Details of alleged gruesome bloody cleanup revealed in case against fiancé accused of killing Kelsey Berreth
Prosecutors on Tuesday revealed gruesome new details, including claims of a bloody cleanup, in the case against Patrick Frazee, who is accused of killing his fiancé, Kelsey Berreth.
Berreth, the mother of Frazee's 1-year-old daughter, vanished on Nov. 22, 2018, near her Woodland Park, Colorado, home. Her purse, phone and keys went missing, but no other personal items were gone, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Her body has still not been found but investigators believe she was killed inside her own home.
Frazee, 32, who was arrested in December for murder and solicitation to commit murder, has not entered a plea.
Alleged murder plots
Frazee's ex-girlfriend, Krystal Lee, claimed Frazee had three plots last fall that involved Lee killing Berreth, Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Gregg Slater said Tuesday, as he testified for the prosecution at Frazee's preliminary hearing. Frazee claimed Berreth was an abusive mother, Lee later told authorities, according to Slater.
Lee said one murder plot involved Frazee asking her to poison Berreth's favorite Starbucks drink, a caramel macchiato, Slater testified. Lee said she and Frazee discussed potential drugs that were easy to access because Lee was a nurse, according to Slater.
Lee said two other plots involved attacking Berreth with a steel rod and a baseball bat, Slater testified.
Lee said she loved and feared Frazee, but couldn't go through with the crime, Slater said.
A bloody cleanup claim
Lee said Frazee called her on Nov. 22 and told her to get to Colorado to clean up, Slater said. Lee arrived on Nov. 24 with rubber gloves, a hospital gown, bleach, trash bags and booties, Slater testified.
Lee said Frazee had allegedly covered Berreth's eyes with a sweater with the rouse of playing a game of smelling scented candles; that's when he allegedly "started swinging" with a bat, Slater testified. Lee told investigators Frazee said the baby was in the home in a back office at the time of the murder, Slater testified.
Lee said she used Berreth's cleaning products to wipe down the "horrific" scene, Slater testified. Frazee had tried to clean with baby wipes, Lee said.
There were bloody footprints throughout the house, and the walls and baby toys were covered in blood, Lee said, according to Slater.
Lee said she purposefully left blood near the fireplace and baby gate hoping police would find it, Slater testified.
On Dec. 6, two weeks after the alleged murder, Berreth's mother found blood in her daughter's bathroom and noticed a missing bathmat, Slater said.
Investigators did a luminol test (which detects blood) and found Berreth's blood DNA profile in her bathroom, including on the toilet, trash can, floor, wall, door, towel rack and part of the vanity, Slater said.
Frazee's attorney, however, noted that the blood was found in Berreth's home by her own family days after cadaver dogs and police investigated the scene.
Surveillance and phone evidence
Cameras from Berreth's neighbor showed Berreth, Frazee and their baby at Berreth's front door on Nov. 22, the day she disappeared, said Christopher Adams of the Woodland Park Police Department, who was called by prosecutors at the preliminary hearing.
Frazee was also seen on surveillance video that day at a Woodland Park credit union drive through, Adams said. A black tote was in the back of the truck bed, Adams said.
Prosecutors asked if that tote would play a significant role in what happened to Berreth, and Adams said yes. Frazee allegedly put Berreth's body in the tote and went to have Thanksgiving dinner with his family, Slater testified.
Lee said Frazee burned the black tote and baseball bat on Frazee's property, Slater said.
The flames were so large that Frazee's mother came out on the front porch, Lee told police, according to Slater.
Prosecutors want Frazee's mother to testify because they believe, based on what Lee allegedly told police, that she witnessed Frazee destroy that bag. Frazee's mother plead the 5th Amendment when called to testify Tuesday. She is not facing any charges in connection to this case.
On Nov. 22, Berreth and Frazee's phones pinged off a tower serving Berreth's home, Adams testified.
The next morning, Frazee called Berreth's phone. At that time both phones pinged off the tower by Frazee's home, indicating the phones were together, Adams told the court.
Frazee's attorney, Adam Steigerwald, attacked the phone evidence, asking how many cellphone towers were in the area.
Steigerwald also stressed that there were hundreds of tips about sightings of Berreth.
Lee admitted in court this month to moving Berreth's phone.
Lee's phone records showed her in Colorado on Nov. 24, Adams said Tuesday. On Nov. 25, Berreth's phone traveled west, eventually reaching Idaho, where Lee lives. Records indicate Lee's phone was traveling with Berreth's phone, Adams testified.
Lee said she threw away Berreth's keys and burned Berreth's phone, Slater said. But first, Lee said Frazee told her to text him from Berreth's phone, saying “Do you even love me anymore?" Lee said Frazee also had her text Berreth's employer from Berreth's phone, Slater testified.
Lee pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with physical evidence. Her sentencing will take place after Frazee's criminal case has concluded.
A judge has granted temporary custody of Frazee and Berreth's daughter to Berreth's parents, Cheryl and Darrell Berreth. The couple filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Frazee last month.
