Dentist James Craig murdered his wife after lacing her protein shakes with poison

An evil dentist murdered his wife by delivering her a dose of cyanide.

James Craig, 47, had tried to kill Angela Craig by poisoning her protein shakes over ten days but, though this made her unwell, Angela did not die as a result. Craig instead used cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops, to murder Angela, 43, while she was in hospital.

A court heard Craig was having an affair with another dentist, had financial difficulties and may have been motivated by the payout from his wife's life insurance. He denied murdering his partner, the mother of his six children, but a jury in Denver, Colorado, returned a guilty verdict today. Craig was then sentenced to life in prison. It comes after a young mum, from Essex, was found guilty of manslaughter.

Addressing Craig in court, Angela's older sister, Toni Kofoed, said: "You have taken away our opportunity to grow old together... Her life was not yours to take. Angela had a love and a passion for life. She loved her children and, unfortunately, she loved you."

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The couple's oldest daughter, Mira Merservy, had told the court she considered her father a villain. As Ms Merservy spoke, Craig appeared to shake with tears in the dock.

"I was supposed to be able to trust my dad; he was supposed to be my hero, and instead he’ll forever be the villain in my book,” Ms Merservy said. When her dad was sentenced, family members present in court looked visibly upset.

In addition to murder, Craig was also found guilty of trying to cover up the killing by asking others to fake evidence and testimony that would make it appear that Angela had killed herself or wanted to frame him for her death. The dentist was found guilty of asking his daughter to make a fake video of her mother asking to be poisoned and of trying to get one inmate to kill the lead detective investigating his wife’s death, among other things.

Jurors rejected his claim his wife sought his help in ending her own life. Craig himself didn’t testify during the two-week trial, and his attorneys didn’t present other witnesses. The defence had suggested earlier at trial Angela may have taken her own life and faulted police for focusing solely on Craig as a suspect.

However, prosecutors said the dentist had offered other conflicting explanations for her death to other people. Toxicology tests determined Angela died of poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient commonly found in over-the-counter eye drops, according to the coroner. Prosecutors argued Craig wanted to kill his wife to get out of a marriage he felt trapped in, adding he didn’t want a divorce so he could protect his money and image.