Imagine this: you think your ex is stalking you. Sending creepy messages. Popping up in places he shouldn’t be. Making your life a waking nightmare. You tell your husband, terrified… but the whole time? It’s him. Your own husband. That’s exactly what happened in one of Colorado’s most messed-up murder cases in years.
44-year-old Daniel Krug has officially been found guilty of murdering his wife, Kristil, after secretly harassing her for months — by pretending to be her ex-boyfriend.
Yep. He literally created a fake digital identity, stalked her, gaslit her into thinking she was in danger… then swooped in like the hero. Except in the end, he became the killer.
The Setup
It started in October 2023. Kristil, a respected biomedical engineer, began getting weird messages — threatening emails, creepy texts, and even photos from what she believed was her ex. He seemed to know where she was, what she was doing. It was classic stalker behaviour.
But behind the curtain? It was Krug all along. Using burner phones, work computers, and fake accounts, he convinced her she was being hunted by someone else. Prosecutors say he wanted to control her — to isolate her and make her scared so he could play the saviour.
But when it started falling apart, he made the ultimate move.
The Murder
December 14, 2023. Kristil had just dropped the kids off at school. She came home — and never left.
Krug, who had already disabled the house’s security cameras, attacked her in their bedroom. He knocked her unconscious, stabbed her in the heart, and staged the scene to look like an attack from her “stalker.”
But investigators quickly found cracks. The supposed ex-boyfriend had a rock-solid alibi, hours away. The IP addresses led back to Krug. His DNA was at the scene. The game was up.
The Verdict
In April 2025, Krug was convicted of first-degree murder, stalking, and criminal impersonation. He’s now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole — plus nearly 10 more years for the rest of the charges.
Prosecutors said it was “manipulation on a terrifying scale.” Kristil’s father called it “pure selfish evil.”
So Was It Catfishing?
Not in the Tinder-scammer kind of way. But it was a form of digital deception — full-on identity theft with deadly consequences. Krug wasn’t trying to flirt or scam his wife out of cash. He was creating a fake enemy to control her… and ultimately, to cover up murder.
The Takeaway?
It’s the stuff of Netflix thrillers — only real, and devastating. A husband fakes a stalker to manipulate his wife… and then kills her to protect his secret. It’s not just betrayal. It’s psychological warfare. And now, he’s paying the price — behind bars for the rest of his life.
