James was having an affair. So he made his wife a smoothie.

In a quiet suburb of Denver, Colorado, dentist James Craig appeared to be a loving husband.

He had started bringing his wife, Angela, smoothies. She started to feel unwell, battling a mysterious illness that left doctors puzzled.

But behind the scenes, James' caring gesture masked a chilling plot.

James had been having an affair. He wanted to leave his marriage without sacrificing his money or status in the community.

For 10 days in March 2023, he had been lacing Angela's drinks with poison. When those attempts failed, he gave her a final, fatal dose of cyanide through an IV while she was hospitalised. Soon after, Angela was declared brain-dead.

This week, a jury found 46-year-old James guilty of first-degree murder along with a slew of other charges, bringing an end to a case that shocked even seasoned prosecutors.

Watch: James Craig sentenced over wife's murder. Post continues below.

A calculated killing masked as care.

According to prosecutors, James—who wanted to end his marriage—sought to kill Angela rather than pursue a divorce. They argued he wanted to maintain his image and protect his financial assets.

In order to achieve this aim, he began to poison her protein smoothies.

During this time, he made some chilling searches online, including "How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human" and "Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?" and had a shipment of potassium cyanide delivered to his dental practice.

Soon Angela began to feel dizzy and weak, and was admitted to a hospital in Denver.

According to the BBC, security footage showed James holding a syringe before entering her room. Her condition deteriorated and she was declared brain-dead.

Toxicology reports confirmed that Angela died from poisoning caused by cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a chemical found in over-the-counter eye drops.

Authorities alleged that James' efforts to cover up the murder were extensive and manipulative. He reportedly tried to enlist both his daughter and fellow jail inmates to fabricate evidence and testimony suggesting Angela had taken her own life—or that she had tried to frame him.

The trial.

James was charged with first-degree murder and also solicitation to commit murder after he asked a prison inmate to help him kill the detective on his case.

James did not testify during the two-week trial. His legal team also chose not to call any witnesses.

Instead, the defence argued that Angela may have died by suicide, and criticised the police for focusing solely on James. They also challenged the surveillance evidence, saying the syringe image was blurry and that none of the recovered syringes tested positive for poison.

The defence further claimed the Craigs were not in financial trouble, and that James' infidelity—an affair they said had been ongoing for years—was not a motive for murder.

But the jury sided with the prosecution, convicting James of first-degree murder and other related charges on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

James listened to the verdict silently, but he sobbed during sentencing.

One of the couple's six children delivered a victim-impact statement.

"I was supposed to be able to trust my dad," their daughter Miriam Meservy said, according to US news reports.

"He was supposed to be my hero, and instead he'll forever be the villain in my book."

Arapahoe County District Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced James to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and an additional 33 years for the additional charges.

"This is Angela's husband [poisoning] her, causing her to die a slow death," District Attorney Amy Padden told reporters.

"It wasn't something done in the heat of passion. It was deliberate."

Featured image: CNN.