Kriti Mehrotra
When 43-year-old Kristil Grimsrud Krug was found dead in the garage of her suburban Broomfield, Colorado, home on December 14, 2023, it left her entire community baffled to the core. That’s because, as explored in ABC’s ’20/20: He’s Right Behind You’ as well as NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Phantom,’ the hard-working biochemical engineer and mother of three had been knocked unconscious before being stabbed to the heart. Ultimately, her husband of 16 years was accused of the crime, leading to his arrest, trial, conviction, and sentencing in a little more than a year owing to the evidence against him.
Daniel Krug Faked the Threatening and Traumatizing Stalking of His Wife
Although it’s unclear precisely when Daniel Bartholomew Krug first came across Kristil Grimsrug, we do know they had started a romantic involvement by the time the mid-2000s rolled around. In fact, the duo happily tied the knot in 2007, shortly following which they settled in the suburban region between Denver and Boulder before starting to plan a family together. They welcomed three children into their world, born in 2009, 2012, and 2015. However, everything changed in 2023 as their marriage was falling apart to such an extent that Kristil was looking into filing for divorce with full custody of the kids.
According to court records, that’s when Daniel decided to play “puppet master” by scaring Kristil into believing she had a stalker and then protecting her to hopefully win her back. It was in October 2023 when the biochemical engineer had contacted the Broomfield Police Department to let them know that she thought her old boyfriend from over 20 years ago was harassing her. She told them they had dated for a year when they were 17/18 before parting ways in 2000, but now he was messaging her again, asking to hook up or sending threatening messages about her, Daniel, or more.
As per records, the stalker asked Kristil to “hook up” while he was in town, and when she didn’t respond, more texts and emails came flooding in from the same number/account. There were even ones that referred to Daniel as her “loser husband,” indicated violence by suggesting she didn’t deserve her home, and indicated she was being watched by reportedly sending her creepy photos. The stalker also sent an image of her car in front of a dentist’s office where she had an appointment, and one of her husband getting out of his car at work, suggesting she was being watched most of the time. However, all these were traced back to the IP address for Daniel’s job, and his purchases showed he’d bought a burner phone via a gift card. The burner phone was often found to have been in the same general location as his phone and the texts.
There Was a Mountain of Evidence Against Daniel Krug
As time passed by, officials believed Daniel had started to realize he could get into trouble for the stalking lies, and thus began planning how to remove his wife from the situation for good. His motive, they said, was to silence her and ensure he could never leave her, as she was reportedly planning to. Therefore, per prosecutors, he waited for Kristil to return home after taking two of their children to school on December 14, 2023, and then killed her. He left home for his workplace half an hour later than usual, all the security cameras of their home except the garage were down, and then he spent precious moments at a coffee shop despite telling the detective he was late because of diarrhea.
What’s more, the dashcam on Daniel’s car was off for halfway through the ride, when he never usually shut it off, and merely hours later, he was the one to dial 911. According to records, he asked the local police to conduct a welfare check on his wife since he hadn’t been able to get in touch with her for a few hours, and proceeded to call her mother to do the same. He then arrived at the scene himself, but by this point, officials had already found Kristil and declared her dead upon conducting necessary recovery procedures. He came across as a devastated husband at the time, but things changed.
As per records, Kristil’s ex-boyfriend, who had been alleged to have been stalking her for the past few months, was residing in Utah at the time and had been nowhere near the scene of the crime. So, he was cleared of any suspicions. Thus, investigators looked deeper, uncovered Daniel’s strange behavior that morning, and learned something even stranger. While he had no blood on his clothes, shoes, or car, his phone data showed that when he left home, he initially went north and did not move for five minutes before heading to his usual coffee shop. They believe he discarded the evidence during the 5 minutes. So, with this and the indication that he was the one stalking Kristil, he was arrested on December 16, 2023.
Daniel Krug is Currently Serving a Life Term in State Prison
When Daniel ultimately stood trial for the charges against him, the defense argued his innocence by placing the blame on either Kristil’s aforementioned ex or someone she was having an affair with. They also asserted there was a partial fingerprint and a bloody footprint found at the scene that did not belong to Daniel, but to no avail. The prosecutors stated that the victim’s ex was confirmed to be in Utah at the time of the incident, and there was nothing to suggest Kristil was having an affair. As for the prints and the lack of blood spatter on Daniel, they stated that the blood was concentrated near Kristil’s injuries, so it’s possible he didn’t have any stain.
Prosecutors even presented evidence indicating it was Daniel who had used Kristil’s phone to shut down three of their home cameras, used tape on another, and left only the outer garage one running for his alibi. They then painted a picture of how he also used her phone after killing to send himself a couple of texts, theorizing he had used gloves while doing so, only to call the police himself around 3-4 hours later. They reiterated his motive to be revenge of sorts, as he didn’t want his wife to leave him and take their kids away with her.
In the end, on April 17, 2025, Daniel was found guilty of one count each of first-degree murder, stalking (extreme emotional distress), stalking (credible threat), and criminal impersonation. Around a week later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction, plus an additional 9½ years for the latter three convictions. Therefore, today, at the age of 44, he remains incarcerated at the mixed-security Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado, where he is expected to remain for the rest of his natural life.
