If the twists and turns in James Craig's case were on a road map, it would be easy to get lost.
Court transcripts reveal that the Aurora dentist accused of poisoning his wife also attempted to coerce a fellow inmate into agreeing to a bizarre plan to make it look like she framed him for her death, according to police.
In exchange, Craig would give his would-be accomplice's mother free dental work.
The father-of-six is accused of first-degree murder , among other charges, in the high-profile alleged murder of his wife, Angela Craig. The case has received national media attention.
In other moves from behind bars, Craig also allegedly attempted to coerce a former mistress into helping him with "my problem down here." He tried to convince one of his daughters to cover up evidence, and, asked a second inmate to tamper with evidence in his wife's death, according to testimony and to court records.
The latest development was revealed in an evidentiary hearing to amend a fourth count against Craig from tampering with evidence to perjury. Eighteenth Judicial District Judge Shay Whitaker found that the prosecution met its burden of proof and the perjury count will be bound over for trial.
In the preliminary hearing to add the perjury count last month, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office detective and sole witness Bobbi Jo Olson laid out the latest left turn in a case which was already laden with them.
In an April 2024 letter Craig wrote to a former jail pod mate, he outlined an elaborate plan for the man to find one or two women who would be willing to lie to the district attorney and Craig’s own lawyers about a supposed affair they were having with Craig , according to transcripts of the evidentiary hearing obtained by The Denver Gazette.
In the letter, Craig advised William Walbon that to keep their relationship secret, he should use code words when they communicated on the jail phone line — Harry Potter if he found one woman willing to participate and Captain American for two, the transcripts showed.
Craig had stipulations to his scheme, the court transcript showed. The women involved must be attractive, between the ages of 25-45 years old, and must relate the sordid romance to have culminated around Christmas of 2022 — three months before Angela Craig died.
Here's an excerpt from the transcript:
Eighteenth Judicial Deputy District Attorney Osama Magrebi: And what was -- what was it that Dr. Craig wanted the woman or women to say had happened at that time?
Bobbi Olson: That Angela had reached out to this said female, said that she had caught him cheating again, and that she was done with it, wanted a divorce, and said that she wanted to frame James, and to ask if the female would assist her in that, and offered her a large sum of money.
Magrebi : And does — in this letter and job description, does Dr. Craig want the woman or women to have accepted or declined that offer?
Olson : To say that they thought it was weird and didn't accept the offer.
As a bonus, according to the trarnscript, Craig promised dental work for Walbon's mother, reasoning that: “We’re family now. Family takes care of each other. This dental work can cost $30,000-$60,000.”
Craig advised Walbon to use his real name in case the DA and his attorneys would run a background check on him.
The letter was addressed to Walbon and his mother, but they never received it.
U-turn
Defense attorney Harvey Steinberg tried to snuff the perjury count questioning whether it was indeed written by James Craig. Olson said that though she had not examined the letter for DNA or fingerprints, it had been sent to a handwriting examiner.
Craig's letter was returned to the Arapahoe County jail May 1, 2024, two weeks after it was written, because Craig failed to add Walbon’s apartment number.
It landed on the desk of a jail staff technician who read it and called Olson.
Angela Craig's death
Mrs. Craig died in in the Spring of 2023 at University Hospital after multiple visits to emergency rooms complaining of everything from dizziness and vertigo to lightheadedness.
March 15 that year, Mrs. Craig entered the ER, collapsed, was put on a ventilator and was pronounced brain dead that night. She was taken off life support March 18.
Craig is facing one count of first-degree murder after deliberation, two counts of tampering with evidence and now a perjury charge, which is a class 5 felony.
His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 2 after two days of jury selection.
His next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15.
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