CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. — A Colorado rancher suspected of killing the mother of his child and burning her body pleaded not guilty Friday to a murder charge and other related criminal charges.
Patrick Frazee entered the plea during a brief court hearing in the case involving the killing of Kelsey Berreth, whose body has not been found.
Berreth, a 29-year-old flight instructor, was last seen last year on Thanksgiving Day near her home in the mountain town of Woodlands Park, south of Denver. The search for Berreth did not begin until Dec. 2, when her mother reported her missing.
Investigators have testified that Frazee’s girlfriend, Krystal Lee Kenney, told police he repeatedly asked her to kill Berreth.
They have said the 32-year-old former nurse from Idaho told police that Frazee admitted beating Berreth to death with a baseball bat. She said Frazee demanded she come to Colorado and clean up blood at Berreth’s home and watched as Frazee burned Berreth’s body, according to investigators.
Kenney told police that Frazee planned to throw the remains in a dump or a river, investigators have said.
Kenney has pleaded guilty to evidence tampering for moving Berreth’s cellphone after she disappeared. She is cooperating with prosecutors as part of a plea agreement. She is also required to testify against Frazee.
Prosecutors’ evidence includes cellphone tower data, suggesting Berreth’s phone was always in the possession of either Frazee or Kenney after Nov. 22, the date Frazee told police he last saw her.
Prosecutors have not discussed any theories on why Frazee would kill Berreth. Her parents argue in a wrongful death lawsuit that they believe Frazee wanted full custody of the couple’s toddler daughter.
The child has remained with them temporarily while the criminal case proceeds. The criminal trial was set to start Oct. 28.
