Digital Trail Leads to Conviction: Husband Sentenced After Wife's Murder and Elaborate Stalking Campaign

Summary: Kristil Krug, 43, was found dead in her garage in Broomfield, Colorado, on Dec. 14, 2023. What began as an escalating stalking campaign grew into a homicide investigation that prosecutors say was solved largely through digital forensics. Her husband, Daniel (Dan) Krug, was convicted of first-degree murder, stalking and criminal impersonation and sentenced to life without parole plus additional years for related counts.

Discovery and immediate response

On the morning Kristil was found, victim advocate Heather Aites accompanied her husband, Dan Krug, to the police station. Officers and investigators from the Broomfield Police Department quickly combed the scene, canvassed neighbors and reviewed security footage. Authorities initially focused on a suspected outside stalker after Kristil had reported repeated threatening messages and emails in the months prior to her death.

Stalking, impersonation and mounting fear

In the fall of 2023, Kristil told her father and police detective Andrew Martinez that she felt terrorized by an anonymous sender. The harassment began with crude, obsessive messages and escalated to threats and a photograph of Dan arriving at his workplace. Kristil identified an ex-boyfriend, Anthony Holland, as a possible source of the messages because Holland had previously contacted her over many years.

Kristil hired a private investigator and located Holland living in Utah. Detectives interviewed Holland and found he had an alibi for the morning of the murder: a Kohl's receipt and employment records that placed him in Utah at the time Kristil was attacked. Investigators released Holland and continued pursuing other leads.

Digital evidence redirects the investigation

Digital forensic examiner Randy Pihlak obtained expedited records once the case became a homicide investigation. He discovered that two accounts used to harass Kristil transmitted messages from the same IP address: the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, where Dan worked. That finding prompted detectives to refocus on Dan as a suspect.

Additional technical analysis showed that some messages Kristil appeared to send the morning of the attack were actually scheduled in advance, a feature the investigators say Dan used to create an alibi. Forensic review also identified internet searches on Dan's phone about head trauma and being knocked unconscious conducted the day before the murder. A photograph attached to a threatening email — purportedly showing Dan at his workplace — was shown at trial to have been taken as a timed selfie, according to the state's expert.

Arrest, prosecution and verdict

Two days after the killing, after surveillance and coordinated units followed Dan to a grocery store, detectives arrested him. The autopsy showed Kristil had been struck from behind with a blunt object, suffering multiple skull fractures, then stabbed in the chest.

Prosecutors argued Dan had orchestrated a campaign of stalking and impersonation — including sending threatening messages in Kristil's name and using digital tricks — to manipulate and frighten her. They said his failures to stop her leaving him led to the fatal escalation. The defense questioned aspects of the investigation, noting that the blunt weapon and knife were never recovered and raising issues about forensic testing. After deliberations, the jury found Dan Krug guilty of first-degree murder, multiple stalking counts and criminal impersonation. He was sentenced to life without parole on the murder charge, plus nine-and-a-half years on other counts.

Family aftermath and lingering questions

Kristil's family described her as a talented engineer and devoted mother whose life was consumed by fear in the months before her death. After the conviction, family members and investigators reflected on whether a different investigative approach earlier in the stalking probe might have changed the outcome. Detective Martinez has said the case has haunted him and that, in hindsight, he would have acted differently; Kristil's parents remain uncertain whether any intervention would have prevented the attack.

The family has launched a fundraiser to support Kristil's three children and tries to preserve her memory through shared activities, including the father-daughter tradition of working on classic cars. Her loved ones hope the case serves as a warning about the dangers of stalking and the importance of rapid, thorough responses to threats.

"She was terrified," said Kristil's sister. "If her story helps just one person in a dangerous situation, it's worth telling."

Note: This account summarizes investigative findings and court outcomes based on statements from law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel, the victim's family, and digital-forensic testimony presented at trial.