Sentence halved for woman who helped Patrick Frazee clean murder scene
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Krystal Lee Kenney will be released from a Colorado Department of Corrections facility by late June, 2021, according to a ruling in Teller County Tuesday morning.
Kenney was the key witness in the Patrick Frazee murder trial, the lynchpin who relayed to investigators information about Frazee's plan and killing of his former fiance, Kelsey Berreth at her townhome in Woodland Park on Thanksgiving Day, 2018. Without Kenney's testimony, prosecutors had little to convict Frazee upon: no body, and no weapon.
Teller County Judge Scott Sells re-sentenced Kenney to 18 months and one year of parole. Kenney's time served to date will be credited to her, meaning she has served roughly 14 months already from her original sentencing date of January 28th, 2020. This comes after the Court ruled that Kenney was originally sentenced outside of the guidelines for her charge.
Kenney appeared via web for her appearance from the Women's Correctional Facility in Denver, wearing a mask and t-shirt. Her lawyer, Dru Nielsen, informed the court that Kenney would not be speaking. Kenney only nodded her head in affirmation when Judge Sells asked if she understood her original plea deal.
"I understand that you negotiated with law enforcement a favorable plea agreement," concluded Judge Sells, speaking to Ms. Kenney. "However, your generic agreement understates your involvement in this crime."
Dru Nielsen, Krystal Kenney's lawyer, painted her client as heroic.
"She had the courage to tell the truth. She did it not for a deal, but because it was the right thing to do," said Nielsen, adding that former District Attorney Dan May said "improper and inappropriate" things about Kenney, while "encouraging her to her face."
At the time of the original sentencing, May termed the plea deal to reporters with Kenney "a deal with the devil."
Nielsen went on to say that Kenney wasn't involved in the planning or the murder, but simply followed the direction of the man who threatened violence against her family.
Evidence tampering corresponds with a sentence of 15-18 months. Under the state statute, Judge Sells re-sentenced Kenney to the maximum possible.
"Patrick Frazee solicited you three times to kill Kelsey. You could have warned her, could have called law enforcement," Judge Sells said to Kenney. "You did nothing. Frazee told you that you had a mess to clean up. You spent hours cleaning up a brutal crime scene. You made a conscious decision to lead her parents, law enforcement to conceal her phone: your actions were not spur of the moment," Judge Sells continued in his statement to Kenney.
"The Court of Appeals described your actions as 'disconcerting.' I respect and greatly follow the Court of Appeals and their remand, but I strongly disagree with their assessment," said Judge Sells. "You were cold, calculated, and cruel."
