Colo. Man Accused of Killing Wife After Sending Her Disturbing Messages Under the Guise of an Ex to Go On Trial

• Daniel Krug was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, stalking and criminal impersonation in connection to the death of his wife, Kristil Krug.
• Detectives said in court documents that they traced the IP address of disturbing messages Kristil received in the months leading up to her death back to Daniel’s workplace.
• Opening statements in his trial could happen as soon as Friday, according to the Associated Press.

A man accused of killing his wife after allegedly sending her disturbing messages, while pretending to be one of her ex-boyfriends, will head to trial soon.

Daniel Krug was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, stalking and criminal impersonation in connection to the death of his wife, Kristil Krug, in December 2023, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado.

Over a year and a half later, his trial is scheduled to begin. Opening statements in the trial could happen as soon as Friday, according to the Associated Press. 

The Broomfield Police Department and Krug’s lawyers did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Kristil first contacted the Broomfield Police Department in Colorado in October 2023 claiming that an old boyfriend from 20 years ago was harassing her, according to case documents and an arrest affidavit obtained by the AP, CBS News and The Denver Post.

Email and text messages she received included ones that were negative against Daniel, including one that referred to him as 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, including one of her car outside a dentist office during an appointment and one of her husband getting out of a car and heading to work.

A few weeks after she began receiving the messages, she was found with two blunt-force trauma wounds to her back and a stab wound to her chest in her home in Denver, the outlets reported.

Detectives found evidence that Daniel was actually the one sending his wife the messages, according to the news outlets. They traced the IP address for the emails and messages Kristil received back to Daniel’s workplace.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.          

Security cameras in her home — which Kristil installed shortly after she started receiving messages — had been turned off on the day of her death, and her husband was the only other person with access to them, according to CBS News. The cameras also showed no evidence of anyone entering the home in the hours leading up to her death, per the AP.

Her ex-boyfriend, who had previously contacted her in 2010 and 2016, was found to have been living in Utah at the time of the alleged stalking and provided alibis for when the photos were taken of Kristil and her husband and on the day of her death, CBS News reported. His devices also showed no proof that he had sent Kristil any messages leading up to her death. 

A relative told detectives that Kristil and Daniel, who wed in 2007, had been planning to divorce, per The Denver Post.

In Kristil’s obituary, she was remembered as “a remarkable soul who touched the lives of those around her.” The obituary continued, “She accomplished so much in her short life, and had so much left to contribute before being so savagely removed. The world will miss what she had yet to give us.”