The Aurora dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife tried to convince a fellow inmate to plant notes to make it look like she was suicidal, police said.

James Craig is facing a new charge of tampering with evidence to go with one count of first-degree murder and another of tampering of evidence in connection with the death of Angela Craig.

The 18th Judicial District Attorney added a second tampering charge April 10 and District Judge Shay Whitaker allowed it during an evidentiary hearing last week.

Bobbi Olson was the sole witness on the stand during that preliminary hearing. Olson testified that she spoke with the inmate who was incarcerated with Craig. That person, who went unnamed, told her that Craig asked him to place letters inside his truck and his garage which were designed to look like his wife, Angela Craig, wrote them in despair.

“He’s trying to have my sister framed for her own murder,” said Mrs. Craig’s brother, Mark Pray, who traveled to Denver from his home in Utah to be in the courtroom for the hearing. “I’m not surprised by anything that Jim does. Jim cares about Jim. He will use and manipulate anyone and anything he can to get away with this.”

Olson said that Craig offered the inmate several incentives to plant the letters, including paying his bail for him to released from jail and free dental work. In the end, the inmate decided it was a bad idea, the detective testified.

Craig’s attorneys argued that the inmate was not a credible witness. 

Angela Craig’s death

Mrs. Craig, 43, died March 18, 2023, from lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline — which is found in over-the-counter eyedrops. Tetrahydrozoline is the chemical which “gets the red out,” according to testimony from Arapahoe County Coroner Kelly Lear, who conducted Angela Craig’s autopsy.

Craig was treated at two hospitals three separate times over a week and a half as symptoms to a mysterious illness got progressively worse. She complained about everything from dizziness to having problems focusing, nausea and shakiness.

Her final trip was an urgent life-and-death situation.

Court records show that Mark Pray rushed his sister to University Hospital on March 15 where she collapsed. She was declared brain dead March 18 at 4:29 p.m., according to the arrest affidavit.

James Craig was arrested a day later, on March 19, on suspicion of first-degree murder after deliberation in connection with her death.

Angela Craig was taken off of life support March 21.

Mark Pray said that he is grateful for the work of the prosecutors and detectives to file the extra charges.

“We are glad to hear that Jim is up to more shenanigans because it makes it worse for him,” Pray said. 

Craig’s trial is scheduled for Aug. 8.