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A Colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife in a “complex and calculated murder” was arrested over the weekend, officials announced.
James Toliver Craig, 45, a dentist in Aurora, was arrested Sunday, four days after he drove his wife, 43, to a hospital because she was complaining of “severe headaches and dizziness,” the Aurora Police Department said.
After arriving at the hospital, the wife’s condition “deteriorated rapidly.” She was placed on a ventilator in the ICU and “she was declared medically brain dead a short time later,” authorities said.
An investigation was launched into her suspicious death and determined she was poisoned. The police statement does not say what she was poisoned with.
A police affidavit filed in the criminal case mentions Craig had recently purchased crystalline metalloid arsenic and potassium cyanide, NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver reported.
Craig’s wife had been hospitalized three times this month — on March 6, March 14 and March 15, Aurora police Det. Bobbi Olson wrote in that document.
After the March 15 hospitalization, a business partner and friend of Craig told a nurse that she may have been poisoned, Olson wrote. That business partner said Craig had recently ordered potassium cyanide and there was no reason for that chemical to be at a dental practice, the affidavit says.
An internet search history showed YouTube searches that include “Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Signs of Foul Play,” Olson wrote in the affidavit.
The detective also wrote in the affidavit that there was evidence to suggest Craig had a romantic relationship with another woman and was “working on starting a new life” with her.
A warrant for first-degree murder was obtained early Sunday, shortly after doctors made the decision to take the wife off life support.
Craig was booked into jail at 2 a.m. Sunday on a charge of first-degree murder. It’s not immediately clear if he has a lawyer.
“When the suspicious details of this case came to light, our team of officers and homicide detectives tirelessly worked to uncover the truth behind the victim’s sudden illness and death,” Investigations Division Chief Mark Hildebrand said.
“It was quickly discovered this was in fact a heinous, complex and calculated murder. I am very proud of our Major Crimes Homicide Unit’s hard work in solving this case and pursuing justice for the victim,” he added.
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