TELLER COUNTY, Colorado — Patrick Frazee pleaded not guilty Friday morning to the murder of his 29-year-old fiancée, Kelsey Berreth.
His trial has been set to Monday, Oct. 28, 2019.
Berreth went missing out of Woodland Park on Thanksgiving Day 2018. About a month afterward, Frazee was arrested on investigation of first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree murder. On Dec. 2018, he was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of solicitation. A tampering with a deceased body charge and two crime of violence sentence enhancers were added later.
According to an arrest affidavit, authorities said they believe Frazee tried to convince an Idaho woman named Krystal Lee Kenney to kill Berreth. Frazee and Kenney had previously been in a relationship, and Kenney was living in Idaho at the time of the crime. Despite their plans, Kenney backed out of the crime each time.
Investigators said they believe Frazee killed Berreth in her Woodland Park home sometime in the afternoon on Nov. 22, 2018. Kenney told authorities that Frazee said he had blindfolded Berreth and asked her to guess the scent of a candle. He then beat her to death with a baseball bat, according to an arrest affidavit.
Kenney and Frazee used Berreth’s cell phone to carry out a scheme to distort the date of Berreth’s disappearance and throw investigators off of their trail, according to the affidavit.
Frazee and Kenney burned Berreth’s body, the bat and other items in a 100-gallon trough at a ranch in Florissant on Nov. 24, 2018, according to the affidavit.
On Feb. 5, 2019, Kenney was formally charged with one felony count of tampering with physical evidence in the case. She pleaded guilty on Feb. 8. As part of her plea deal, she agreed to testify in Frazee’s pending trial.
Investigators started to search for Berreth’s body at Midway Landfill on Feb. 26. The unsuccessful search ended April 17. Berreth's body has not been found as of Friday morning.
Click here for all of KMGH's coverage of the Kelsey Berreth case.
