Dateline: Secrets of Exam Room 9 - Who was Angela Craig and what happened to her? Details from the latest true crime episode, explored

Season 33, Episode 32 of Dateline NBC, titled Secrets of Exam Room 9, aired on Friday, September 5, 2025, at 10/9c on NBC.

The episode follows the terrifying real-life story of Angela Craig, whose sudden death prompted a startling investigation and a trial that rocked the nation.

In the most recent episode, viewers are drawn into the mysterious puzzle that started with Angela having odd illnesses, leading to her tragic death, and finally resulting in the arrest and conviction of her husband, James Craig. Dateline uncovers the shadowy secrets resting behind the doors of Exam Room 9 with new on-air revelations and case specifics.

The mystery behind this Dateline episode is not only based on Angela's sudden death, but also on the seemingly flawless appearance of her family and marriage. With medical professionals perplexed by the serious and puzzling symptoms that Angela exhibited, relatives, friends, and detectives gradually gathered chilling hints that led to the discovery of poisoning, backroom dealings, and cold-blooded lies.

Dateline: Who was Angela Craig, and what happened to her?

Angela Craig was a 43-year-old mother who lived in Aurora, Colorado. She was a reputed member of the local community, a loving mother, and seemed to have a perfectly ideal life with her husband, James Craig, a well-off dentist and a respected member of the local church.

Nevertheless, everything in Angela’s world collapsed in March 2023, when she abruptly started showing unexplained, debilitating symptoms.

Angela and James Craig jointly operated a dental practice known as Summerbrook Dental in Aurora. Angela was the heart of the busy family, being actively involved in family and business matters. In the Dateline episode, the Craigs were described as playful and loving by friends and colleagues.

However, Angela started to feel seriously ill on March 6, 2023. She complained of blurred vision and feeling dizzy and, through text, informed her husband:

“My eyes don’t want to focus. I feel drugged.”

James brought her to Parker Adventist Hospital, where doctors were unable to identify the source of her symptoms despite a significant amount of testing. Messages between the two, included in police warrants, were apparently loving, with James sending words of encouragement and food plans as Angela came home.

Meanwhile, Angela was on a downward spiral as her health worsened. Within a day, she was rehospitalized with serious signs of vomiting, weakness, and confusion. This confounded emergency room personnel, as she showed typical signs of arsenic poisoning, according to medical toxicologists.

Angela was admitted to the hospital nearly twice in 14 days. Her symptoms always came back every time she went home, and each time James Craig was a part of her day-to-day life, such as preparing her morning protein shakes.

As per Dateline, hospital staff and Angela were unaware of the fact that her husband was conducting internet searches on undetectable poisons, including things like:

“How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human?”

“Top 5 undetectable poisons that show no sign of foul play.”

Later, the police found out that James Craig used a new email address, “Jim and Waffles,” to purchase both arsenic and potassium cyanide online.

A crucial twist to the case occurred when a parcel was sent to James Craig in his dental office containing potassium cyanide. He instructed employees not to open it, but a co-worker looked inside and noticed the label, thus becoming instantly suspicious.

This lead was reported to the police when Angela was still in the hospital. Her friend and James's business partner, Ryan Redfearn, notified nurses about the fatal delivery.

Angela experienced a severe deterioration on March 15, 2023, when James brought her some food to the hospital. She had a seizure, her vital signs collapsed, and she ended up on life support. According to the Dateline episode, Angela did not recover and died 3 days later at 43.

Dateline: Unraveling the motive and the final investigation

Investigators were connecting the dots even before Angela had died. Autopsy revealed physical evidence of lethal cyanide and tetrahydrozoline (used in some eye drops) concentrations in her blood, and previous hospital tests found toxic concentrations of arsenic.

As per Dateline, investigators felt that the compounding searches, suspicious purchases, and repetitive opportunity (his daily contact with the food and drinks that Angela consumed) provided James Craig with the means and access to execute the crime.

Digging to motive, detectives discovered that James was having an affair with an orthodontist he met at a Las Vegas dental conference several weeks before. Extreme financial issues were also revealed by investigators: the family dental clinic had gone bankrupt in 2020, and James Craig had over $2 million in debts when he killed Angela.

Prosecutors would subsequently claim that Angela’s $3.4 million life insurance would have provided him with an additional motive.

Though the trial defense implied that Craig could have been studying poisons due to his own mental health issues, the overwhelming evidence and ongoing deceit led to one conclusion: premeditated murder.

Within hours of killing Angela, James Craig was arrested and accused of first-degree murder. The jury found out all the details of his deceit at trial, including his secret purchases of poison, his efforts to gain influence with witnesses, and other attempts at concealing evidence.

James Craig was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole in July 2025.

The tragic tale revealed in the episode of Dateline: Secrets of Exam Room 9 serves as a cautionary warning about the dangers of trust, betrayal, and the devastating impact of concealed ill will.

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