In an effort to establish the Colorado dentist as a premeditated murderer who poisoned his spouse to chase a romantic future elsewhere, the prosecution depicted a dark narrative. Conversely, the defense took a bold stance, characterizing his wife of 23 years as emotionally unstable and manipulative.

Dr. James Toliver Craig, 47, faces charges of first-degree murder related to the March 2023 death of his wife, Angela Craig, a 43-year-old mother of six. Her death was attributed to fatal amounts of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline.

During Tuesday’s opening statements in Colorado, defense lawyer Ashley Whitham conceded the couple’s tumultuous 23-year marriage, yet portrayed Angela not as a victim of deceit, but rather as a person who was emotionally fragile, inherently private, and occasionally manipulative.

“You’re going to hear her own daughter describe her that she was also manipulating words,” Whitham revealed to jurors Tuesday. “Again, that if she wanted to try to get something, she would be manipulative.”

Investigators alleged in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital that, in the weeks before his wife’s hospitalization and death, Craig used a dental office computer to search for “undetectable poisons” and how to obtain them, later purchasing arsenic and cyanide by mail, “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human” and “is arsenic detectable in an autopsy?”

Alongside these online searches, investigators alleged Craig made YouTube queries such as “how to make poison” and “Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Signs of Foul Play.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to James Craig’s lead attorney, Lisa Fine Moses, for comment.