TELLER COUNTY, Colo. — A new document released this week from the Teller County District Court shows the prosecution in the Patrick Frazee case is asking the judge to make the defense reveal whether it plans to have an alternate suspect.
Frazee is accused of killing his fiance Kelsey Berreth and burning her remains on a makeshift pyre.
According to an arrest affidavit, Frazee allegedly beat Berreth to death with a baseball bat after failing to persuade Krystal Lee Kenney, an Idaho nurse he was having an affair with, to commit the killing.
P-15 Proposed Order to Endorse Alternate Suspect
FOX31 legal analyst Chris Decker said it’s important to remember at this point, the latest motion was filed by the prosecution, not Frazee’s defense team. But it has a lot of people wondering if the defense strategy would be to blame someone else.
“I would read very little into this other than the fact that the prosecution really wants to know whether Patrick Frazee is going to run alternate suspect. And in this case, it’s pretty clear it’s the girlfriend who they would be blaming… the one who has already provided info to the prosecution,” Decker said.
Frazee is expected to be in court on Friday for a motions hearing. At that time, the judge could rule on the prosecution’s motion to require the defense to disclose whether they plan to use the alternate suspect defense.
“In theory, the defense could claim almost anything. They are not going to be floating a theory that is not logical or unbelievable. But in this particular situation, it might make sense for a defense to be arguing [Kenney] is the one who committed the murder, which is why she knows so many details,” Decker said.
Frazee is being held without bond.
Berreth’s remains have not been found despite a search in an El Paso County landfill.
Teller County District Court Judge Scott Sells set a three-week trial to begin on Oct. 28.
Berreth was last seen with her 1-year-old daughter on Thanksgiving in a Woodland Park grocery store. Frazee, the father of the girl, has denied the allegations.
Frazee was arrested on murder and other charges in December, about a month after Berreth was last seen alive.
He was formally charged on Dec. 31 with first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder and three counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
In February, prosecutors added a charge accusing Frazee of tampering with a deceased body and two charges of committing a crime of violence.
Kenney told Colorado Bureau of Investigation detectives that she watched Frazee burn Berreth’s body on a pyre of gasoline-soaked wood on a cattle water trough at his ranch in Florissant.
Frazee allegedly later convinced Kenney to help him cover up the crime by cleaning up the bloody crime scene before he burned Berreth’s remains, investigators said.
Kenney told investigators that Frazee planned to throw the the remains in a dump or river.
On Feb. 8, Kenney pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence for moving Berreth’s cellphone after she disappeared.
She is cooperating with prosecutors and is required to testify against Frazee in his pending trial as part of her plea agreement.
Investigators started searching Midway Landfill for Berreth’s body in late February and has not yet been found.
The girl is in the custody of Berreth’s parents.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the defense proposed an alternate suspect in the case. In fact, it was the prosecution requesting to know whether the defense will propose an alternate suspect.
