[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Mom and Mystery.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am your host Kelly and before we dive into today's episode, I want to know that this episode is going to be available in video format.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you prefer to watch these stories be told with pictures and video, just to get that extra detail and know who we're talking about, then you can find the videos on YouTube or patreon.com slash mom and mystery.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, as some of you may know, I am from the Kansas City area, I was born and raised in Shawnee, which is a suburb of Kansas City, but I grew up with the chiefs on in the background, even when they really weren't shit for a team.

[SPEAKER_00]: So naturally, when I learned that Travis Kelsey was dating none other than the global superstar Taylor Swift, I was excited for what that meant for our city.

[SPEAKER_00]: And especially our economy and our small business owners, we've had a lot of smaller shops that are small businesses that Taylor has actually sought out for some of her game daywear.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that's a really cool thing that she's done, but I will say I'm not actually a Swiftie by any means.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't really listen to a lot of music, but my daughter does love her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it was always kind of surreal to see Taylor Swift at these games at Arrowhead.

[SPEAKER_00]: at a place I've been to numerous times, and it was pretty cool to see her walk in, greet fans, take pictures with some of the little girls there, and enjoy the game from Travis to Sweet.

[SPEAKER_00]: But at the first game after Charlie Kirk got shot, things changed pretty drastically.

[SPEAKER_00]: This time, when Taylor got there, instead of greeting and smiling for cameras, employees brought in this makeshift bulletproof wall panel thing on wheels, and they stretched it out and then rolled it as she walked behind it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Completely blocking.

[SPEAKER_00]: Literally any trace of her from any view, you can't even see her shoes.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I, like many others, thought maybe it was because of the Charlie Kirk shooting, maybe she was scared for her safety after seeing how Charlie was shot in a public space in broad daylight, but come to find out the real reason is somehow even scarier than that.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Brian Jason Wagner is a 45-year-old man from Colorado who allegedly showed up at Taylor's house in LA.

[SPEAKER_00]: numerous times beginning in July of 2024, and continuing into May.

[SPEAKER_00]: Taylor said in a court filing quote, I am informed that Mr.

Wagner made various statements about living at my property, not true, being in a relationship with me, not true, believing I am the mother of his son, not true, and needing to see me in person, all of which are untrue and disconnected from reality, and quote.

[SPEAKER_00]: Taylor has faced numerous stalkers over the years.

[SPEAKER_00]: In 2017, 29-year-old Mohamed Jafar was sent away psychiatric facility in New York after he made dozens of calls to Taylor Swift's management company and then entered her Tribeca apartment building.

[SPEAKER_00]: In 2018, Roger Alvarado broke into Taylor's home, [SPEAKER_00]: He was in jail for nine months and then sentenced to a longer term after another break in.

[SPEAKER_00]: The same year, Julius Sandrock was arrested after traveling more than 1,000 miles to Taylor Swift's home with ammunition, a knife, rope, and gloves found in his car.

[SPEAKER_00]: Six other people were convicted of stalking Swift in the following years, including an incident in 2020, in which a man crashed his car into her apartment building and attempted to gain entry.

[SPEAKER_00]: In June of this year, Taylor was able to get a TRO against Brian Jason Wagner, and in September, the restraining order was granted.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's full effect for five years.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's worth noting, Brian was not at that court hearing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So private investigators tried to track him down and to this day they have not been able to do so.

[SPEAKER_00]: So naturally this puts Taylor Swift in her whole team on high alert because a man who was completely disconnected from reality claiming that Taylor is the mother of his son who does exist by the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: He has a son and he's claiming Taylor Swift is his mother.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he's sneaking [SPEAKER_00]: But here's the thing about stalkers.

[SPEAKER_00]: They don't just target celebrities.

[SPEAKER_00]: We hear about cases like Taylor's because she's famous, but the truth is, stalking happens every day to people who are not in the spotlight.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not always a fan turned obsessed or some stranger on the internet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's someone close to the victim, someone that they thought that they could trust at one point in their life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And just like Taylor's team is now on high alert for a man that they cannot find, there are cases where everyday people are left to fend for themselves against someone just as unhinged.

[SPEAKER_00]: So today's story is about a woman named Kristiel Krug, a wife, a mom, someone who wasn't a global superstar, but still found herself at the center of a nightmare with a man who just would not let go.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the similarities to what we've just talked about, the stalking, the threats, the feeling of being hunted, are chilling.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is the story of Christyl Krug.

[SPEAKER_00]: Christyl Grim's rude crew was a 43-year-old mother of three living in the peaceful suburbs of Brumfield, Colorado.

[SPEAKER_00]: She was known as a remarkable woman, a talented modern dancer with a brilliant mind for science.

[SPEAKER_00]: In college, Christine earned a degree in biochemical engineering, and went on to build a successful 19-year career at a Gillian Technologies as a Project Manager, as a Project Manager.

[SPEAKER_00]: She and her husband, Daniel Crew, could married in 2007 and built a life together in the upscale anthem neighborhood, raising their three children, two girls and a boy, ages 14, 11 and 8.

[SPEAKER_00]: This neighborhood, to give you a picture of what it looks like, it's a fairly new development with views of the Rocky Mountains, parks located throughout this community.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a trail system, two amenity centers, creeks, a beautifully manic, manicured landscaping, [SPEAKER_00]: It's an upscale neighborhood with homes in the upper six figures and into the seven figures.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, not a place where you might expect a story like this, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: By all appearances, the crugs were normal, happy family.

[SPEAKER_00]: While Crystal worked at a joint, Daniel worked for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as I said, they shared three children who were 14 to 11 and 8 in 2023 when this story takes place.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the fall of 2023, an insidious threat invaded their lives, one that no one in their quiet community ever saw coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: In October of 2023, Christine began receiving a series of strange and disturbing text messages.

[SPEAKER_00]: The messages came in the form of emails and texts from someone that was claiming to be an old boyfriend of Christine's, a man from 20 years ago, whom she hadn't been in touch with in ages, and at first it seemed like a bizarre blast from the past, why would a former flame suddenly resurface after two decades?

[SPEAKER_00]: But it didn't take long for his tone to quickly become harassing and obsessive.

[SPEAKER_00]: The messages were laced with crude language and unwelcome advances and some took direct aim at Christine's husband Daniel calling him her loser husband.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were messages like, quote, I go to Boulder every few weeks and thought we could hook up.

[SPEAKER_00]: You game?

[SPEAKER_00]: you don't want him, I know you want me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Another chilling message promised, I'll get rid of him and then we can be together, suggesting that this mystery man was willing to harm Daniel to win Christille back.

[SPEAKER_00]: Another said, this year husband, he needs to drive safe, your license plate expired, got to fix that.

[SPEAKER_00]: from a text that was accompanied by a photo of Daniel near his vehicle, a little too close for comfort, and the sender seemed to know where they lived because he would say things like, you don't belong in that big house, you belong with me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll get rid of him and then we can be together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then the email started.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some said things like, I know how to satisfy you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll do it for us, help me get rid of him, then we can be together just like you want.

[SPEAKER_00]: you don't want him, I know you want me, and I know he's stopping you from talking to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Though Kristille was alarmed and confused.

[SPEAKER_00]: The ex-boyfriend in question was someone that she had dated around the early 2000s, and according to what she later told police, he had sporadically tried to contact her in the year since in 2002, 2005, 2010 and 2016, all with unwanted propositions.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, she had never responded to those advances, and he would always go quiet when she ignored him.

[SPEAKER_00]: She never felt the need to report those past interactions, but now, in 2023, the tone of his messages had turned menacing.

[SPEAKER_00]: It felt like he was everywhere, constantly watching her.

[SPEAKER_00]: In late October, Christina received an email that included a photo taken of her own car parked outside of a dentist's office.

[SPEAKER_00]: proof that whoever was messaging her had followed her to this appointment.

[SPEAKER_00]: Another email included a snapshot of her husband Daniel stepping out of his car at work, as if the stalker had been lurking in weight to capture that moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: As the disturbing messages continued, Christel's anxiety only mounted.

[SPEAKER_00]: It truly seemed that a relentless stalker was hunting her.

[SPEAKER_00]: By late October of 2023, Christel was so frightened that she went to the broomfield police [SPEAKER_00]: She told officers she believed the culprit was her ex-boyfriend from two decades ago, given that the emails were coming in under his name and referenced their past.

[SPEAKER_00]: The police took her complaint seriously.

[SPEAKER_00]: After one particularly threatening message on November 13th, which spoke of getting rid of Daniel, officers actually performed a well-check on Daniel at his workplace and on Crystal at home just to ensure the family's safety.

[SPEAKER_00]: Christine's life quickly became consumed by dread, according to Case Documents she grew, quote, very fearful for her safety and the safety of her family, suffering severe emotional distress from the constant terror.

[SPEAKER_00]: She became hyper-vigilant, carrying a concealed handgun everywhere for protection.

[SPEAKER_00]: She even enrolled in firearm safety courses, [SPEAKER_00]: At home, Christina installed a network of security cameras inside and outside the house as an extra safeguard.

[SPEAKER_00]: Her entire family, including the three young children, were aware of the supposed stalker and they were all living on edge because of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Brunefield police increased their vigilance, even going undercover to surveil the crew's neighborhood, hoping to catch the stalker lurking in the shadows.

[SPEAKER_00]: But despite these efforts, the menacing messages just kept coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: The unknown sender seemed to always be one step ahead, tormenting Christina with vulgar taunts, surveillance photos, and even what police later described as explicit advertisements online, attempts to publicly harass or humiliate her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And through all of this, Daniel Krug was ostensibly a concerned husband.

[SPEAKER_00]: Outwardly, he and Christel were united against this strange threat, but privately, the stress was taking a toll on their marriage.

[SPEAKER_00]: In truth, the relationship between Daniel and Christel had been crumbling.

[SPEAKER_00]: Family members would later reveal that the couple had been planning to divorce.

[SPEAKER_00]: Christel no longer wanted to be with Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: By late 2023, their marriage was all but over, a fact that Kristille confided to at least one relative.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kristille herself even began to feel that something about this stalker scenario did not add up.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the days before her death, she voiced to her mother that she wondered if someone closer to home might actually be behind the frightening messages.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as one prosecutor later put it, she was putting the pieces together, and her husband was running out of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: The terror that had been simmering for weeks finally boiled over on the morning of December 14th, 2023.

[SPEAKER_00]: That day began like many others for the Krug family.

[SPEAKER_00]: Around 7.30 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: Crystal did the usual morning routine of getting our kids ready for school and driving to them to their elementary and middle schools.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel, normally, would have left for work by then, his job was actually in Glendale, which is a suburb in Denver.

[SPEAKER_00]: But on this morning, Daniel hadn't left at his usual time.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, when Christine returned home after the school drop-off, which was shortly before 8 a.m., she was surprised to find Daniel still at home.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was unusual enough that she commented on it asking why he was running late.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel mumbled that he just wasn't feeling well, blaming unexplainable stomach trouble for the delay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Moments later as Kristiel entered the garage at their house to presumably head back inside.

[SPEAKER_00]: Someone was lying in wait for her in the garage.

[SPEAKER_00]: In an instant, Kristiel was ambushed from behind by a brutal attacker.

[SPEAKER_00]: She was struck hard on the back of the head, not once, but at least twice, with a blunt object.

[SPEAKER_00]: The blows were severe intended to incapacitate her, [SPEAKER_00]: Kristille, a licensed concealed carry gun owner, had her hand gun on her person for safety, but she never even got a chance to draw it.

[SPEAKER_00]: The sudden attack was so swift and so unexpected that she couldn't defend herself, stunned and bleeding from the head, Kristille collapsed near the steps inside the family's garage.

[SPEAKER_00]: The assailant then delivered the final fatal wound, a single thrust of a knife directly into Christel's chest that pierced her heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a vicious and personal killing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Later investigators would note that the blood splatter in the garage, a smear, a bright red on a dry wall near where she fell, told the tale of this violent struggle.

[SPEAKER_00]: By the time it was over, Christel lay on her back in the corner of the garage mortally wounded.

[SPEAKER_00]: The killer then fled the scene, leaving Kristiel dying on the cold garage floor.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in the immediate aftermath, all was quiet in the crew household.

[SPEAKER_00]: No neighbor heard any disturbance that morning, and Kristiel's three children were safely at school oblivious to the nightmare that was unfolding at home.

[SPEAKER_00]: The only other person known to be at home around that time, [SPEAKER_00]: was Daniel, and by 8.24 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: surveillance footage would later show him finally leaving the house for work, roughly 30 minutes later than normal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Unbeknownst to anyone else, the murderer had likely just slipped away, but at that moment, it wasn't yet clear to authorities that a murder had even occurred.

[SPEAKER_00]: It would take a few hours before anyone realized that something was terribly wrong at the crewhouse.

[SPEAKER_00]: Around midday on December 14th, after several hours of radio silence from Crystal, the annual crew did something that initially seemed like the act of a worried husband.

[SPEAKER_00]: Shortly after noon, he attempted to text and call Crystal and got no response.

[SPEAKER_00]: So at approximately 1220 p.m., Daniel called the broomfield police and requested a welfare check on his wife, saying that he hadn't been able to reach her for about three hours.

[SPEAKER_00]: Officers promptly arrived at the crew home on Promontory Loop at 1228pm to check on Crystal.

[SPEAKER_00]: They found the house locked and quiet, peering through a window into the garage, and officers eyes fell onto a grizzly scene.

[SPEAKER_00]: A woman's body sprawled out on the garage floor with what appeared to be blood visible on the wall nearby.

[SPEAKER_00]: The officer's forced entry and rushed to Christel's aid.

[SPEAKER_00]: Christel had no pulse, but her body was still warm, indicating the attack had happened only a short time before their arrival.

[SPEAKER_00]: First responders attempted CPR and rushed her to the hospital, but it was far too late.

[SPEAKER_00]: At 1243 p.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: Christel Krug was pronounced dead.

[SPEAKER_00]: The vibrant mother of three was gone.

[SPEAKER_00]: Detectives immediately began processing the scene and gathering information, and given Christine's recent reports, all eyes turned to the mysterious stalker who had been threatening her for a few weeks at this point.

[SPEAKER_00]: It really wasn't that long.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was only six to eight weeks, maybe a couple months, that the stalker had been taunting her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And here was a woman who just weeks earlier had begged police for help, convinced that this ex-boyfriend turned stalker wanted to harm her, [SPEAKER_00]: She was dead under violent and suspicious circumstances.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a scenario ripped straight from a thriller.

[SPEAKER_00]: Head Christine's former lover really showed up to make good on his threats.

[SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, Daniel was distraught.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in his initial statement to Belize, he pointed the finger squarely at his wife's ex-boyfriend.

[SPEAKER_01]: What's your business interactions been like?

[SPEAKER_01]: We didn't come to this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I have the chance to keep this in place.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's too shitty.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll get up to them.

[SPEAKER_01]: She's just peering for hours.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[UNKNOWN]: Two.

[UNKNOWN]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What was the problem?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[UNKNOWN]: What happened?

[UNKNOWN]: What happened?

[UNKNOWN]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[UNKNOWN]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_00]: He recounted the harassment that Christine had been experiencing and suggested that this unhinged acts must have broken in and killed her.

[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators treated this theory seriously at first because if true, it meant that a dangerous killer, one who had been brazenly stalking the family was now on the loose.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, as officers combed through the crime scene, certain details didn't quite fit the outside stalker scenario.

[SPEAKER_00]: For one, there were no signs of forced entry anywhere.

[SPEAKER_00]: No broken locks, no shattered windows, nothing to indicate that an intruder had violently forced his way into their home.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, the house's security system, which Kristiel had been so careful about arming, had been turned off that morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators discovered that the system had been disabled at 815am, and shockingly it was done via Christine's own phone.

[SPEAKER_00]: This suggested that whoever attacked her either knew her security passcode or had access to her phone right around the time of the murder.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even more telling was what police found and didn't find on the home surveillance cameras.

[SPEAKER_00]: Remember those cameras that I told you about, the crystal installed as protection, when detectives check the footage, they found nothing at all during the critical time frame.

[SPEAKER_00]: Three of the cameras that normally monitored the property had been offline for much of the morning, and the camera in the garage, which might have captured the attack, had its lens obscured with a piece of blue masking tape.

[SPEAKER_00]: Officers peeled the tape off the garage camera, perplexed, how would a random ex-boyfriend stalker know how to navigate Christine's home security, and then stealthily disable the cameras?

[SPEAKER_00]: Another clue that emerged, the supposed ex-boyfriend in question was quickly tracked down by police.

[SPEAKER_00]: He turned out to be living in Eagle Mountain, Utah, about eight hours away from room field.

[SPEAKER_00]: When contacted, this man provided an iron-clad alibi.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not only had he not left Utah that records and witnesses confirmed that he was at home with his own wife during the time of the killing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Further more investigators check the exes devices and found zero evidence that he had sent any of those messages to crystal in October or November.

[SPEAKER_00]: The entire stalking campaign, it appeared, had been a phantom.

[SPEAKER_00]: Within days, detectives definitively ruled out the ex-boyfriend as a suspect.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was simply an innocent man who had been dragged unknowingly into this sinister plot.

[SPEAKER_00]: With the ex-boyfriend eliminated as a suspect, all signs were now pointing inward.

[SPEAKER_00]: Back toward the one person who supposedly had the most to lose if Crestil left him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel Krug.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know Anthony has reached out to her at the past, number of times.

[SPEAKER_01]: She's been very open, not at the end.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, the last time was 2016-ish.

[SPEAKER_01]: He had asked her at one point if she wanted to have.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think he's a butcher multiple times, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So, this next time, [SPEAKER_01]: If there's any bit of question about infernality, whether it's with Anthony or anybody else, we might create an account to see if we can create a facade or see if Christyel is actually interested in Anthony, so we ask her and push the bounds a little bit and see if that will confirm our suspicions of infernality.

[SPEAKER_01]: You don't get their response, and the openness you once did for about 28 days from October 2nd to October 31st.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you ambit up a little bit as a photo of yourself or an account you created?

[SPEAKER_02]: You can see what your response is.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I keyed it, but the perfect fact I can go check on where we're at with those records.

[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of this stuff is going to [SPEAKER_02]: shine through.

[SPEAKER_02]: My hope is just that we can at least be honest about those things and agree that maybe to start it out the way that it's reported and then maybe it turned into something different.

[SPEAKER_01]: that I would put my children in my room.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[UNKNOWN]: We were drilling the kids.

[UNKNOWN]: I'd love to do it before we set them up.

[UNKNOWN]: But they had to pan her up.

[UNKNOWN]: They had to blow.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking into house learning for the kids.

[SPEAKER_01]: If we open the eggs to start that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I, I, I, I, jet in an area that you're going together, but you don't let you start to do this, you're my ship.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm long with a girl in my ship.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're a great lose time with them.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you get the course.

[SPEAKER_02]: For one is a different estimation, and we know it's not cake man.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you were watching these facts unfold in front of you and it would be, what would you say out of it?

[SPEAKER_02]: It was able to turn off the cameras, that was able to access the password protected system to turn off cameras.

[SPEAKER_02]: That was able to use your IP address from your work to create accounts to send messages and photos to act as a stocking suspect.

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, tell me, may help me make sense of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in fact, he was contacted in his house, severely intoxicated.

[SPEAKER_01]: because of protection and you just tell him today, like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I've been looking at you, but I've been waiting for these records to come back.

[SPEAKER_02]: We've been chasing the wrong valve.

[SPEAKER_01]: This sounds like, it's not like you, you're accused of you.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have a lot of information that points your direction, and we're hoping that you could provide a legitimate explanation other than it wasn't me.

[SPEAKER_00]: The broomfield police department launched an exhaustive investigation and the evidence that they uncovered painted a jaw-dropping picture of betrayal and pre-meditation.

[SPEAKER_00]: It turned out that the person terrorized in Crestil all those weeks was not a long-lost ex at all.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was her own husband, Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: Digital Forensics provided the first big break.

[SPEAKER_00]: Detectives traced the IP addresses of the fake emails that had been tormenting crystal.

[SPEAKER_00]: The electronic trail did not lead to some far-flung location or unknown device.

[SPEAKER_00]: It led right back to Daniel Krug's workplace.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, one of the bogus email accounts used by the stalker had been created on a secure password protected network at Daniel's job, which was the state health department's government job.

[SPEAKER_00]: How stupid can you be?

[SPEAKER_00]: That was a smoking gun that someone with Daniel's credentials and access had set up the fake account.

[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators also dug into the phone records and discovered that the burner phones used to send anonymous text to Crystal had a connection to Daniel.

[SPEAKER_00]: Those disposable phones were purchased with a visa gift card registered to Daniel himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even more damning cell tower data showed that one of those burner phones frequently moved in tandem with Daniel's personal cell phone, pinging in the same locations.

[SPEAKER_00]: at the same times as he did, as if he was carrying both phones on him at the same time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators then looked at Daniel's activities around the time of the murder, and the pieces all fell into place.

[SPEAKER_00]: They found that on the very morning of December 14, Daniel had attempted a high-tech cover-up to go along with the brutal killing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Using Christine's unlocked phone, he sent himself a series of pre-written text messages from her number, messages designed to make it seem like Christine was still alive and texting after he had left the house.

[SPEAKER_00]: He timed these messages to send around 8.56 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: That morning, after he had driven away so that he could later show police or others, see, she was alive when I left.

[SPEAKER_00]: She even texted me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Indeed, at 8.56 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel's phone received the very text that he had covertly cut up from Christine's device.

[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, the investigators later confirmed that Christine's phone never actually sent anything after 8.22 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: Meaning those scheduled texts were fabricated and did not involve any live typing by Christine.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel had also used her phone at 815 to turn off the security system as noted and he'd physically placed that blue tape over the doorbell camera to prevent the crime from being caught on video.

[SPEAKER_00]: He left the house around 824 a.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: finally heading into work after committing this heinous murder and even deactivated his car's dash cam on the way likely to avoid creating any recording of his slightly delayed departure.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once he was at work, he tried to act completely normal.

[SPEAKER_00]: He arrived at 927 AM, sat at his desk, and later made those calls to Crystal and the police at noon as a seemingly concerned husband.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was an audacious attempt to construct an alibi.

[SPEAKER_00]: When police confronted Daniel with the mounting evidence, [SPEAKER_00]: He had little in the way of a convincing explanation.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was arrested on December 16th just two days after Christine's death, and charged with first degree murder, two counts of stocking, and criminal impersonation.

[SPEAKER_00]: The arrest affidavit contained a litany of incriminating details.

[SPEAKER_00]: For instance, investigators had uncovered Daniel's Google search history from the day before the killing.

[SPEAKER_00]: In a chilling display of foresight, Daniel had searched things [SPEAKER_00]: How hard would you have to hit someone in the head to make them unconscious?

[SPEAKER_00]: And how long can you be unconscious without brain damage?

[SPEAKER_00]: As this twisted truth came out, friends and neighbors were stunned.

[SPEAKER_00]: The entire stalking episode had been a ruse, a diabolical toy by Daniel, to terrorize Christille, and set up an innocent man being her ex-boyfriend as this fall guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: His motive, allegedly prosecutors would argue that Daniel could not handle the impending divorce and loss of control over his wife.

[SPEAKER_00]: By faking a stalker, he aimed to keep Christine scared and possibly dependent, and then ultimately to kill her and point police to this convenient suspect that he had [SPEAKER_00]: arranged for only a few weeks.

[SPEAKER_00]: Imagine that.

[SPEAKER_00]: The depth of manipulation was horrifying.

[SPEAKER_00]: He had not only brutalized and murdered his wife, but for months he toyed with her psyche, making her, and even their children live in fear, and even dragging an unrelated person's name through the mud.

[SPEAKER_00]: When Daniel Krug finally went on trial in the broomfield County District Court [SPEAKER_00]: Over two and a half week trial, prosecutors laid out the whole twisted saga for the jury.

[SPEAKER_00]: The fake stalker scheme, the high-tech cover-up, and the cold-blooded murder.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kristiel's mother testified about how her daughter had installed cameras and even suspected Daniel might be behind the harassment in the end.

[SPEAKER_00]: The forensic experts walked through the digital evidence pinpointing Daniel's devices and accounts as the source of the threatening messages.

[SPEAKER_00]: They explained how the ex-boyfriend in Utah was completely exonerated.

[SPEAKER_00]: The jury heard about Daniel's failed alibi and his internet searches, and on how to knock someone unconscious.

[SPEAKER_00]: They were even shown evidence that Christel's loaded handgun was found on her body, a poignant detail indicating that she never saw her killer as a threat in time to defend herself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel's defense attorney tried to sow doubt.

[SPEAKER_00]: His lawyer argued that there was no physical evidence directly tying Daniel to the act.

[SPEAKER_00]: Indeed, none of Daniel's DNA was found under Christyles' nails or at the scene, and no blood was discovered on the clothes that he wore that day.

[SPEAKER_00]: The defense suggests that the police had been so convinced of Daniel's guilt that they had neglected other leads.

[SPEAKER_00]: They pointed out that a bit of unknown DNA was found on the adhesive tape from the camera insinuating that it could belong to some unidentified intruder.

[SPEAKER_00]: They even criticized the police for not dusting crystals phone for fingerprints to independently prove that Daniel had used it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel himself pleaded not guilty and sat quietly as his attorney insisted the investigation was bungled and that perhaps the real stalker was still at large.

[SPEAKER_00]: But in the face of overwhelming evidence, these arguments fell flat.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every aspect of the crime from the elaborate cyber stalking to the precision of the killing pointed back to Daniel Krug and only Daniel Krug.

[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't take long for the 12 jurors to see through his lies.

[SPEAKER_00]: And after a full day of deliberations, the verdict came down guilty on all counts.

[SPEAKER_00]: In mid-April 2025, the Bloomfield jury convicted 44-year-old Daniel Krug, a first-degree murder, both stalking charges, and criminal impersonation.

[SPEAKER_00]: The following day, April 18, Judge Priscilla Low formally sentenced 10.

[SPEAKER_00]: by law, a first-degree murder conviction in Colorado carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole, which is exactly what Daniel received.

[SPEAKER_00]: Additionally, the judge tacked on nine and a half extra years for the stalking and impersonation felonies to be served consecutively.

[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel Crew will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the calculated murder of his own wife.

[SPEAKER_00]: While Justice was served in the courtroom, the damage Daniel caused can never be undone.

[SPEAKER_00]: Three innocent children lost their mother in the most horrifying way, and then effectively lost their father to prison in the aftermath.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the wake of Christine's death, her children went to live with other family members.

[SPEAKER_00]: By early 2024, words spread of their situation, how the kids had to relocate and were sleeping in makeshift bedrooms in their relatives home.

[SPEAKER_00]: The local community heartbroken by this tragedy rallied to support them.

[SPEAKER_00]: One Colorado couple, Lonnie and Skylar Haskell, [SPEAKER_00]: who had been neighbors of the crugs decided to do something beautiful for the children.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Haskells learned that the kids didn't have proper bedrooms yet, so they volunteered to remodel and design dream bedrooms for all three of Christchels Children in their new guardians house.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Haskells gathered the kids input on themes and to core, hoping to create personal spaces that could be a refuge amid all of the upheaval.

[SPEAKER_00]: The community's kindness was a bright spot in an otherwise really dark story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Neighbors also mourn to the vibrant woman that they had known.

[SPEAKER_00]: Crystal's friends and family remember her as successful, driven, loving and inspiring.

[SPEAKER_00]: A woman who balanced artistic passion with scientific acumen and a devoted mother who always always put her kids first.

[SPEAKER_00]: An obituary written by her loved ones described how Christyel's promising journey was cut short by a senseless act of violence and just how profoundly she will be missed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Today Daniel sits in prison for life and the only stalking he will experience are the ghost of his own making and maybe a few inmates looking to make him their bitch.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I love that for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to today's episode and if you're not already, make sure you hit that follow or subscribe button so that you never miss a future episode of Mama Mystery.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to today's episode or watching if that's what he chose to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Stay curious.

[SPEAKER_00]: Stay vigilant.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mama mystery out.