Colo. man convicted of posing as wife’s ex, stalking, and fatally stabbing her in the heart

BROOMFIELD, Colo. (TCN) -- A jury found a 44-year-old man guilty of multiple charges, including murder, for posing as his wife’s ex-boyfriend, stalking her, then beating and stabbing her to death in their home.

On Dec. 14, 2023, Broomfield Police Department officers went to a home on the 3100 block of Promontory Loop for a welfare check and found 43-year-old Kristil Krug deceased inside. Four days later, investigators arrested her husband, Daniel Krug, on one count of first-degree murder. The 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office formally charged him on Dec. 21, 2023, with first-degree murder, two counts of stalking, and one count of criminal impersonation.

According to the district attorney’s office, starting around October 2023, Krug reportedly began stalking his estranged wife and "carried out an elaborate scheme to impersonate a fictitious stalker, attempting to frame an ex-boyfriend of Kristil’s who lived in Utah." The ex-boyfriend, however, had a "verifiable alibi" and police did not find any proof that he traveled to Colorado.

Daniel Krug reportedly bought burner phones, created fake email addresses, harassed her online, and "terrorized Kristil under the false identity." Krug reportedly shared a photo from the fake account of him showing up to work "to support the illusion that someone was stalking both of them." Kristil Krug became scared for her safety due to the stalking, so she started carrying a gun and taking firearm safety classes. Her kids knew about the stalker, and undercover police got involved to help figure out the person’s identity.

On Dec. 14, 2023, just before 8 a.m., Kristil Krug came home from dropping her kids off at school and entered her garage. Daniel Krug was reportedly "lying in wait," where he "ambushed Kristil from behind, striking her in the head multiple times with a blunt object before fatally stabbing her in the heart."

Daniel Krug reportedly tried to mislead detectives by sending texts from Kristil Krug’s phone to her brother and to a Broomfield Police detective about how she had been unfaithful. Those claims, however, were false. Daniel Krug used her phone to turn off the home security system and then covered the doorbell camera with tape.

Video footage showed Krug leaving the house at 8:24 a.m., which was about 30 minutes later than the time he typically left. He deactivated his car’s dashcam, then bought coffee before driving to work at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. He called and texted Kristil Krug at around noon, then called police and requested a welfare check. Officers arrived at their home at 12:28 p.m., and she was declared dead at 12:43 p.m.

The district attorney’s office said the evidence "pointed directly to Daniel," including a phone being at the exact locations as his personal phone several times, as well as one of the fake email addresses being created on his work network. He reportedly Google searched on Dec. 13, 2023, "How hard would you have to hit someone in the head to make them unconscious?" and "How long can you be unconscious without brain damage?"

Krug’s trial lasted two weeks, and on Thursday, April 17, a jury found him guilty of all charges. The murder conviction has a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

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