James Toliver Craig: Colorado dentist who wanted to start 'new life' with lover arrested for wife's murder

James Toliver Craig, 45, faces a count of first-degree murder of his wife after doctors decided to take her off the ventilator on March 19
UPDATED MAR 21, 2023
James Toliver Craig is now in custody and charged with first-degree murder (Aurora Police Department)
James Toliver Craig is now in custody and charged with first-degree murder (Aurora Police Department)

AURORA, COLORADO: James Toliver Craig, a dentist from Colorado has been taken into custody in a ‘complex and calculated’ poisoning case. The 45-year-old now faces a count of first-degree murder of his wife after doctors decided to take her off the ventilator early Sunday morning, March 19. Aurora police detectives, during their investigation, found that Craig took his wife to the hospital at around 8.45 pm, on Wednesday, March 15, after she complained of ‘severe headache and dizziness.’

Her condition quickly went from bad to worse as she was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. Police said that she was soon declared brain-dead and she finally died on Sunday. Her husband was taken into custody at around 2 am on the same day, as per police release, a CNN report stated. “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,” said division chief Mark Hildebrand. "It was quickly discovered that 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,” she added.

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'Ex-'family feud' contestant shot his wife dead'

In an unrelated incident, Timothy Bliefnick, an ex-'Family Feud' contestant shot his wife dead in her home at Kentucky Road in Quincy on February 23, reported MEAWW. She reportedly failed to pick her sons up from their school which triggered her estranged husband. Bliefnick, 39, was arrested for the ruthless home invasion and murder of his wife Rebecca Bliefnick, 41, on Monday, March 13.

'Craig intended to end his wife's life'

An arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Daily Beast stated that Craig "intended to end his wife’s life by searching for ways to kill someone undetected, providing her poisons that align with her hospitalized symptoms, and working on starting a new life with [his lover]."

According to the affidavit, Craig had been exchanging “intimate” and “sexually explicit” emails with his orthodontist lover based in Austin, Texas. The orthodentist is also said to have flown to Colorado to visit Craig while his wife was admitted to the hospital.

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