Patrick Frazee in Teller County court Friday for motions hearing
Patrick Frazee, the man accused of killing his fiance late last year, was in court Friday in Cripple Creek for a motions hearing in his ongoing murder case.
Friday Afternoon:
4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May held a press conference after the hearing.
May said, “Today in court were kind of standard motions that you routinely have before any trial.”
He explains, “The defense did file a motion to suppress, they want to suppress statements to a DHS worker. The judge said he would rule on that in about 7-10 days.”
It was put on the record, the DA’s office was not seeking the death penalty. He explained the decision came after speaking with the Attorney General office.
“We are not seeking the death penalty in this case but we did consult with the Attorney General’s office. It was their legal opinion that we had no aggravators,” he explains.
May later explained, his office was considering one aggravator known as “lie and wait.”
He explained that after studying other cases, it did not appear a judge would allow it in this case.
A motion briefly discussed asked the defense whether they would be using an alternate suspect as a defense for Frazee.
The judge ruled, the defense has until September 16th to make a decision.
It was revealed during court today, some evidence is still being tested by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. An item, previously revealed in court, as a tooth fragment is still going through the consumptive testing process.
May explained the testing will be done in time for trial.
“We expect it to make the deadlines that are required by court. You heard generally deadlines are about 35 days before trial. Each side has to witness the report, things like that so the only thing we put on the record is that it to be done by the required deadline,” he said.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 18th to make sure the defense and prosecution are set for trial to start on October 28th.
KRDO’s Dani Fried is in the Teller County courtroom and will be giving updates through Twitter since cameras are not allowed in the courtroom. To follow her live Twitter feed click here.
9:55 a.m. Cross-examination begins.
A release was signed by Frazee which was used to provide the information to the different agencies involved.
The public defender asks if DHS informed his office about the appointments and meetings made with Frazee.
The other questions on the family services guideline sheet ask about abuse and history of neglect of Berreth and Frazee’s daughter. It also asks about substance abuse in Frazee’s past or Berreth’s past.
The motions statement in full is: “Mr. Frazee, by and through counsel, hereby moves the Court for an order suppressing all statements made by Mr. Frazee to DHS authorities on Dec. 26”
Longmire has been excused from the stand. The public defender says that Longmire asked questions that steered the conversation in a misleading direction providing that information to the DA’s office. PD is saying she declined to speak with their office.
“Coercive and physical sense but in the context of “welfare of your child” and in the context of a criminal trial it violates his constitutional right and his lawyers should have been informed of this meeting” – Public Defender.
The DA responds: “Patrick Frazee was not in custody in the sense for Miranda purposes. He was brought into that room without handcuffs he could have gotten up or refused and there was nothing custodial about that. Ms. Longmire is not a law enforcement agent, and she is not.”
DAs office: “I would argue that these questions are completely voluntary. The demeanor and conversational tone shows it was friendly, cordial and professional for a DHS caseworker. I would ask you to deny this motion to suppress.”
Judge says he will get this motion decision for next Friday.
9:10 a.m. – 9:55 a.m. Mary Longmire, with DHS, takes the stand.
Longmire is the child services family administrator with DHS. This is all related to Patrick Frazee and Kelsey Berreth’s daughter.
Longmire was involved in the child’s referral which came from a confidential source. Counsel is now approaching the bench.
When Longmire received the referral for this case in Dec. she met with the Woodland Park Police Department. Once she was brought to the office the entire process began with calling the court to request emergency custody.
Teller county department of human services received legal custody Frazee and Berreth’s child. At this point, Longmire started to interview and speak with other relatives of the child, including Sheila Frazee, Patrick Frazee’s mother.
Longmire also spoke with Aaron Frazee.
Longmire met with Patrick Frazee on the 21st to inform him that the police department had custody of his daughter. At that time, she spent 45 minutes – 1-hour providing information for him and giving him a short explanation of what the allegation was.
Longmire told Frazee that he had been arrested for the murder of Berreth. The main issue for DHS was there wasn’t a parent available for the daughter.
Ultimately, the Berreths received custody of the daughter.
Longmire spoke with relatives on a more detailed level and made a visit to Sheila Frazee’s home after the custody hearing. She met with Patrick Frazee again on the 26th at the jail. This was the day before an emergency hearing.
During her meeting with Patrick Frazee on the 26th, she interviewed him at the Teller County Jail, after making an appointment that was delayed. She returned later in the evening to meet with him. He was not available when she first arrived.
She came back at 7 p.m. on the 26th. Frazee was brought into the room by a deputy. He may not have been in handcuffs. The deputy did not stay in the room.
Longmire told Frazee that she was there to complete an assessment and obtain more information about his daughter. She needed to learn about his background and his daughter’s medical issues.
Longmire also asked about Kelsey Berreth and their relationship and what their daughter’s daily life was like. Social background was also discussed to see if Sheila or Erin Frazee would be suitable for their daughter.
Longmire describes her meeting with Frazee as professional. He was cooperative and answered her questions. Longmire says he seemed to be a caring father which was the purpose of the meeting.
Frazee discussed his relationship with Berreth as well as his own being. He told her he was not living with Berreth in November 2018. The current custody relationship was split custody. He had their daughter Sunday-Wednesday evening and Kelsey has her the other days.
Longmire tried to determine where their daughter was at the time of Berreth’s disappearance.
Frazee told Longmire that hat there was an exchange set up where he was supposed to drop their daughter back with Berreth, but there was a delay. She was supposed to spend Thanksgiving with Berreth. Thursday morning they met and picked up the daughter (Thanksgiving Day).
Frazee told Longmire that they (Berreth and Frazee) met late Wednesday night, and they started up a conversation about the relationship. They stayed together for a while. They parted at about 1:30 on Thursday morning.
On Thanksgiving day, Frazee told Longmire that he picked up his daughter and took her to work, and then went to Sheila’s house late in the afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner. He lived there and stayed there Thanksgiving night.
Frazee told Longmire that there was communication between him and Berreth about their daughter. Saturday after Thanksgiving he kept custody of her, and they did not make the customary exchange. Some of this conversation happened by phone some by text.
Frazee told Longmire that on the Sunday following Thanksgiving he was trying to get in touch with Berreth, saying his calls were going straight to voicemail.
On Sunday afternoon, Frazee received a text from Berreth saying “do you love me”. He texted back saying “of course I love you”, with no reply.
Later on, Frazee said his text sent through. He continued to try to call her, but he was unable to get in touch with her. He said he felt concerned.
Frazee attempted to get in touch with Berreth for several days with no luck. He received a phone call from Cheryl Berreth on the 2nd saying she couldn’t reach him.
Longmire said her conversation with Frazee was important in determining his daughter’s placement. Longmire said there were times when Frazee would ask questions about the process, mostly in relation to his daughter.
The paperwork that DHS had Frazee sign was not limited in terms of who he could show it to.
9:09 a.m. – The motion to suppress the interview Frazee had with a DHS employee is discussed.
Regarding the policy, if someone scheduled a visit with the inmate, the inmate can refuse a visit (this includes lawyers and personal visitors). If they refuse, the deputy could leave the inmate in the housing area and tell the visitor that person will not be coming.
If they decide to terminate a visit, that person can stop talking with them.
9:00 a.m. – Frazee’s living arrangements at the Teller County Jail are discussed. Frazee is confined to a room that is located adjacent to the booking area used for court video advisement. The area Frazee lives in is not a call. The room has a large television, video equipment, a phone and a few chairs. Inmates at the jail are not housed in this room.
8:58 a.m. – Patrick Frazee appears in the courtroom and is donning his normal green striped jumpsuit with his ballistic vest.
Background:
Accused killer Patrick Frazee appeared in Teller County court Friday morning, for a motions hearing regarding the case of Woodland Park mother Kelsey Berreth.
Prosecutors in the case are seeking a court order requiring Frazee to disclose any possible intent to introduce evidence at the trial of an alternate killer. This motion was filed on Monday, without naming a possible other suspect in the case.
Speculation, however, would point the finger toward Frazee’s primary accuser Krystal Kenney, who admitted to helping Frazee mop up blood evidence after he tied a sweater around Berreth’s face, and allegedly killed her with a baseball bat.
Kenney also told investigators Frazee burned Berreth’s body, and asked Kenney multiple times to kill Berreth. She said she backed down each time he asked.
A separate motion was also filed Monday, in which prosecutors ask for a court order requiring Frazee to submit a statement of the nature of the defense (including notice of alibi).
33-year-old Patrick Frazee faces two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of solicitation to commit the murder of Kelsey Berreth.
His trial is set to begin October 28th in Teller County.
