Colorado Man Tried To Have His Fiancee Killed 3 Times Before Fatal Beating, Investigator Says

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
A Colorado man accused of beating the mother of his child to death with a baseball bat tried to persuade his new girlfriend to kill her three times before he took the matter into his own hands, investigators said.

Patrick Frazee will face a murder trial in the death of his fiancee, Kelsey Berreth. Her body has not been found since she vanished last Thanksgiving Day near Woodland Park, a city between Denver and Colorado Springs.
The couple has a 1-year-old daughter, Kaylee, who is in the custody of Berreth's parents.


Kelsey Berreth
Idaho resident Krystal Lee Kenney told investigators that she was in a romantic relationship with Frazee last year and he allegedly asked her to kill Berreth on three different occasions, said Gregg Slater, an agent for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.


Kenney said she was not involved in the fatal attack, but the suspect ordered her to clean up the victim's home after he killed her, Slater said.
Slater testified that Kenney provided details of the November 22 killing during an interview with investigators. Kenney pleaded guilty to evidence tampering on February 8.
Plan allegedly involved poisoned coffee
Investigators revealed grisly new details about the killing and what steps the two allegedly took to cover it up.
Frazee and Kenney started an intimate relationship in early 2018, she told investigators. He allegedly concocted a plan to kill Berreth, whom he accused of being abusive to their child and using drugs.

His first plan in September involved Kenney poisoning a caramel macchiato drink and giving it to Berreth, but she could not bring herself to do it, investigators said.
Kenney bought the drink and took it to Berreth's townhome. When she opened the door, Kenney made up a story about showing appreciation and gave her the drink, but it was not poisoned, she told investigators.

The second and third attempts happened in the next month. The first of those involved Kenney assaulting the victim in the parking lot of her condo with a metal pipe. She waited for Berreth, but still couldn't do it, Slater said. The third attempt was to beat Berreth with a baseball bat, and again she refused.

Frazee allegedly took matters into his own hands and killed Berreth with a baseball bat at her home on Thanksgiving Day last year, according to Slater.

The suspect allegedly killed Berreth by wrapping a sweater around her head and bashing her with the bat. He later burned her body in a water trough, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing in Cripple Creek, west of Colorado Springs.

He asked Kenney to come and clean up the blood in the victim's home after the attack, and she brought with her a box of latex gloves, a white suit, booties, bleach, two trash bags and a hair net. Frazee even asked her to look for a tooth near a vent, Slater said.

He allegedly had Thanksgiving dinner after attack
Frazee was arrested in December on murder charges and is being held without bond.
Prosecutors filed new charges against him Tuesday, including tampering with a body and counts related to a crime of violence.

Frazee tried to enlist Kenney to dispose of the body in Idaho but she refused, according to Slater. Instead, he removed the body to a farm in Fremont County, where it was left in a black tote bag in a stack of hay while he went to Thanksgiving dinner, Slater testified.
The suspect later moved the body to a water trough and added gas and wood before setting it ablaze, Slater said. Frazee allegedly scooped up the remains and disposed of them either at a dump or in a river.

"You don't know how hard it is to have Thanksgiving dinner after killing her," Kenney recalled Frazee telling her, according to Slater.

She cleaned up the crime scene
On November 22, Frazee called Kenney and told her he needed help cleaning up a mess in Colorado, according to Slater.

She drove overnight to Colorado, bringing with her cleaning equipment. She picked up a key at Frazee's home and opened the door at Berreth's townhouse to what she described as a "horrific" scene, Slater testified. She spent hours cleaning, discarding blood-stained toys and other items.

In early December, investigators examining Berreth's bathroom found blood in the toilet, the bathtub exterior, the bottom of a trash can, the walls, floor, a towel rack, the vanity and an electrical outlet, according to Slater.


Krystal Lee Kenney
Slater testified the blood matched a DNA profile created with samples taken from the Berreth family.

Parents revealed a possible motive
Berreth's parents, Cheryl-Lee Ellen Berreth and Darrell Lynn Berreth, filed a wrongful death lawsuit and cited a custody dispute as a likely a motive. They said the suspect wanted full custody of their granddaughter, but Berreth would not agree.

Frazee told police he last saw his fiancée on November 22, when he picked up their daughter, making him the last known person to report seeing her alive.

In addition to the charges added Tuesday, Frazee faces two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree.

CNN's Jeremy Harlan, Ray Sanchez, Amir Vera, Suzanne Presto, Holly Yan and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.
 

OhTall1

Well-Known Member
I'm not good at this relationship stuff, but if your BF tries to get you to kill his current fiancee three times over a two month time span, you may want to re-evaluate some stuff. Interesting that the side chick was fine with trying to kill someone and cleaning up after the murder, but drew the line at helping to dispose of the body. Guess that was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
 

Goombay_Summer

Well-Known Member
I'm not good at this relationship stuff, but if your BF tries to get you to kill his current fiancee three times over a two month time span, you may want to re-evaluate some stuff. Interesting that the side chick was fine with trying to kill someone and cleaning up after the murder, but drew the line at helping to dispose of the body. Guess that was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

It bears repeating because Krystal was the ultimate ride or die chick until it was time to dispose of the body.
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member
I always tell people don't call me if you are trying to dispose of a body. I'll be calling the cops.

This man tried to kill the mother of his child 3 times- wouldn't girlfriend be worried that he might eventually want to kill her as well?

You want me to come clean and I find a crime scene? And you want me to look for a tooth? Naw son, the police would have been called on your behind.
 

Bette Davis Eyes

The "OG" Product Junkie
They are both stupid.

He thought he could get away with it because of the body not being found. The GF caved in ,gave details and they went right behind looking for blood splatters.


I don't understand these men killing these women. Just leave. You moved on. What thinks you can get away with murder? WHY murder someone who birthed the very person you love???
 

michelle81

Well-Known Member
I think I also read that the GF was a nurse and single mom. Poor kids of hers having to deal with this.

Also the guy (Frazee) was the primary caregiver for the child while the mom worked. He had a "farm" and he and his mom kept the kid there during the day. In that case he probably would have at least gotten 50/50 custody if not more. Honestly he already had the kid more than 40 hours a week so why kill the mom to get full-time custody?

All I know is I would be raging mad if he killed my daughter, especially blindfolding her and with a bat. I'd try my best to do the exact same to him on court day with him handcuffed.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
I think I also read that the GF was a nurse and single mom. Poor kids of hers having to deal with this.

Also the guy (Frazee) was the primary caregiver for the child while the mom worked. He had a "farm" and he and his mom kept the kid there during the day. In that case he probably would have at least gotten 50/50 custody if not more. Honestly he already had the kid more than 40 hours a week so why kill the mom to get full-time custody?

All I know is I would be raging mad if he killed my daughter, especially blindfolding her and with a bat. I'd try my best to do the exact same to him on court day with him handcuffed.
He just wanted to take all of the control from the baby’s mama
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
He just wanted to take all of the control from the baby’s mama
Basically. Crimes like rape, abuse, and murder are about power and control. I think he hated the idea of her moving on and living her best life without him so he made up these stories about her abusing the child and doing drugs so he and the child seemed like victims and then took matters into his own hands. If she was so terrible, he could've had her arrested and then he would've gotten full custody.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
Don't these people watch Forensic Files? No matter how well you clean, there is always some evidence (blood smear, hair, piece of fiber. plant residue, etc) left behind. This isn't the 1900's-science has come a long way since then.
I don't watch any of these shows and even I know you have to basically burn it down to get rid of the evidence or create a Dexter inspired kill room wrapped in plastic.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
I don't understand how he asked the GF to kill her three times and the GF was still his GF? He would have asked me ONCE and I would have exited stage left and called the police!
I don't even understand how a man fixes his lips to suggest this. How do you stick around long enough for there to be 3 failed attempts? How do you continue to have sex with someone who could do this? The crime scene would haunt my thoughts day and night and I'd dry up like a desert.

Does anyone know how this crime was discovered? It sounds likes the gf is cooperating but it's not clear if she turned him in on her own or if she confessed under pressure.
 

michelle81

Well-Known Member
I don't even understand how a man fixes his lips to suggest this. How do you stick around long enough for there to be 3 failed attempts? How do you continue to have sex with someone who could do this? The crime scene would haunt my thoughts day and night and I'd dry up like a desert.

Does anyone know how this crime was discovered? It sounds likes the gf is cooperating but it's not clear if she turned him in on her own or if she confessed under pressure.

I think the GF confessed under pressure. There is a large digital trail (which the GF said she left intentionally?) with this case to where he was definitely going to be caught. Seems like the GF cleaned up the crime scene very well to where maybe Luminol had to be used to detect most of the blood.
 
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