Nov. 19 (UPI) — Patrick Frazee was found guilty in the murder of his fiancee Kelsey Berreth and sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 156 years on Monday.
A jury of six men and six women in Colorado deliberated for less than four hours before delivering the verdict that Frazee was guilty on all charges, including two counts of murder, three counts of solicitation to commit murder and tampering with a deceased human body.
Judge Scott Sells later merged the sentences for the two murder counts for the mandatory term of life in prison in addition to a maximum 48-year sentence for each of the solicitation charges, which run consecutively.
Frazee also received the maximum sentence of 12 years for the counts of tampering with a deceased human body, also to be served consecutively.
Berreth, 29, was last seen Nov. 22, shopping at a Safeway store with her 1-year-old daughter. She was reported missing Dec. 2, when Berreth’s mother said she was having a difficult time getting in touch with her daughter.
Berreth’s body has not been found.
Krystal Lee, a former girlfriend of Frazee, testified that he told her that he beat Berreth with a bat and burned her body. She also said he asked her to kill Berreth multiple times and that she cleaned up blood from Berreth’s home but intentionally left some blood splatter to lead police to the evidence.
An inmate who met Frazee also testified that he asked him to arrange killing witnesses, including Lee, in exchange for helping to bail him out of jail.
