Photo: Woodland Park Police Department / Facebook
Her body has not been found but police believe she is no longer alive.
By Sarah Gangraw — Written on Jan 03, 2019
Patrick Frazee was formally charged with the murder of his still-missing fiance Kelsey Berreth — and according to court documents filed Monday, he had been planning to kill her for three months.
Frazee, 32, was arrested Dec 21. and faces two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. The two murder charges are filed under two separate theories about the alleged slaying, said Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May.
“Obviously, there’s only one murder in this case,” May said. “Under Colorado law, we file separate counts under different theories of first-degree murder. We filed under two theories: One is deliberation for murder. And the other is felony murder.”
According to court documents, prosecutors believe Frazee either intended to murder his 29-year-old fiance and mother of his 1-year-old daughter or that he, and possibly others, committed or attempted a robbery in which Berreth was killed. The three solicitation charges, which are all second-degree felonies, allege that Frazee tried to persuade or did persuade someone else to commit murder.
He reportedly spent three months premeditating Berreth's murder. According to court documents, "between and including September 1, 2018, and November 1, 2018, Patrick Frazee unlawfully and feloniously commanded, induced, entreated, or otherwise attempted to persuade another person to commit the felony of murder in the first degree."
Frazee was silent during the proceedings and is being held at Teller County Jail without bond. His daughter is in the temporary custody of Berreth's parents.
Not much is known about the evidence authorities have against Frazee. The charging documents have not been released and the case still active.
"They've got a lot of investigative leads, a number of interviews they want to do, a number of items they have to collect and quite frankly, releasing all that information to the public could hurt their ability to do their investigation," May said.
Although Berreth is still missing, police have reason to believe she is dead.
"As you can tell from the arrest, sadly, we do not believe that Kelsey is still alive," Woodland Park Chief of Police Miles De Young said.
During a search of Berreth's home, police "recovered a number of items" that led them to believe she was killed in her residence but did not release further information.
Berreth was last seen on Nov. 22 shopping at a Woodland Park convenience store via surveillance footage. On Nov. 25, her cell phone was pinged in Gooding, Idaho, nearly 700 miles from her Colorado home. Police are working to recover the device.
Frazee was the last person to see her alive, police say. On Nov. 27, Berreth's employer received a text message from the missing mother saying she was not going to make it into work that week. Frazee also said she had texted him that day.
Berreth's mother said her daughter would never have left on her own accord like this.
“She’s not the kind that runs off,” Cheryl Berreth said at a Dec. 10 news conference with police. “This is completely out of character. Kelsey loves her God, she loves her family and friends, and she loves her job. She’s reliable, considerate and honest.”
The documents detailing Frazee's arrest are sealed and his charges have not even been discussed with him as of yet. Evidence against Frazee is expected to be presented in court at a Jan. 29 hearing. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
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Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.