Colorado dentist convicted of murder, gets life sentence for lacing wife's shakes with poison

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado dentist was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being convicted of killing his wife by lacing her protein shakes with poison before delivering a fatal dose of cyanide when she was in the hospital.

District Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced James Craig to life without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence for a first-degree murder conviction in Colorado. He was convicted of murder and other charges by a jury, which rejected his claim that he had helped his wife kill herself after he said he wanted a divorce following his repeated extramarital affairs.

Prosecutors said at trial that James Craig poisoned his wife Angela Craig over 10 days in March 2023. When those attempts failed, prosecutors said, the dentist gave his wife a final dose of cyanide as she was hospitalized in suburban Denver with symptoms that puzzled doctors. She was declared brain dead soon after.

Craig stood in a hushed courtroom Wednesday afternoon as the jury delivered a litany of guilty verdicts. His sentencing followed tearful testimony by Angela Craig’s relatives about the impact of losing her, including one of the couple's six children who cast her father as a villain.

Angela Craig’s older sister, Toni Kofoed, lamented the loss of phone calls, texts and trips with her sister where they could laugh and talk through the night.

“You have taken away our opportunity to grow old together,” Kofoed said.

“Her life was not yours to take,″ Kofoed said in turning to the defendant. “Angela had a love and a passion for life. She loved her children and, unfortunately, she loved you.”

James Craig appeared to shake with tears as his oldest daughter spoke about how much she missed being able to talk to her mother about her life and how she felt betrayed by her father.

“I was supposed to be able to trust my dad; he was supposed to be my hero, and instead he’ll forever be the villain in my book,” the daughter, Miriam “Mira” Meservy, said, inhaling through tears. As Meservy spoke, Craig’s attorney patted the defendant's back.

The couple’s son Toliver Craig said he and his mother didn’t always get along. But two weeks after she died, he set an alarm on his phone that still goes off every night at 10 p.m. It just says “Mom.”

“I’m sad there’s not more time with her,” he said.

James Craig declined to make any statement before being sentenced. Afterward, he was handcuffed and led out of court.

In court, James Craig’s family members sat on his side of the room and Angela Craig’s family on the other. But afterward, they hugged each other and shook hands, many wiping tears from their eyes.

Besides murder, James Craig also was found guilty of trying to cover up the killing by asking others to fake evidence and testimony that would make it appear that Angela Craig had killed herself or wanted to frame him for her death. He was found guilty of asking another daughter to make a fake video of her mother asking to be poisoned and of trying to get one fellow jail inmate to kill the lead detective investigating his wife’s death, among other things.

James Craig himself didn’t testify during the two-week trial, and his attorneys didn’t present other witnesses. The defense had suggested earlier that Angela Craig may have taken her own life and faulted police for focusing solely on James Craig as a suspect.

However, prosecutors said the dentist had offered other conflicting explanations for her death to other people.

Toxicology tests determined Angela Craig, 43, died of poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient commonly found in over-the-counter eye drops, according to the coroner.

Prosecutors argued Craig wanted to kill his wife to get out of a marriage he felt trapped in, adding he didn’t want a divorce so he could protect his money and image.

They said photos from a hospital security camera shown in court depict Craig holding a syringe before he entered Angela Craig’s room. After administering the fatal dose through her IV, Craig walked out and texted a fellow dentist with whom he was having an affair, Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Mauro told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday. His wife’s condition quickly worsened.

Speaking after sentencing wrapped up, Mauro said Craig clearly wanted out of his marriage but gave in to “greed and cowardice” with murder.

"The jury said it loudly: Angela was not suicidal. She had no knowledge of or participation in what happened to her,” the prosecutor said.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the Craigs' daughter to Miriam “Mira” Meservy, not Merservy.

Slevin reported from Denver.

Dentist James Craig, center, is consoled by his attorneys, Ashley Whitham, left, and Lisa Moses after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig is led away after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Miriam Craig, right, returns to her seat after making a statement after her father, dentist James Craig, had a verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig, front right, is led away as Judge Shay Whitaker, back, looks on after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Prosecutor Ryan Brackley, front, makes a point during his rebuttal as the image used by dentist James Craig is cast on a screen during Craig's murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

With a photograph of his wife, Angela, cast on a screen above, dentist James Craig listens during closing arguments at his murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig listens to closing arguments during his murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig, center, is led away as one of his defense attorneys, Lisa Moses, right, looks on, after verdicts were rendered and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole at his murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

CORRECTS MIRIAM MESERVY'S LAST NAME - Miriam Meservy, right, returns to her seat after making a statement after her father, dentist James Craig, had a verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig, center, is consoled by his attorneys, Ashley Whitham, left, and Lisa Moses after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig is led away after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Miriam Craig, right, returns to her seat after making a statement after her father, dentist James Craig, had a verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig, front right, is led away as Judge Shay Whitaker, back, looks on after verdict rendered in his murder trial in district court in Araphaoe Couty Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Prosecutor Ryan Brackley, front, makes a point during his rebuttal as the image used by dentist James Craig is cast on a screen during Craig's murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

With a photograph of his wife, Angela, cast on a screen above, dentist James Craig listens during closing arguments at his murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

Dentist James Craig listens to closing arguments during his murder trial in district court in Arapahoe County, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, Pool)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation on Saturday sought to reassure Denmark and Greenland of their support following President Donald Trump's threat to punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. taking over the strategic Arctic island.

Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said the current rhetoric around Greenland is causing concern across the Danish kingdom. He said he wants to de-escalate the situation.

“I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people,” Coons said in Copenhagen, adding that the U.S. has respect for Denmark and NATO “for all we’ve done together.”

Meanwhile, thousands of people marched through Copenhagen, many of them carrying Greenland’s flag, on Saturday afternoon in support of the self-governing island. Others held signs with slogans like “Make America Smart Again” and “Hands Off.” Another rally was planned in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital,

Coons' comments contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force.

“There are no current security threats to Greenland,” Coons said.

Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”

During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

“I may do that for Greenland, too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.

He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.

Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views.

European leaders have insisted it is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

“There is almost no better ally to the United States than Denmark,” Coons said. “If we do things that cause Danes to question whether we can be counted on as a NATO ally, why would any other country seek to be our ally or believe in our representations?”

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Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

People gather for a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

People gather for a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

People march during a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Icicles hang from the roof of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A Danish serviceman walks in front of Joint Arctic Command center in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Senator Chris Coons from the Democratic Party speaks during a press conference with the American delegation, consisting of senators and members of the House of Representatives, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)