Podcast Summary: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
Episode: Murderous Dentist James Craig's "Sugar Dating" Life Revealed
Date: October 11, 2025
Host: Nancy Grace
Guests: Stefan Tubbs (podcast host, “Arsenic DDS”), Dr. Siobhan Scott (psychotherapist), Dr. Ernest Chiodo (physician, toxicologist), Eric Faddis (attorney), Phil Waters (former homicide detective)
Producer: iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
Episode Overview
This explosive episode of Crime Stories with Nancy Grace explores the shocking double life and heinous crime of Dr. James Craig, a Colorado dentist accused and convicted of poisoning his wife, Angela Craig—a vibrant mother of six. Nancy dissects the web of infidelity, financial ruin, murder schemes, and manipulations that defined James Craig’s life, shedding light on his involvement with “sugar dating” (pay-for-play relationships arranged online), failed attempts to cover his tracks, and the profound suffering of Angela and her family.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. James Craig’s Sugar Dating Secrets
- Craig’s Double Life: Despite projecting the image of a devoted family man and professional dentist, Craig was discovered to have a long history of seeking out “sugar babies” via the website Seeking.com. He juggled multiple mistresses while maintaining financial and emotional relationships with them well before his wife's death.
- Notable Quote (Nancy Grace, 02:50): “This guy was swimming in debt. His nostrils just barely above a sea of debt. It says ‘80% success rate’ … He was meeting sugar babies well before he murdered his wife.”
- Sugar Dating Explained: Nancy editorializes on the euphemistic nature of sugar dating, likening it to a legal gray area but often synonymous with prostitution.
- (Nancy Grace, 03:54): “It’s just another form of prostitution. Okay? Being a sugar baby is not automatically illegal, but if you are getting money or gifts in exchange for sex, that’s prostitution. That is illegal.”
2. The Murder Plot and Angela Craig’s Final Days
- Premeditated Poisoning: Prosecutors allege Craig poisoned Angela’s protein shakes with cyanide, arsenic, and chemicals found in eye drops (tetrahydrozoline), leading to a swift and painful death.
- (Nancy, 05:14): “The dentist Craig poisoned her protein shakes and secretly fed her deadly doses of cyanide, arsenic and more, including the chemical found in eyedrops, ultimately killing her.”
- Symptoms and Hospital Visits: Angela suffered a confusing and deteriorating series of symptoms, leading to three separate hospital admissions over two weeks. Her complaints of severe headaches, vision problems, and dizziness were repeatedly dismissed by multiple doctors.
- (Dr. Siobhan Scott, 11:15): “There’s even something called the WW syndrome, and that stands for ‘whiny woman.’ … Women are just dismissed and not taken seriously.”
- (Angela via text, paraphrased by Nancy, 13:00): “‘I don’t feel right in my head. No, this is just weird. … My eyes are working slowly. My body's responding slowly. I feel drugged.’”
- Unusual Husband Reaction: Craig’s comment—“Just for the record, I didn’t drug you”—raised suspicion.
- (Nancy, 12:30): “As Shakespeare said, methinks thou dost protest too much.”
3. Trail of Evidence and the Domino Effect
- Key Witnesses and Testimonies: Four mistresses testified at trial, detailing lavish gifts (including a $9,000 car for a mistress’s daughter), trips, and Craig’s claims that divorce would financially ruin him.
- The Package at the Dental Office: Suspicion heightened when a dental assistant received and opened a package addressed to Craig containing potassium cyanide, complete with skull and crossbones. The assistant connected the package to Angela’s symptoms and involved Craig’s dental partner, Ryan Redfern, who became a whistleblower.
- (Nancy, 25:49): “After their phone call, James Craig sends Ryan Redfern a flurry of angry texts … Accusing him of creating huge problems by getting police involved without talking to him first.”
- (Stefan Tubbs, 29:44): “The computer records at the dental practice were very easy for police investigators, but it was the package of potassium cyanide ... She literally sees the skull and crossbones on the packaging. She looks it up, it clicks in her mind. Wait a minute. This is exactly… the symptoms that Angela Craig is experiencing.”
- Physical Evidence: Purchase records traced back to Craig showed orders for cyanide and arsenic under the guise of dental supplies or jewelry.
4. Craig’s Attempts to Cover Up His Crime
- Manipulating Family and Friends: After Angela’s death, Craig tried to get his daughter to fabricate a deepfake video showing her mother allegedly requesting the poisons, and asked her to use VPNs and Digital dropboxes to fake evidence.
- (Nancy, 52:00): “He then told his own daughter to burn the video onto thumb drives ... and then destroyed the laptop. He pulled his own daughter into this.”
- Jailhouse Plots: In jail, Craig solicited fellow inmates to plant false evidence and even tried to bribe them (offering dental work in exchange for testimony), and allegedly plotted a murder for hire targeting the lead detective in the case.
- (Stefan Tubbs, 42:33): “In the letters to Constantinitis, Craig offers a blank check in exchange for spoofed texts, phone records and doctored photographs…”
5. Unraveling the Motive and Psychological Profile
- Financial Ruin & Desperation: Craig was $2 million in debt due to failed investments (notably in cryptocurrency) and faced bankruptcy both personally and professionally.
- Pathological Deceit: Craig’s need for control, ongoing affairs, and financial chicanery underscored his sociopathic tendencies. Despite attending therapy for marital issues, he nurtured relationships with other women—including while his wife was actively dying.
- (Phil Waters, 49:09): “This is an evil act on this guy’s part... He is obsessed with killing his wife, murdering his wife, the mother of his six children. And this is something that for, as you put it, for months, has been thinking about this every minute of every day.”
- Attempt to Present as the Victim: Craig continued to maintain his innocence and shifted blame, insisting Angela wanted the poison for herself—a defense theory refuted by prosecution and the evidence.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On Craig’s Selfishness and Deceit:
- (Nancy, 43:00): “He was not only plotting to kill her, but… he was intent on meeting up with ‘sugar babies.’ Oh. The jurors heard excerpts from Angela’s diaries, her journals. She agonized over her marriage and about her husband’s repeat affairs.”
- (Nancy, 52:34): “If you’re sitting down, you may need to lay down. I’ve managed to dig up dentist Craig’s profile on the sugar dating site that listed him as rich and married but looking.”
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On Craig’s Panic as His Scheme Unraveled:
- (Nancy, 36:55): “Dr. Chiodo. She couldn’t taste something odd in her protein shakes. I mean, what does arsenic or cyanide taste like?”
- (Dr. Chiodo, 37:12): “Arsenic is going to taste sort of … have a garlic sort of taste, whereas cyanide really wouldn’t. Sometimes it has an odor of bitter almonds…”
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On The Bizarre Hospital Conduct:
- (Stefan Tubbs, 19:45): “He’s at the foot of the bed, and it’s almost as if he’s almost halfway out of that room … but this is really the goodbye. I think he was taking it for some of her family that were not in town. …But he was there. … To me, the entire domino started to fall.”
- (Dr. Chiodo, 21:03): “It’s highly unusual, yes.”
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Nancy’s Trademark Wit & Outrage:
- (Nancy, 26:59 and 27:47): Skewers Seeking.com’s PR statements: “‘Our platform empowers success minded individuals to embrace their desires and foster meaningful relationships rooted in intentions, authenticity and honesty.’ What a crock of BS. Okay, honesty. This guy was juggling multiple women while his wife lied dying in the hospital.”
- (Nancy, 52:34): Describing Craig’s dating site profile—“Love the outdoors as I run from hotel to motel. … Wealthy but prudent. No, you’re not. You’re going bankrupt.”
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:00–04:50 — Introduction: Case overview; recap of Angela’s symptoms & Craig’s sugar baby life
- 07:11–10:22 — Legal maneuvers, tampering, and murder-for-hire plots discussed
- 12:07–13:08 — Angela’s text messages about symptoms; Craig’s self-incriminating statement
- 18:48–20:21 — Craig’s conduct at the hospital as Angela is dying; taking photos
- 25:16–26:59 — Cyanide package at the dental office and Redfern’s whistleblowing
- 29:44–30:41 — How the dental assistant’s discovery exposed Craig
- 34:32–35:05 — Angela’s increasing cyanide levels in the hospital
- 36:14–36:55 — Assistant opens arsenic package; connects symptoms to poisoning
- 38:00–39:15 — Craig’s clumsy attempts to cover his tracks (fake emails, internet searches)
- 41:03–42:33 — ‘Dentures for perjury’ and attempts to recruit “hotties” to fake evidence
- 47:54–48:26 — Medical insights: Victim experience of poisoning
- 49:09–51:33 — Homicide detective perspective: the evil, calculated nature of the crime
- 52:00–52:34 — Craig’s manipulations extended to his own children
- 52:34–End — Craig’s “Married but Looking” profile; summary condemnation
Analysis & Takeaways
- Meticulous, Callous Planning: Craig’s crime was neither impulsive nor born in a vacuum; it was the product of months of planning amid a spiral of infidelity and debt.
- Systemic Failures: Angela’s repeated hospital visits and dismissed symptoms expose systemic problems in medical responses to women’s health complaints.
- Modern-Day Depravity: The ease with which Craig ordered lethal poisons online, and the culture of secrecy enabled by digital sugar dating, points to new criminal frontiers.
- Justice & Memory: The episode underscores not only the procedural intricacies of the investigation, but the enduring victimhood of Angela and her children, whose pain is palpable throughout.
Concluding Quotes
- (Phil Waters, 49:09): “This is an evil act on this guy’s part ... He is obsessed with killing his wife, murdering his wife, the mother of his six children. … Everything he did in the process here pointed to him.”
- (Nancy, 52:34): “As I’ve told my husband many, many times, open marriage, open casket for you."
Summary prepared by Podcast Summarizer AI.
