A Colorado attorney accused of setting his own house on fire last week appeared in court Tuesday after he was formally charged with two counts of felony arson.
Robert Werking — who had been representing Aurora dentist James Craig in a high-profile murder case — attended the brief hearing virtually and appeared to be sitting in a hospital bed. His attorney, David Beller, said in a statement that Werking is seeking mental health treatment.
“Being a defense lawyer necessarily means bearing the burden of living at all times in other people’s trauma. Sometimes, this means becoming a news story, when the weight of trauma is too much for us to continue to carry,” Beller said in the statement. “Mr. Werking is getting the mental health treatment so many of us delay receiving.”
Werking, 59, did not address the court except to ask for time to speak privately with his attorneys, Beller and Victor Stazzone.
Prosecutors charged Werking with first-degree and fourth-degree arson, both felonies, after authorities say he set fire to his own Centennial home just before midnight June 28.
First responders found him sitting on the front porch with flames burning behind him. Werking also faces a weapons charge from a June 14 incident. Beller asked the public to "withhold judgment" and extend Werking grace and compassion.
He and his wife, Lisa Fine Moses, were the attorneys representing Craig, who is charged with poisoning his wife to death. Werking withdrew from the case after his arrest, just days before Craig's jury trial, which is scheduled to start Thursday.
Fine Moses has remained as Craig's attorney. She is named as a victim in the arson case because Werking is accused of burning the home the couple owns together without her consent. The formal complaint also names Werking's neighbor as a victim, because the fire endangered the home the neighbor owned next door.
Beller declined to immediately comment Tuesday. Werking is next scheduled to return to court on Sept. 19.
Craig's trial is still set to go forward on Thursday. The 47-year-old is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Angela Craig, 43, who died March 18, 2023, from lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant found in over-the-counter eyedrops.
Investigators allege James Craig bought arsenic and cyanide days before his wife was poisoned to death, searched online about how to poison someone, was having an affair and faced financial difficulties.
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