The Colorado dentist accused of murdering his wife by poisoning her protein shakes appeared in court this morning for the first time since his case shocked the United States.
Jim Craig appeared in person to hear the first degree murder charge after a deliberation against him was formally filed.
He shuffled into courtroom 308, head bowed, hands cuffed and ankles shackled. He didn’t make eye contact with any of the family and friends who had entered the small room to support him.
James ‘Jim’ Craig kept his head down as he entered the courtroom, avoiding the glare of the many who had gathered to see him.
Angela, Jim’s wife, began feeling ill on March 6 and went to the hospital for help. She was sent home, but she continued to feel bad and she returned on March 15. Three days later, after suffering a seizure, she was taken off life support.
His parents arrived shortly before 8:30 with Craig’s eldest son, Toliver. Several of Craig’s older children were also in attendance. They sat in silence and revealed little emotion as his father entered the court.
Craig’s mother let out a small swallow as she swallowed her reaction to seeing her son unshaven and dressed in an orange jumpsuit from the Arapahoe County Detention Center.
During the brief hearing, the judge stayed a defense request to place a temporary gag order on the Aurora Police Department.
Deputy Public Defender Katie Telfer brought the motion challenging statements made by the Chief of the Aurora Police Department in a press release regarding Craig’s arrest that she said amounted to a “presumption of guilt.”
In it, Aurora Police Division Chief Mark Hildebrand described Angela’s death as “a heinous, complex and calculated murder.”
Craig spoke briefly during this morning’s hearing, which lasted just ten minutes, as he confirmed that he was waiving his right to a preliminary hearing within 35 days.
Craig is taken to Arapahoe District Court Thursday to face first-degree murder charges.
The 45-year-old man was silent as he entered, chained at his feet and handcuffed.
He was arrested after his colleagues went to the police to report their suspicion that he had poisoned his wife.
The family home in Aurora, Colorado, where the couple lived with their six children.
The court will issue a ruling on the gag motion at that preliminary hearing that was set for April 7.
Craig is accused of poisoning his wife, Angela, by putting arsenic and potassium cyanide in her protein shakes.
She started feeling sick on March 6 and went to the hospital with a headache and nausea, but the doctors couldn’t find the cause of her illness, so she was sent home.
He returned to the hospital on March 15 and deteriorated rapidly, suffering a seizure and finally dying on March 18.
Prosecutors say Craig wanted to establish a new life with a mistress in Texas, even flying her to Colorado to be with him while his wife received hospital treatment.
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed yesterday that the mistress, Karin Cain, is on the verge of divorcing her husband.
Disturbing text messages included in his arrest affidavit also show Craig telling his wife that he loved her and asking her about her condition in the days before he died.
The affidavit also revealed that he drugged her once before, about “five or six years ago,” according to Angela’s sister.
In that case, he told her that he wanted her knocked out so he couldn’t intervene in her suicide attempt.
The Mormon couple and their six children. They had been married for more than 20 years.
DailyMail.com met with orthodontist Karin Cain in Marble Falls, Texas on Wednesday
She was still wearing her wedding ring, even though she was currently divorcing her husband Jason.
The evidence included a Cain air itinerary from Austin to Denver and back that included Cain’s name.
The Mormon couple have six children and seemed to have a “perfect life” which Angela proudly displayed on her shared social media account.
Behind closed doors, Jim had run the dental practice ‘down to the ground’ and spent his personal savings gambling, Angela’s sister told police.
He was arrested after his colleagues went to the police to report their suspicion that he had poisoned his wife.
They said how they intercepted a delivery of potassium cyanide to the office earlier in the week that she began to feel sick.
He has not yet responded to the accusations.
Cain and his family have lived in Marble Falls, Texas for 24 years.
