July 16, 2025
Live Updates - Trial Day-2
Recess until 1:30 p.m.
Madeline Rhodes
The court is on recess until 1:30 p.m. for a lunch break.
Defense pokes holes in 'personal package' found
Madeline Rhodes
Romero confirms with the defense that she didn’t open the box with hazardous markings on it. The package, which was out of the box, didn’t have hazardous markings on it. Romero said she was handed the package with an invoice addressed to Craig.
Romero said she can’t confirm that the box labeled with hazardous material was the same box the package was in.
Defense walks through March 6 with employee
Madeline Rhodes
Defense also asked about March 6, which the prosecution brought up in their questioning. Romero told the prosecution that she saw him in exam room 9 instead of his office, like she expected.
Defense first argued that going to exam room 9 would’ve made a conversation on his phone when he walked in more private than in his office, which Romero confirmed. Romero also confirmed that she couldn’t see anything on Craig’s computer screen while he was in the exam room.
Former employee confirms they were 'emotionally intimate'
Madeline Rhodes
Romero confirmed with the defense that she and Craig were “emotionally intimate” with each other and they exchanged several text messages.
Cross examination begins on former employee
Madeline Rhodes
The defense has started questioning a former employee at Summer Brook Dental Group, Caitlin Romero.
Nurse: 'He was always attentive'
Madeline Rhodes
Prosecution first called Blaine Cullen, RN, to the stand, who was working when Angela was hospitalized. She told the prosecution that when she came into Angela’s hospital room and Angela’s vitals were unstable, it was just Craig and his wife in the room.
She confirmed with defense that while they were helping Angela, he wasn’t trying to interfere, and from what she could remember, “he was always attentive.”
Employee describes 'personal package' delivered to office
Madeline Rhodes
Romero said on March 6, 2023, Craig recieved a call from his sick wife, and he left the office. Romero said she stayed at work after everyone had left that day, which is when Craig came in and went into his office while on the phone.
When Romero was leaving the practice, she said she went out the back door, where she saw him on the computer in exam room 9, rather than in his office. Romero said she’s never seen him on that computer after hours.
When asking why he was in the exam room, Romero said Craig told her he wanted to be alone, since he shared an office with another person and wasn’t sure if the other doctor was in there. Romero asked about his wife, and Craig told her she was okay, it was a stressful day, and he came back to the office to get away for a minute.
Romero said that after she left the office, Craig texted her that there was a “personal package” coming into the office, and when it arrived, to put it on his desk and not open it.
Throughout the week, he was in and out of the office since his wife was sick. Romero said Craig made two comments about thinking Angela “wouldn’t make it through the night,” one on March 9, when Angela was readmitted to the hospital.
Romero said she received multiple texts from Craig asking if the package had arrived.
Once the package was delivered, Romero said another employee handed her a foil package. She asked where the box was, and when the employee handed her the box, she saw it was a box with a biohazard sticker on it, addressed to Craig as a personal package.
Romero looked through the invoice to see if it was something they were waiting on, which is when she saw it was potassium cyanide, which had never been delivered to a dentist’s office when she worked there.
Romero said she looked up potassium cyanide poisoning symptoms, which she believed were similar to what Craig described his wife was having. Romero reported her findings to another dentist and a police officer.
Former employee called to stand
Madeline Rhodes
Prosecution called a former employee at Summer Brook Dental Group, Caitlin Romero, to the stand. At the time, Romero said Craig was the dentist at the practice. Romero was the office manager.
Romero now works at Fit To Smile Dental, a company that partnered with Summer Brook Dental while Craig was employed.