"Heartbreaking Betrayal: Dentist Dad Spent 10 Days Poisoning Mom with Protein Shakes to Pursue New Love and Financial Gain"

WITH their six happy children, loving family home and well-respected jobs, Angela and James Craig were the picture perfect family.

So when Angela died suddenly at just 42, no one suspected her killer to be her beloved husband. But what shocked her friends, family and children more was the callous reason and way he did it.

A picture perfect family but dad James Craig, centre, was plotting against wife Angela, to his leftCredit: Facebook Angela and James in snaps taken before her shock deathCredit: Supplied

The couple, who had been together many years, had six children and Dr Craig – a dentist – was well-respected in his community.

So when the then-47-year-old was convicted in June this year of murdering his wife, 42, in March 2023, everyone was stunned. But what was more shocking was exactly how he’d done it.

Now, for the first time, the couple’s daughter Mira Meservy, 21, from Colorado, USA, has spoken in her own words about the tragedy:

TWISTING around in the saddle, my mum, Angela gave me a thumbs up. She was so allergic to animals, even being near a horse could leave her gasping for breath – yet she took me riding. That was my amazing mum all over, devoted to her six kids.

Meanwhile, my dentist dad James was the joker of the family. Still, there were moments that didn’t sit right. Once, when I’d left my socks on the floor, Dad picked one up. ‘Put it in your mouth,’ he said, to teach me a lesson.

I stood there, shocked, as he insisted I bite on the sock. It felt bizarre and cruel, but I brushed it off. Mum and Dad seemed mostly happy, but now and then, arguments would flare. One evening, after a heated row, I asked Mum if they were going to get divorced. She rejected it out of hand.

But as the years passed, the rows between Mum and Dad showed no signs of stopping.

Affair rumours

Rumours swirled locally Dad was having affairs but I refused to believe it. At 17, I left home so I could be closer to college. Mum and Dad both welled up as I left and even after I eloped with my now-husband, Jackson, we’d chat all the time.

Afterwards, I still spoke to Mum and Dad most days, but gradually, their calls dwindled. Then one day, Dad messaged the family group chat: ‘I don’t want to worry you, but your mum was feeling dizzy and sick, and she’s in hospital,’

She had allergies and a family history of diabetes, so I assumed it was related to that. Dad’s updates made it sound like nothing serious. Still, it played on my mind, so I called him and asked how she was doing.
‘She’s a little nauseous after having her breakfast,’ he said, saying that doctors suspected .

When I spoke to her in hospital, she assured me she
felt much better.
However, back home, she became ill again. We couldn’t understand it.

She’d always been so active, doing yoga and exercising on
her stationary bike, but now, she felt weak.

‘The doctors don’t know what’s going on,’ she admitted over the phone. And when her health declined further, I grew frantic with worry.
Calling Dad, I told him how scared I was and he reassured me.

It comforted me until my aunt Toni, Mum’s sister, phoned. ‘It’s serious, she’s back in hospital and unresponsive.’ Then, a couple of hours later, Dad rang.

‘She’s flatlined, but I’m sure it will be OK,’ he said, sounding oddly optimistic.

Cops were quickly treating Angela’s death as suspiciousCredit: Facebook Her dentist husband James was arrested soon after and charged with murderCredit: CBS Mira, right, with mum Angela who she called ‘my superhero’Credit: Supplied

I was shocked and confused. Mum had no heartbeat – how could that possibly be OK? Just 15 minutes later, the phone rang again. Sobbing, Dad said: ‘She’s gone.’

In that moment, my world shattered. How could Mum be dead? She was just 42. I broke down, unable to take it all in.

Through tears, my thoughts spiralled to everything she’d never get to see – grandchildren, other happy occasions.

Only, when we got to the family home in , USA, police had taped it off. ‘What’s going on?’ I asked. Mum had died in a tragic medical event, so why were they treating our house like a crime scene?

We were assured that it was normal procedure when someone young and healthy died.

Next, we rushed to the hospital to be with Mum.

My youngest sister climbed into bed and curled into her arms in one final embrace. It was heartbreaking.

Mira

My youngest sister climbed into bed and curled into her arms in one final embrace. It was heartbreaking.

Through it all, Dad remained strangely calm. He did seem sad, but kept disappearing. We told ourselves it was his way of coping.

Days later, as we got ready for church, my uncle beckoned me into my parents’ bedroom, where more family was waiting.

He said: ‘I don’t know how to say this, but your dad’s been arrested on suspicion of your mum’s .’

The words didn’t make sense. ‘There’s no way Dad did this,’ I said, unable to accept it.

Cyanide in her shakes

But I searched online and found Dad’s mugshot, alongside smiling photos of
them together.

The article said Dad had allegedly laced Mum’s protein shakes with cyanide and other toxins.

Mum and Dad would often make protein shakes together, chatting as the blender whirred.

The thought of him slipping poison into them made me have a panic attack.

It started to hit me: Dad could really have done this. Toni came to comfort me, and answered the questions that had been gnawing away at me.

I sat, in silent shock, as she told me Dad had been unfaithful throughout their marriage. On top of that, he’d been in financial trouble.

Searched online for arsenic and cyanide poisoning

After Mum died, more tests showed arsenic and cyanide in her blood. Dad had made Mum a protein shake and shortly after, she’d become dizzy and weak.

‘The symptoms of cyanide poisoning are the same,’ Toni said. And investigators had uncovered something even more chilling – Dad had searched online for how much arsenic it took to kill someone.

As the investigation deepened, more horrifying details surfaced.
Call records proved Dad had been having an affair with a colleague.

While Mum had been suffering, Dad had been living a double life. I felt utterly betrayed. But despite everything, I still missed him.

CCTV from the kitchen of Craig shows him make his wife’s deadly protein shake – in the pink-topped bottleCredit: 9 News Hospital CCTV footage shown in court shows Craig exit the bathroom with a syringe in his handCredit: 9 News James Craig, pictured in his mugshot, was having multiple affairs – it’s one of the reason he killed his wifeCredit: Aurora Police Department Mira’s mum had told how she felt ill – but attributed it to diabetes and allergiesCredit: Aurora Police Department

So I spoke to him in prison, desperate for an explanation. ‘I’ve been accused of something I didn’t do,’ he said.

He claimed Mum had been struggling mentally, even suggesting she might have taken her own life.

But I knew that was a lie – Mum would never have left us by choice. Hearing Dad try to twist the truth took a toll on me. Soon, I stopped all contact.

Meanwhile, my older siblings and I tried to comfort our younger sisters, now in the care of our aunt and uncle, who were distraught at losing both parents overnight.

In time, we arranged Mum’s funeral. Then, two years after Mum’s March 2023 death, the trial of my dad, James Craig, 47, began.

We had plans together, she was going to be a grandma someday. She wasn’t ready for her life 
to be over

Mira

Prosecutors claimed Mum was poisoned over 10 days using a lethal cocktail – cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an eye-drop ingredient – and that high levels of arsenic had also been found in her blood during her repeated hospital stays.

Dad had ordered arsenic online, and bought cyanide 
just days before Mum’s fatal collapse.

The court was told he slipped poison into her protein shakes at home and then delivered a deadly dose of cyanide later in the hospital.

CCTV showed Dad holding a syringe and entering Mum’s hospital room, days before she deteriorated.

When I took the stand and was asked my mum’s name, I broke down, my grief still raw.

Dad was there, watching, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
I told the court how much I loved Mum, saying she would never have taken her life as Dad claimed.

‘We had plans together, she was going to be a grandma someday. She wasn’t ready for her life 
to be over,’ I said.

All of this revealed devastating motives – Dad’s financial troubles, his secret affair – leading him to concoct a fatal plot to escape his marriage.
Prosecutors argued that he didn’t want 
a divorce because he wanted to protect his money and image.

After two days of deliberations, and five other charges, including tampering with evidence and solicitation to commit perjury and murder. Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced Dad to life in prison without parole, as he said, ‘Dr Craig unleashed a path of destruction as wide as a tornado and just as devastating.’

I want people to understand that this isn’t just a headline in the papers.
Mine and my family’s lives have been torn apart. Mum wasn’t just a victim. She was so much more than that. She was my best friend, my confidante, my superhero. She was the beating heart of our family and losing her has left a hole nothing can ever fill.

Distraught daughter Mira after giving evidence at her dad’s murder trialCredit: AP Mira cut her dad off after learning the horrific things he’d doneCredit: AP Angela fell prey to her husband’s sick scheme, not knowing she was drinking poisoned smoothiesCredit: Facebook