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[Music] this is a story that has obviously shaken Colorado it's stunned the world a Colorado dentist accused of
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poisoning his wife's protein shakes was charged today with her murder you have got to be effing kidding me that guy was
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my dentist hi I'm Dr Jim Craig you just don't see stories like this maybe in a Hollywood bad script 45-year-old James
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Craig is accused of putting Arsenic and cyanide in her protein shakes he's allegedly ordering potassium Cyanide and
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arsenic online you have got to be kidding me Jim and Angela Craig seemingly had everything successful dental practice
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beautiful large family they seemingly to me were in love investigators say he researched poisons in the days leading
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up to his wife's death I couldn't believe the allegations I couldn't believe the story I couldn't believe the
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mug shot there's my dentist a mug shot good afternoon Colorado I'm stepan tubs I'm a talk show host here in Denver late
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breaking news this after I was told by several people you got to do a podcast on this people want to
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know so we started a podcast called arsenic DDS welcome to the first episode of this series i' like the truth another
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new development at like to know why Jim Craig is an innocent man until proven guilty if the allegations are true why
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did my former dentist kill his wife her symptoms dizziness blurred vision headache slowed responsiveness what does
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that tell you yeah that's really worrisome I'm Dr Jeff Le Point I'm a Emergency Physician and
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toxicologist arsenic will be absorbed very rapidly and you would probably start getting sick pretty quick what
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about potassium cyanide cyanide is one of the most effective poisons you're being suffocated on a cellular
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level Angela Craig is getting sicker and sicker and sicker and sicker and she'd she'd
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quickly be declared brain dead Dr Jim Craig is accused of premeditated first-degree murder in the poisoning
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death of his wife Angela there does seem like there's substantial evidence in the case the
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arrest warrant was 52 pages long I'm Skyla zyo I'm a criminal defense lawyer the spouse is a very easy target he's
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entered a plea of not guilty maybe he's the most convenient person to look at if
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I'm the defense on this you go after the state and you say you didn't go look at
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things you should have looked at he administered alleged ly the poison via her protein shakes the state hasn't
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presented you any evidence that the poison was actually in the drink you can't show that he did
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it I wouldn't say this is a slam dunk case there's no motive here what is the motive
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[Music] [Music] [Music] under that vast Rocky Mountain Sky on March 18th 2023 in the Denver suburb of
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Aurora Angela Craig died just Days Later former radio personality Stephan tubs began his
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podcast about The Sensational case and the unimaginable news I want to to personally send our condolences to the
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friends and family of Angela Craig just 43 years old she passed away declared brain dead and not lost on me is the
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fact that this family has been temporarily destroyed Jim Craig had been almost immediately charged with the
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first-degree murder of his wife Angela he has pleaded not guilty the story of the dentist his wife and the allegedly
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poisoned shakes would be told around the world come on a dentist allegedly ordering potassium
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Cyanide and arsenic really but it was all as painfully real as a dentist [Music]
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drill Dr Craig and Angela Craig were just like two peas in a pod the two of them in the office was cute cuz they
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would play pranks on each other all day Chelsea at Toya got to know Jim and Angela when she worked for Dr Craig at
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Summerbrook Dental they seemed like the perfect couple until according to Colorado cops James took his shot at the
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Perfect Crime investigators say he researched poisons in the days leading up to his wife's death the idea that the
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dentist stood accused of murdering Angela his wife of 23 years seemed incomprehensible because the Craigs
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seemed so close it just was heartbreaking for everyone and I felt bad my name is Dr Jim Craig and I
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practice at Summerbrook Dental Group coming up on our left the former home of Summerbrook Dental is it this one over
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here it's that one right there yeah for tubs this office building once home to Summerbrook has become a tragic
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Touchstone the last time that I had eye contact with Dr Jim Craig he gave me a root canal
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I thought he was a great guy I got incredibly competent friendly care he was a family man we talked about
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his family his kids I I met his wife Angela was the heart and soul of that family mother to their six children
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and a Hands-On partner in what seemed like a thriving business she was not somebody just to sit there and and stay
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quiet she was engaged in the the dental practice she was somebody who was talking about ideas and their marketing
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their message tubs helped refine that message working on some of Summer Brook's advertising he witnessed how
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those two P's in a pod work side by side with Angela pitching in as one of Jim's
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office managers I thought it was kind of cool you know you've got a husband and wife huge family I thought it was it was
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great to see a small Colorado business operated by by you know husband and wife Welcome to our third edition of
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this podcast tub's podcast would delve into the disturbing details of Angela's medical Journey how and why she was
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allegedly murdered that account from police is contained in this 52 page arrest warrant in nearly 34 years of
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being a newsman the most unbelievable and seemingly thorough arrest affidavit I have ever read the warrant alleges
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that James has shown the planning and intent to end his wife's Life by searching for ways to kill someone
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undetected this was not the James Craig that I knew Dentistry can be expensive Dentistry can be scary Dentistry can be
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uncomfortable the James Craig Aurora knew was on display that March 6 2023 the day Angela's Odyssey began Jim
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was at Summerbrook when Angela texted from home my eyes don't want to focus she texted I feel
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drugged and Jim headed right home he picked up Angela and drove to the ER at Parker Adventist Hospital she
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reported feeling dizzy and weak doctors fast went to work she ends up going into
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the hospital first time was March 6 is that correct that's right March 6th was her first time into the hospital at the
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time George Brock was another force in Colorado talk radio this is the George show I'll be he is also the former
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elected district attorney for aaho County where Angela lived and would die rattling this community this is a huge
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story like Stephan tubs brockler has immersed himself in the details of Angela's Final Days A desperate twoe
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ordeal but on that March 6th as the hours passed in the ER there were lots of questions but few answers they really
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didn't have a good answer for what she was going through and they end up uh releasing her and sending her
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home home where Angela appeared to think she was safe in her marriage at least that's how she sounded in messages the
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couple sent each other with Angela now home recuperating from her ER visit there were texts that would suggest a
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very supportive loving relationship Jim texts I love you it was so nice hanging out with you and just watching a show
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and snuggling Angela texts Jim hi Baby I love your face back home the busy couple picked up
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the daily routine that sustained them Jim and Angel apparently worked out in the morning they worked out together and
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one of the things that Jim did for his wife was to prepare her a protein shake it was an absolute routine this was just
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part of the normal day Jim texts I'll need to ask what you're hungry for and bring it to you you I'm kind of feeling
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just a smoothie or something I'm not feeling anything Angela replies don't bring anything I'll eat something
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here within 24 hours Angela's symptoms came back fast and strong she headed back to Parker Adventist this time she
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would be admitted the doctors and nurses are trying they're conducting tests they
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just cannot figure out what is ailing this relatively normal and healthy 43y old
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woman all the steps that the doctors and medical staff had taken seemed to not be
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working was a real mystery [Music] there was nothing that would be even remotely a red flag or this is a rocky
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troubled marriage none of that at all with Angela still terribly sick in March of 2023 she was back at Parker
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Adventist a second time now as an admitted patient according to the warrant War during her stay Angela
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texted her husband Jim now I'm hungry and he texted back later that he was bringing food writing okay I got you of
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the loving husband who wants to see his wife remain healthy that arrest warrant contains numerous texts detailing how as
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Angela was hospitalized Jim went back and forth from their home to her bedside to Summerbrook a husband seemingly
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supporting his wife and caring for their kids he's continuing to go to work and I
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don't begrudge him for that he's got a family of six kids and the warrant would show that
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apparent trust that Angela placed in Jim how she reached out to him to share her
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symptoms texting I'm cold super tired weak shaky and dizzy and Jim sent compassionate texts
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to Angela I love you and miss you and I'm so worried I wish you were healthy enough to come home tonight and snuggle
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me Angela Craig was so sick it seemed that all her symptoms had returned she had horrible headaches
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horrible nausea she was dizzy and doctors were at a loss we're struggling to figure out
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what in the hell is causing this what is making her sick and they just could not get an
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answer as Angela stayed in the hospital without a diagnosis Jim Craig was in touch with
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his friends Michelle and Ryan Redfern a fellow dentist Ryan had recently become business partners with Jim he would
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later tell police Ryan Redfern went to dental school with Jim Craig all those 20 plus years ago he'd known him all
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that time he was a close Confidant and with Angela so sick according to the warrant Jim also texted with Ryan's wife
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Michelle Redfern train as a nurse what were they texting about the texts were really the kinds of things you would
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exchange with someone who's another Medical Professional I mean he was talking about blood pressure he was
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talking about concerns the doctors had expressed about symptomology that should have resolved by now but one of Jim's
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texts in retrospect seemed Odd as it appeared he was making light of Angela's mysterious illness Jim Craig texts
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Michelle Redfern quote if it wasn't my wife this would be kind of a fun puzzle to
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try to work out exclamation point who says that still a bad joke in times of Crisis isn't unusual says
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former da brockler everybody reacts to trauma differently and James Craig seemed worried it had been four hectic
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days since Angela was admitted [Music] 1:00 a.m. in the desolate Hospital corridors police say Jim told others he
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was sleeping on a stool next to Angela when her Vital Signs crashed doctors responded through the
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night I have thought about every agonizing minute that Angela Craig was in [Music]
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but over the next day Angela seemed to stabilize and on March 14th still with no answers as to why she was sick Angela
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was released from Parker for a second time once again Angela came home to her husband of 23
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years but she wouldn't be home for long within a day she started feeling sick again so on March 15th she was admitted
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to nearby University Hospital there would be more tubes and tests and monitors Jim was soon by her side they
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had no idea what was wrong with her police say Jim didn't stay long at first within half an hour he drove home
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from the hospital then about an hour and a half later he returned carrying food cops say he then went into Angela's
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room alone soon after Angela had a seizure and once again her Vital Signs crashed
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it was critical Jim Craig took these photos of Angela as Hospital staff tried to save
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her Angela once so full of life was put on life support what medical staff didn't know
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at the time was that days earlier a package had reportedly arrived at Jim Craig's
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office authorities say what was in the package ordered by Jim Craig himself would become key evidence in this case
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Craig allegedly told a staff member that he would be receiving a personal package
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and not to open it Jim Craig said don't open this package somebody did she sees the words
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potassium cyanide why are we getting potassium cyanide to a Colorado dentist's office
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[Music] Angela Craig was on life support fighting to survive Jim Craig texted the photos he
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took to Michelle Redfern writing crash intubated doc says she's very very worried Michelle and Ryan raced to the
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hospital Ryan would later tell police he watched as Jim Craig broke down he saw Craig crying after speaking to doctors
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about Angela's prognosis yep he did say he saw him crying afterwards but according to police Ryan Redfern was far
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from convinced those tears were real that's because on his way to the hospital he had gotten a call from a
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staff member at the office the call was to alert Redfern about that package marked potassium cyanide that had
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arrived at Summerbrook Dental allegedly addressed and later given to Jim Craig and there's The Dominoes that are now
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folling one after the other Ryan Redfern led the way he does what any other normal person would do according to
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police while Angela was on life support Ryan tells a nurse that Jim Craig recently ordered potassium cyanide
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adding that there was no medical reason or purpose to order potassium cyanide for a dental practice the nurse being a
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mandatory reporter calls Aurora Police and I mean it's like that within 5 hours probably even less there is a member of
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the homicide unit with Aurora PD at University Hospital cops started asking questions then according to the warrant
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Ryan received a call from James personal cell phone tell me about that phone call
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I think Ryan and his wife are in the parking lot of the hospital when Jim calls them according to police Jim asked
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Ryan if he had said anything to the hospital staff Ryan confirmed that he had and told Jim that he knew what Jim
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had ordered and Jim replied that the package was a ring for Angela and that he wanted to surprise her and Ryan says
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it's not a ring we know what was in there I mean this is a testament to Ryan Redford a decades long friendship was
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about to be tested then shattered this Tale was once again told in a text revealed in that warrant as
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the next morning James Craig pleaded with his pal and partner texting in part I want to make an urgent plea to you
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please don't talk to anyone including any law enforcement officers you are under no obligation to answer their
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questions unless you are served as subpoena and you will do more damage than good to my family by continuing to
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insert yourself into this how damning is that text in itself I'm trying to think of all the innocent
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applications of the phrase please don't talk to the police I can't come up with any it's a desperate effort to try to
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keep Ryan from cooperating any farther with law enforcement but if that's what he was trying to do it was too late
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police had already launched their [Music] investigation on March 18th 2023 Angela was taken off life
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support friend wife mother of six Angela Craig was [Music] dead I was in complete shock in complete
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disbelief in my head I'm like this is crazy it's not true I thought maybe it was an
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accident but investigators didn't think so just hours after Angela died Dr James
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Craig would be arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of his wife Angela there's my dentist a mug
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shot James Craig would plead not guilty months later Angela's autopsy would be released that autopsy States
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Angela died from a lethal concentration of Cyanide and a lethal concentration of
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tetra hydrosaline the chemical found in some eye drops and it says that Angela had toxic concentrations of arsenic in
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her blood in those two earlier hospital visits to think about what Angela Craig endured this woman was in agony
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dying for so long just a week before Angela got sick according to the warrant Jim Craig said up a new email account
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using the Alias Jim and waffles and used it to research multiple poisons all part
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of his plan according to investigators to murder Angela one particular Google search how many grams of pure arsenic
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will kill a human Craig investigators say also found these videos popular for many reasons we
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have cyanide with titles like top five undetect able poisons that show no sign of Foul Play arsenic is virtually
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undetectable and police say on the same day he did that online research James Craig made a purchase arsenic and had it
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delivered straight to his family's mailbox I think he legitimately believed that he would be able to poison his wife
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she would die he would have her cremated and then they'd move on poison some call
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it the recipe for a perfect crime a silent Invisible Killer no blood no gun no fingerprints even doctors can have a
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hard time spotting it it's a pretty rare medical sub specialty Dr Jeff Leo is the
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director of the division of medical toxicology at San Diego's Kaiser Permanente Hospital if it's a poison or
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a Venom that's what we specialized you're that guy yeah so we asked him and Dr Leo focused in on the alleged actions
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of James Craig and the final days of Angela's life he reviewed the arrest warrant for us and some of the deadly
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drugs it lists let's start with arsenic okay um yeah arsenic is a very famous poison it's uh not detectable by taste
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or odor Dr Le Point says Angela's symptoms in those first two hospital visits are consistent with arsenic
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poisoning nause and vomiting lower blood pressure higher blood pressure generally
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lower how much would kill a person it does not take very much but police say there was more a week after he purchased
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that arsenic they alleged Craig as Jim and Waffles went back online he ordered a second poison beguiling and beautiful
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oleandrin what is that so oleandrin is a toxin found in Oleander I'm thinking of
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those white flowers yeah they're really beautiful yeah as lovely as a rose only deadly it prevents the heart from
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beating very efficiently but after 3 days the oleandrin hadn't been delivered that's when investigators
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say Jim Craig up the ante cops say he placed this order with the medical supply company for his strongest toxin
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yet potassium cyanide sin is one of the most effective poisons that exist just a micro do could
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kill you then yeah a very small amount per kilogram and you're you're not going to
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live when you are Poisoned With cyanide you're being suffocated on a cellular level it's a very potent poison your
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victim would die very rapidly cyanide is so deadly that you need a medical license to buy it my name
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is Dr Jim Craig and police say that when Dr James Craig placed his order from a medical supply company he stated he
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needed it for a complex dental procedure there's no use for pottassium Cyanide in
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my practice or I can't think of uh many medical practices so a dentist ordering arsenic potassium Cyanide and oleandrin
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what does that suggest to you someone who's trying to collect poison but this father and husband would
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offer a very different story about why he wanted those deadly poisons what do you make of Ryan
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redferns Choice chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X [Music] detectives suspected Jim Craig had
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bought all those poisons to kill his wife but they wanted to know why they would find a lead miles away from Aurora
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on a trip Jim Craig made and a woman he met just before Angela got sick doesn't it just always seem like there's another
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woman involved always almost always what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas it's a rule of the road there but
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investigators allege it is yet one more rule James Craig didn't think he had to play by when he met Karen Kaine Karen
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Kane an orthodontist from Austin Texas she meets Jim Craig at a dental conference in Las
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Vegas it was February 23rd a week and a half before Angela Craig first went to the hospital the doctor
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was traveling alone and he rolled the dice they strike up a relationship they hit it off it's a
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whirlwind a few weeks later according to the warrant Karen Kane would fly to Colorado and Rondevu in this hotel with
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James Craig he would use that newly created email Jim and Waffles to flirt with her it's not illegal to have a
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Affairs Sky Lazaro is an experienced defense attorney familiar with cases involving poison James Craig and his
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attorney declined our request for an interview Lazaro reviewed the case against Jim Craig for 48 hours and she
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identified potential weaknesses is it reasonable that that you would kill your wife to be with someone that you had had
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a 10-day relationship with the common defense strategy is Affairs do not make a murderer right one doesn't
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automatically mean you did the other at the time she visited Jim in Colorado Karen Kane did seem to know
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Angela was very sick and in the hospital in fact she had sent a concerned email to Jim it read in part hi honey I am so
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sorry for what has transpired this week in your world I am praying for you and seeking God's wisdom for this time I
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love you but there is no evidence to suggest Karen Kane knew anything more nothing that I have seen gives any
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indication that she knew that Jim was trying to kill his wife and according to investigators Jim
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Craig lied to Karen telling her that he filed for divorce and was living separate in an apartment he gives the
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standard male typical I'm going through a divorce no he's not and a detective said she told them
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her relationship with Jim was intimate but not sexual Karen Kane sent 48 Hours an email writing I had absolutely
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nothing to do with this horrific crime and my heart is absolutely broken for Angela Craig and her family and she says
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she is cooperating fully with the police and prosecution Karen Kane met the wrong guy
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at the wrong time she didn't know anything tubs and brockler imply maybe no one knew anything about who Jim Craig
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really was his pristine image loving parent church member dedicated husband now all being questioned and as cops
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continued to investigate another possible motive emerged one of the things that surprised me in this story
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is the Financial duress that Summer Brook denl was under in fact Jim Craig's business had
00:31:05
filed for bankruptcy in 2020 shortly after his then friend Ryan Redfern signed on as a partner financial
00:31:15
problems financial problems he was way in over his head then in debt way in over his head and at a preliminary
00:31:22
hearing in 2023 prosecutors argued that Jim Craig had about three .4 million reasons to kill his wife the value of
00:31:33
Angela's life insurance Jim had liabilities in excess of $2 million we know that from some of the bankruptcy
00:31:39
filings but Lazaro says she's not convinced those financial problems give James Craig a motive for murder is this
00:31:48
sort of the the portrait of a desperate man not necessarily we see businesses go
00:31:54
through bankruptcy all the time and come out the other side and as for any poisons he may have
00:32:00
ordered Lazaro States those purchases may not even be illegal he can legitimately purchase it cuz he has a
00:32:08
DEA number as a doctor as a dentist right right just having it isn't murder mhm administering it
00:32:18
right but according to the arrest paperwork Jim Craig might have thought he had that figured out too authorities
00:32:25
say he could have slipped the poison into one of those protein shakes he so often made the morning routine at home
00:32:34
for example yeah on that morning of March 15th the day Angela Craig would finally crash
00:32:42
before she was taken to the hospital she was home with Jim investigators say that's when he may have made her one of
00:32:50
those protein shakes and laced it with pottassium cyanide it is tasteless it is odorless
00:32:57
it is colorless it is really hideable inside something like a shake and highly lethal as highly
00:33:05
lethal but attorney Lazaro counters the evidence may not be there she has reviewed the transcripts from that July
00:33:13
2023 preliminary hearing and says there's nothing there that shows Jim Craig put poison in Angela's shakes they
00:33:22
went and tested everything in the house and didn't find any trace evidence of there being
00:33:28
arsenic or cyanide or anything in the protein powder in the protein bottles the state hasn't presented you any
00:33:34
evidence that the poison was actually in the drink and Lazaro says the defense can
00:33:40
paint a picture of Jim Craig as a kind and attentive partner Jim's text messages to Angela are extremely loving
00:33:48
and extremely caring he repeatedly ask her how she's doing he tells her he loves her so if Jim Craig didn't poison
00:33:56
his wife who did Craig had a story to tell about that go behind the scenes with the 48
00:34:06
Hours postmortem podcast welcome to the first episode of as stuffen tubs reported on his podcast
00:34:24
there may be another story to tell about Jim Craig and what happened to Angela the story wasn't about murder it was
00:34:33
about suicide Craig says to the business partner on the phone she was just playing
00:34:40
chicken according to the warrant when Ryan Redford confronted Jim about the cyanide Jim allegedly said that Angela
00:34:48
asked him to order it for her that it was all a dare kind of a deadly game of chicken According to Jim Craig she's
00:34:57
been threatening suicide and this game of chicken is now are you going to are you going to take
00:35:05
it but according to that 52-page warrant none of Angela's family members told police she was suicidal a more likely
00:35:14
argument for the defense says attorney Lazaro is that Jim Craig had been looking for Cyanide not to kill Angela
00:35:22
but to kill himself there was some statements that he in fact was suicidal not her at that preliminary hearing in
00:35:32
2023 Jim Craig's defense team said Jim had spoken to a friend about his own past plans to die by Suicide and that Dr
00:35:41
Craig had made a statement to that friend that he was going to die by Suicide with something that was not
00:35:48
traceable the defense pointed out that Jim suffered from depression and went to counseling in the
00:35:55
past and as the defense indicated Jim told Angela at one point that he had actually drugged her years earlier when
00:36:04
he had tried to kill himself hoping that while she was drugged she wouldn't be able to stop him it sounds like there
00:36:12
had been something that he had tried before with her mhm that he had drugged her so that she would fall asleep so
00:36:21
that he could go essentially kill himself and she wouldn't be there to render any Aid or call for
00:36:28
help and remember when Angela first started feeling sick and she texted Jim I feel drugged Craig's defense points
00:36:36
out that he texted back given our history I know that must be triggering just for the record I didn't drug you
00:36:45
the defense said this text supports the story of Jim Craig's past depression and
00:36:50
suicide attempts but Lazaro says it's unlikely the defense would try to tell a jury
00:36:58
that Jim and Angela were both trying to die by Suicide you have to pick one at some point and it's either she's
00:37:06
suicidal or that he's suicidal and this is why he bought the drugs but perhaps the most compelling
00:37:15
evidence authorities say they have is what Angela Craig left behind in her own blood that autopsy revealed something
00:37:24
investigators find remarkable the the levels of cyanide in Angela's body actually increased while she was in the
00:37:33
hospital on that final day the possible implication tubs wonders if prosecutors will contend Craig gave his wife more
00:37:44
poison in the hospital if the allegations are true this is about as cruel as it gets period Jim Craig's
00:37:54
defense has hired its own toxicologist and come his trial for murder Sky Lazaro says Jim Craig
00:38:01
innocent until proven guilty May himself be portrayed as a victim of cops too eager to make a fast arrest it's
00:38:10
essentially a three-day investigation Jim Craig's quick arrest she says could be a weakness for the state you decided
00:38:20
from the get-go that this had to be poisoning this was the foregone conclusion so you never went and looked
00:38:25
for anything else and as for that idea that poison might be the key to someone trying to commit
00:38:34
the perfect crime toxicologist Dr Jeff Leo says that is just plain wrong you're going to get caught that's an important
00:38:44
message yeah very there are ways that these will be traced and you will be found you'll be
00:38:51
[Music] found and while Angela's friends and family are waiting for their day in
00:38:59
court they are left with photographs and their memories three of Jim and Angela's six
00:39:06
children are living with Jim Craig's brother the other three are now adults living on their own including their
00:39:14
daughter Mera on Mother's Day 2023 Mera wrote this on social media as of tomorrow my mom will be 2 months gone I
00:39:24
haven't the words to express the heartache my my siblings and I feel every day there's no words you
00:39:38
know the whole situation is just traumatic this will all end the lights will come down the cameras leave 30
00:39:49
years from now those kids who were in their teens right now still will be without a
00:39:54
mom meera's last words in that Poe I love you so much Mama we miss [Music] [Music]
00:40:11
you need more time with 48 Hours go deep behind every True Crime episode with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours
00:40:18
investigations were you at all prepared for what happened in this case shock is the word that comes to mind get inside
00:40:25
the twists and turns and get in on the cage listen to postmortem from 48 hours now
00:40:30
available wherever you get your [Music] podcasts she doesn't do the in-your-face
00:40:49
type of uh homicidal maniac kind of thing she's not a shooter she's not a stabber but I I haven't seen somebody
00:40:58
this ruthless in a long time I've seen a lot of murders I've seen people killed with knives and machetes and guns with
00:41:07
vehicles strangulation Suffocation I have never seen anyone try to kill another person with a piece of
00:41:14
cheesecake until now until now I'm a private investigator here in New York City I was hired to hunt down
00:41:24
and assist in the apprehension of Victoria nasirova as a perpetrator she's one in a
00:41:32
million there was a call from Patrol saying that we have a woman Olga who's lying in bed who appears to be under the
00:41:40
influence of something and she's advising that there are items missing from her bedroom then she tells me this
00:41:47
tale of how this woman Victoria nazarova came to her home she arrived with what she described as the best cheesecake in
00:41:55
New York she says please have this cheesecake Elga says okay I'll try the piece of the cheesecake immediately she
00:42:03
felt extremely ill nauseous um sweaty dizzy and she said I've never felt like that before I don't know what was going
00:42:10
on she passes out within a very short amount of time Olga is fighting for her life someone was trying to kill you who
00:42:20
did you think Victoria Victoria nazarova yep it's vaza pan in the cheesecake a sedative primarily used in
00:42:31
Russia apparently it has no taste and a little bit too much can produce an overdose Victoria found someone that
00:42:38
resembled her I think she wanted to kill this woman and assume her identity Victoria nerova is dangerous arrogant
00:42:46
cunning I didn't know how dangerous she was until I found out the trail of bodies that she was leaving behind in an
00:42:52
unconscious State the only thing I remember I just took one bite of fish and I was out of it in 5 minutes for a
00:43:01
week I was in the hospital police tune discovered that she was wanted for something far more serious this is for
00:43:08
murder this is for murder right here I believe that Victoria felt the the walls were closing in on her
00:43:15
Victoria nasirova had to be taken off of these streets I'm not a killer I'm woman only woman I think anybody that
00:43:26
trusts VI Victoria has something to fear [Music] [Music] she is a very colorful criminal in his
00:44:17
20year career as a New York police detective Kevin Rogers says he never met the likes of Victoria nazarova extremely
00:44:26
brazen diabolical and even the street smarts of a career cop left him unprepared for what he says she
00:44:35
did I've never dealt with a case where cheesecake that's laced with poison is utilized it started on September 2nd
00:44:46
2016 with what seemed like a routine call it was a call from Patrol saying that we have a woman advising that there
00:44:53
are items missing from her bedroom the woman was a Beauty Stylist named Olga svick who did eyelash
00:45:01
extensions at a nearby salon Patrol officers told Rogers she'd reported items including purses had vanished from
00:45:10
her home grabbed my partner and we headed out to this uh woman's house she told him she had just returned home from
00:45:17
the hospital where she said she'd been in and out of Consciousness with severe dizziness and nausea Al's bedroom is the
00:45:25
top right window when he got the scene Olga a Ukrainian immigrant still seemed a bit woozy can you remember at all the
00:45:33
police asking you questions no I don't remember the only thing she remembered was that a frantic client from the salon
00:45:42
had come to her house a Russian woman named Victoria nazarova who had wanted her eyelashes extended in a hurry I need
00:45:51
an emergency eyelash repair done please please please Olga said I I never have done that before every bit of work that
00:45:57
I do is in my salon Olga had told her client she had no appointments available but she says Victoria was in the habit
00:46:05
of being pushy she'd repeatedly suggested they spend time together outside of work she started acting like
00:46:12
she's my friend you know feeling uneasy Olga refused Victoria's offers to hang out and she noticed something else about
00:46:21
Victoria something visually unsettling I thought she's looking like me an uncanny physical
00:46:31
resemblance while Olga turned down socializing with Victoria she relented to her please for eyelash help and told
00:46:39
her to come over Olga's uneasy feeling returned when Victoria showed up at her door with three small slices of
00:46:48
Cheesecake it's from like famous bakery like famous cheesecake Olga says Victoria quickly
00:46:55
gobbled up two of the slices and then insisted Olga try the last one did you eat the entire piece yeah it's like
00:47:03
small piece and what happened I got sick she says she threw up violently and then after that I don't
00:47:14
remember anything so she tells you this story what are you thinking I'm suspicious
00:47:21
with Olga acting woozy Rogers wondered if she was a drug user I said to her I say all I said I want to believe you
00:47:30
however this doesn't add up but she was adamant adamant this 100% happened and this woman is up to something in the
00:47:40
garbage Rogers did see something I walked over to the waste paper basket and right there was this plastic
00:47:48
container with what appeared to be the remnants of a pastry something that look good Olga identified it as the
00:47:56
cheesecake box Rogers told his evidence team to bag it and tag it whatever had been in that box Olga said it had made
00:48:06
her very sick you almost died yeah I was in K 34 minutes but Olga admits doctors
00:48:13
didn't find anything suspicious in her system still she told Rogers she was hospitalized twice he called the
00:48:22
hospitals to confirm but says they wouldn't divulge patient information which again led me to believe that maybe
00:48:31
she wasn't telling the truth Rogers did try to find Victoria nazarova but couldn't well it sounds
00:48:38
like at that point this case is is almost over dead but a few months later the case came back to life when Rogers
00:48:46
found a new witness a neighbor of Olga's who reported seeing a woman visiting her
00:48:51
the day after the alleged cheesecake incident he told me that a woman had and gone a few times the neighbors said the
00:49:00
mysterious woman had told him Olga was sick and when he went to check on Olga he walked into a surreal scene and
00:49:08
called an ambulance her room was like a sauna someone had turned the heat on full blast even though it was a Hot
00:49:17
August day and Olga was passed out in the bed barely dressed when she's discovered she's discovered
00:49:25
in this sort sort of racy lingerie Olga was stunned by this detail because she had been wearing
00:49:34
sweatpants so someone changed you yeah changed your clothes yeah and there was more pills were strewn all over the
00:49:44
floor Rogers wondered had someone tried to kill Olga and then stag the scene to make it look like a
00:49:51
suicide Rogers realized that Olga had probably been telling the truth all along I do have to make that sort of
00:49:59
uncomfortable apology to her of I'm truly sorry for not believing you 100% at first Rogers now turned his attention
00:50:11
again to finding the suspect in this case Olga's client Victoria nazarova but where was
00:50:18
she Rogers had no way of knowing that someone else was also trying to find her his name is Herman Weissberg he's a
00:50:29
private eye and a retired New York City detective Weissberg was tracking Victoria through ads on Russian dating
00:50:37
sites and social media where he says some of her Outreach seemed designed for a niche audience she was advertising her
00:50:46
Services as a dominatrix you could call it SL escort he believe Victoria was using online ads to commit crimes of
00:50:55
opportunity she would would knock out with knockout drugs taking money watches jewelry whatever she can get and he
00:51:04
suspected Victoria had done something much worse who murdered your mother Victoria and the St
00:51:12
[Music] with the fog of her mysterious illness behind her Olga Spix says she went back
00:51:32
to work sharing the story of her harrowing ordeal that's when another client told her something she never
00:51:40
expected to hear she said you know one of my uh husband friend I think somebody also drag him
00:51:50
his name is Reuben meet Ruben borov hi Tina how are you about two months before Olga ate
00:52:00
that cheesecake Reuben who ran a nearby dry cleaning business met a woman on a Russian dating site her name Victoria
00:52:09
nazarova she said she's a good cook and I said i' love to eat the two arranged to meet at her place for dinner I just
00:52:17
took one bite of fish and I was out of it in 5 minutes Ruben says he passed out and Victoria allegedly went on a
00:52:25
shopping spring free she took like $800 maybe $1,000 in my allog together in cash 2400 in American Express so she's
00:52:35
living high on the Hog on your money absolutely and then she brought me here two days later Reuben was still out of
00:52:42
it when Victoria literally took him to the cleaners one of Reuben's employees took this video she was walking here and
00:52:51
there and making some stories to my workers oh we had WI he drank two bottle of wine I don't remember nothing as
00:53:01
Victoria talks to the workers maybe he take peel or something right the camera catches a glimpse of her sitting in the
00:53:08
boss's chair luckily Reuben's sister called an ambulance Victoria would flee the scene
00:53:16
before it arrived but not before cleaning him out I had some money in the basement couple hundred here she took it
00:53:25
she took the watch and Ruben believes Victoria nearly took a lot more than that did you almost die I think so
00:53:33
that's how I was oh he was a sick man but private eye Herman Weissberg says when it comes to Victoria nazarova
00:53:43
Olga and Reuben may have been the lucky ones in 2017 Weissberg began working with this woman Nadia Ford Nadia said
00:53:54
her mother Allah alexenko with whom she was very close had gone missing back home in Russia and so every day you
00:54:02
would talk to her every day Nadia says before her mother disappeared she had mentioned making a new best friend the
00:54:11
friend's name Victoria nazarova before Victoria came to New York she was living in Russia and had become Allah's
00:54:19
neighbor in the apartment next door here is your mother mhm standing next to you
00:54:24
right and here is Victoria right and they seem like an Odd Couple you just wouldn't think they'd hang out with each
00:54:33
other she was always trying to be very friendly to her you know and my mom she trust everyone in the fall of 2014 Allah
00:54:42
had told Nadia she would be sending her daughter special gifts her new best friend Victoria would bring them
00:54:49
Victoria would be carrying $6,000 in cash and other valuables including two fur coats to be hand delivered to Nadia
00:54:59
but Victoria never showed and on October 5th Nadia tried to call her mother but couldn't reach her how many times did
00:55:07
you call your mother that day October 5th oh a lot a lot about 100 really 100 times at least at least I tried
00:55:16
everything and she would not answer no so what do you thinking I got afraid because for 8 years she never happened
00:55:22
that she didn't answer the phone never Nadia saids says she had found Victoria's sudden friendship with her
00:55:29
mom suspicious and that suspicion only grew when she accessed her mother's cell phone records online and I saw the last
00:55:38
person who called her it was Victoria the call had come in at 11:00 p.m. and there were no other calls after it and
00:55:47
that's it and then my heart dropped I just started have this feeling that something
00:55:53
happened something terrible something terrible happened Nadia decided she had to go to Russia to find out the truth
00:56:02
about 2 years later 48 Hours went with Nadia to retrace her steps we brought her back to her
00:56:11
hometown of krasnodar about 800 M south of Moscow near the Black Sea to show us how she
00:56:19
launched her own investigation into her mother's disappearance first Nadia convinced
00:56:26
Victoria to meet her outside her mom's apartment building where she confronted her she says Victoria loudly insisted
00:56:35
Allah was alive and then she ran up the stairs and then I'm like where you going
00:56:40
why are you running and she runs up here you chasing her exactly yeah Nadia told
00:56:45
us she notified police and took them inside her mother's apartment so when I walk into the apartment apartment she
00:56:52
quickly realized the place had been looted nothing credit cards gone nothing nothing family heirloom and expensive
00:57:01
jewelry gone everything and whoever did this also stole most of her mother's life savings
00:57:09
$40,000 all kept in a secret Hideaway if you take this off it was gone this and as far as Nadia could tell what's there
00:57:20
so is Victoria what are the police and the district attorney and what are these people saying to you just wait she's
00:57:27
going to go she's going to come back undaunted Nadia carried on her search Chris crossing the country posting
00:57:35
Flyers like this one she pleaded with Victoria by text listen I give you everything my
00:57:43
apartment money you name it please just give me my mom back Nadia feared she was getting
00:57:52
nowhere when she had an idea Nadia where are we right now we're in a highway that
00:57:58
Victoria had my mom she noticed that most main roads had traffic cameras what if one of them had photographed Victoria
00:58:07
the night Nadia's mother went missing but you got to get access to these photographs how do you do that it's
00:58:13
Russia you buy things you have money you buy things Nadia got access to images from local traffic cameras about 100
00:58:22
miles from the apartment that's the camera is she right there Nadia hit Pay Dirt that's the camera that showed that
00:58:29
my mom was with with Victoria these are the pictures that changed everything the
00:58:35
pictures looked blurry but Nadia was certain that this is Victoria nazarova behind the wheel and equally sure she
00:58:43
knew who was sitting in the passenger seat her mom no doubt in your mind what's the date that this picture was
00:58:50
taken October 5th in the morning 10:00 October 5th the day that you lost all communication with your own mother if
00:58:58
the picture could be believed it meant her mother could still be alive this camera gave me hope Nadia
00:59:07
called Russian police about the pictures and was shocked at their response what does the detective say he said I know I
00:59:15
have these pictures with investigators now working the case Nadia says they confirmed Victoria rented this car with
00:59:23
these plates tracked her down and brought her in for a lie detector test but before the results could come back
00:59:31
unbeknownst to the cops Victoria caught the first flight out of Russia she cannot get away with this
00:59:56
with Victoria on the Run Nadia desperately continued her search for her mother hoping against hope to find her
01:00:04
alive I dedicated my life to that I quit everything and everyone I didn't believe
01:00:10
that my mom is not alive but hope turned a heartbreak in April of 2015 when she got a disturbing
01:00:18
phone call charred human remains had been found in a remote area about a 2hour drive from Allah's apartment
01:00:26
authorities called Nadia in to make an identification I said no it's not her no it's it's just remains and then a few
01:00:36
minutes later I started looking at her teeth and you knew you knew it was your mother yeah and yeah so I basically
01:00:42
recognize my mom by her teeth behind me is the Russian town of armavir it's about 110 mi from krasnodar
01:00:53
and it's important to this case because it's where Victoria nerova grew up why is that significant because less than
01:01:00
a/4 mile from where I'm standing right now is where Allah's body was dumped the body was
01:01:15
here Victoria took everything for me my family my life my mom everything by this time interpole
01:01:25
already had ISS issued an International arrest warrant for Victoria nazarova in Allah's
01:01:32
murder Nadia went home to Brooklyn determined as ever to track down Victoria nazarova on a whim she turned to
01:01:41
Facebook and you'll never guess whose face popped up on the screen Victoria was posting pictures all over Facebook
01:01:49
checking in at this place and that place beautiful life she flew to Mexico having
01:01:56
a great time yeah from Mexico she flew to New York Nadia reported all this to us police and immigration officials but
01:02:05
they couldn't find Victoria that's when Nadia started working with private investigator and former New York City
01:02:12
detective Herman Weissberg he combed through Victoria's Facebook profile with an experienced eye for detail I I never
01:02:21
look at what people want me to see on these sites I'm I'm used to looking at everything except for what's supposed to
01:02:27
draw your attention in late at night Weissberg meticulously studied every photograph and made a remarkable
01:02:35
Discovery right on Victoria's face this particular picture was the most beneficial she's wearing the Rayband
01:02:42
sunglasses that are mirrored and she took a great picture for us to see the dashboard of the car but more
01:02:49
importantly the stitching on that back headrest yeah that's this black leather with a light gray stitching on it
01:02:56
I decided the next morning I was going to be at a big parking lot at a train station he walked row after row of
01:03:05
vehicles peering into Windows hoping to find the make and model that had that stitching and it's a big hub for the
01:03:13
railroad hundreds of cars in here yeah probably thousands all over the place so it's real easy to look for the kind of
01:03:19
detail I was looking for then a Chrysler sedan caught his eye so you look inside the car and what do
01:03:27
you see all right it's got the same stitching and show me on your phone there's her mirrored sunglasses the
01:03:34
stitching over here turns out that only a Chrysler 300 had this stitching and dashboard layout now the hard part
01:03:43
finding the specific car Victoria was driving again this was such a wild goose chase at this point but Weissberg saw
01:03:50
that a series of likes on Victoria's Facebook page were clustered around sheep head Bay a Russian neighborhood in
01:03:58
Brooklyn so you sent some of your investigators to look for one of these Chrysler 300s did they have any luck
01:04:05
well yeah we found a bunch of them then uh the next day I had somebody run the license plates and luckily we we found
01:04:12
one that came back to a Russian sounding name Weissberg took our 48 Hours crew into the area he searched and called me
01:04:19
to the scene when he again found the Chrysler 300 at the heart of this investigation ation this is it yeah this
01:04:27
is the car this is the car yeah take a look inside you see the stitching yep it's hard to miss now oh there it is now
01:04:35
you see how unique it is right yeah this is only an area of 8.5 million people and you found the car
01:04:44
it wasn't a needle in a Hy stack you had to find a hay stack first and when Weissberg went to the address connected
01:04:50
to that car the building looked familiar Weissberg had seen it before in another
01:04:56
one of Victoria selfies when you look at it and you see that that telephone pole
01:05:03
and the location of that manhole cover and that manhole cover and if you look over there you got the telephone pole
01:05:09
and you've got the two manle covers this is brilliant Herman through that reflection in her in her glasses
01:05:17
you figure out this is the apartment building where the man who owns that Chrysler 300 lives and with Victoria in
01:05:26
the picture you thinking she might be living with this guy it she it looks like she took a selfie there and it it
01:05:33
all starts to make sense amazingly the woman Russian authorities wanted for the murder of Nadia's mother was now living
01:05:40
with her boyfriend in Nadia's own backyard four or five blocks away you got to be kidding me no did you try to
01:05:49
go find her no why cuz I would kill her we got lucky early on gone and we spotted Victoria and her boyfriend out
01:05:59
here the boyfriend was the owner of the Chrysler 300 and lived in that apartment
01:06:06
building that boyfriend told us that he eventually became one of Victoria victims himself he says not only did she
01:06:14
steal from him but that she killed his beloved beagle Joey apparently vioria got very jealous of uh the dog getting
01:06:23
some of the spotlight in their house and uh decided to poison the Beagle allegedly on the beagle's birthday I'm a
01:06:31
dog lover so that stuff I've seen him on TV and Joey the beagle's demise didn't sit well with Victoria's neighbors
01:06:40
either she killed his dog that [ __ ] killed his dog every time you learn something else
01:06:47
about this woman you realize that if she was left unarrested this could have really ended poorly for
01:06:57
Brooklyn but now Weissberg knew the hunt was finally over he says he called interpole and Homeland Security but
01:07:05
neither one agreed to take action so he alerted the NYPD and on March 20th 2017 the police made their move the woman who
01:07:16
had once posed as a dominatrix suddenly found herself in handcuffs I just cried I I couldn't
01:07:25
believe believe that it's actually happened it's a miracle detective Kevin Rogers couldn't
01:07:34
believe it when his phone rang Brooklyn advises us that they had this woman Victoria nazarova in their custody Roger
01:07:43
says the cheesecake case suddenly started making sense Olga had something that Victoria wanted and it wasn't money
01:07:50
and it wasn't handbags he says the instant he started reviewing police evidence photos he saw something that
01:07:57
made it clear exactly what Victoria was after this ID of Olga was found in Victoria's apartment the picture looked
01:08:06
eerily similar to Victoria herself I think she wanted to kill this woman and assume her
01:08:14
identity to back up his theory Rogers knew he would need to prove that Olga's cheesecake had been poisoned when he
01:08:22
sent the container found in Olga's house to lab they found nothing but when Rogers decided to send it for more
01:08:30
extensive testing he got a hit fasap Pam is a sedative primarily used at the time
01:08:38
in Russia it makes you sleepy yes sleepy then coma then death Rogers learned that fasap Pam is
01:08:48
especially dangerous in a hot environment remember the heater in Olga's room had been left on high and
01:08:56
Victoria's DNA was on the cheesecake box all these pieces of the puzzle they've come together absolutely and so you
01:09:04
think this was a planned murder absolutely Victoria was charged with attempted murder for the attack on Olga
01:09:12
assault and Grand leny before trial she agreed to sit down with us at New York's
01:09:18
Riker's Island jail Victoria nazarova yes what do you make of Herman Weber's investigation to see more go to 48
01:09:39
[Music] hours.com we'd heard cruel and colorful stories about Victoria nazarova for
01:09:49
months so in 2017 when we interviewed her in jail as authorities investig ated her for attempted murder in Olga's case
01:09:58
Victoria nazarova yes Peter vanent please have a seat thank you we weren't sure what to
01:10:05
expect don't you look at this yeah this is Allah yes she insisted she had nothing to do with The Disappearance of
01:10:14
Nadia's mother Allah Victoria did you kill Allah no you did not no there's a woman named
01:10:26
Olga who looks a lot like you who claims that you tried to kill her by giving her
01:10:33
a piece of poisoned cheesecake you wanted her dead so you could steal her identity Victoria delivered her answer
01:10:42
using the careful language of someone with a lot to lose I know whom you mean I know this
01:10:51
young woman I can tell you that um yeah did not force her to eat it you're telling me all of these accusations
01:10:59
against you all of that is false no I admit doing a part of it but I will only talk about it at the
01:11:08
trial Victoria nazarova would be in custody for nearly 6 years as the pandemic caused delays all right can we
01:11:17
bring the defend out before she stood trial for the poisoning of Olga [ __ ] when the case went to court in
01:11:25
January of 2023 the trial of a woman accused of poisoning her look alike with cheesecake the media we're
01:11:34
watching there are elements of this case that you won't find anywhere else The Beautician the cheesecake in all the
01:11:41
evidence you have what is the most important in your opinion we're looking at it right here it's this container the
01:11:48
cheesecake box from Olga's garbage still has crumbs left inside outlandish as it
01:11:54
is a assistant district attorney Dino Loris tells jurors in opening statements this is not a
01:12:02
joke it's not just a story they should see it as a potential murder weapon this defendant intended to kill this woman
01:12:12
and steal her identity he calls Olga first to highlight the human consequences and she's going to explain
01:12:20
to you everything that happened to her everything that she can remember of course she was poisoned with something
01:12:27
that impacted her memory cameras were not allowed to record witness testimony Olga makes it clear that talking about
01:12:35
the details of her ordeal is still like reliving a bad dream and testifying in front of her alleged attacker
01:12:44
traumatizes her all the more was she looking at you oh yeah she looked at me what did you see on her face in her
01:12:53
eyes you know she smiled smiling she was smiling she was smirking the state also calls Nadia Ford I was
01:13:02
trying to get her look look at me look at the person who mother you killed look look into my eyes remember them for the
01:13:10
rest of your life the judge has strictly limited prosecutors from going into specifics about the murder charges
01:13:18
facing Victoria in Russia so they're hoping Nadia can finesse the details and still get the point across I'll tell you
01:13:27
it was a risky strategy what has she told them that you think helps your case what she told the jury is that something
01:13:34
serious happened in Russia it's one thing for me to say the crime was serious and it's another thing for a
01:13:40
witness to come in and show with her body language with her eyes with her overall demeanor that this was an
01:13:46
incredibly serious crime that Victoria N was wanted for I was staring at her I just want her to look at me
01:13:55
she she didn't look at me once I was almost certain in the beginning of the trial that Victoria was
01:14:02
going to testify and I know that she likes to talk as it turned out Victoria declined to testify and answer questions
01:14:11
but something she did say made it into the trial something she said to me in a part of her 48 Hours interview published
01:14:19
online it's in evidence Peter VanZant asked this woman in English there is a woman named Olga there's a woman named
01:14:27
Olga who claims that you tried to kill her by giving her a piece of poison cheesecake lorgis has someone read
01:14:35
Victoria's answer into the record I know whom you mean I know this young woman I can tell you
01:14:46
that I did not force her to eat it I did not force her to eat it for me as an individual she's guilty
01:14:55
with that statement where in that answer does she say I didn't poison anybody miss NASA is not guilty of these
01:15:05
charges but defense attorney Christopher Hoy doesn't call a single witness to help him prove it instead he argues the
01:15:15
spectacle of this case obscures the specifics details that amount to reasonable doubt there's no direct
01:15:23
evidence of anyone seeing Victoria nerova putting fessa Pam in cheesecake he reminds the jury Olga's
01:15:32
doctors didn't find anything unusual in her system and he says there was nothing
01:15:38
particularly unusual about Victoria's life in New York either she's been just living in the US using her normal
01:15:48
name that's just the point says the prosecutor Victoria's US Visa was set to expire she was scared of facing charges
01:15:56
in Russia and needed a new identity to help her hide there's only two categories of people that need someone
01:16:05
else's ID you have college kids under the age of 21 who want to borrow their Buddy's ID to go drink and then on the
01:16:14
other hand you have international fugitives who need someone's ID as a Lifeline to stay in this country and not
01:16:21
go back to Russia this is not a case about what happened in Russia and the defense
01:16:28
insists that even if Victoria poisoned the cheesecake it's not enough to prove she wanted Olga dead I submit to you
01:16:37
that they have not proven that intent this case has more than you need to conclude Beyond a reasonable doubt that
01:16:44
this defendant is guilty but will the jury agree as they file back in what are you
01:16:53
seeing on their [Music] [Music] faces when this jury goes off to deliberate what's going through your
01:17:18
mind what's going through my mind is that they understand the Diabolical calc ulation that occurred for this crime
01:17:27
Queen's district attorney Melinda Katz says Victoria nazarova is a lot smarter and more committed than the average
01:17:35
criminal defendant it takes patience and it takes planning but it takes the jury in her
01:17:42
trial only an hour and a half to reach a verdict how say you to count number one of the indictment
01:17:51
charging the defendant Victoria nerova with attempting murder in the second degree guilty or not guilty
01:17:58
guilty guilty of attempted murder in the second degree were there tears [Music] yeah at sentencing Ola tells the court
01:18:16
her suffering went on long after Victoria's attack she caused me to lose trust in
01:18:23
people I have difficulty trust people and I cannot know for sure what their true intentions
01:18:32
are I'm grateful that this person will be punished for what she did to me the maximum punishment she can stand up is
01:18:42
25 years in prison you are an extremely dangerous woman I sentence you to 21 years in jail judge Kenneth holder
01:18:52
decides a 21-year sent is enough with credit for time served Victoria may be out in
01:19:00
15 even so she has some Choice words for the court as she is Led away barely audible under her
01:19:11
mask she's a narcissistic homicidal maniac that's what narcissistic homicidal Maniacs say when they
01:19:18
something everything goes bad for them Victoria's time Behind Bars has already been rough in in 2018 at Riker's Island
01:19:26
in New York she was assaulted by fellow inmates and suffered multiple injuries to her
01:19:33
face and when she's done serving her time in America Victoria faces deportation and murder charges back in
01:19:42
Russia I know there's great satisfaction for you that Victoria is finally going to prison but it's not for what she did
01:19:51
to your mom is that still an EMP inside for you I I feel better at least I know now that
01:19:59
for next 15 years she's not going to hurt anyone two of the people Victoria has hurt most have resolved to draw strength
01:20:08
from each other since tragedy unexpectedly brought them together Nadia and Olga have become the best of friends
01:20:17
when we met I feel like I knew n all my life she's very kind very nice openhearted like you know kind of remind
01:20:26
me of my mom n she's went through hell they seem to know it takes one victim of Victoria nazarova to
01:20:38
truly understand another do you think the two of you will be friends for life I think yes
01:20:49
[Music] a beautiful heart a gentle gentle Spirit a woman found dying from a gunshot wound
01:21:14
crime scene evidence that doesn't add up there's definitely Mysteries involved in
01:21:18
this case then prosecutors take a creative approach a psychological autopsy 48 hours Saturday on CBS and
01:21:25
streaming on Paramount [Music] plus it's a small town it's Rural America in every way
01:21:55
this is the family next door very connected very loving very bonded they spent a lot of time
01:22:07
together the happy American [Music] couple Eric ran a successful contracting business he was involved in his boys
01:22:20
sports activities [Music] he was very good to the boys and he taught those boys so
01:22:32
much Cory was a real estate agent that also would buy and fix up and flip homes she was smart she was Savvy she
01:22:40
knew how to connect she was absolutely in love with Eric and absolutely in love with her
01:22:50
boys Eric and Corey were probably at the best place they've ever been in their marriage and seemed genuinely happy with
01:22:59
each other they had it all I mean it was one happy family at 3:00 in the morning I got a
01:23:09
phone call and it was Corey and she said get up here Something's Happened to Eric he went to sleep and never woke up
01:23:18
she's a complete wreck she's sitting on the couch she's just balling were they giving you a sense of
01:23:25
how he may have passed um so the paramedic said aneurism so we were all believing
01:23:30
aneurysm I had Tau him the day before he looked horrible he said my chest hurts so the last time you're seeing him
01:23:40
alive you don't think he looked very good right the lead detective and a another officer came to her house and
01:23:47
said they were going to close the case they're done it's an accidental overdose they communicated
01:23:54
that Eric had died of a fentanyl overdose in the weeks and months after Eric's passing how would you describe
01:24:04
Corey her State of Mind emotionally how was she handling things it probably took
01:24:10
her two months to go back in her own bedroom it was devastating to her she writes a children's
01:24:21
book she did this to help her work through feelings with her children the book I think was
01:24:28
100% beneficial to the boys then you can take a sigh of relief it's over we're done we can start living again and then
01:24:39
I got a phone call Cory was just arrested in Salt Lake a Summit County woman who wrote a
01:24:46
children's book about coping with grief following her husband's death now accused of being the one that actually
01:24:51
killed him I think she felt that this would be treated as an accidental overdose and
01:24:59
nobody was going to be the wiser he told his family if I die you need to take a look at her because I
01:25:08
think she's trying to kill me they're going to have to prove that she got the drugs and that she somehow gave them to
01:25:15
him and unless they can connect those dots they're going to have a hard time proving murder in this case
01:25:23
[Music] [Music] in the early morning hours of March 4th 2022 Lisa Darden was attempting to
01:26:17
console her daughter 31-year-old Cory richens she was brought out on the floor just sobbing
01:26:24
Corey had just learned from emergency Personnel that her husband Eric was dead she was tore up her brothers Ronnie and
01:26:34
DJ were also there she was a complete wreck I just started crying according to Lisa that night Cory
01:26:41
had poured Eric a drink to celebrate a new opportunity at her real estate business the purchase of this Mansion
01:26:49
she told me she made him a mosc on mule that's a drink made with vodka and ginger beer she said they went to bed
01:26:56
about 9 9:15 she went and laid with Ash ashon the 9-year-old has always had major
01:27:07
nightmares and when she went back to get in her bed he was cold she went to push on him and he
01:27:16
didn't respond it was after 3:00 a.m. and Lisa says Corey immediately called 911 and at
01:27:23
the dispatchers instructions perform CPR when First Responders arrived they started working on Eric but it was too
01:27:33
late it's just unbelievable you're in shock that something like that you know could happen it was those First
01:27:40
Responders who initially suspected Eric had died of an aneurysm the father of three young sons was just 39 how are the
01:27:49
boys did the boys know what was happening they knew something was happening and they could see the
01:27:55
ambulances and cops coming in very distraught they all just sat there on the couch and just cried
01:28:01
together the sad scene was a far cry from the happy family they once were Cory and Eric met in 2009 at a
01:28:12
local Home Depot back then Cory was a cashier Eric worked in construction and was a frequent customer I heard that he
01:28:20
wanted a number for a long time and was kind of afraid to go get it so he had a have a friend run in and go get it from
01:28:25
her Eric asked her out and they hit it off when Cory said I'm dating this guy what did you think uh Corey was
01:28:33
terrified me meeting me oh really yeah why because I'm the big brother and tough yeah
01:28:42
yeah but DJ and Ronnie say Eric fit right in I thought he was a great [Music] guy in 2013 Corey and Eric got married
01:28:53
and had the boys first Carter then Ashton and finally Weston Lisa says fatherhood came easily to Eric he taught
01:29:02
those boys so much they idolized our father and he idolized the boys as [Music] well Cory's family got to know the
01:29:12
richens including Eric's two sisters Katie and Amy they'd come up uh for birthdays here and there and we're all
01:29:18
very friendly eventually Eric started a stonemasonry business and Corey started her own real estate company buying
01:29:27
houses fixing them up and selling them for profit Greg Hall was her marketing director and good friend Corey had
01:29:35
something that a lot of people don't a lot of times you find an individual that is intelligent but no common sense her
01:29:42
common sense and no intelligence she had both she was a brilliant young lady how
01:29:49
many houses would she have on average that she was working on or trying to flip at one time yeah I would say on average
01:29:58
three so it was kind of a constant rotation of buying a home fixing it up selling it yes and Eric's business
01:30:07
continued to flourish they both live very well and they both bought and spent what they wanted in their spare time
01:30:15
Eric loved to hunt and together they traveled the world it sounds like on the surface Eric and Corey seemed to have it
01:30:22
all would you say that was say that yes I don't know that I can even begin to overstate how close this
01:30:28
family was this was a huge loss Greg scoris is the spokesman for Eric's family he was this beautiful son
01:30:36
and and brother and to have that taken away from you I I can't imagine much worse than
01:30:43
that not long after Eric's funeral an autopsy revealed the cause of his death it wasn't an aneurysm it was a lethal
01:30:52
dose of fent fentanyl is many many times more potent than oxies and the other pain
01:30:59
medications that we typically use it's a very dangerous drug but how did fenel get into Eric's
01:31:08
system Cory's family believes his recreational drug use could be to blame nearly every day they say Eric would
01:31:16
take a gummy with THC the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana it was always just just to
01:31:24
relax at the end of the day and according to Ronnie Eric did not always get the gummies from reputable sources
01:31:30
just about every trip that I had been on with him he'd buy just from someone off
01:31:34
the street Lisa says Eric also sometimes took pain pills hey do you have any pain
01:31:40
pills hey can you call and get hook me up he certainly wasn't an opioid or an illegal drug user Cory's family thinks
01:31:47
Eric had taken something he didn't know was laced with fenol and that his death was a trag
01:31:55
accident Eric's family strongly disputes this claim he didn't die of a self-inflicted drug overdose Eric's
01:32:05
family wondered if Corey may have been involved they said this doesn't smell right no question the family thought
01:32:12
that right from the beginning in the months following her husband's tragic death Cory richan struggled to
01:32:32
find her footing on her own and to navigate Life as a single mom Cory was still completely distraught
01:32:40
even now she's never had time to grieve she's doing her best to move on she didn't know of a way of doing that
01:32:49
Cory's brother Ronnie says it was also hard for the couple's three young Sons the boys it's so hard for them they
01:32:56
lashed out a little bit because they couldn't quite understand what was going on and they needed some help and Cory
01:33:01
needed some help eventually Corey found a way to turn her grief into action in March 2023 one year after Eric's death
01:33:10
Corey came up with the idea to write that children's book about coping with loss are you with me she promoted it on
01:33:17
a local TV show Good Things Utah I just wanted some story to read to my kids at night and so you know I was like let's
01:33:26
just write one the self-published book follows the story of a child who lost his father but is reminded his presence
01:33:34
still exists all around in the book Eric is portrayed as an angel who is always close by yes I am
01:33:42
with you on Christmas Corey writes you can't see my smile but it's there I'm here and we're
01:33:51
together like Dad is still here it's just in a different way Cory's mother Lisa says writing the
01:33:59
book was therapeutic I think the book was a great thing it helped them it helped them all
01:34:06
her family says it finally seemed as though Corey and the boys would be able to move forward it seemed to make the
01:34:12
boys really happy while the family was working to get back on track police had been investigating Eric's death and just
01:34:21
weeks after Cory's appearance on TV to promote her book new 10 this has been a talker all day today a Summit County
01:34:28
woman who wrote a children's book about coping with grief following her husband's death now accused of being the
01:34:34
one that actually killed him on May 8th 2023 Corey The Grieving wife this is the
01:34:40
home where police found Eric Rich's dead was now the prime suspect in her husband's
01:34:46
death you must have been in a panic I was shocked she can't be arrested Utah mother has been charged with murder
01:34:55
Corey was charged with aggravated murder and taken into custody court documents allege she
01:35:01
committed homicide by the administration of a poison Greg scoris the spokesman for Eric's family suspects Corey put a
01:35:10
lethal dose of fentanyl in the drink she made Eric that night the Moscow Mule the
01:35:17
dosage that he was given that night was of such a high level that no person could have survived it Sky Lazaro is her
01:35:25
attorney did police ever test the glass that she gave Eric this cocktail and They seized a number of items from the
01:35:35
home H and there was no fentanyl that was found on any glasswar Cory's family says they
01:35:43
struggle to make sense of the charges Corey denies any involvement in her husband's death for anybody who knows
01:35:51
Corey just knows she could not have done this she'd never do this Lisa says her daughter and
01:35:59
son-in-law had a great relationship nobody's perfect but they're pretty close and like many couples that have
01:36:05
disagreements they were able to overcome their differences he didn't want Corey to work
01:36:11
he wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom and she's very independent and that wasn't going to happen another issue
01:36:18
says Cory's brother Ronnie was the amount of time Eric spent away on hunting trips sometimes four or five
01:36:26
months a year it just kind of irked her because that this his biggest passion his life is hunting and she might want
01:36:32
him home a little bit more and so you know they might get in a fight about that and then according to Cory's mother
01:36:38
Lisa there was alleged infidelity on Eric's part she says she heard about it first from Corey and then from Eric it
01:36:47
was a text about trust how I trusted him as a son-in-law as a father as a husband
01:36:53
been and how could he do this Cory's family says the couple went to counseling determined to work through
01:37:00
their issues scoris who denies Eric ever cheated on Corey says Eric had a different reason for wanting to make his
01:37:07
marriage work he was going to do whatever he could to make it work because he he
01:37:13
lived for those boys he would have done anything for those boys let's let's go to counseling let's try to keep the
01:37:17
family together scoris says at one point Eric had considered divorce But ultimately decided against it he says to
01:37:25
protect the boys in case the relationship didn't work out Eric put his estate into a secret trust without
01:37:32
telling Corey and named his sister Katie in charge but in the months leading up to
01:37:39
Eric's death Ronnie says the couple seemed better than ever how are they doing as a couple as a family yeah
01:37:46
fantastic they were um probably one of the best spots I've ever seen them in in quite some time everyone's having fun
01:37:54
laughing joking you know it's it seemed really great to me so why would Cory want Eric dead court documents allege a
01:38:02
life insurance payout might have been a motive scorda says Eric's family agrees this is a
01:38:10
coldhearted greed at the time of Eric's death there were at least six life insurance policies on him totaling
01:38:19
nearly $3 million court documents alleg that in January 2022 two months before Eric died
01:38:28
Corey forged Eric's signature to get yet another policy worth an additional $100,000 Cory is also accused in court
01:38:38
documents of stealing from Eric's personal accounts and misappropriating monies distributed from Eric Richard's
01:38:45
business dating back years according to scorus Corey didn't just want the money she desperately L
01:38:53
needed it court documents allege her house flipping business was drowning in nearly $2 million of
01:39:01
debt yeah she was in way over her head she needed some money in a hurry it was a significant amount of
01:39:07
money scoris say a premarital agreements stipulated Corey had given up claim to Eric's business assets except that if
01:39:16
husband should die prior to wife while the two are lawfully married he was worth much more to her
01:39:24
dad than divorced she felt that there was easy money and fast money to be made by not having her husband around anymore
01:39:33
Cory's attorney Sky Lazaro strongly disputes any allegations her client forged Eric signature mishandled
01:39:40
finances or stole from Eric as for the claim Corey was in debt and needed the money she says that simply not true she
01:39:49
was in the business of flipping houses this is what they did Lazaro says taking on debt from lines of credit was part of
01:39:57
how the business of flipping houses worked and the money would be paid back when a home
01:40:02
sold it's not as if she had all these conventional loans that she owed people money on it sure it looks like a large
01:40:10
number but we're talking about business transactions with people who she did business with Eric and Corey sat down
01:40:19
every month and did the bills together at all times Eric knew what was going in and what was coming out Lisa says Eric
01:40:28
not only knew about the finances but he was also very supportive of Cory's new business opportunities like the purchase
01:40:36
of the Mansion they were celebrating the night he died Eric's saying let's have a
01:40:40
shot come on let's celebrate Cory it was that night sortis says Eric's family believes Corey gave him the Moscow Mule
01:40:48
laced with fentanyl and he says Eric family believes it wasn't the first time Cory
01:40:57
had tried to poison her husband the time he died wasn't the first time we believe that she tried to
01:41:03
kill [Music] him what do you think happened to Eric richens chat now with the 48 Hours team
01:41:11
on Facebook and X [Music] just outside Salt Lake City in the shadow of Utah's wasach
01:41:33
mountains home to fame ski resorts including Park city is the property that Corey richens
01:41:42
was planning on flipping the deal she and Eric were celebrating the night he died says her attorney Sky Lazaro is a
01:41:50
decently good siiz home Lazaro showed us the nearly 10 acre estate where are we give us a sense of why this is
01:41:59
significant real estate so this is the Heber Valley uh right over the hill is Park City all the major ski areas uh and
01:42:07
then to the right is Deer Creek Reservoir so this really sits between major recreational areas it looks
01:42:16
ginormous it's massive the 20,000 ft man mentioned and its 4,000 ft Guest House were originally
01:42:27
built in 2017 but never finished the project was abandoned for two years until Corey discovered it I think this
01:42:35
was kind of her dream when she got into this idea of flipping houses was to be able to do properties like this lazara
01:42:45
says Cory used financing from a group of investors to make an offer on the house
01:42:50
for $3.9 million the plan was to develop this turn it into a recreational Hot Spot given this is probably one of the
01:42:58
most beautiful places in the world and hopefully sell it at a profit how much did she think she could make off of this
01:43:04
house her and Eric sat down with an accountant one time and he said if you can get it done and stay under budget
01:43:11
you could walk away with $12 million wow that's a that's a big turn yes from 3.9
01:43:18
to 12 million yes there was a lot of excitement I remember how excited she was Greg Hall worked with Cory he says
01:43:26
it was a solid investment it would have been a real easy flip they would have had to to sit on that for long as far as
01:43:32
you know Eric was on board with this plan 100% but that's not what Eric's family
01:43:40
remembers says their spokesman Greg scoris I don't think he was ever in favor of that he was on board with
01:43:46
supporting his wife that doesn't mean he agreed with it in fact the house is mentioned in This legal filing
01:43:54
containing notes from an investigator who interviewed Eric's family after his death they said Eric and his wife were
01:44:01
arguing about buying the property and that wasn't all Eric's family told investigators according to that same
01:44:08
filing they made numerous allegations against Corey including that they suspected his wife had something to do
01:44:16
with his death they advised he warned them that if anything happened to him she was to blame they also told
01:44:24
investigators they believe Cory had tried to poison Eric before on two separate occasions according to the filing Eric's
01:44:34
family said the first attempted poisoning was in 2019 when Eric and Corey and six friends were on vacation
01:44:40
in Greece they said Eric became violently ill after Corey gave him a drink Ronnie says he heard it was all a
01:44:49
misunderstanding Eric was on medication and that medic Med ation you're not allowed to drink on he asked the
01:44:56
waitress uh to bring a a virgin drink a drink without alcohol she didn't do it it made him very very sick Cory called
01:45:05
his doctor figured out what to do and later that night he was back and and fine everyone that was there will tell
01:45:11
you the exact same thing according to that same filing the second time Eric's family said Cory
01:45:17
tried to poison Eric was the month before Eric died on Valentine's Day 202 22 they said his wife brought him a
01:45:25
sandwich which after one bite Eric broke into hives and couldn't breathe Cory's family denies she ever tried to poison
01:45:33
him they ordered a sandwich and the sandwich was bad he went and took a nap and then went and coached one of his
01:45:41
child's games aside from an assertion by the family uh there doesn't seem to be anything else out there that supports
01:45:50
that Eric's family also called into question Corey's behavior following her husband's
01:45:57
death according to court documents Eric's family told investigators 2 days after Eric died Corey punched Eric's
01:46:06
sister Amy in the neck and face when Amy tried to stop her from opening a safe they said contained between $
01:46:14
125,000 and $165,000 cash there was an argument that broke out and Eric's sister said that
01:46:21
she owns a house everything is put into a trust and she owns the house remember Eric had created that
01:46:28
trust and kept it secret from Corey when they were going through those marital problems until Eric's death Cory knew
01:46:36
nothing about the trust according to court documents if Eric had any sort of documents he'd have them in the safe so
01:46:43
she went in to go see what was in there Amy came after Corey and you know Cory defended herself the two of them started
01:46:50
pushing and I was standing in the middle of them all they did was push both of them were trying to swing over the top
01:46:55
of me so the narrative that's been pushed that it was poor Amy got assaulted was nonsense the brothers say
01:47:01
Amy stormed off and called the police a month later Cory was charged with assault and later pleaded no
01:47:09
contest her husband's just passed away she's highly emotional everybody's highly emotional things got a little
01:47:17
heated between them two families two very different stories about what they believe happened
01:47:29
to Eric but with accusations flying back and forth what did the evidence show the
01:47:35
state has to prove that she did this that she got the drugs and that she somehow gave them to him she had
01:47:45
apparently contacted a drug dealer a known drug dealer in that area and purchased fenel and had done a it on
01:47:53
more than one occasion all right back have a seat please in June 2023 Corey richens appeared in court
01:48:19
before judge Richard morazzi for a bond hearing the issue before the court is whether defendant Cory richens should
01:48:27
continue to be held without bail during the pre-trial period it was the first time since richens had been charged in
01:48:35
her husband's death that the public got to see her and for the entire 4-Hour hearing she sat in handcuffs next to her
01:48:43
attorney Sky Lazaro I cannot imagine how difficult it was for Corey to sit there
01:48:48
and listen to everything that was talked about at that hearing to convince the judge why richens should not be released
01:48:55
prosecutors Patricia Cassell we have three Witnesses Brad Bloodworth detective what was the Sheriff's Office
01:49:02
and Joseph Hill presented evidence and called witnesses to make their case richens had poisoned her husband it had
01:49:10
all the elements of a mini trial in order for the judge to make a determination to detain someone at a
01:49:16
bail hearing the state has to prove substantial evidence prosecutor Joseph Hill called to the stand cell phone
01:49:24
expert Chris cotos sir if you'd step in front of Britney we'll get you sworn in he asked him about Google searches he
01:49:30
says richens made on her phone were you able to observe uh internet searches on that phone
01:49:38
yes those searches which were detailed in court documents included can deleted text messages be retrieved from an
01:49:46
iPhone can FBI find deleted messages what is a lethal dose of Sentinel I don't know that these
01:49:56
searches mean as much when you look at the timing of when they're done Lazaro says there's an innocent explanation
01:50:05
those searches were conducted after Eric's death I think it's more to answer questions relating to what she was being
01:50:13
accused of the state also called to the stand the lead investigator on the case detective Jeff
01:50:20
O'Driscoll I was assigned to be lead lead detective in this case in April of this year prosecutor Bloodworth
01:50:27
questioned detective O'Driscoll about where richens may have gotten fenel he specifically asked about an interview
01:50:34
the detective conducted with Carmen lber who said she worked for richens she's referred to as cl cl is an associate of
01:50:42
the defendant uh she cleaned houses for the defendant's business as well as her personal home at times detective
01:50:50
O'Driscoll said CL had a criminal history with drugs at the time of their interview she was on probation for
01:50:58
multiple drug distribution charges according to court records she has not been charged in connection with Eric's
01:51:05
death in our interviews SE told us that in early 2022 the defendant reached out to her
01:51:12
either by phone call or text message requesting that she procure fentol for what the defendant reported was a
01:51:20
investor who had a back injury detective O'Driscoll testified that CL told him she purchased 15 to 30 fentanyl pills
01:51:30
and then sold them to richens seal told us that after purchasing the pills she returned home she said that either later
01:51:38
that night or the next day the defendant met her and did a hand-to-hand exchange
01:51:43
of pills for cash that transaction says detective O'Driscoll took place on February 11th
01:51:50
2022 3 days before Valentine's Day when according to court documents Eric's family said richens had tried and failed
01:52:00
to poison Eric with that sandwich but there was more when it now shift to a second drug buy detective O'Driscoll
01:52:09
said CL told him richens contacted her again approximately a week later the defendant reached out to her again by
01:52:18
text or or call and said that she wanted some more fentol that was stronger than
01:52:24
the previous batch this time detective O'Driscoll said c told him richens paid by check and the defendant came to the
01:52:32
door and wrote her a check from her business from the defendant's business for $1,300 for the purchase of the fentol
01:52:40
just a week later Eric was dead we dispute all of those allegations in her cross-examination Lazaro asked detective
01:52:49
O'Driscoll if there could have been another reason for that 13 00 check it could very well be that Cory was paying
01:52:56
her for cleaning houses correct I don't want to speculate but it could be despite what C said correct okay Lazaro
01:53:07
says because Carmen lobber is a convicted felon she's not credible she was on probation at the time I think
01:53:14
anytime you have an informant type situation it can call into question the veracity of their statements or the
01:53:22
motive for what they're saying in her cross-examination of detective odris Lazaro attempted to show how CL might
01:53:30
have felt pressure to tell investigators what they wanted to hear you begin the interview by explaining to C essentially
01:53:38
how dire of a situation she's in correct I don't have the interview memorized but I know we talked about
01:53:45
that yes okay well you told her that she was on probation to drug court for four
01:53:51
first deegree felon Mones correct correct you essentially tell her that she has the potential of doing a
01:53:59
considerable amount of state and federal prison time potentially yes this is a common tactic in law enforcement to be
01:54:06
able to leverage charges for information Lazaro also asked the detective what evidence there was to back up cl's
01:54:13
claims that she had sold fenel to richens because CL is working for the defendant there's communication correct
01:54:20
correct but detective O'Driscoll said he saw no text messages where richens allegedly asked CL for drugs we didn't
01:54:28
find any there was anyone with her that could corroborate that she saw cland Corey
01:54:37
drugs not that I know of 48 Hours attempted to contact CL for comment we receive no
01:54:46
response they have to prove that she obtained drugs and gave them to her husband
01:54:52
[Music] and unless they can connect those dots they're going to have a hard time
01:54:57
proving murder in this [Music] case what do you make of Corey's Google searches for a timeline of the case
01:55:07
visit us at 48 [Music] hours.com as Cory Rich's bond hearing came to a close her attorney Sky Lazaro
01:55:26
was hopeful her client would be granted bail this is a case in which there doesn't appear to be any Smoking Gun
01:55:33
these cases are generally more favorable to the defense good morning good morning
01:55:38
the prosecution closed its case to deny Rich's bail with a victim impact statement from Eric's sister Amy I'm
01:55:46
here today to represent my brother Eric Eugene richens Eric is gone and I am broken brokenhearted none of our Lives
01:55:54
will ever be the same Eric died under horrendous circumstances I am tormented at the
01:56:00
thought of what he endured please do not allow Corey to hurt Eric's memory our family friends and Community anymore we
01:56:08
have been through [Music] enough judge Richard morazzi spent very little time making his decision richens
01:56:16
would remain in custody the circumstances of this case weigh soundly against granting pre-trial release of
01:56:25
any kind Rich's family was disappointed they say her time in jail while waiting for her trial has taken its toll I hear
01:56:34
her on the phone I hear her sobbing in September 2023 Rich and's family says she had a medical emergency
01:56:43
in custody while taking prescription medications and needed to be rushed to the hospital what did she say happened
01:56:51
to her that they gave her the wrong medicine and it caused a seizure richens made a full recovery but while she was
01:56:58
away jail officials say they found this handwritten letter in her cell that was never sent the document later filed in
01:57:06
the court record has become known for the word scrolled at the top of the page walk the dog prosecutors say it's from
01:57:13
richens to her mother I take care of her 16-year-old dog M and her thing is be sure you walk her she's so wored about
01:57:22
this dog in November 2023 prosecutors filed this motion asking the court for a no contact order to deny Rich and's
01:57:31
access to her mother and brother in the motion they say the letter is evidence of witness tampering they say richens
01:57:40
gives her mother instructions on what her brother Ronnie should say in court the letter instructs Lisa Darden to
01:57:48
induce the defendant's brother Ronald Darden to testify falsely the motion states to me this letter is an attempt
01:57:58
to get a witness to testify to something that isn't true by spoon feeding the witness the testimony that he's supposed
01:58:06
to give in the letter richens writes that her defense will need to establish that Eric bought drugs while traveling
01:58:13
abroad we need some kind of connection here's what I'm thinking but you have to talk to Ronnie he would probably have to
01:58:20
testify to this in the letter it appears that she's laying out a little bit of her defense for example your name is
01:58:28
brought up Eric told Ronnie he gets pain pills and Fentanyl from Mexico almost like she's laying out a case M saying
01:58:37
tell Ronnie richens goes on to write Ronnie should have texts from Eric talking about getting high as well
01:58:45
reword this however he needs to to make the point just include it all the connection has to be made with Mexico
01:58:53
and drugs is she giving you instruction in this letter I don't know I don't know
01:58:58
one way or another um most of that unfortunately I can't speak about the things that are in the
01:59:05
letter are true things and everybody who's in her Circle already knew this but Corey has a different
01:59:14
explanation she says the letter is fiction in separate phone calls from jail that were recorded and later
01:59:21
entered into the the court record she told her mother and Ronnie that the letter was part of a book she's been
01:59:27
writing and that it's private the judge denied the motion for no contact saying the state had failed to prove witness
01:59:36
tampering it isn't witness tampering because it didn't go anywhere and it was never communicated to
01:59:44
anyone as the families wait for the trial they say their focus is on Eric and Corey's Three Sons
01:59:52
the family is concerned about the boys that's the main focus the boys that's who's important here right now both
02:00:01
families say they hope to gain custody the boys are currently living with a member of Eric's family Lisa says
02:00:08
they're only allowed to speak to their mother twice a week on a video call just heart-wrenching as to what they're going
02:00:15
through Lisa Ronnie and DJ have been denied private visits with the kids but Lisa says she does what she can to
02:00:23
support them and attends all their Sports practices and the reason I can do that it's a public place I can't be
02:00:30
stopped from going there I still get to see him I still get a hug and kiss and that keeps me
02:00:37
going besides the criminal case which could carry a sentence of 25 years to life there are multiple ongoing civil
02:00:45
cases regarding the fate of Eric's estate both sides believe the other is after the money both families are
02:00:53
concerned about the boys you could say that you could say that I wouldn't we believe that the defendant's family is
02:00:59
concerned about the money that they can get whoever ends up with the boys ends ups with the money that's all they want
02:01:07
it's not right until that's resolved both families are waiting for the trial to start and are hoping for a verdict
02:01:16
that delivers their version of Justice what is the family doing to stay strong now you know the family has the family
02:01:23
they have each other they feel like the state has put together a good case and they're going to stay United and and
02:01:30
support each other no matter what happens in this case she's innocent she's been thrown in jail over something
02:01:34
that she hasn't committed are you both confident that Corey will be found not guilty Lisa I am 100% 100% she'll be out
02:01:49
[Music] they were given life sentences for their notorious crime what did these parents
02:02:00
do to deserve that now they're hoping new evidence could reopen the case My Hope in the case is that they'll finally
02:02:05
walk out of prison have the mende brothers been punished enough 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on
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