ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Witnesses testified on Wednesday about their suspicions regarding Angela Craig's 2023 death during the second day of her husband's murder trial in Arapahoe County.
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, 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 also suffered through several bouts of sickness before her passing, and doctors struggled to determine why she was ill.
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.
Below is a summary of the second day of the trial.
Nurse recalls treating Angela Craig at hospital
Court began just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
The first witness of the day was Blaine Cullen, who has been a registered nurse for about four years and was working at Parker Adventist Hospital when Angela Craig was admitted in March 2023, suffering from low oxygen levels.
On March 12, Angela Craig was in a room that was freely accessible to her family, Cullen said.
While working, Cullen said she received a call from a person monitoring the patient's oxygen levels about a rapid change, and when Cullen checked on Angela Craig, she saw she was pale, sweaty and not responsive. James Craig was also in the room, Cullen testified.
Cullen said that right after midnight, an alarm in Angela Craig's room went off because she was not responsive. James Craig was removed from the room, which is protocol, and medical personnel performed multiple tests. Cullen testified that Angela Craig then started "coming back."
During cross-examination, defense attorneys pointed out that James Craig appeared to be sleeping when Cullen went to check on Angela Craig after her levels dropped. They added that a patient's family would not know when a nurse is coming into the room.
Dentistry employee testifies about seeing James Craig allegedly order cyanide online
The second witness of the day was Caitlin Romero, who worked at Summerbrook Dental Group in Aurora as the office manager. She was the employee that prosecutors mentioned in their opening statements, who had seen James Craig working on a computer in one of the office's exam rooms after hours and wondered why.
While working at Summerbrook Dental, Romero was in charge of operations, which included staffing needs and supplies.
The prosecutor asked Romero about what happened in the office on March 6, 2023. Romero explained that the staff had a meeting at 6:45 a.m. each morning ahead of doors opening.
James Craig arrived late that day, saying his wife did not feel good after they had worked out together and he had made her a protein shake. She recalled that he mentioned he may have added too much protein, Romero testified.
Later that day, James Craig left work to drive his wife to an urgent care, according to Romero. The office closed at 4 p.m., and Romero was the only person there after it closed.
That evening, she heard somebody trying to enter the office. When she looked down the hallway, she saw James Craig on the phone. She said she assumed he was headed to his office.
Later that evening, Romero went to leave through a back door and saw that the lights in James Craig's office were off, so she assumed he had left.
However, before she reached the door, she saw him in Exam Room 9, working on a computer that is used for X-rays, patient notes and patient charts. The lights were off, she testified.
As she drove home, James Craig texted her saying he had ordered a personal package to be delivered to the office, and that she should not open it.
Romero said James Craig was out of the office a few times that week because his wife was in the hospital. On March 9, he mentioned that he didn't think she was going to make it through the night, Romero recalled.
The personal package arrived on March 13, 2023. Another employee had removed a silver foil-sealed package from the delivery box, according to Romero.
She said she learned the box had biohazard markers and was addressed to "Jim Craig." Romero said she put the foil container back in the box, but was concerned about the biohazard markers.
The practice had been waiting on a delivery of fentanyl for sedation purposes, so she wondered if that was the delivery, but when she checked the invoice, she saw it was potassium cyanide. She had never seen cyanide delivered to the office before.
Romero told the court she researched symptoms of potassium cyanide poisoning, and it matched the symptoms James Craig said were impacting his wife.
On March 15, 2023, James Craig left work early because his wife needed to go back to the hospital. That day, he called Romero to tell her, once again, that he didn't think his wife would make it through the night.
As Romero was leaving the office later in the day, she decided to call the director of operations for the office because of her concerns about the potassium cyanide, she said.
After this, she spoke with Dr. Michelle Redfearn, the wife of Dr. Ryan Redfearn, who was James Craig's partner at the dentist office. Michelle Redfearn was friends with Angela Craig. Romero also spoke with Ryan Redfearn, she said.
Ultimately, Romero spoke to a detective about the cyanide delivery, and she allowed an investigator to take pictures of her text conversations with James Craig.
During cross-examination, the defense asked if Romero knew about a financial agreement between James Craig and Ryan Redfearn with Fit to Smile Dental. Romero said no.
She testified that James Craig had initiated an emotional relationship with her, and he shared personal information and struggles with her. She knew his wife had been sick.
When asked, she said she did not know James Craig's work password, even though she was given James Craig's old computer, which he said may have some personal information on it.
Romero testified that she turned the computer over to law enforcement and only had it because she needed to work from home.
The defense attorney went over what happened on March 6, 2023, again with Romero, confirming that Craig was quiet in the office that evening, was not screaming or crying, and did not seem to mind that his phone conversation was not private.
This was the evening he allegedly ordered the potassium cyanide.
When the package arrived at the office a few days later, another employee opened the box, Romero said, adding that she did not see the employee do this. She confirmed that she did not open the foil package to see what was inside.
On March 16, 2023, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., Romero went to the Aurora Police Department and met with two detectives based on conversations she had with the Redfearns and her concerns about James Craig.
The defense attorney asked if Romero told the officers about the personal relationship she had with James Craig, and Romero answered "no," adding that she did not feel it was relevant.
She claimed she told detectives she knew about issues within the Craigs' marriage, while asserting she "never pried" into the matter.
Romero was asked about some texts between James Craig and her, where he shared that he needed to put his wife's needs over work at that time.
During a redirect with the prosecution, the prosecutor confirmed that text messages between Romero and James Craig before the evening of March 6, as well as on March 14 and 15, were all business and did not include any intimate or personal details.
James Craig said cyanide purchase was "a game of chicken," Angela's friend testifies
The prosecution then called up their 10th witness of the trial: Dr. Michelle Redfearn, who was friends with Angela Craig and whose husband, Dr. Ryan Redfearn, was James Craig's business partner.
She obtained a PhD in nursing in 2003. As she sat at the witness stand, she looked directly at James Craig.
Michelle Redfearn met Angela Craig in Kansas City while their husbands were attending the same dental school, and they became very close, she said. They all ended up in Colorado.
Fit to Smile was the second name of the Redfearn's practice, while Summerbrook Dental Group remained the name of James Craig's practice.
Michelle Redfearn said she didn't know all of the employees at Summerbrook Dental, but knew the director of operations and Caitlin Romero, who testified right before her.
After learning from her husband that Angela Craig was sick, Michelle Redfearn reached out to her friend, who did not respond.
When she reached out to James Craig, he replied in part, "Thanks Michelle. It's been pretty rough not having any answers. I got really nervous. They did many tests..." She said she believed James Craig did not know why his wife was sick based on his answer.
Below are screenshots provided in James Craig's arrest affidavit of their subsequent conversations, including a text where James Craig wrote, "If it wasn't my wife, this would be kind of a fun puzzle to try and work out."
On March 15, 2023, Michelle Redfearn said she learned that Angela Craig was "crashing" at the hospital, so she went to visit. Angela Craig had been moved from the emergency room to the ICU.
While driving to the hospital, Michelle Redfearn was told by Romero about the package that was delivered to the dental office for James Craig and how Romero believed it contained potassium cyanide.
Michelle Redfearn did not pass that information along to medical staff at the hospital, she said, because she was stuck in traffic and believed her husband would arrive first. She called Ryan Redfearn and told him to alert doctors about the cyanide.
After sitting in the waiting room with James Craig for some time, Michelle Redfearn said she learned that Angela Craig was brain-dead.
That evening, Michelle Redfearn left the hospital with her husband. They both got into her car, and Ryan Redfearn answered a call from James Craig, which connected to the car's Bluetooth speakers.
James Craig said he heard some distressing information at the hospital that he wanted to discuss. Michelle Redfearn recalled her husband asking James Craig about the package delivered to his office, and he initially claimed it was a ring for Angela Craig, which Ryan Redfearn disputed.
Ryan Redfearn said he knew it was potassium cyanide and asked, "We don't use that in dentistry, why would you have that delivered?"
James Craig responded, "Oh, Ryan, what have you done?" several times, Michelle Redfearn testified.
He eventually admitted it was potassium cyanide and claimed he purchased it for his wife since specific credentials are required to buy it. James Craig asserted that Angela Craig was suicidal and that the purchase was "a game of chicken" between the two of them, Michelle Redfearn said.
She told the court she didn't remember anything from March 2023 that would have indicated her friend was suicidal. She added that she was not a "big risk-taker" or a "gambler," regarding the comment about a "game of chicken."
During a cross-examination, the defense began by asking about the couple's relationship after all four of them moved to Colorado.
Michelle Redfearn said they became more distant, and they did not talk as frequently. She attributed this to both families having small children and remaining active in the kids' lives.
"She was the kind of person that you could go to lunch with and have a three-hour conversation with, and it feels like yesterday," she added about Angela Craig.
She said she knew, through her husband, that the Craigs struggled with their marriage.
The defense questioned why Angela Craig did not share those issues with Michelle Redfearn, who explained that her friend was a private person and did not share those problems or her emotional reactions to James Craig's actions.
"I wish she would have," Michelle Redfearn told the court.
"I didn't want to make a bad situation worse," she continued when asked about why she did not bring it up. "And yes, I had heard that there were struggles in their marriage, but I also respected the fact that she and Jim (James Craig) could work on those things and that potentially it could be embarrassing, and I didn't want to make a situation that was uncomfortable even worse."
During a redirect, prosecutors noted that James Craig never told Michelle Redfearn about the cyanide in the text messages when they were trying to figure out why Angela Craig was sick, but then claimed he purchased it for his wife after she was brain-dead.
Prosecutors continue laying foundation through receipts, video, and a jailhouse letter
Oleg Gamzelev took the stand next. He works as an asset protection specialist with King Soopers and received a request in late July 2023 from investigators related to two different credit cards — both of which bore the name "James T. Craig."
The records from King Soopers showed one purchase from March 8 for 12 packages of eye drops. Another receipt from March 9 listed seven packages of eye drops.
On cross-examination, Gamzelev told defense attorneys he knows the credit cards were used but could not definitively say who used them. In addition, the purchases were made at self-checkout stands, according to Gamzelev.
The Director of UCHealth Security Investigations, Rachel Meints, then took the stand. She made a compilation of surveillance video from the hospital for investigators, who asked her to track the arrival of Angela Craig, along with any visitors she had.
The video was admitted into evidence, but not played for the jury at this point.
Meints also told prosecutors that James Craig was seen entering the hospital with a bag on his second visit of the day in question. Individuals entering the hospital must pass through a metal detector, which mainly looks for weapons and larger items, according to Meints.
Prompted by the prosecution, Meints testified that a plastic item about the size of a pen, with a little needle sticking out of one side, would not have set off the metal detector.
The detail appears to allude to what prosecutors will argue down the road — that James Craig allegedly administered a lethal dose to his wife while she was in the hospital.
The last witness of the day was Jennifer Herriman, who works at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility and opens mail that is returned as undeliverable from inmates.
In April 2024, she opened a letter that was returned to James Craig and said there were "suspicious" contents in it.
The letter offered the recipient free dental care and money for procuring people to be witnesses in James Craig's case, including advice for avoiding detection, like burner phones.
There was also a letter within the letter, according to Herriman, which contained a description of various roles for attractive women to play as witnesses. It allegedly provided code words — like Harry Potter and Captain America — to the recipient.
The letter within the letter also directed fake witnesses to say Angela Craig approached them and wanted to frame her husband for her murder in order to gain leverage in a divorce proceeding, according to Herriman.
Testimony is expected to resume at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. The lead detective on the case, Bobbi Olson, will take the witness stand briefly to continue laying the foundation for the prosecution. Her full testimony regarding the investigation is not anticipated on Thursday.
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