Less than 24 hours after his latest attorney abandoned him, prosecutors filed two new charges against James Craig – increasing the counts from four to six. 

It was yet another curve in the long and winding trial of the Aurora dentist accused of poisoning his wife.

The new charges are solicitation to commit murder in the first-degree and solicitation to commit perjury in the first-degree

The 18th Judicial District did not elaborate on the nature of the counts. 

Craig was already facing one count of first-degree murder after deliberation, two counts of tampering with evidence, and a perjury charge, which is a class 5 felony.

On Thursday, Craig’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, dropped him citing two reasons from the Colorado rule of professional conduct:

1. The client persists in a course of action involving the lawyer’s services that the lawyer reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent.’
2. The client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant or with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement.

Steinberg, who took the case this summer after Craig’s original attorney team left the case in May, did not elaborate in court, and attempts to reach him for further comment were unsuccessful.

Angela Craig’s death

Angela Craig died in the spring of 2023 at University Hospital after multiple visits to emergency rooms complaining of everything from dizziness and vertigo to lightheadedness.

On March 15 that year, she entered an emergency room, collapsed, was put on a ventilator, and was pronounced brain dead that night. She was taken off life support on March 18.

The probable cause hearing revealed that Angela Craig had high levels of two chemicals, tetrahydrozoline and cyanide, in her body. Arapahoe County Coroner Kelly Lear, who performed the autopsy, testified that Craig had more than 400 times the amount of tetrahydrozoline in her body than a therapeutic dose.

Tetrahydrozoline is the chemical found in Visine eyedrops. It’s the chemical, Lear explained, that “gets the red out.”

The affidavit reported that James Craig’s dental business was spiraling downward. He told friends that his wife was suicidal and that it was she who asked him to buy the poison so that she could either take her own life or “engage in a suicidal game of chicken to keep him from divorcing her,” prosecution motions revealed.

Eighteenth Judicial District Judge Shay Whitaker scheduled a Dec. 16 hearing for the appearance of new counsel for Craig.