The Perfect Husband's Dark Deception: A Murder Hidden in Plain Sight

Kristil Krug, a married mother of three living in a Denver suburb, was bludgeoned and stabbed to death in her own garage just 11 days before Christmas. Her killer was not the teenage ex-boyfriend she feared—it was her husband, Daniel Krug, who had spent months impersonating the young man to terrorize his family.

The case, featured in ABC's *20/20* Season 48 premiere episode titled "He's Right Behind You," aired Friday, September 26, 2025, and presents one of the most chilling examples of domestic deception leading to murder. Kristil believed she was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, Jack Anthony Holland, after receiving threatening messages and sensing someone watching her. She reported the harassment to police, shared communication logs with investigators, and worked closely with law enforcement and her husband to track down the supposed stalker.

What Kristil didn't know was that the man sleeping in a separate bedroom down the hall was orchestrating the entire nightmare.

Police investigation eventually turned to Daniel Krug himself. Cell phone forensics pinpointed his location during times when the mysterious stalker had been active, exposing the elaborate deception. Daniel had been using burner phones to contact his wife, posing as her ex-boyfriend while simultaneously positioning himself as a concerned husband working with authorities to catch the perpetrator. Prosecutors described him as a "puppet master" who was "losing control" and in denial about his deteriorating marriage.

Daniel admitted during police questioning that their marriage had been falling apart for some time. The couple slept in separate bedrooms, and he claimed he had asked for a divorce. Rather than accept the end of his marriage, he constructed an elaborate psychological trap—one that ultimately ended in murder.