a motion to dismiss the charges, that set the tone for the weeks of courtroom wrangling ahead.

“Evidence is key to any case and a key motion that is filed in criminal cases are Motions to Suppress evidence and a Motion to Dismiss the charges,” Hyman explained to Fox News Digital.

A motion to suppress evidence is a request to exclude evidence that can be made by a defendant in a criminal case.

“A defendant does this because the defense believes that the evidence in question was obtained illegally or constitutionally in violation of a defendant’s rights,” she said.

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Central to the prosecutor’s case against the Aurora, Colorado, dentist is Craig’s alleged use of a work computer.

A suspected secret email account was not found on his phone, laptop or Angela’s phone — it was only accessed on the clinic computer in dental exam room No. 9, authorities said in court documents, obtained by Fox News Digital.

Investigators say 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 — as well as “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human” and “is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?”

Alongside these online searches, investigators alleged that Craig made YouTube queries such as “how to make poison” and “Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Signs of Foul Play.”

“The defense argued that the searches went ‘beyond the scope’ of the search warrant,” Hyman said. “However, a judge has already denied motions to suppress electronic evidence.”

“That being said, it is likely defense counsel will continue to challenge the admissibility of various evidence gathered by the prosecution, such as voice messages between Craig and his alleged mistress.”

READ THE INCIDENT REPORT – APP USERS, CLICK HERE

Beyond those fundamental motions, Hyman warned that the battle over forensic evidence could prove pivotal. 

She said it’s likely the court will hold “gatekeeping” hearings, under Colorado’s version of the Daubert standard, in which the judge decides whether scientific evidence, such as toxicology reports and digital forensics, is reliable enough to let the jury see it.

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“Chain-of-custody documentation and lab accreditation standards here in Colorado,” she said, “will be scrutinized at every turn.”

Hyman also discussed how pretrial publicity might impact plea negotiations. Prosecutors, she suggested, often harden their stance to avoid appearing weak in the court of public opinion — even as defendants leverage the threat of venue changes or jury sequestration to force more favorable terms. 

“In situations like this,” she explained, “the real pressure point comes when both sides realize the jury pool may already be tainted by media coverage.”

Hyman said that as jury selection kicks off, voir dire must dig deeper and probe prospective jurors on how they consume news and their personal attitudes toward law enforcement. 

“You can’t assume someone who says they’re unbiased hasn’t seen a viral headline or formed an opinion,” she said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Lisa Fine Moses for comment.