ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — The trial against the Aurora dentist charged with his wife's murder in 2023 neared its end after both the prosecution and defense rested their case Monday afternoon.
Bobbi Olson, the lead detective in the criminal case against James Craig, testified Monday the suspect wrote a lengthy iPhone note before law enforcement seized his phone to allegedly portray himself in a different light as investigators worked to pin down the cause of Angela Craig's death.
James Craig is on trial for one charge of first-degree murder, two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence, two counts of solicitation to commit perjury in the first degree, and one count of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. Five of the charges were added to this case during his time in jail.
He is accused of killing his wife, Angela Craig, 43, in part by poisoning her workout smoothies. Her cause of death was determined to be lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant found in over-the-counter eyedrops. She suffered through several bouts of sickness before her passing, and doctors struggled to determine why she was ill. Prosecutors argue James Craig also poisoned his wife through a medication intended to treat a sinus infection, and claim he administered a lethal dose of cyanide to Angela Craig while she was hospitalized on March 15, 2023.
He was arrested on March 19, 2023. His bond was set at $10 million on June 28, 2023. That October, he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
James Craig's trial began on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
You can read Denver7's previous reporting on this trial here:
- Opening statements/Day 1 - Tuesday, July 15
- Day 2 - Wednesday, July 16
- Day 3 - Thursday, July 17
- Day 4 - Friday, July 18
- Day 5 - Monday, July 21
- Day 6 - Tuesday, July 22
- Day 7 - Wednesday, July 23
- Day 8 - Thursday, July 24
- Day 9 - Friday, July 25
Denver7 reporter Colette Bordelon is in court Monday and we are summarizing the tenth day of the trial in this story.
James Craig reportedly wrote extensive note to dissuade law enforcement to investigate him in wife's murder
Court resumed Monday morning with more testimony from the lead detective in the James Craig case, APD detective Bobbi Olson. Olson testified as the trial was just getting underway nearly two weeks ago, but it was brief. She ended up being the witness who spent the most time testifying throughout the trial, accounting for roughly two days on the stand.
Olson started her testimony discussing the four-page iPhone note James Craig allegedly wrote before investigators seized his cell phone. The note, as reported Friday by Denver7, is the first written statement by the suspect presented to investigators about what supposedly happened to Angela Craig before her death.
Prosecutor Michael Mauro presented more portions of that note, including one section where James Craig talks about cyanide, capsules and a syringe.
"She told me she intended to drink eye drops again and then do the cyanide. She asked me to put it into a capsule," the note reads. "I got her a Clindamycin [prescription] and filled it with 200 mg each of potassium cyanide. She asked me to do something like a dozen capsules."
The note also states James Craig "reserved four capsules that I knew were not tainted and I used those as her first two doses of Clindamycin."
Mauro asked Olson if law enforcement was aware of the timeline note as investigators searched the Craig home. Olson replied they were not, adding they didn't even know they were looking for Clindamycin, an antibiotic. She said investigators tried to go collect the Clindamycin about a week later, but it was no longer at the home.
In the four-page note, James Craig admitted to preparing a syringe with cyanide, in addition to writing that the Clindamycin capsules Angela Craig's brother gave her "must have been the ones with cyanide in them." Mark Pray, Angela Craig's brother, testified that he gave his sister the Clindamycin on March 15 at the request of James Craig.
Another portion of the note details his time at the ER.
"In the ER, it looked like she was probably going to pull through and be okay," he wrote. "In that moment, when no one else was in ear shot, she asked me to help finish the job."
Mauro then told he court that prior to Mark Pray — Angela Craig's brother — leaving her alone with James Craig, there was no time when it appears the suspect was alone in the room with his wife. He said it was safe to assume it was when Mark left that James Craig administered another dose of cyanide to Angela Craig.
The note continues, "...next thing I knew, she was saying her arm hurt... I grabbed the syringe and put it in my pocket..."
The note then goes on: "While I did prepare all of the concoctions for her, I did not administer any of them to her... I did not check her into taking them or force her to eat anything," James Craig wrote, according to prosecutors.
In other writings, James Craig claims his wife miscalculated how much of the different toxins she consumed. The writings conflict with what was previously described as the circumstances surrounding Angela Craig's death in a letter written from jail to one of their children. That letter, allegedly written by James Craig, admitted that he was the one who actually ordered the substances. The Craig daughter also testified that the letter said it was unlikely that Angela "would have killed herself on purpose, intentionally."
Mauro then asked Olson if there is anything in that iPhone note about a "game of chicken," which she said there was not. Previous testimony from close family friends revealed that James Craig told them he was playing a "game of chicken" with his wife when he ordered the toxins.
Prosecutor Mauro argued before the court there are many contradictions between the letters James Craig allegedly wrote, and the four-page note found on his phone before it was handed over to investigators.
Olson testified that after she seized James Craig's phone on March 16, 2023, he communicated with the lead detective from another device.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Lisa Moses questioned Olson about the case, including the arrest affidavit that became highly publicized in news media.
"Details, that in other kinds of cases, don't get put out there?" Moses asked, referencing how this case differed from others. "I would say that's accurate," Olson responded.
Moses then touched on a journal belonging to Angela Craig, which was found in a storage unit and later sent to law enforcement by Angela Craig's sister, Toni Kofoed.
Court then went on a morning recess.
Angela Craig's journal shows she knew of James Craig's affairs
After the morning recess, the defense then pressed Olson with questions surrounding Angela Craig's journal.
The entries presented in court Monday date as far back as early 2009. Denver7 is providing portions of them in this story to provide some context from the testimony:
Jan. 8, 2009:
"I feel so lost and so alone. The farther into this process we get, the less able I feel I can forgive... I looked at Jim today, and I couldn't feel any love. All of the things I loved about him, about us, were a lie... Where do I find myself?"
"Where and how do I find my marriage again. My mom says I look too thin and is nagging me to eat, but I can't. All I've ever wanted was for people to like me, to love me."
Jan. 13, 2009:
"I'm finding ways to be positive every day. Satan cannot have me."
"He will not destroy me with hopelessness and self doubt."
"How could he do this to me if he really loves me? He doesn't think I'm good enough... he'd rather be with someone else."
Jan. 20, 2009:
"I felt really sad today... I don't feel just sad, I feel depressed. I feel a huge sense of loss with no hope... I feel like the good times were a lie. I feel so betrayed... the good times were a lie. He was a lie. We now have a long hard road in front of us because of the choices he's made. My sense of security is gone. I don't feel safe..."
In another journal entry in which no date was given, she wrote: "I failed him. He doesn't know how great he is... he doesn't love me, and I don't blame him. I don't accept responsibility for my part, I get too defensive."
In Feb. 2018, Angela wrote in her journal: "Last night was so hard. Jim has been having an affair for six months. I know he won't admit it, and I'm not sure he recognizes it..."
Angela Craig's journal also provides some insight into addiction treatment James Craig was reportedly seeking in early 2018, and about her struggles with their marriage even after she sought weekly therapy.
In one journal entry, Angela Craig writes: "It almost killed me when he said he didn't love me and I wasn't enough."
"All I want to do when that happens is crawl into bed and cry myself to sleep... I haven't figured out yet if I should give in, or push through," Angela wrote in April 2018, according to the exhibit presented in court.
Defense attorney Moses then showed Olson a text James Craig sent to his former business partner, Ryan Redfearn. Redfearn had confronted James Craig about the package of cyanide that was delivered to the dental office the night before the message was sent.
The text, which was quite long, reads in part:
"I want to make an urgent plea to you. If we were ever friends, please do this favor for me. Please don't talk to anybody about what we talked about last night, including law enforcement... you will do more damage than good... Angela is gone, and I am devastated. There is nothing that can bring her back, and I want desperately to tell you all the details... There is so, so much that you don't know, that I wish you did. If you knew everything, it would make so much sense to you..."
Moses questions Olson whether there are glimmers of truth in the text, like the fact cops were at the home, that family was starting to come into town, and that no one could stay at the home, which Olson said was the case. The point, it appears, was that there was truth within the text message.
Olson then confirmed Moses' questioning that James Craig was not aware Olson was seizing his phone and his wife's phone on March 16, but he still handed over both of the phones in addition to their correct pass codes, alluding that the suspect did not have to be so cooperative.
Moses moved on to a photo of the pink lid blender bottle on the side table of Angela Craig's bed. That bottle was tested and showed traces of tetrahydrozoline in it, a medication used in eye drops that can be poisonous if ingested orally.
The defense attorney noted that James Craig came home on March 15 around midday, and the pill bottle (Clindamycin) was still on the nightstand along with the blender bottle — showing they were not cleaned up or hidden by James Craig.
Moses then presented several photos from inside the home to show all the things investigators didn't collect as evidence, including photos of the Clindamycin medication. On the second search of the home, when investigators were looking for the Clindamycin, they found a bottle from 2019. Olson testified that the prescription from 2023 was never identified.
Olson testified that upon seizing James Craig's work laptop, the following internet searches were found, dated March 9, 2023:
"What does it mean when the systolic and diastolic are close together"
"How to raise blood pressure"
"Is low blood pressure dangerous"
"What to know about low blood pressure"
Three days prior, on March 6, James Craig had reportedly searched for "9 causes of dizziness and blurred vision" and "Eyes moving slow, lethargic weak symptoms."
Moses said that during this time period, Angela Craig was experiencing symptoms consistent with having low pressure, and Olson agreed.
Court then took its lunch break.
Prosecutors, defense rest their case; closing arguments begin Tuesday morning
Cross-examination resumed after lunch with defense attorney Moses probing Olson on the specifics of the search of James Craig's workplace.
Moses recalled that Olson and her team went to Summerbrook Dental Group for another search — not the initial search — after a letter written by James Craig was intercepted. That letter reportedly stated that something was hiding up in the tiles of the office, but nothing was ultimately found.
"So the letter was not truthful?" Moses asked Olson, hinting at other letters presented during the trial being misleading as well.
"We didn't find anything," Olson replied.
Moses then questioned Olson about James Craig's lack of aggression toward law enforcement when he and his family were not allowed to go back into the home, and how he cooperated with law enforcement during the initial stages of the investigation, alluding that a suspect would not have reacted the way James Craig did.
The defense then asked Olson why police did not look through sharps disposal containers at the hospital in search of the syringe mentioned earlier in the day. Olson said that they didn't search those containers because of biohazard concerns, and that their lab would not accept them.
Moses then noted that on all days of recorded conversations captured on surveillance camera video from inside the home that were submitted as evidence, there are large chunks of video missing. The jury was then shown still images of some of that video where James Craig and Angela Craig appear to be "lovey" with each other. The last one presented by the defense, from March 7, 2023, showed the Craigs sitting together on the couch with a computer in front of them. Olson testified that she does not know if the computer seen in the picture was collected as evidence.
Moses pointed out that both of the Craigs had "equal" life insurance policies, and that their mortgage was paid off on their home — which was worth roughly a million dollars.
The defense then asked if Olson checked to ensure the hospital where blood samples from Angela Craig were stored properly refrigerated those samples, but Olson replied she never checked to see if that was the case.
In the redirect examination, prosecutor Mauro questioned Olson about why they didn't search any other electronic evidence inside the home. Olson replied law enforcement "had no evidence suggesting they should search the other devices in the home."
She added that the surveillance video collected in March of 2023 had thousands of hours of video that took months to parse through.
Olson also testified that the still photographs depicting a loving couple were captured both before and after James Craig's trip to Las Vegas — where he met Dr. Karin Cain, and began another extramarital affair.
Then, Mauro turned to Angela Craig's journal.
"Based on your review of [Angela Craig's] journal, were there blank pages at the end of it?" Mauro asked. "Yes," Olson said, after previously testifying that there were no entries beyond 2018.
Defense attorneys tried to infuse doubt into the journal by mentioning those empty pages at the end, implying it could have been altered by Angela Craig's family.
"Based on your review of the contents of that journal, is there ever a single mention of suicide?" prosecutors asked. Olson said there was not a single mention of suicide in Angela Craig's journal.
Prosecutors then rested their case, followed by defense attorneys who did not call any witnesses. Prosecutors called almost 50 people to the witness stand in total.
Closing arguments will begin Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.
