The Phantom

Summary

Dateline NBC: "The Phantom" (September 30, 2025)

Host: Josh Mankiewicz & Lester Holt
Theme: True crime – the murder of Christeel Krug, a stalking campaign, and the shocking revelation of the perpetrator's identity

---

Episode Overview

Marking Dateline’s 3,000th episode, "The Phantom" unfolds the chilling story of Christeel Krug, a wife, mother, and accomplished engineer in Broomfield, Colorado. Initially the victim of a terrifying anonymous stalking campaign, Christeel’s life—and that of her family's—spirals into paranoia and fear. The investigation takes many twists, exposing not just the pervasiveness of digital stalking, but also a devastating betrayal from within her own home.

---

Key Discussion Points & Timeline

1. The Stalking Begins: Escalation from Annoyance to Terror ([01:05]–[11:29])

• Incident One: September 2023, a suspected burglar flees from the Krug garage; nothing appears stolen except a spare key ([04:42]).
• Christeel's Response: Initially more annoyed than afraid, Christeel logs all events methodically ([14:09]).
  • Quote: “All I did was I was like, oh, we're going to create a stalker log...document everything.” – Christeel Krug [14:14]
• First Threats: In October 2023, Christeel receives unsolicited sexual texts which quickly turn threatening ([11:29]).
  • “The first was requesting a sexual relationship. A follow-up text told her...she should kill herself.” – Detective Martinez [01:18]
• Escalation: The stalker starts emailing Christeel, sending creepy photos of her husband at work, and advertising her number online ([12:04], [13:33]).
• Police Struggle: Despite her comprehensive logs and reports, police fail to immediately pin down a suspect, with ex-boyfriend Anthony Holland identified as the likely perpetrator ([16:26]).

2. Living in Fear: Family in Crisis ([21:04]–[28:46])

• Family’s Increasing Desperation: Christeel installs cameras, carries a concealed firearm, and modifies routines ([29:03]).
• Paranoia in Daily Life: She shares her fears with extended family and school community, causing painful social isolation ([30:43]).
• Quote: “Thanksgiving dinner that year was tense. The family gathered inside as police stood watch outside.” – [29:25]
• No Protection: Despite all precautions, Christeel’s fear grows acute, and she isolates herself at home.

3. Murder in the Garage: The Stalker Strikes ([33:09]–[36:57])

• Christeel's Last Day: December 14, 2023, after routine departures and returns, Christeel is found dead in the garage; she is killed via blunt force head trauma and stabbing ([34:16]).
• Officer Discovery: “I got a female down in the garage.” – Officer O’Hare [33:40]
• Investigative Panic: The murder confirms Christeel’s worst predictions, and police immediately seek Anthony Holland, the prime suspect.

4. Investigative Twists: Suspects and Red Herrings ([38:31]–[62:59])

• Anthony Holland Interrogated: Traced to Utah with a solid alibi and receipts ([42:45]). He is visibly shocked to be implicated and denies all involvement ([45:16]–[48:32]).
  • Quote: “I think the breakup was hard on both of us...I haven’t cried that hard til my mom died.” – Anthony Holland [46:22]
• A Dry Trail: No evidence connects Anthony to the murder. The case seems to stall.
• Data Trail: At last, digital warrant requests yield results; shocking data points to Dan Krug's office as the IP address for stalking messages ([56:28]).
  • Quote: “The email that was used, the phone number...all coming back to one place, and that’s Dan’s work.” – Detective Martinez [56:52]

5. The Husband Did It: Revelation and Motive ([62:24]–[71:47])

• Suspicions Surface: Family privately shares doubts about Dan’s emotional response and behavior ([62:53], [65:29]).
  • “He just didn’t take it seriously...she told me specifically he felt like she was blowing it out of proportion.” – Jenna Erickson [65:38]
• Marriage on the Rocks: Family and friends reveal that Christeel and Dan’s relationship had soured, with divorce looming ([64:08]).

6. The Case Against Dan: Digital Evidence and Alibi Schemes ([71:19]–[84:57])

• Burner Phone and Cameras: Police trace the burner phone gift card to Dan; house cameras are selectively disabled, providing him an alibi ([71:57]).
  • “Only one [camera] was operational during the time...” – Detective Martinez [72:15]
• Scheduled Texts: Analysis shows Dan may have scheduled misleading texts from Christeel's phone after her death ([79:24]).
• History of Stalking: A former girlfriend testifies Dan used similar tactics to harass her decades earlier ([80:37]).
• Prosecution vs. Defense: The prosecution relies on digital evidence, not DNA or a murder weapon. Defense argues circumstantial evidence and flawed police work ([83:26], [84:19]).

7. Justice and Aftermath: Legacy and Legal Reform ([85:09]–[90:24])

• Guilty Verdict: Jury convicts Dan Krug on all charges—murder, stalking, and impersonation ([86:03]).
• Quote: “Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. On each one of them and banged. And that was it.” – Officer O’Hare [86:08]
• Family’s Mission: The Krug/Grimsrud family advocates for “Christeel’s Law,” federal legislation mandating faster digital evidence turnover for stalking ([87:56]).
• Reflection: The episode closes with heartfelt testimonies from Christeel’s family about her love, legacy, and the ongoing grief of her children ([89:32], [89:40]).

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the impact of stalking:
  “This is the desired effect of stalking. It, the fear, it completely changes your life. And that's all you're thinking about.” – Lester Holt [29:42]

• On digital evidence discovery:
  “It was just kind of like an earth shattering moment of like the realization that I was on the wrong path the entire time trying to track down Anthony.” – Detective Martinez [56:52]

• On the prosecution’s challenge:
  “Juries like DNA...You didn’t have any DNA.” – Lester Holt & Christeel Krug [82:57]

• Family’s advocacy:
  “I want to see not just state-based legislation but federal legislation that requires these communication companies to respond within 48 hours...this legislation is homicide prevention.” – Christeel Krug [88:09]

• On the enduring pain:
  “It’s really hard, hard to talk about her, but the stories and who she was, it’s just really important to keep her alive however we can.” – Jenna Erickson [90:05]

---

Important Segment Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:05 | Christeel and family describe fear and escalating threats | | 11:29 | Digital stalking begins; Anthony Holland named as suspect | | 33:09 | Christeel is found dead; murder investigation begins | | 42:45 | Anthony Holland is cleared with an alibi | | 56:28 | Digital breakthrough: stalker identified from Dan Krug’s office Wi-Fi | | 71:19 | Burner phone traced to Dan; prosecution’s case strengthens | | 86:03 | Dan is found guilty on all charges | | 87:56 | Christeel’s family launches legislative campaign for better stalking investigation laws |

---

Tone & Style

The episode’s style is direct, methodical, and deeply personal, with family members, police, and prosecutors providing raw, unfiltered insights. The tone is grave yet compassionate, blending thorough investigative journalism with the anguish and advocacy that grows from tragedy.

---

Conclusion

"The Phantom" is not just a tale of digital stalking gone fatally wrong—it unearths the complexities of intimate partner violence masked as external threat, the limits of law enforcement in the digital era, and the urgent need for reform in how technological evidence is handled. Through meticulous storytelling and poignant testimonial, Dateline offers a sobering portrait of terror, betrayal, and the quest for justice—one in which the ‘phantom’ was closer than anyone feared.

Transcript

[Christeel Krug]

This episode is brought to you by Huggies Little Movers. It's fun having a baby that loves to move, but it can be challenging to find a diaper that can keep up with them. Huggies Little Movers is designed to move with your baby with either the double grip strips or the new HugFit 360 degree waistband. You can be confident relying on Huggies Little Movers for your active little ones. Huggies Little Movers made with double grip strips or the new HugFit 360 degree waistband so your little double can keep moving like you. Huggies. We got you baby.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Abortion can feel like a hard topic to talk about, but getting care shouldn't be. AbortionFinder.org is a free, secure website where you can find up to date info on clinics, providers, telehealth options and state restrictions. No judgment, no misinformation, just facts so you can make the decision that's right for you. Millions have used Abortion Finder to get care and it's backed by trusted experts. If you or someone you love needs answers or options, visit abortionfinder.org.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Tonight on the 3,000th episode of Dateline.

[Christeel Krug]

This is really creepy for me.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She said, mom, I'm being stalked.

[Christeel Krug]

It has definitely made me like paranoid. Everywhere I go, my heart just sunk.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She's totally being terrorized.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

There was two text messages from an unknown phone number. The first was requesting a sexual relationship. A follow up text told her that she should kill herself.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So that went from in a appropriate.

[Lester Holt]

To threatening pretty quickly.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Within 24 hours, Christeel was frantic.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She was fiercely protective of her family.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I panic and I'm doing a job of protecting my wife.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Raphael, Police we have someone out there who's just committed a homicide.

[Christeel Krug]

Our number one suspect was this person who's been stalking her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

This guy's a phantom.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

It's terrifying.

[Christeel Krug]

He fooled everyone.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The only thing we could do now is to make it right by finding the killer.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A terrifying string of messages ends in murder and the tables are turned as investigators stalk a stalker.

[Lester Holt]

I'm Lester Holt and this is the season premiere of Dateline. Here's Josh Mankiewicz with the Phantom.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Every day in America, police officers are sent to homes like this one for something called a welfare check. In these cases, odds are no one's home. You come and you go. It was December 14, 2023.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Getting dispatched to a welfare check is pretty common.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So common that John o' Hare of the Broomfield, Colorado police, his body cam recording literally whistled while he worked. He peeked into windows, ignored that yapping dog, knocked on the front door.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Everything appeared completely silent. Nobody in the yard or in the.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Area this time, Just to be sure, the officer wanted a look inside the garage, because if a car was there, someone might be home after all. He pulled his cruiser up to the doors and climbed up on the bumper.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Tried to see if I could see in the small windows that are at the top of the big garage doors There.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That's when he saw it.

[Officer John O'Hare]

151, send medical. And 110, I need a force entry.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A body on the floor, and a pool of blood. In that instant, a routine check became a crime scene and then a murder investigation. A hunt for a killer who knew how to hide and how to play. Everyone, police included.

[Lester Holt]

You were on the wrong path the whole time.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Yeah.

[Lester Holt]

Because somebody wanted you on the wrong path the whole time.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I felt like a puppet.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

To understand what happened here, you need to go back in time three months to September 2023, to this same house and this same garage in Broomfield, Colorado. It's a bedroom community about halfway between Denver and Boulder, and it's not exactly Merderville, usa, But it does have its share of problems common to suburbia.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Broomfield has a lot of property crime where burglaries into people's open garages are unfortunately very common.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Broomfield detective Andrew Martinez says it did seem to be property crime reported by the owner of that house, Dan Krug.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

As I came down, the door was open. Dan reported an intruder into their open garage door.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As he's pulling in.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

As he's pulling in. Yes, I saw someone.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I think it was a guy, but.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

It was so fast.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Yeah.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Blue jeans, gray shirt, run out, jump over my gate and take off that way.

[Lester Holt]

He couldn't identify that person.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

He could not. And patrol officers responded, checked the area, and they couldn't find anybody that matched the description that Dan said.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan Krug lived here with his wife Christeel and their three school age children. Dan told the officer he'd gone out that afternoon to run an errand and thought he'd closed the garage door behind him.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I watched the garage door closing. Not necessarily closed.

[Christeel Krug]

Okay.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He said his kids were inside the house when he left and didn't hear anything strange and he didn't think anything had been stolen. That is, until Christeel came home.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We realized the spare key that we.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Keep in the garage isn't there.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Okay.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Where was that kept a toolbox. Got it.

[Christeel Krug]

Okay.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The officer took the report and that was it. He did say changing the locks might be a good next step when you Can. I'd probably.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I'm going Home Depot when I'm done with it.

[Anthony Holland]

Okay, Got it.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Kristeel's parents, Lars and Linda Grimsrud, said Christeel was more annoyed than scared by what had just happened.

[Lester Holt]

So tell me about Dan coming home and seeing somebody running out of the garage. How did you hear about that?

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

Well, my daughter, she told me. She said that Dan left the garage.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She was very angry.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She said Dan left the garage door open. I don't think she thought there was danger.

[Officer John O'Hare]

She didn't see it as a real threat.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Nothing to worry about until a month later when Broomfield police received another call from the Krugs.

[Christeel Krug]

Can you spell your first name? Just make sure I have this right. No problem. It's Kristeel. It's spelled K R I, S, T.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

I, L. This time, a garage break in was the least of their worries.

[Christeel Krug]

Today I got an email that is very threatening.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Someone was watching this family. The investigation that followed would confound everyone.

[Lester Holt]

Police start following her and Dan, thinking, like, okay, we're gonna see this guy.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And they don't. This guy's a phantom.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Yeah, it's terrifying.

[Christeel Krug]

It's now a homicide. It's all hands on deck.

[Lester Holt]

This says planned, attempted, and executed murder.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

You wanted an alibi, obviously, but why did it have to be me?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

It had been more than a month since the burglary at their home.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I saw someone. I think it was a guy, but it was. It was so fast.

[Christeel Krug]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Now the Krugs were contacting Broomfield, Colorado police again. This time, Dan's wife, Christeel, was the one reporting a much more serious problem.

[Christeel Krug]

I have never dealt with, like, this kind of level at. In, like, a online version.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christiel told Detective Andrew Martinez she was being stalked.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

When Christeel came in, she just kind of filled the whole room with her presence. You could tell that she was just very intelligent, kind, and she was very well prepared.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He was not the first to have that reaction.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She had the best of all personalities.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

This is Christeel's sister, Jenna Erickson.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She was so smart, and her brain would just work in a way that is kind of unfathomable.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Jenna was 8 years old and Christeel 16 when Jenna's mom married Christiel's dad. She idolized her new big sister.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She would give me just the most honest, best advice and never judged me, never made me feel silly.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel's parents, Lars and Linda, say even as a child, she was intuitive, curious, and compassionate.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She loved to talk and loved to have a good. I wouldn't say argument. It was a discussion.

[Officer John O'Hare]

She always had this scientific engineering type of approach to things where things needed to be logical. She learned how to use tools that are, for a young age, she could take her bicycle apart and put it back together again.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

During college, Christeel met her intellectual soulmate online. Dan Krug was a poli sci major with dreams of a career in academia.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I remember when Dan came over and my mom and I were there and he was looking for my dad. And that's when it kind of hit me like, oh, this is real. Like this is going to be the guy. And I was happy at the time because I knew she was going to be really happy.

[Lester Holt]

No question that when he asked, she was going to say yes.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

They married in 2007. Kristeel became a biomedical engineer and a performer.

[Christeel Krug]

Kristeel was a phenomenal dancer.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Her friend and fellow dancer, Jennifer Jaskolka.

[Christeel Krug]

She had these gorgeous high arches and hyperextended legs. Something that I was very, very jealous of.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She moved like water.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In some ways, Christeel was a living, breathing contradiction. Detective Martinez could tell she was in fear and oddly, also in control as she told him about the stalking.

[Christeel Krug]

It's just, it's a lot and it has definitely made me like heroin everywhere I go, unfortunately.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Yeah, no, I can completely understand that.

[Christeel Krug]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Like almost everything else, stalking has gone digital. In this age of smartphones and social media, Christeel's nightmare began with a text from a number she did not recognize. Hi, Christeel, it's Anthony. Hope it's okay. I looked you up. I go to Boulder every few weeks and thought we could hook up. You game?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The first text message was on October 2nd of 2023. When Christeel didn't respond, the following day on October 3rd, a follow up text message came and basically commented on her body and told her that she should kill herself.

[Lester Holt]

So that went from inappropriate to scary and threatening pretty quickly.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Absolutely. Within 24 hours, Christeel was pretty sure.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

She knew who was behind this.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

She believed it was Jack Anthony Holland, an ex boyfriend of hers.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Almost a month after those text messages, Christeel received an email from an ahollandkicksmail.com it contained a photo of her husband Dan, apparently recent, apparently taken at his work and apparently without Dan's knowledge.

[Christeel Krug]

That day. There's snow on the ground. My husband had only gone into work on that Tuesday for Halloween. My husband has a camera in his car. He did not see anybody and then unfortunately lost all the video because he didn't save it. So I don't have any video evidence.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That photo came with a comment about.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

His slow driving, implying that whoever was sending this email was actively following Dan.

[Lester Holt]

It's certainly escalating.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Absolutely. That's what prompted Christeel to notify police.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Then she told Martinez what came next.

[Christeel Krug]

I got a really strange text message.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

From somebody saying Christeel's phone began receiving sexual text messages and crude photos.

[Christeel Krug]

Are you still looking for men? And I was like. I was like, okay, I don't think this is Anthony.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

She's receiving numerous text messages from all sorts of different unknown numbers. These unknown phone numbers are all of men, many of which are sending photos of themselves in sexually explicit poses.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel had already done some sleuthing of her own. She discovered this ad online. It included her phone number. She was convinced Anthony had posted it.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The ad was basically asking for multiple sexual partners on her birthday, which was coming up at the end of November.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

She also wanted to make sure the detective knew about that break in at their garage.

[Christeel Krug]

My husband caught somebody going through our garage. Like, he came home, the garage shorts up, and he caught somebody running out of her garage.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

We all of it triggered her organizational instincts as an engineer.

[Christeel Krug]

I did a timeline for you.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel called it her stalker log.

[Christeel Krug]

All I did was I was like, oh, we're going to create a stalker log. We're going to monitor this. I'm going to go see what information I can have such a thing as never. I don't know. I just always heard, document everything.

[Lester Holt]

She doesn't come off as some, like, helpless victim. She's, like, completely in control.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The stalker log was detailed and complete. Included everything from dates, times, locations, her feelings about it, what needed to be done that potentially follow up points that we could do.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel's log detailed her relationship with Anthony starting with the year they met. 1999, when she graduated high school.

[Christeel Krug]

In this timeline, we dated summer of 99, very briefly.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel headed off to college.

[Christeel Krug]

Like, there is a breakup somewhere here, like, in the fall. So I did this.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Just before her sophomore year, she broke things off with Anthony. About a year later, Christeel met Dan. And in the years that followed, Anthony would still reach out from time to time on social media.

[Christeel Krug]

Just, like little teeny things. It's like, oh, hey, how you doing?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel said it left her a little creeped out.

[Christeel Krug]

He'd send me snippets of, like, saying he thought our relationship was like the notebook and that we'd always end up together. I'm like, whoa, this is getting really weird right?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

She initially responded, just saying I'm doing well but I'm not interested in re engaging in a relationship for seven years.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Anthony went silent. No DMs, no posts, no contact, no hostility, no threats.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

There was no hostility and no threats during those times.

[Lester Holt]

And then suddenly here he is back and really hitting the gas immediately escalated.

[Christeel Krug]

A yes, I don't want to bait him. I don't want to reach out or bait him.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And I don't she had already hired a private investigator to find Anthony and serve him a restraining order.

[Christeel Krug]

Blues everywhere. It's like all over the place.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The PI's report showed possible addresses for Anthony in both Utah and Idaho. Now Christeel was asking what police could.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Do when Christeel leaves that day. I'm believing that this is a very real issue and there are credible threats and we need to get on top of this quickly.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Detective Martinez needed to know who was stalking Kristiel Krug. The first step would be finding Anthony Holland and that would be easier said than done.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We find it hard to believe that they flat couldn't find Anthony Holland.

[Christeel Krug]

What makes a leader? It's a tough question, but this we know for sure. True leaders lead by example. They take risks and plunge into life with determination. And for real leaders, there's a symbol of high adrenaline and high achievement. The the Range Rover Sport. The Range Rover Sport redefines sporting luxury with a dramatic modern design that meets a distinctive sporting character and a well appointed cabin brings a sense of occasion to every drive. The active noise cancellation feature filters out unwanted sound making the cabin a cocoon like sanctuary. Optional PM2.5 filtration reduces odors, bacteria and allergens while CO2 management enhances the wellness of everyone on board.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Plus you can curate the mood of.

[Christeel Krug]

Every journey with configurable cabin lighting and bring a hint of refinement to every drive with optional 22 way adjustable heated and ventilated electric memory front seats with massage function. Build your Range Rover sport@range rover.com USSport that's range rover.com USSport Abortion can feel.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Like a hard topic to talk about, but getting care shouldn't be. AbortionFinder.org is a free secure website where you can find up to date info on clinics, providers, telehealth options and state restrictions. No judgment, no misinformation, just facts so you can make the decision that's right for you. Millions have used Abortion Finder to get care and it's backed by trusted experts if you or someone you love needs answers or options, visit abortionfinder.org at.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Designer Shoe warehouse we believe that shoes are an important part of, well, everything.

[Christeel Krug]

From first steps to first dates, from all nighters to all time personal bests.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

From building pillow forts to building a.

[Christeel Krug]

Life for all the big and small moments that make up your whole world. DSW is there and we've got just the shoes. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love at brag worthy prices at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[Lester Holt]

What.

[Christeel Krug]

You think I should.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

When Christiel Krug told her family she was being stalked and that her old boyfriend Anthony Holland was behind it, her sister wanted to help. Jenna is a lawyer.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She had called me to ask if I could help her get a restraining order and kind of what that process would look like and what she needed to do to get her ducks in a row.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel's parents remembered back when she started dating Anthony.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

A nice enough individual. He had good manners, but I just don't think he was a match for her. That was my mother opinion of him.

[Lester Holt]

Could you tell that he was seriously interested in her?

[Officer John O'Hare]

Oh, yeah, and he was a good guy. But the two of them had, I think, significantly different life expectations and goals.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

They also remembered how things ended.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She said that it was a tough breakup and it wasn't a real easy thing for her to walk away, but.

[Lester Holt]

But she did.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Yeah, she moved on. Anthony apparently did not. Now, 23 years after that breakup, why would he try to insert himself back into her life in the most aggressive way? Two days after her meeting with detective Martinez, Christeel received this text. Saw you at dentist.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Alluding to the person being outside in their own car watching Christeel. And the stalker talks about a sexual act while he's in the parking lot.

[Lester Holt]

Which is essentially a live communication with her while she's at the dentist.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Correct.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

An officer headed over to the house and Christeel talked with him in the garage. That's the same garage that had been broken into nearly two months earlier.

[Christeel Krug]

The in person stuff that scared the.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Crap out of me that saw you at dentist text made christyle think her stalker had planted something on her car.

[Christeel Krug]

Okay, only assume a tracker based on the fact that he could show up there. And I don't see vehicles unless he's like stationed out like on corners. He's really on the street to know when I'm leaving.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

We put Christeel's car on a lift. We. We check that car top to bottom, front to back. And we couldn't find anything on her car.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As the officer was leaving, Christeel told him how worried she was.

[Christeel Krug]

I'm live streaming my location all the time.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Okay.

[Christeel Krug]

So that he knows anytime the house also. So, like, everyone knows where I'm going.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

To be from now on. Okay.

[Christeel Krug]

Anyway, I'm doing what I can. I'm moving to the sitting deck right now.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I arranged for some undercover officers to follow her around, Kind of to sit outside of her home to see if there was any weird cars or anything like that. We weren't able to identify anybody.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't see anyone following her?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

We did not.

[Lester Holt]

Nobody approaching her car after she leaves it? Nobody. Nobody walking 25 steps behind her?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

No. Nothing.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Her parents assumed officers would confront Anthony right away.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

I wanted to go talk to detective martinez to find out, why can't you solve. Why can't you find out if this is anthony or not?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Like christeel, Martinez found addresses for anthony in utah and idaho. There were no recent ones in colorado. Before getting another jurisdiction involved and banging on any doors, he wanted digital proof that anthony was the one sending those messages. That is fairly standard police procedure.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

It would be, I think, foolish of any detective to go talk to somebody that they don't even know that is actually the person. They can just close the door in our face. And that is the end of our case of getting any sort of credible statement or admission.

[Lester Holt]

Because if you walk into his house and say, I know you've been doing this, if you don't have any proof, that might be the end of it.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

If I don't have any proof or I haven't developed a case with probable cause, then I just walk away.

[Lester Holt]

And he says, if you have any further questions, talk to my lawyer. And that's that.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

That is that.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

To get the evidence he needed, Martinez wrote search warrants for verizon, textnow, and google. Their records could help uncover the identity of kristeel's stalker. Getting those search warrants approved took several days. Getting results much longer.

[Lester Holt]

I think there's an assumption on the part of the public that when you guys write a search warrant, you have the data back that you need pretty quickly, and particularly with things like phone and Internet records, that's not always true.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

No, not at all. When we serve a search warrant to any major company, unfortunately, it takes time, and a lot of times it takes weeks, if not months for some companies.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Kristeel first sat down with Detective Martinez on November 7th. He applied for search warrants on the 12th. The warrants went to the companies on the 17th of November. Because the first warrant to Google had a typo, Martinez sent a new one on December 6th. And then everyone waited. Everyone except the stalker. His next message to Kristeel left little doubt as to what he was planning and who he was aiming for. It wasn't Kristeel.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

My panic level has gone down considerably higher. Basically implies that they belong together and that he will make Dan disappear.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The stalker's first text to Chris Steel was. Was a request to hook up. And the messages that followed were insulting, offensive, creepy.

[Christeel Krug]

I don't think he's done. I think he's gonna keep. I think he's gonna keep going.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

How right she was. Six weeks after the first messages, Christeel's phone chirped with a new text. It started off much like the others. I see you flirting with waiters, almost begging for sexual. Then it turned lethal. I'll get rid of him and then we can be together so easy. There was no doubt who the him referred to. Christeel's husband, Dan.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

It was a direct threat towards Dan. Basically implies that they belong together and that he will make Dan disappear. And makes a comment describing Dan's security guard at the front office of his place of employment, which was a pretty accurate representation of the security guard.

[Lester Holt]

So he's there, he's watching.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Yes.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Now, Christeel stalker was following Dan to and from his job as a financial analyst for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I just wanted to sit down with you and kind of one see how you're doing. I don't know where to start with that open ended question. Cristila and I have been looking at her log.

[Lester Holt]

Is he as spooked as his wife is?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

He is as spooked as his wife is largely being paranoid. For the last few days, as I got all of the details most my panic level has gone considerably higher. I have a retractable asp steel baton, pepper gel spray always in this pocket.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As he sat there on the couch, Dan pretty much broke down.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I went to the grocery store briefly on Tuesday and someone behind me dropped.

[Christeel Krug]

A can and I panicked.

[Officer John O'Hare]

So what am I doing?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I'm panicking.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And I'm doing a job.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Of protecting my wife.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Interacting with Dan that day, I felt that Kristeel was better equipped to defend herself than Dan was to defend Christeel.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And that was a problem because Christeel was having a very difficult time. She'd wired up her car in hopes of catching her stalker, but all it recorded was how upset she was. The result was less sleep and more stress. And she was starting to visibly fray. Everyone noticed.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

So you have to understand that Christeel was frantic. And so our conversation was very jumbled. It would veer to the right, veer to the left. She'd go down one tangent and then another.

[Christeel Krug]

Understandable.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She just looked exhausted. So exhausted.

[Lester Holt]

Probably because she was not sleeping.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I think she was just so on point all the time, Head on a swivel, Constantly watching for what was happening.

[Lester Holt]

Not just worried about herself, also worried about Dan, who the stalker had specifically mentioned.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Lester Holt]

And her kids, too.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She was fiercely protective of her family.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

We had conversation almost daily throughout the month of November about where she was, how she was doing, and she basically refused to leave her house because that's where she felt most safe.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

She started carrying a Sig Sauer 9 millimeter.

[Lester Holt]

She had a gun on her at all times, even when she was home with her family.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Yes. It was always in her person. She had a concealed carry purse specifically designed for that gun.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She felt she had to get a gun. My heart just sunk. And I do remember going out to the gun range with her, and she just. She just sat in the parking lot and cried, and she was just so upset, and all I could do was hug her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Thanksgiving dinner that year was tense. The family gathered inside as police stood watch outside.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She specifically would seat herself in a way so she could see the front door. She didn't have her back to the door.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

This is crazy.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Yeah.

[Lester Holt]

There's no way to look at this and see this as anything but a complete victory for that stalker. I mean, this is the desired effect of stalking. It, the fear, it completely changes your life. And that's all you're thinking about.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Kristeel's cousin, Becky Ivanoff, a former prosecutor in Oregon, offered to help.

[Christeel Krug]

Because of my background, she knew that I knew how to navigate the court system. I'd done exclusively domestic violence, which included some stalking prosecution. Our family is very private. I'm a very private person, too. And so I understood that this was sensitive for Christeel. I passed the message that this was not something to be private about, that this was the time to tell literally everyone and to share his photo, to tell everybody that needed to know about this.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Every message, every threat chipped away at Christeel's normal life. She shared what was happening with parents and teachers from her kids schools, and she paid a price for that, too.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

So Christeel's oldest daughter was in two productions of the Nutcracker because of what was going on, and they didn't Know where the stalker was.

[Christeel Krug]

The artistic director and the company asked her to to stay away from volunteering.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

And also her daughter's performances. I mean, that ate her up.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The paranoia and isolation were crushing.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

It was just like she didn't know how this was going to end.

[Officer John O'Hare]

At one point, she actually said, referring to the stalker, it's going to be me or him. Someone's going to get killed.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Once again, she turned out to be right.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Ropel police.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That autumn in Broomfield, Colorado was brutal for Christeel, Dan and their kids. The stalking started in October and intensified in November. Christeel began carrying a gun. There were new locks on the doors and Dan had installed security cameras all around the house. Through it all, the family clung to their daily routines. And then it was Thursday, December 14th. As daylight broke, those new cameras recorded a bustling family morning. That's Dan driving their eldest to the bus stop and returning minutes later just before 7am Christille leaves next, taking their younger two kids to school. She returns just before 8. Then at 8:24, Dan pulls out, heading off to work about a half hour away. Dan was on the road when at 8:56, he received a text from Christiel asking him to pick up their daughter after school because Christeel had a meeting with detective Martinez. Dan responded 20 minutes later. Sure thing. FYI, I forgot my chicken on the counter. Please put it in the fridge. When Christeel did not message back, Dan called her. No answer for the next three hours he kept calling. Finally, at 12:01pm he dialed Broomfield police and asked for that welfare check.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I don't think this is an emergency but. But this feels really weird. My wife isn't responding to text messages or phone calls.

[Christeel Krug]

Okay.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan also called Christeel's mom.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

He calls me and he says would you please go check on her and see if she's in the house. Just not answering the phone.

[Lester Holt]

You live closer.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

We all live about 15 minutes, Linda.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Headed over to her daughters. Officer John O' Hare was already there.

[Officer John O'Hare]

151, send medical and 110, I need a force entry. I got a female down in the garage. At that point I rushed around to the front door, kicked the door one time rappel.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Police officer o' Hare ran through the house and in into the garage. Oh.

[Officer John O'Hare]

So I immediately see her at the base of the steps that lead from the house down into the garage. It's about three steps there.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

I believe by the time the officer opened the automatic garage doors for EMTs.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Garage is open now.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel's mom was just getting there.

[Christeel Krug]

Hello?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Hello?

[Officer John O'Hare]

Manson, I need you to stay out, please.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

And there she is, laying on the floor with her legs towards me as I was trying to walk in. And the police officer on her doing cpr. And he was putting up his hand saying, ma', am, you can't come in here. You can't come in here. And I'm going, but that's my daughter. I need to come see her. And I'm just hoping and praying that she was still alive.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Husband said there was a stalker.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

It looked as if Christeel had been attacked getting into or or out of her car. Her purse laid just inches away. Inside, the handgun she never had a chance to use. Detective Justin Marshall of the Broomfield police responded to the scene.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

They were pretty aware that there was some head trauma.

[Officer John O'Hare]

The husband called in to check on her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Detective Marshall says as EMTs worked to revive Christeel, they could tell she'd been struck in the head. Then they know. Noticed this.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

A penetrating stab wound to the upper part of her chest. And there were no signs of life in that type of injury.

[Lester Holt]

And that's what killed her, that stab wound.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Either the blunt force or the stab wound would have been fatal.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

They rolled out the stretcher, and I thought, oh, she's gonna be okay. They're gonna do everything for her. But then they rolled the stretcher back out without her. And so I knew.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I ran into Linda inside the police tape, and they stopped me from going any further. And that's when Linda told me he killed her. She's dead.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Jenna got a call and raced to her sister's house.

[Lester Holt]

When you're driving there, what are you thinking?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

God, I hope she's at the hospital, not there.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As soon as she pulled up and saw the tape, a part of her knew.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

And then my stepbrother started walking down towards us, and I remember him just hugging me. And I remember him just saying, she's gone.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan Krug was one of the last to arrive.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

He came from up the street here yelling, that's my house. That's my house.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan was overwhelmed. It was the exact outcome Christeel had tried so desperately to head off. It was also, sadly, one she had predicted.

[Officer John O'Hare]

It's beyond description what goes through your mind. You're just completely beside yourself.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A stalking case had led straight to a murder investigation, and detectives knew where to go next. It was time to go get Anthony.

[Lester Holt]

They go in thinking, this could be a gunfight.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Absolutely.

[Lester Holt]

This is a guy who just maybe killed someone.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Correct.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Abortion can feel like a hard topic to talk about, but getting care shouldn't be. AbortionFinder.org is a free, secure website where you can find up to date info on clinics, providers, telehealth options and state restrictions. No judgment, no misinformation, just facts so you can make the decision that's right for you. Millions have used Abortion Finder to get care and it's backed by trusted experts. If you or someone you love needs answers or options, visit abortionfinder.org I've never.

[Christeel Krug]

Felt like this before. It's like you just get me. I feel like my true self with you. Does that sound crazy? And it doesn't hurt that you're gorgeous. Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home with me. I mean, you can't find shoes this good just anywhere. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas and more at your DSW store or.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Dsw.Com this is an ad by BetterHelp. We've all had that epic rideshare experience halfway through. You're best friends and they know your aspirations to go find yourself in Portugal. It's human. We're all looking for someone to listen. But not everyone is equipped to help. With over a decade of experience, BetterHelp can help match you with the right therapist. See why they have a 4.9 rating out of 1.7 million client session reviews. Visit betterhelp.com for 10% off your first month.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel Krug was gone. Her family huddled behind crime scene tape. A terrible new reality sinking in.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Shocked, miserable disbelief. Not really knowing what to do, where to go, what to say.

[Officer John O'Hare]

You don't want to believe it and you're just absolutely, completely distraught and it changes you forever. This is not something that time heals.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

At 43, the organized, clear headed Christeel had done so much to protect herself and her family from this person. Cameras at home, police involved, and a handgun literally at her side. None of it was enough to escape the stalker.

[Officer John O'Hare]

The fact that he actually got to her and actually killed her was just. You can't wrap your mind around it.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Kristeel's cousin, Becky Ivanoff received a text from her mother.

[Christeel Krug]

She said, kristeel's been killed. And my first question was, was it the stalker?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

To hear that she had been murdered was pretty devastating.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Enea Hempelmann is Broomfield's chief of police.

[Lester Holt]

So from an investigative standpoint, what are you able to do now that it's a homicide that you couldn't do when it was a stalking case?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

We can elevate some of those warrants.

[Christeel Krug]

Before, we didn't have the information that was necessary to elevate the warrants, and.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Now we have a deceased person and.

[Lester Holt]

Possibly a threat to other people who are still alive.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Well, that was my biggest concern. The first thing I think is someone is out there who's just committed this crime and is my community safe.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Once again, detectives reached out to google, textnow and verizon, Asking a second time for information about the source of the stalking messages. The difference? Now there was a killer on the loose, and investigators set out to find their most obvious suspect, Anthony Holland. Prosecutors Kate Armstrong.

[Christeel Krug]

Different police were assigning different individuals to kind of go look into various leads, including the location of the person that we believe to have been stalking her.

[Lester Holt]

And pretty hard to believe her death's not connected to that.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes. I mean, at that time, our number one suspect was this person who's been stalking her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Investigators had addresses for Anthony in Idaho and Utah, all more than 500 miles from Broomfield. Broomfield's Chief Deputy DA Stephanie Fritz thought it unlikely Christeel's killer could already be at any of those addresses.

[Lester Holt]

So that's an eight hour drive.

[Christeel Krug]

Correct.

[Lester Holt]

He's not going to make that drive in that amount of time.

[Christeel Krug]

No.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Investigators also had a possible license plate number for Anthony. They put out a nationwide alert and got a hit, Only it wasn't on any roads leading out of Colorado. It was in north central Utah. They talked with authorities there.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We're a few blocks away from where Mr. Holland resides.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Ray ormond is a sergeant with the Utah county sheriff's office. He was assigned to check out one of Anthony Holland's possible addresses. A friend's house in the town of Eagle Mountain, about 40 miles from Salt lake city.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We made the joint decision to go make contact at the residence.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Ormond and his deputies made their approach carefully. They had a warrant for Anthony's arrest on stalking charges.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I didn't know what we were walking into. I didn't want to get my people ambushed by any type of violent encounter.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Through the windows. They saw someone inside the house. They knocked on the door.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Mr. Holland answers the door. We introduce ourselves. We ask him who he is. He introduces himself as Mr. Holland.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Anthony was already home. How was that possible?

[Officer John O'Hare]

Once we confirmed it was him, I went back to my vehicle and I had Mr. Holland stay with my two deputies that were with me on the porch. And again contacted the investigators in colorado, informed them that we were out with.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Mr. Holland by the time ormond got back to the porch. Anthony had invited his man inside. You can stay seated.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Stay seated?

[Anthony Holland]

Yeah.

[Officer John O'Hare]

And out of abundance of caution, you know, I advised him of his rights.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Then the sergeant got to the point.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Have you ever heard of the name Crystal Krug? She may have been Grims Rod when you knew her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Yeah.

[Officer John O'Hare]

And you know a Daniel Krug?

[Anthony Holland]

No.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

No.

[Officer John O'Hare]

How do you know Crystal?

[Anthony Holland]

She was an ex girlfriend.

[Officer John O'Hare]

She's an ex girlfriend. How long's ex? Like, how long ago?

[Anthony Holland]

1999.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Oh, so like a long while ago.

[Anthony Holland]

She was my very first girlfriend ever.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Oh, okay. He asked Anthony where he'd been that.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Day, and we went through the course of his morning. He'd been out running errands, been shopping for clothes that morning in American Fork, which is a neighboring city.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And Anthony did have a receipt from that shopping trip.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We confirmed that he had been at the store that morning, that he had been purchasing those items in the department store in American Fork, and that he had been in essentially our area here in Utah county for that entire day.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In Utah and not in Colorado.

[Christeel Krug]

It was physically impossible for him to have been there.

[Lester Holt]

Is it conceivable that he's not there, but he's still involved, that he has somebody else do this for him?

[Christeel Krug]

Sure.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Investigators had plenty more questions for Anthony Holland. So did I.

[Lester Holt]

You did not want to let her go.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

This is who Broomfield police had been looking for. The man they believed stalked then killed Christiel Krug. Anthony Holland. He agreed to sit down and tell me his side of the story. And we started with those deputies banging on his door and holding that warrant for his arrest.

[Anthony Holland]

There was a lot of police officers, and there was cars everywhere, and. And I'm like, geez, I must be in trouble. I had no idea what was going on.

[Lester Holt]

You say to them, what are you guys doing here?

[Anthony Holland]

Yeah. And they wouldn't tell me. They asked me if I knew Crystal Krug, and I said, yes, I know her. And that was it.

[Lester Holt]

They didn't say, when did you last speak with her? When did you last have contact with her?

[Anthony Holland]

No. They took me in my room, and they took a bunch of evidence.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Anthony told me the same story he gave Sergeant Ormond and those deputies. He was shopping in Utah that morning and nowhere near the crime scene. I asked Anthony about his relationship with Christeel, starting with when they began dating just after she graduated from high school.

[Anthony Holland]

We Both worked at JCPenney. She worked in the department in the front. I was package pickup.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He was 17, she was 18.

[Lester Holt]

What was so great about her?

[Anthony Holland]

She was very smart, which I really looked up to first love. Yeah. My first love. Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He does admit he and Christeel were headed in different directions.

[Anthony Holland]

The breakup was hard on both of us. We both held each other and just cried when we broke up. I haven't cried that hard. Til my mom died.

[Lester Holt]

She was the one that got away.

[Anthony Holland]

Yeah, I always say that to people.

[Lester Holt]

You blame yourself for that?

[Anthony Holland]

Yeah, I do.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel finished college and became an engineer, wife and mom. Anthony's life didn't go as well.

[Anthony Holland]

I went down the wrong path after that. Drugs, didn't go to school, started partying, hanging out. I still worked all the time, so I had money to support my habit.

[Lester Holt]

What got you back on the right path?

[Anthony Holland]

I just was sick of how I was living, but I was like, I don't want to live this way anymore.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He went back to school for a while and kept working. And he says Christeel was never far from his thoughts.

[Anthony Holland]

Thought about her all the time. Especially when I got drunk, I would really think about her.

[Lester Holt]

You did not want to let her go?

[Anthony Holland]

No. No, I struggled with that.

[Lester Holt]

Feels like you were pining for Christeel for a very long time.

[Anthony Holland]

Well, I dated lots of other women throughout the time. Just none of them were like her. And I think I was searching for something like that.

[Lester Holt]

You reached out to her a few times over the years?

[Anthony Holland]

Just in 2004 and 2016. And we became friends on Facebook. I got a little drunk, and I left her a message saying that I apologized to her for all the things that I did when we were together. And then she stopped talking to me.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel blocked him on Facebook. It was 2016.

[Lester Holt]

That was the last time you had any contact with Christeel? Social, email, phone calls, anything?

[Anthony Holland]

Yep. I couldn't. I was blocked. Couldn't remember email. It was too long ago. So, I mean. And I didn't have it saved, and so I didn't have her email. I didn't. I couldn't get through to Facebook. Like, I was done. It was over.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Anthony insisted he was not Christeel's stalker.

[Lester Holt]

You weren't in touch with her at all in 2023?

[Anthony Holland]

No.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't send her texts?

[Anthony Holland]

No.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't send her emails?

[Anthony Holland]

Nope.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't take out an ad in her name?

[Anthony Holland]

No, I never did any of that. I was just doing my own thing in Utah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Doing his own thing, he says. And leaving the Krug family completely alone.

[Lester Holt]

Christine ever tell you anything about Dan, her husband?

[Anthony Holland]

No.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't threaten him? You weren't following him?

[Anthony Holland]

No.

[Lester Holt]

Or her?

[Christeel Krug]

No.

[Lester Holt]

Ever been to their house?

[Anthony Holland]

No.

[Lester Holt]

Or the neighborhood?

[Anthony Holland]

No. I had no idea where she lives.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Anthony says by 2023, he had finally moved on. And he says he would have told those deputies that, except they never asked. They didn't even tell him Christeel was. Was dead. They just told him detectives would be in touch and they left.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I heard back from Colorado that they were not going to extradite him on the warrant and that they just wanted us to get good contact information from him.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

At that point, Colorado police were left without any legal basis to arrest Anthony Holland. And says prosecutor Stephanie Fritz, they had zero proof he was either Christie's stalker or her killer. Since he was provably 500 miles away at the time of the murder, he's.

[Lester Holt]

Not the kind of person who has access to private aircraft.

[Christeel Krug]

No. Anthony Holland did not have access to personal aircraft.

[Lester Holt]

And I'm guessing law enforcement checked every flight manifest.

[Christeel Krug]

They did check to see if there was any indication, and there was none that he flew.

[Lester Holt]

Anthony Holland couldn't have been in the garage. But he couldn't. Could still be the stalker.

[Christeel Krug]

He could be, yes.

[Lester Holt]

And that wouldn't be 100% out of character in the sense that he tried pretty hard to reestablish a relationship with Christeel years earlier. And that definitely was him.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes, he definitely did. Since they broke up 20 years ago, he was reaching out to her.

[Lester Holt]

Possible he had somebody working with him.

[Christeel Krug]

At that point, anything is possible.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Possible, but a long shot. Investigators knew there was a problem with the idea that Anthony Holland might have hired a hitman after stalking Kristeel.

[Christeel Krug]

That's not common in these kinds of cases.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutor Kate Armstrong points out stalking is an intensely personal crime because the idea.

[Lester Holt]

Of stalking is not I've hired someone to watch you. It's I'm watching you. I'm here all the time. I have control.

[Christeel Krug]

Exactly. Yes.

[Lester Holt]

So unlikely that you're gonna find somebody else to do your dirty work.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Their investigation into Christeel's murder was about to start all over.

[Lester Holt]

And suddenly the spotlight shifts.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Abortion can feel like a hard topic to talk about, but getting care shouldn't be. AbortionFinder.org is a free, secure website where you can find up to date info on clinics and providers, telehealth options and state restrictions. No judgment, no misinformation, just facts so you can make the decision that's right for you. Millions have used Abortion Finder to get care, and it's backed by trusted experts. If you or someone you love needs answers or options, visit abortionfinder.org.

[Christeel Krug]

Not sure if you have the experience to start your dream job. Good news these days it's the skills that count. Udemy can help you get those in demand. Skills. Want to be an AI mastermind? Learn with us Game developer. We've got you covered. AWS certified cloud practitioner. We can help you prep. You'll learn from real world experts who love what they do so that you can love what you do. Go to udemy.com for the skills to get you started and get set for your dream job. I've never felt like this before. It's like you just get me. I feel like my true self with you. Does that sound crazy? And it doesn't hurt that you're gorgeous. Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home with me. I mean you can't find shoes this good just anywhere. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas and more at your DSW store or DSW.com.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A murder investigation that once seemed so close to being solved was now back at square one. The day of her murder, Christeel's grief stricken family members spent their afternoon in interview rooms at the police station.

[Officer John O'Hare]

They were pretty effective about splitting us up so that we didn't talk a whole lot amongst ourselves any more than what we already had at the scene.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

You hadn't heard her or messaged her today at all?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

No.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

Tried to call her. I have that log here.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel's sister Jenna did not hold back her frustrations with police.

[Christeel Krug]

I just think that the lot more.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Could have been done and this wouldn't have happened.

[Christeel Krug]

She.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

She did everything right.

[Christeel Krug]

She reported everything. She kept copies of everything. She called you guys.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan came in to talk with investigators and took a seat on the same couch he had occupied just a month before.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I arrived at the police department and immediately went to go speak with the Dan, I didn't.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That girl.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

It's not your fault.

[Lester Holt]

So how's Dan doing at that point?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Dan is not doing well. He's very emotional, distraught. He's stuttering, he's crying. He's just borderline hyperventilating.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And some points he was simultaneously mourning his late wife while trying to help police solve her murder as he went through what he could recall from that morning.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Dan, when did you leave the house today?

[Officer John O'Hare]

Yes.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Approximate.

[Christeel Krug]

A.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

They I was late leaving. She's homemade. I had to go because she. She had a meeting. She was rushing me.

[Christeel Krug]

We actually had kind of a live feed camera of him in his room, up in the room that we were working in.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutors Kate Armstrong and Stephanie Fritz were at the Broomfield Police Department alongside detectives as information came in from other investigators.

[Christeel Krug]

We had a pretty good handle on kind of all of the different leads and investigatory steps that were being taken at that point in time.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

One of those steps was to go back to the companies they'd served with search warrants. Detective Martinez had been waiting nearly a month for the digital information that would tell him for sure where those stalking messages originated. Search warrants to Google, Verizon, and TextNow had gone unanswered. Only now, when detectives reached out again, citing urgent circumstances, did the companies respond almost immediately, turning over the requested information within an hour.

[Lester Holt]

And suddenly the spotlight shifts.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Yes, the reason? The data finally provided by those companies showed the stalker was not operating from Utah, where Anthony Holland lived, and not from some random corner of Colorado. The data showed Christeel Krug's stalker had been using the WI fi at Dan Krug's office.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The email that was used, the phone number that was used. All of those things are coming back to one place, and that's Dan's work. It was just kind of like an earth shattering moment of like the realization that I was on the wrong path the entire time trying to track down Anthony.

[Lester Holt]

You were on the wrong path the whole time? Yeah, because somebody wanted you on the wrong path the whole time.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I felt like a puppet.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Had Dan Krug been lying from the beginning?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I saw someone. I think it was a guy.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Had he sat back and watched as his wife compiled a stalker log for police?

[Christeel Krug]

I just always heard, document everything.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Was he the true architect of her suffering?

[Christeel Krug]

I'm doing what I can. I'm moving the sitting record now and then.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Did he put on a big show sitting on that blue couch, pretending to be in fear for Christ Steel's life and also for his own?

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

So what am I doing? I'm panicking.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Detective Martinez was convinced the answer to all of that was yes.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

And knowing that Dan had fooled me, had fooled her, it was a really tough moment to be able to process that in such a short amount of time and then immediately get back to work.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Back to work and back to Dan, who was literally still sitting at the police station at the exact moment all that new digital data came in just hours after the murder.

[Christeel Krug]

I would say the tone of his interview shifted.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

What if I told you that we had already spoken with Anthony and there's no way that he was in town.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Today.

[Christeel Krug]

And I have nothing and I'm.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Terrified to bring my children home.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Now. Martinez hit Dan with that new digital information.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The Gmail account that you guys initially received with the photo of you in it and the phone number, those originated through their IP addresses at your office. It doesn't make any sense.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

What did make sense, said Dan, was that perhaps the stalker accessed the building's WI fi.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

There's public WI fi access throughout the entire facility, and we literally post the passwords in every single meeting room.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Detective Martinez persisted.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Things are certainly pointing in one direction right now. I had just laid out the facts like, we know where Anthony is. We know the IP addresses. Everything's pointing to you.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan watched the skies of Suspicion turn suddenly darker.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

You could see his demeanor change, his body language changed. He immediately withdraws and tucks his knees back, crosses his arms, rolls his eyes very sardonically, and then says.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Oh, yes, you heard that right. Even when confronted with the evidence, Dan didn't get mad. He didn't yell or even raise his voice. He just seemed annoyed.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

You have your theory. It is wrong.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That's when Dan decided it was time to stop talking.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The point where that checklist is, I say, I'll have an attorney.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Police collected his clothes for processing.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

Taken socks, shoes, pants, shirt.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He was not arrested. Detectives gave Dan a change of clothes and let him leave. Prosecutor Stephanie Fritz.

[Lester Holt]

You're starting to get evidence that Dan is involved in the stalking, but you have essentially no evidence at that point that Dan's involved in the murder.

[Christeel Krug]

No, we don't have evidence that Dan is the murderer. We have suspicions.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

It turns out investigators were not alone in their suspicions.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

He was very upset, but there were no tears.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The Christeel Krug murder case had turned inside out when investigators learned some of the messages from her stalker came from her husband's office. Police confronted Dan Krug. They did not arrive.

[Christeel Krug]

We don't have any evidence that Dan is the murderer. The night he walks out of the.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Police station, as Dan left, he had these parting words for Detective Martinez.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I don't care if you capture him. I don't care if you kill him.

[Christeel Krug]

Find him.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan joined Christiel's stunned family.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

And we were all spending time together, just. Just holding each other, crying, whatever people needed.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Investigators were not yet sharing the head snapping news about the stalking messages. So none of those present realized Dan was suddenly at the top of the suspect list.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

When he got to the house, he was very meek and shriveled.

[Lester Holt]

Did you talk to him that night?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I did. I hugged him. I told him how sorry I was, and he asked Me to help him find an attorney, that it's always the husband, and he needs help finding an attorney.

[Lester Holt]

Did he also say to you, I'm so sorry you lost your sister?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

No. No.

[Lester Holt]

I can't imagine what you're going through.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

No.

[Lester Holt]

She loves you so much.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

No.

[Lester Holt]

It was all about him.

[Christeel Krug]

It was.

[Lester Holt]

And that was Dan or. That seemed weird.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

It seemed very weird to the family.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The idea that Dan might need an attorney was not weird. Husbands are always looked at, especially when a marriage is on the rocks. And Christeel's family knew she and Dan were not getting along. Something her mom, Linda, had mentioned to police last year.

[Christeel Krug]

Her husband and her were not good terms.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

I don't know the whole story, and I don't want to paint it as.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Horrible, because I don't know. Linda knew only what Christeel had shared and what she saw with her own eyes over the years.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

I think the best way to describe it is I always had an uneasy feeling with Dan, But I love my daughter. She loved him. And I would see them together, and they seemed very happy.

[Lester Holt]

And that made you happy?

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That happiness appeared to last for years. It was recently that her family saw the relationship deteriorate.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

They weren't as connected and with each other as much as before.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

They were constantly arguing that.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Last year, Christeel's dad, Lars, says Dan's arrogance did not help.

[Officer John O'Hare]

He always made sure that you knew that he was the smartest guy in the room. He always needed to be in charge, in control, or at least feel like he was in control. If it didn't have an adverse impact, you know, she would. In the interest of her relationship and everything, she would forfeit that control to him.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel told her parents she and Dan were likely headed for divorce. Divorce, but said she planned to stay married until their youngest, who was not yet 10, was grown.

[Lester Holt]

And at some point, Christeel says, that plan I had to stick around until the kids are out of the house.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

Not gonna work.

[Lester Holt]

I'm not gonna be able to do that.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Right.

[Lester Holt]

What'd she tell you?

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She's had enough. She says, I'm done with him. So I think on some level, you know, she knew she needed to go.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Hanging over that simmering marital tension were the escalating messages coming from Christeel's stalker. And even though Dan at least acted the part of a concerned husband for detective Martinez.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

So what am I doing? I'm panicking.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christeel's family had a completely different impression.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

I did ask him, I said, are you doing okay. And how are you? And he goes, oh, I'm just fine. And he rolls his eyes and says, she's just making a big deal out of this.

[Lester Holt]

He just didn't take it seriously.

[Christeel Krug]

Mm, mm.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

No, I know. She told me specifically that he felt like she was blowing it out of proportion, that it wasn't as serious.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Something else had always bothered sister Jenna. It was that photo the stalker took of Dan.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I mean, if that person was that close to take that picture, like they're there. It's not. You can't zoom that far and have that good of quality. So it just made me think, like, there's gotta be something else going on. Closer to home, potentially.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A marriage headed south, A controlling husband who seemed indifferent to his wife's fear. Jenna says she was thinking about all of that even as she wept behind the crime scene tape.

[Lester Holt]

I've seen the video of Dan arriving. Yeah, he's very emotional and shouting and seems to be overwrought.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Except there were no tears. At least when I was there. He was very upset. He was attempting to make himself sick, but there were no tears.

[Lester Holt]

You think that was all an act?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I think it was fake.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Right there at the crime scene, Jenna couldn't help but say the quiet part outlined.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I remember hugging Linda and I don't know why it came out, but I remember just saying, like, did he kill her? Like, did Dan kill her? And I remember Linda telling me, like, I don't know.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Investigators thought they did know. Now they had to prove it. And maybe all those cameras at the house would help, just not in the way you might think.

[Christeel Krug]

Think.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Abortion can feel like a hard topic to talk about, but getting care shouldn't be. AbortionFinder.org is a free, secure website where you can find up to date info on clinics, providers, telehealth options and state restrictions. No judgment, no misinformation, just facts so you can make the decision that's right for you. Millions have used Abortion Finder to get care, and it's backed by trusted experts. If you or someone you love needs answers or options, visit abortionfinder.org this is an ad by BetterHelp. We've all had that epic rideshare experience. Halfway through, you're best friends and they know your aspirations to go find yourself in Portugal. It's human we're all looking for someone to listen, but not everyone is equipped to help. With over a decade of experience, BetterHelp can help match you with the right therapist. See why they have a 4.9 rating out of 1.7 million client session reviews. Visit betterhelp.com for 10% off your first month.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The guy thought he had a good thing going, a good job, and two lovers. That is, until this triangle got complicated and somebody had to go. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Engagement, an all new podcast from Dateline. It's a story that's sure to keep you guessing as lovers turn on each other in a desperate bid to avoid prison. Listen for free each week or unlock new episodes early and enjoy ad free listening by subscribing to Dateline Premium on.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Dateline premium.com.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

If the entire stalking campaign had been an elaborate deceit created by Dan Krug and ending in murder, the next question was why. Christeel's family had long felt Dan tried to control her. Now, after learning about a strained marriage, heading for divorce, that idea of control was becoming central to the theory investigators were developing. They suspected Dan was trying to generate fear to make Kristeel change her mind.

[Christeel Krug]

About leaving him on the stalking was to control Christeel, to bring her closer.

[Lester Holt]

To him, make her afraid and want to be with Dan more.

[Christeel Krug]

Correct.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

If that was Dan's motive, it had been a failure. Christeel was determined to end their marriage sooner than she'd originally planned.

[Christeel Krug]

She went from wanting to be separated to wanting to be divorced in the time frame of that case. And once it turns to divorce, now that it's to control her, he's lost power. And so it's the ultimate form of control of the murder.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutors believe Dan must have felt time was running out and that he was about to be exposed.

[Christeel Krug]

The police are getting closer. He knows search warrants are out, and.

[Lester Holt]

When those search warrants come back, he's gonna be found out. He's gotta know that.

[Christeel Krug]

He's gotta know that this is a.

[Lester Holt]

Motive I have not seen before, which is, I'm gonna make you afraid. I'm gonna make you want to be with me again. And then if that plot gets found out, then I'm gonna have to kill you.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

This is the most unique case that I've ever been involved with.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Investigators traced the burner phone first used to text Kristeel and learned it had been purchased at a store in Broomfield using a gift card. That card was registered to Dan Krug. To prosecutor Kate Armstrong, it was more evidence that the stalking had been an elaborate hoax with Anthony Holland as the perfect fall guy.

[Lester Holt]

Anthony Holland's sort of undying love for Christeel, which he'd expressed again and again over the years, that was kind of.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Like a gift to Dan in planning this.

[Christeel Krug]

And it was very believable, especially to Chris Steele, that it would be Anthony and that Anthony would be popping back.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Up at the house. Investigators went over all the video from the morning of the murder, the cars and people coming and going. They noticed something curious. Four cameras were recording that morning. Then right around the time of the murder, Detective Marshall says something changed.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The doorbell camera was covered with a piece of, like, blue painter's tape. The house had at least three other cameras which almost covered 360 degrees around the house. Only one of those was operational during the time of when we arrived because.

[Lester Holt]

The others were broken.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

They were turned off, intentionally turned off.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The only video they had was from the camera above the garage. It showed Dan leaving just before 8:30am it's his alibi.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

It shows when he leaves the house.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And that was important because of that text message Dan received from Christeel 30 minutes later asking him about after school pickup.

[Lester Holt]

It looks as if Christeel has sent texts. After Dan is provably out of the house, then he's got an alibi that.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

I don't know how you shatter.

[Christeel Krug]

Right.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And there was Dan waving to the guard as he arrived at the office. Dan's alibi and the timing of that text from Kristeel certainly complicated the investigation. So did a lack of physical evidence connecting Dan to the actual murder. Prosecutors needed more, and they got it. A breakthrough piece of evidence was handed to them by none other than Dan himself. It happened as he sat on that couch talking with detectives.

[Lester Holt]

Dan allowed you to search his phone, gave you consent.

[Christeel Krug]

Correct.

[Lester Holt]

And gave you his password?

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Lester Holt]

I think an attorney might have told him not to do that.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan might be rethinking that decision because on that phone, they found this.

[Christeel Krug]

The day before the homicide, Dan had searched a number of different things related to head trauma. How hard you have to hit someone for them to be unconscious, how long someone needs to be unconscious to become brain dead. All a variety of those kinds of searches.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Remember, before she was stabbed, Christeel was struck in the back of the head. Learning about Dan's searches is what took prosecutors from stalking to murder. A team was assembled, including officer o', Hare, who had discovered Christiel's body.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I got word that he had gotten into his vehicle and left the house and was headed in the direction where I was.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

He pulled his cruiser behind Dan.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Dan then pulled in into a grocery store parking lot. So I initiated my lights.

[Anthony Holland]

Hands on your face.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan Krug was arrested on his way to his daughter's dance performance. You guys found it?

[Officer John O'Hare]

Nope.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I don't remember how I found it out. I probably heard it from my dad. But I remember feeling shocked. But also not shocked, if that makes sense.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As she processed the news that her son in law was her daughter's accused killer, Linda went over the events of that awful morning. How Dan asked her to go check on Christeel.

[Lester Holt]

He wants you to find your daughter's body.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

Yeah.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Yeah. Pure evil.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

Absolutely cruel thing to do. I mean, you wanted an alibi, obviously, but why did it have to be me?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Cruel could also describe how the stalking campaign terrorized crusader Steele in the last months of her life.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

It's heartbreaking to think about everything that she went through, Because I don't think anybody knows the full extent of it. But knowing what we know now, it's just unimaginable.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Swing around.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan Krug pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and stalking. Prosecutors knew the physical evidence against Dan was thin and the crazy motive they offered might be hard for a jury to wrap its head around. Perhaps this woman's story would be the final piece of the puzzle. Suddenly, Dan Krug's past was stalking him.

[Christeel Krug]

It made me feel.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In the spring of 2025, Dan Krug entered a courtroom to face trial on charges he had stalked and murdered his wife, christeel. By that time, Dan's hair had turned gray and his former in laws had turned against him. Christeel's family attended every day of court.

[Lester Holt]

Did he know you were there?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Um, the very, very first hearing. Dan walked in the room and made eye contact with all of us and.

[Lester Holt]

Smiled because, like, what, he thinks you're there to stick up for him?

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Yeah, I think he thought we were there for him.

[Officer John O'Hare]

And apparently the look on my face after he saw me, he never looked at me again. Ever.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutors laid out the digital evidence pointing to Dan as Christeel's stalker. The burner phone he bought, the messages from his office, Wi fi. And Broomfield police did a digital analysis of that photo of Dan outside his office, the one that bothered Jenna. It showed the photo had been taken in selfie mode, Likely on a timer. Prosecutors called Anthony holland as a witness, the man they said Dan intended to frame.

[Lester Holt]

Dan is right. The guy who tried to frame you for stalking and was probably fine with you going down for murder.

[Anthony Holland]

Oh, yeah, he was fine with that. As I was leaving, I stared him down, and he didn't look at me. He just looked straight like this.

[Lester Holt]

Didn't want to face you.

[Anthony Holland]

He Couldn't even look me in the face. He's trying to frame you for murder and he couldn't even look at me.

[Lester Holt]

You're unquestionably a victim here. Along with Christeel and her and her kids and her family.

[Anthony Holland]

Yeah, I feel for those kids, my man. How can someone do that? It's horrible. It's just pure evil.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutors showed the jury the searches on Dan's phone about head injuries made the day before Christeel's murder. And on the day of the murder, they argued Dan tried to cover his tracks by leaving only the camera above the garage working as he drove away. They also argued he was the one who covered the doorbell camera, because in a kitchen drawer, investigators found blue painter's tape.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The roll in the drawer was a forensic fit to that tape on the doorbell.

[Lester Holt]

Like a jigsaw puzzle.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The tears lined up astonishingly, perfectly.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Much harder for the prosecution to explain was that text message Dan received from Christiel after he had already left the house.

[Christeel Krug]

If we had believed that Christeel was alive at 8:56, when those texts go out to Dan, that would mean that she had. She was alive at least half an hour after he left the house.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So how to prove Christeel was already dead by then? Well, a careful analysis of her phone showed it wasn't active at the time the text was sent.

[Christeel Krug]

Essentially for a layperson. The gist of how we were able to determine that was that Christeel's phone, the screen was not illuminated.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutors think Dan fabricated his alibi by using Christeel's phone to schedule a text to be sent after he was already out of the house. Stephanie Fritz told the jury the real story was that after Dan returned home from dropping the kids and before he left for work, he ambushed Christeel in the garage first. He hit her in the back of the head.

[Christeel Krug]

She didn't even see him coming. He did not even give her a fighting chance.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

She said Dan then turned his dying wife onto her back.

[Christeel Krug]

He didn't need to stab her. She would have died anyway. But he goes in for that one final fatal blow. And it was deep.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Prosecutors knew the story they were telling a jury about Dan Krug and his elaborate stalking plot was an unusual one. And they had one more witness to wrap up their case. After hearing about Dan's arrest, a woman contacted police with an astonishing tale.

[Christeel Krug]

And what she expressed to Detective Marshall was that she had dated Daniel Cruz Krug about 20 years prior. Chronic, chronic anxiety.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Even after all this time, she said she was still Terrified of Dan. So much so that she asked us not to reveal her identity.

[Christeel Krug]

It made me feel watched.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So I.

[Christeel Krug]

Was just constantly on guard.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The woman dated Dan for a little more than a year in high school and college until she broke it off in the the fall of 2000. She says soon after, she began receiving weird messages and phone calls from someone she did not know.

[Lester Holt]

He had created a fake person.

[Christeel Krug]

He had created a number of fake people.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Fake people who were trying to push her back into Dan's arms.

[Christeel Krug]

They talked about Dan a lot, told her to cherish her friendship with Daniel. Other characters that he had created through email also were kind of trying to sabotage her new relationships. And then they got very sexual and explicit. And I carry that with me to this day. Just small things, you know, I worry.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

All the time back then. She reported it to campus police. After a three month investigation, the messages were traced to an IP address at Dan's college on the east coast. The woman got a temporary restraining order against Dan, but he was never charged with any crime.

[Christeel Krug]

It was eerie how similar it was to what had now happened to Christiel.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

On the stand, the woman told Dan's jury her story.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We sat there and we even looked at some of the jury while they were listening to, to this and they were in shock. It was jaw dropping.

[Lester Holt]

It took a lot of courage for.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Her to do that.

[Lester Holt]

Oh, unbelievable.

[Officer John O'Hare]

We are so thankful that she had that courage.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Using a cache of digital evidence, prosecutors had made a strong case, suggesting Dan Krug and no one else was behind the stalking of his own wife. So much now hinged on the jury by believing Dan was not just Christeel's stalker, but also her murderer. And in that regard, prosecutors were missing something big, and Dan's attorneys knew it.

[Lester Holt]

Juries like DNA.

[Christeel Krug]

They do.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't have any DNA.

[Christeel Krug]

We did not.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Dan Krug was staring at a possible life sentence. His defense attorneys implored jurors to focus their attention on all the evidence the prosecution did not have.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

There is absolutely no physical evidence on Mr. Krug's clothing. There's no blood found on that car, inside or out.

[Lester Holt]

Juries like DNA.

[Christeel Krug]

They do.

[Lester Holt]

You didn't have any DNA.

[Christeel Krug]

We did not.

[Lester Holt]

You can't pick up the murder weapon and show it to the jury. You can't even tell the jury what it was.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

The evidence in this case says something far different with what the prosecution has told you.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The defense argued Dan's Internet searches were not about killing Christeel, saying he made them after having lunch with a colleague. Who the defense said struggled with a head injury.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

He can't hear. He struggles with speech. He struggles with walking. He uses a wheelchair. And immediately after that, we have a search for head injuries.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The defense warned jurors to be wary of the evidence prosecutors did have.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

We know the physical evidence, and there is an enormous disconnect between that and the circumstantial picture the prosecution wants you to believe.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In closing, the defense argued that if police couldn't figure out that Dan was Christeel's stalker, how could they be trusted? When they said Dan was her killer.

[Lester Holt]

They sort of suggested that Detective Martinez is at fault here because he didn't figure out it was Dan soon enough.

[Christeel Krug]

Yes.

[Lester Holt]

Right. Which is an odd defense.

[Christeel Krug]

It is an odd defense. I don't. I mean, I think the stalking evidence was so clear that it was Dan that they didn't have much else.

[Detective Andrew Martinez]

I'm telling you, Mr. Krug did not kill his wife. He did not commit these crimes, period.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

After seven days of testimony, the jury got the case.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

So I'm a defense attorney, so my brain works a little bit differently than a prosecutor's. And so I'd be lying if I say I wasn't nervous.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

No verdict after day one or the morning of day two. And then finally.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Please rise for the jury. When the jury came in, I was desperately trying to make eye contact with somebody, and not one of the jurors would look at me. And I was right in front of.

[Lester Holt]

Them, and that might be a bad sign.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

It made me really nervous, because if.

[Lester Holt]

They'Re a voice, maybe they're about to set him free.

[Christeel Krug]

Yeah.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I remember grabbing the family attorney's hand next to me, and I just. We just held hands.

[Christeel Krug]

We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Guilty of murder, stalking, and criminal impersonation.

[Officer John O'Hare]

Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. On each one of them and banged. And that was it.

[Lester Holt]

You look at Dan during that time?

[Officer John O'Hare]

Oh, we were watching him. Not a flinch, not an emote, nothing.

[Lester Holt]

Like he knew it was coming or like he didn't care.

[Officer John O'Hare]

I don't know.

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

He wore those masks very well.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Since Christeel's murder, her family has a mission led by cousin Becky, the former prosecutor. They want to change the speed with which communications companies respond to stalking investigations. In Kristeel's case, it was not fast enough. We don't know what would have happened.

[Lester Holt]

If Christeel had had the information earlier that this wasn't Anthony Holland and that this was actually Dan. But she would have understood the calls coming from inside the house.

[Christeel Krug]

Christeel was carrying a handgun. He knew he had to take her from behind in order to kill her. If she had known that it was dan, he never would have had the opportunity to take her from behind. And she could have safety planned in a way that could have saved her life.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

All three companies still had the original search warrants submitted by detective martinez in their systems when christeel was killed. And eventually all three did respond to those. Except google and verizon took weeks. Text now took nearly three months. None of that came in time to save christeel to her family. The quick response of those same companies to the urgent requests on the day of the murder proves it is possible to turn over data almost immediately.

[Christeel Krug]

So we know there's a structure. It's just a matter of having companies prioritize those responses.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The family is advocating for legislation requiring companies to respond to warrants in stalking cases within 48 hours. They want to call it christeel's law.

[Christeel Krug]

She marshaled the support of law enforcement. She tracked every single contact. Law enforcement wrote search warrants, issued those search warrants, and she's dead and she still got killed. So I want to see not just state based legislation but federal legislation that requires these communication companies to respond within 48 hours when they've received subpoenas or search warrants pursuant to stalking or domestic violence investigations. This legislation is homicide prevention.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

When asked about their response to kristeel's case, Google and verizon told us they receive thousands of law enforcement requests each month. And neither company said stalking cases are automatically receive any special attention. Google says requests are prioritized based on numerous factors. While verizon says their usual policy is first in, first out. Verizon added that they generally do not know the nature of the investigations behind police requests. And both companies say they rely on law enforcement to let them know what's an emergency. Texnow did not respond to our questions. Dan krug was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Christiel's children are with her family.

[Lester Holt]

What do you want them to know about their mom?

[Linda Grimsrud (Christeel's mother)]

She loved her. She loved them. She loved them. She wanted to protect them and she wanted them to be happy.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

I think the most important thing about christiel is that her memory lives on and we don't stop talking about her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Christyle's kids are not the only children who will grow up without her.

[Lester Holt]

And right this minute you're pregnant and now I'm pregnant. And she would have been thrilled.

[Jenna Erickson (Christeel's sister)]

Oh, she would have been over the moon. She would have been the best aunt. And now my kids just get memories and they don't get to make their own. And it's really hard, hard to talk about her, but the stories and who she was, it's just really important to keep her alive however we can.

[Lester Holt]

That's all for this edition of dateline.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And check out our Talking DATELINE podcast.

[Lester Holt]

Josh Mankiewicz and I will go behind.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the the DATELINE feed.

[Lester Holt]

Wherever you get your podcasts, we'll see.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

You again next Friday at 9, 8 Central. I'm Lester Holt.

[Lester Holt]

For all of us at NBC News, good night.

[AbortionFinder.org Announcer]

Abortion can feel like a hard topic to talk about, but getting care shouldn't be. AbortionFinder.org is a free, secure website where you can find find up to date info on clinics, providers, telehealth options and state restrictions. No judgment, no misinformation, just facts so you can make the decision that's right for you. Millions have used Abortion Finder to get care, and it's backed by trusted experts. If you or someone you love needs answers or options, visit abortionfinder.org.