Daniel Bartholomew Krug (left, Broomfield Police Department; right, GiveSendGo)
A 43-year-old father in Colorado has been arrested for allegedly killing his 43-year-old wife, posing as his her ex-boyfriend to stalk and harass her for several months before beating and stabbing her to death inside of their family home.
Daniel Bartholomew Krug was taken into custody last month and charged with one count of first-degree murder — after deliberation, one count of criminal impersonation, and two counts of stalking in the brutal slaying of Kristil Krug, authorities announced.
According to the Broomfield Police Department, officers on Dec. 14 responded to a call requesting a welfare check on an individual at a residence located in the 3100 block of Promontory Loop in Broomfield, Colorado, which is about 20 miles north of Denver. The call was placed just before 1 p.m. by Daniel Krug.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders located an adult female victim — later identified as Kristil Krug — in the home’s garage. She appeared to be suffering from blunt force trauma injuries and a stab wound, cops said. Emergency medical personnel transported her to a local hospital. Tragically, Kristil Krug succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead.
Investigators said there was no sign of a struggle or forced entry and Kristil Krug’s concealed-carry sidearm was still on her person, indicating that she was either ambushed or knew her attacker, the Denver Post reported.
Police later announced that Daniel Krug was taken into custody on Dec. 16 and charged with his wife’s murder.
Authorities believe that prior to Kristil Krug’s murder, Daniel Krug spent months pretending to be his wife’s former boyfriend, sending her threatening text messages and emails in an attempt to pin her slaying on the other man.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Daily Camera, Kristil Krug and the ex-boyfriend dated for about a year before breaking up in 2000. She told investigators that he had contacted her a few times since then with occasional crude messages and sexual propositions, but nothing she had been particularly worried about.
On Oct. 31, 2023, however, Kristil Krug reportedly filed a police report claiming that the ex-boyfriend — who police now suspect was actually Daniel Krug — had been escalating his offensive behavior, sending her messages asking her to hook up and telling her to kill herself before sending her an email offering to kill Daniel Krug. The latter email included a photograph of Daniel Krug in the parking lot at his place of employment.
From Nov. 1 through Dec. 14, Daniel Krug, allegedly posed as the ex-boyfriend and sent an additional eight messages to his wife. One of those messages reportedly stated that her vehicle registration had expired, which was true, while another noted that she went to the dentist on Nov. 9, which she had.
A Nov. 13 message reportedly said, “U belong with me.,Ill get rid of him and then we can be together…they let me park and walk right into his (place of work)…Give me the signal and he wont come home.”
But evidence soon began to indicate that Daniel Krug had something to do with his wife’s murder, cops allege.
Detectives at the scene noticed that the home’s doorbell camera had recently been taped over and three of the four security cameras had mysteriously been turned off on the day of Kristil Krug’s death, the Denver Post reported. In an interview with police, Daniel Krug allegedly could not provide an explanation as to why the cameras were not on.
But seemingly the most damaging evidence came when investigators learned that the IP address used to send the messages and emails to Kristil Krug originated from the public Wi-Fi at Daniel Krug’s place of employment, per the Daily Camera.
Authorities said they also learned that the ex-boyfriend had been in Utah at the time of Kristil Krug’s death.
Additionally, Kristil Krug’s mother reportedly told authorities that her daughter was planning to divorce the husband who was “sometimes rough with the kids.” Kristil was reportedly planning on using photographic evidence of their injuries to seek full custody.
A GoFundMe campaign for the couple’s children had raised more than $43,600 as of Monday morning.
While speaking to investigators, Daniel Krug reportedly denied having any involvement in his wife’s slaying. Following a bond hearing, a judge ordered him to be held on $5 million bond. He is scheduled to appear for his preliminary hearing in February.
A family member also set up a GiveSendGo page to help Daniel Krug raise money for his legal defense, asserting that he is innocent. The page claims that an “evil person” who “remains at large” stalked and killed Kristil Krug, but that authorities blamed Daniel Krug “in their haste” to solve the crime.
Authorities are urging anyone with additional information relevant to the case to contact police detectives at 720-887-5268.
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