Prosecutors in Teller County, Colorado reached a pivotal decision in their case against alleged murderer Patrick Frazee. They will not pursue the death penalty against him in the death of his fiancee Kelsey Berreth. The deadline to file for capital punishment came and went.
Prosecutors in Teller County will not seek the death penalty in their case against Patrick #Frazee, who charged with murder in death of #KelseyBerreth . The deadline to file was today, the spokeswoman for District Attorney Dan May confirms nothing was filed today. @9NEWS
— Jennifer Meckles (@jennifermeckles) July 27, 2019
Now, if convicted, the defendant only faces up to the life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Trial is set to begin in October. The next hearing is scheduled for August 23. Frazee pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed Berreth after trying to get his former girlfriend Krystal Jean Kenney Lee to commit the murder.
Berreth was last seen on Walmart surveillance footage from November 22, 2018, according to a police affidavit. She remains missing, but authorities argued that she is definitely dead. There’s no indication that she’s alive (eg. bank account or email activity), cops said. They’re also relying on Lee as a key witness.
She pleaded guilty in February to tampering with evidence, and agreed to testify against Frazee. According to cops, she said that he had been thinking of killing Berreth since at least September 2018. Frazee approached her with plans for murder, she allegedly claimed. He insisted that the victim was physically abusive to their daughter, Lee said in the affidavit. (“Your Affiant is unaware of any reports of child abuse or neglect,” wrote police.)
In the end, Frazee allegedly told Lee that he finally killed Berreth at the victim’s home by tricking her into tying something around her eyes so she could guess candle scent. He used this opportunity to beat her to death with a baseball bat, according to affidavit. Lee admitted to helping him hide evidence, but said that she refused to dispose of the body. Frazee handled that, she allegedly said.
[Screengrab via Fox 31 Denver]
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