Jury selection begins Monday in the murder trial for Patrick Frazee, the Colorado rancher accused of killing his fiancée Kelsey Berreth on Thanksgiving weekend last year.
KOAA reports that jury selection will begin Monday morning at a Teller County courthouse which will be closed to cameras during the course of the trial. While reporters are permitted in the courtroom, they are also barred from live-tweeting the proceedings.
According to the report, the trial is expected to last three weeks, and a reporter for 9 News said on Twitter that 125 potential jurors are expected to appear on Monday despite a a snowstorm in the region.
Despite the snow, jury selection is still on for the Patrick Frazee trial. Court officials say 125 potential jurors are expected to arrive this morning, out of 1,750 total summons. To put that into context, the population of Teller County is 24,646. pic.twitter.com/0TB5Q3Y72Q
— Allison Sylte (@AllisonSylte) October 28, 2019
Berreth, 29, was last seen on Thanksgiving morning 2018, when she was captured on surveillance footage at a supermarket with her then-one-year-old daughter. Despite an extensive search, Berreth’s body was never found, and much of the murder case against Frazee hinges on the testimony of his former girlfriend Krystal Kenney, who worked as a nurse in Idaho until she became involved in the murder investigation. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kenney pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with evidence in exchange for her testimony.
Kenney reportedly told investigators that at Frazee’s demand, she drove from Idaho to Woodland Park, Colorado, on Thanksgiving weekend to clean up the crime scene after Frazee allegedly bludgeoned Berreth to death in her townhouse, while their daughter was in another room. Kenney also claimed that Frazee had asked the nurse to kill Berreth herself on three separate occasions, and that she had considered it before getting cold feet.
As the trial looms, one legal expert has said that the case against Frazee may not be airtight.
“This case really does live or die on Krystal Lee,” University of Colorado law professor Aya Gruber told ABC News.
“There’s no body and there’s no murder weapon,” she said, adding that the physical evidence seemed to be “pretty weak.”
“They will absolutely paint Krystal Lee as a liar,” Gruber continued.
As Gruber noted, Kenney did previously lie: Earlier this year, CrimeOnline obtained an arrest affidavit that showed Kenney lied to investigators when they first approached her in December 2018, claiming she had no idea who Kelsey Berreth was until she had seen the missing persons reports in the news.
According to the Denver Channel, jury selection at Frazee’s murder trial is expected to last until Thursday.
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