CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. — Additional charges have been filed against the Teller County man charged with murder and solicitation to commit murder in the death of his missing fiancee, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Patrick Frazee was in court for a hearing to determine whether he will stand trial in Kelsey Berreth’s death.
Testimony revealed that police initially found no evidence of foul play inside Berreth’s home but later discovered traces of blood belonging to the 29-year-old flight instructor in several places in her bathroom.
RELATED: Full coverage of Kelsey Berreth’s disappearance
Authorities had released little information about what led to Frazee’s arrest until Tuesday’s hearing, which requires prosecutors to convince a judge that their evidence merits a criminal trial on the charges.
Her body has not been found, and so far prosecutors have not presented any evidence of how Berreth was killed.
Frazee was charged in December, more than a month after the last sighting of Berreth on Nov. 22.
She was seen on surveillance video with the couple’s daughter at a grocery store near her home in Woodland Park.
Prosecutors added a charge accusing Frazee of tampering with a deceased body and two charges of committing a crime of violence, which would let the state request a harsher penalty on conviction.
The case relies on the cooperation of Krystal Jean Lee Kenney, a 32-year-old woman from Idaho who pleaded guilty this month to helping thwart the investigation by tampering with evidence in the case.
Kenney said at a plea hearing that she moved “the victim’s cellphone” around Thanksgiving. She has agreed to testify against Frazee.
Much of prosecutors’ evidence hinges on cellphone tower data, suggesting Berreth’s phone in the possession of Frazee or Kenney after Nov. 22, the date Frazee told police he last saw Berreth.
Frazee, 32, has not entered a plea and has been jailed since his arrest.
Prosecutors allege Frazee sought to find someone to kill Berreth between September and November. Key court records remain sealed.
Testimony on Tuesday did not reveal prosecutors’ theory for why Frazee would kill Berreth.
Her parents said they believe he wanted full custody of the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, according to court documents in a wrongful death suit the couple filed against Frazee.
The child has remained with them temporarily while the criminal case against Frazee proceeds.