(NewsNation) —Patients of a Colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife are speaking out, disturbed that the case involved someone they trusted.
“I’m a little confused and stressed out,” one patient told NewsNation affiliate KDVR. “I’m still completely shocked. I cannot believe, you know, that somebody that I’ve had all kinds of work done, that has put lots and lots of needles in my mouth. … Blows my mind.”
James Craig, 45, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder Sunday, shortly after his wife died after she was taken off life support during her third trip to the hospital this month.
The suspicious death has sent shock waves across Aurora, Colorado.
“This is just unbelievable,” said another longtime patient.
According to court documents, police believe Craig laced his wife’s pre-workout protein shakes with arsenic and cyanide, eventually killing his spouse so he could be with a woman with whom he was having an affair.
The results of a toxicology report are still pending. What exactly was in his wife’s system at the time of her death is sure to fill in some blanks.
Just eight months ago, Craig’s office uploaded a video in which he shares his patient-first approach after being with the practice for nearly 20 years.
“I also have a strong philosophy that a happy team makes happy patients,” he can be seen saying in the video. “My approach to dentistry begins with sincerely listening to the patient.”
Craig is now behind bars after his business partner realized the accused dentist had ordered potassium cyanide — a compound not needed for work — to be delivered to the office.
According to his arrest affidavit, Craig’s Google searches include: How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human? Is arsenic detectable in autopsy? And where to buy arsenic in Aurora, Colorado.
“You can’t regulate away evil, you can’t legislate away evil,” said legal analyst George Brauchler. “So people that are prone to kill can use anything. And arsenic has a whole bunch of regular, nonlethal applications, from bronzing to some sort of pesticides, wood preservatives. It does a lot of other things other than kill your spouse.”
Text messages between Craig and his dying wife have also come to light.
At one point he asks, “Have you eaten anything?”
To which Angela Craig replies, “I had my protein shake and magnesium makes me weird. This is not hungry.”
He asks, “Are you nauseous?“
She replies, “No, I feel drugged”
While his wife was in the hospital, Craig goes on to write: “Anyway, I hope you sleep well and start to feel better. I just miss you and want to be close to you. I love you so much. I’ll talk to you soon I hope!”
Craig’s alleged mistress is a fellow dentist who police say flew in for visits with him.
Two days before his wife was declared brain dead, the mistress wrote Craig an email expressing sympathy for what he was going through.
She did not want to be around those who gathered to mourn Angela’s death, however, because she did not want to “conceal what I feel for you.”
Angela Craig’s sister has come forward and said he previously tried to drug his wife five years ago when he planned to kill himself and didn’t want her to stop him.
Craig has a scheduled court appearance on Thursday, and the medical examiner’s office told NewsNation this case takes a specialized toxicology report, and that the coroner does know what to look for.
