The trial for a Colorado man accused of killing his wife after allegedly sending her disturbing messages — while pretending to be her ex-boyfriend — has begun.
Daniel Krug is charged with first-degree murder, stalking and criminal impersonation in connection with the December 2023 death of his wife, Kristil Krug, the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
On Friday, April 4, opening statements began in Krug’s trial, where prosecutors argued the 44-year-old deliberately planned the murder of his wife by waiting for her to arrive at their suburban Denver home before attacking her on Dec. 14, 2023, according to the Associated Press.
“She was putting the pieces together, and he was running out of time,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Kate Armstrong said in court, per the AP.
Kristil was found in the garage with two blunt-force trauma wounds to her back and a stab wound to her chest, CBS News reported, citing authorities.
Just a few months before her death, in October 2023, Kristil contacted the Broomfield Police Department believing that an old boyfriend from 20 years ago was harassing her, per an affidavit cited by the AP, CBS News and The Denver Post.
She received emails and text messages, including some that criticized her husband Daniel — one even calling him her “loser husband,” per the AP. Other messages said, “I’ll get rid of him and then we can be together,” and “U dont want him i know u want me,” CBS News reported.
She was also reportedly sent photos indicating that she was being stalked. But after Kristil was found dead, detectives recovered evidence allegedly showing that Daniel was actually the one sending his wife the messages, the outlets reported. Investigators allegedly traced the IP address for the emails and messages Kristil received back to Daniel’s job.
Authorities also said her husband was the only other person with access to surveillance cameras she had put in the home, which were turned off on the day of her death, per CBS News.
A relative told detectives that Kristil and Daniel, who wed in 2007, had been planning to divorce, The Denver Post reported.
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Daniel’s defense attorney, Joe Morales, contended that his client should not be linked to the killing since none of his DNA was found at the crime scene, and no blood was found on his clothes or in his car, the AP reported. Morales also said in court that prosecutors’ claim that Daniel sent text messages from Kristil’s phone after her death is baseless, saying that her phone was not tested by police for DNA, per the outlet.
As for Kristil’s ex-boyfriend, whom Daniel allegedly claimed to police was responsible for the killing, he was confirmed to have been living in Utah at the time of the alleged stalking, CBS News reported. He also provided alibis for when the photos were taken of Kristil and her husband and on the day of her death.
Kristil, a Boulder, Colo., native and mother of three, was remembered in her obituary as “a remarkable soul who touched the lives of those around her.”
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