Man posed as wife’s ex to stalk and kill her, CO officials say. He’s convicted
A man accused of posing as his wife’s ex-boyfriend to stalk her for months before her death has been convicted, Colorado prosecutors say.
Daniel Krug, 44, was convicted of multiple charges in the 2023 killing of his wife, Kristil Krug, Colorado’s 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in an April 17 news release.
After the verdict was read, an officer placed Daniel Krug in handcuffs while his wife’s family sat across the courtroom, the Associated Press reported
“He didn’t love her. He hated her,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Kate Armstrong said during closing arguments Wednesday, April 16, the outlet reported. “Think about what he did to her.”
Phillip Geigle, Daniel Krug’s defense attorney, maintained his client’s innocence in court, KMGH reported.
“There is an enormous disconnect between the physical evidence and the circumstantial picture the prosecution wants you to believe,” Geigle said. “Mr. Krug did not kill his wife. He did not commit these crimes.”
Attack after school drop off
Kristil Krug came home after dropping off her children at school just before 8 a.m. Dec. 14, 2023, prosecutors say.
She entered the garage, where her husband “ambushed” her, prosecutors said.
Daniel Krug used a “blunt object” to hit her in the head multiple times, then fatally stabbed her in the heart, prosecutors said.
‘Exhaustive investigation’
Broomfield police’s “exhaustive investigation” led them to identify her husband as a suspect, prosecutors say.
Daniel Krug tried to “cover his tracks and mislead investigators” by sending messages from his wife’s phone later that morning, prosecutors say.
He sent two messages, one to his wife’s brother and another to a Broomfield detective, that implied she had cheated on her husband, which was later proven to be untrue, prosecutors said.
Then, Daniel Krug used his wife’s phone to turn off their home security system at 8:15 a.m. and used masking tape to cover the family’s doorbell camera, prosecutors said.
Daniel Krug was seen leaving the home at 8:24 a.m. on surveillance video, prosecutors said.
He turned off his car’s dash camera, then stopped to buy a coffee and started driving to his job in Glendale, prosecutors said.
Shortly before 9 a.m., Daniel Krug got messages he had pre-scheduled to be sent to himself from his wife’s phone, trying to make “an alibi and create the illusion she was still alive when he left,” according to prosecutors.
Evidence showed, however, that Kristil Krug’s phone had not been touched since after 8:22 a.m., prosecutors said.
Daniel Krug made it to work just before 9:30 a.m., prosecutors said.
He tried calling his wife and sent a few text messages at noon, prosecutors said.
With no response, prosecutors said, Daniel Krug called Broomfield police to ask for a welfare check on his wife.
Officers found his wife “in the garage with clear signs of head trauma and a stab wound,” and she was pronounced dead a short time later, prosecutors said.
‘Puppet master’
In a ruse to save his marriage, prosecutors said Daniel Krug played “puppet master,” impersonating a fake stalker to scare his wife and unite “them against a common threat,” the Associated Press reported.
He pretended to be his wife’s ex-boyfriend, prosecutors said.
“Daniel terrorized Kristil under the false identity,” using “fake emails, burner phones, and online harassment,” prosecutors said.
In one instance, he sent his wife “a photo of himself arriving at work” as a way of furthering the idea that the ex-boyfriend was stalking him as well, prosecutors said.
The illusion led to Kristil Krug’s “severe anxiety and fear for her safety” to the point she started “carrying a concealed weapon,” according to prosecutors.
Police started watching the situation, “even going undercover and surveilling Daniel and Kristil,” prosecutors said.
Kristil Krug, though, “was putting the pieces together, and (Daniel Krug) was running out of time,” Armstrong told jurors as to why she believed Daniel Krug fatally attacked his wife, the Associated Press reported.
‘Overwhelming evidence’
Shortly after Kristil Krug’s death, prosecutors said, police investigators found her ex-boyfriend in Utah, more than eight hours away from Broomfield.
The man had a valid alibi, and there were no signs he had traveled, leading investigators to rule him out a suspect, prosecutors said.
“Instead, digital forensics pointed directly to Daniel,” prosecutors said.
Among the fake email accounts used by the “stalker” was one that was “created on a password-protected network” at Daniel Krug’s workplace, prosecutors said.
Burner phones used in Kristil Krug’s harassment were bought “using a Visa gift card registered to Daniel,” prosecutors said, adding that one of those phones was pinpointed to the same location as his personal phone on more than one occasion, prosecutors said.
The day before his wife died, Daniel Krug also made a number of Google searches, including: “When is a head injury a cause for concern?”; “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?”
“Overwhelming evidence” led to Daniel Krug’s arrest and charging, prosecutors said.
After a more than two-week long trial, a jury convicted him of multiple charges, including first-degree murder, stalking – emotional distress, stalking – threat – repeated communication and criminal impersonation, according to prosecutors.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, April 18, and faces “mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole,” prosecutors said.
‘A remarkable soul’
Loved ones remembered Kristil Krug, a Colorado native, as “a remarkable soul who touched the lives of those around her with her passion for the performing arts, modern dance, and an exceptional intellect in the sciences,” her obituary says.
Her three children “were the light of her life,” according to her obituary.
“Kristil was known for her kindness, generosity, and infectious laughter,” her obituary says.
Broomfield is about a 20-mile drive northwest from Denver.
This story was originally published April 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Man posed as wife’s ex to stalk and kill her, CO officials say. He’s convicted."
