Details of evidence in Kelsey Berreth's murder case explored

The harrowing murder of the Colorado-based flight instructor and mother, Kelsey Berreth brought the jury to tears during her murder trial. Kelsey had been brutally beaten to death with a baseball bat by her fiancé, Patrick Frazee, on Thanksgiving Day of 2018.

In addition to cellphone records and surveillance footage, the investigating authorities found extensive blood and bleach evidence in Berreth's Woodland Park condominium with the help of Patrick's secret girlfriend, Krystal Lee Kenney. Krystal testified against Patrick under a plea deal and detailed the evidence that had been destroyed as well.

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled Devil's Bargain aired on Oxygen on July 17, 2024, and is currently streaming on Apple TV and NBC. The official synopsis reads,

"Kelsey Berreth vanishes after she was last seen grocery shopping on Thanksgiving; the case makes national headlines, but the secret behind Kelsey's disappearance is lurking much closer to home."

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What evidence was found in Kelsey Berreth's murder case?

The investigation into Kelsey Berreth's murder case was accelerated with cellphone records and surveillance footage from businesses. Kelsey was last seen at a Safeway store shopping for sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving dinner with her one-year-old, Kaylee, on November 22, 2018.

According to CBS News, the home surveillance system at Kelsey's Woodland Park condominium showcased the mother and daughter entering the house with the fiancé, Patrick Frazee, at 1:23 p.m. local time. Frazee was seen leaving with Kaylee around 4:20 p.m. local time and was later suspected to have already killed Kelsey in the three-hour window.

Frazee's cellphone records led the authorities to his mistress, Krystal Lee Kenney, who confessed to her part in Kelsey Berreth's alleged disappearance. Krystal, a senior nurse, and a former rodeo queen had driven down for 13 hours to clean up a blood-soaked apartment on Thanksgiving.

She gave all the details to the investigators and showed a spot next to the fireplace where she had reportedly left a blood spot for the authorities to discover. The blood from the beating Berreth received soaked underneath the wooden floorboards and splattered across the walls which was then cleaned by Krystal using bleach, per ABC News.

The authorities brought in K9 units who sniffed out human decomposition as Patrick Frazee had reportedly stored Kelsey Berreth's body inside a black tote bag and had left it on top of a haystack at Nash Ranch, according to Denver 7 News. Patrick had moved the body temporarily and was caught on surveillance camera on November 24, 2018, purchasing gas at a Conoco gas station.

According to CBS News, Krystal showed the officers the burn pit at Patrick Frazee's Florissant ranch. The evidence from the ranch included blood-soaked and charred stuffed toys belonging to Kaylee, a bloody Bible, a bat, and a female human tooth.

Moreover, Kelsey's brother, Clint Berreth, had testified to finding blood evidence on the toilet and had informed the authorities on December 4, 2018. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that Clint shared,

"I went out and told my mom that 'I think there's blood on the toilet.'"

Berreth's text records from her phone from Gooding, Idaho, determined that there had been foul play. Krystal Lee Kenney later confessed to carrying the device back with her as she dropped a few texts to mislead investigators into thinking that Kelsey had disappeared from Patrick's life.

The blood evidence was tested by the authorities and it returned positive for Kelsey Berreth's DNA, per KOAA.

In November 2019, Patrick Frazee was convicted of Kelsey Barreth's murder and sentenced to life in prison, and in January 2020, Krystal Lee was sentenced to three years in prison.

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Catch all the details of Kelsey Berreth's murder as Dateline: Secrets Uncovered's episode streams on Apple TV and NBC on July 17.