Colorado man accused of beating fiancée to death pleads not guilty
A Colorado man accused of beating the mother of his child to death with a baseball bat pleaded not guilty to murder charges Friday.
Patrick Frazee, 32, was arrested after his fiancee, Kelsey Berreth, went missing last Thanksgiving Day near Woodland Park, a city between Denver and Colorado Springs. Authorities have said they believe Frazee killed the 29-year-old but her body has not been found.
He appeared in a brief court hearing Friday in a Cripple Creek, Colorado, court and stayed quiet as his attorney entered a not guilty plea.
Frazee is facing two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree, charges of tampering with a body and two counts of a crime of violence. His trial has been set for October 28 and it’s expected to last about three weeks.
Frazee has been in custody since his arrest in December. Idaho nurse Krystal Lee Kenney, Frazee’s girlfriend, told investigators he killed Berreth by wrapping a sweater around her head and bashing her with a baseball bat, according to Gregg Slater, an agent for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities spent nearly two months searching for Berreth’s body in a landfill in Fountain, Colorado. Kenney had told police that Frazee disposed of Berreth’s remains either at a dump or in a river.
Police suspended the search in April after they did not find any remains or evidence linked to Berreth’s death.
HLN’s Drew Iden contributed to this report.
