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Idaho Nurse Pleads Guilty To Evidence Tampering In Kelsey Berreth Case, Says She'll Testify Against Patrick Frazee
Krystal Lee Kenney admits moving Kelsey Berreth's cell phone after she says she "learned that Patrick Frazee had committed a homicide."
An Idaho nurse has pleaded guilty to evidence tampering in connection to the disappearance of Colorado mother Kelsey Berreth and says she'll testify against Berreth's fiancé, who's charged with her murder.
Krystal Jean Lee Kenney, who was formally charged earlier this week, appeared in a Teller County, Colorado courtroom Friday and made the plea, local Fox affiliate KDVR reports.
Kenney is accused of tampering with evidence on Nov. 24 or Nov. 25, within days of when police believe Berreth was killed Patrick Frazee.
Dan May, district attorney for Colorado’s 4th Judicial District, read Kenney’s statement at a press conference directly after the hearing.
“I learned that Patrick Frazee had committed a homicide on approximately Nov. 22 in Teller County. I knew that law enforcement would be investigating that crime,” the statement read, according to local Colorado outlet KOAA News5. “I moved the victim’s cell phone with the intent to impair the phone’s availability in the investigation. I had no right or authority to move the victim’s cell phone that occurred between Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, 2018 in Teller County.”
May added that Kenney won't be sentenced until Frazee’s trial ends and she's had a chance to testify; while she pleaded guilty to evidence tampering, Kenney will not be brought into custody, KOAA reports.
Prosecutors in December charged Frazee with murder and solicitation of murder in the 29-year-old's death. Police have not found the Berreth's body but have said evidence suggests she was killed at her home in Woodland Park on or around Thanksgiving, when she was last seen.
Authorities also have declined to discuss how Frazee and Kenney are connected or say what motive there may be for Berreth's disappearance and slaying, but several outlets have reported that Frazee and Kenney were romantically linked in high school and have maintained a relationship.
In a court filing on Tuesday, Kenney's attorney Dru Nielsen asked a judge to require that prosecutors preserve all notes, photographs and other material produced by investigators on the case.
Berreth was last seen entering a grocery store on Thanksgiving near her Woodland Park home. Video footage showed she was toting a baby carrier holding the 1-year-old daughter she had with Frazee.
Prosecutors have accused Frazee of working to find someone to kill Berreth between September and November and causing her death.
Frazee is due back in court on Feb. 19. An attorney with the state public defender's office is representing him in the criminal case. The office has said its attorneys will not comment on ongoing cases.
Berreth and Frazee's 1-year-old daughter has remained with her Berreth's parents amid an ongoing custody case involving members of both parents' families. The court ruled on Thursday that the girl will stay with them.
Another custody hearing will be held on April 4, according to Denver7 News.
Kenney is due in court on June 24, KOAA reports, adding she could face up to three years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
[Photos: Teller County Jail; Facebook]
