Recent reports have revealed that the Colorado dentist who is alleged to have fatally poisoned his wife was heavily burdened with debt and had a penchant for frequenting Las Vegas casinos.
Dr. James Craig, 45, of Aurora, Colo., was reportedly $2 million in debt in 2020, and had recently lost over $2K in a trip to Las Vegas to gamble, according to the New York Post. The Toronto Sun further reported that Craig was an “excessive gambler” who had suffered large losses. Furthermore, he was also said to have lost money on cryptocurrency speculation.
Due to the tremendous financial losses his dental practice had incurred, Craig was forced to declare bankruptcy and sell off his practice to a dental school classmate last year. His wife, Angela, 43, also revealed to her sister that her husband had “ruined” the practice.
It was additionally discovered that Angela had three life insurance policies in her name. She passed away on March 18 after her 23-year marriage, with the days leading up to her death marked by headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms associated with poisoning, according to the Guardian newspaper. It is suspected that she may have been given arsenic as well, as reported by the Sun.
Upon being hospitalized, doctors alerted the police to her case and Craig was arrested shortly afterwards. The investigation revealed that Craig had purchased poisons online, and it is thought that he had slipped one of these substances, potassium cyanide, into smoothies that Angela had consumed after her workouts. This poison was detected during the autopsy and subsequent tests, and is known to cause a rapid death in those who ingest it.
As a result, Craig was charged with first degree murder and is due to appear in court on Friday.
It was further revealed that Craig had engaged in multiple adulterous affairs and was addicted to pornography, as disclosed by Angela’s sister to the police. Though Craig and Angela had lived in a million-dollar home in Aurora with their six children, Courtney Lyons, who had worked with Craig, had described them as “the perfect family” to the Daily Mail.
In light of these developments, the tragedy of Angela’s death has been compounded.
