Colorado Attorney General agrees with Appeals Court; Krystal Kenney could be released soon

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser agreed to expedite a shorter sentence for Krystal Kenney, the woman who pled guilty to tampering with evidence by transporting and disposing of Kelsey Berreth's cell phone, in order to throw off investigators after Berreth's murder in Woodland Park.

AG Weiser's decision falls in concert with the Colorado Court of Appeals, which ruled Kenney's three-year prison sentence unconstitutional.

Kenney's plea deal with 4th Judicial District prosecutors came in exchange for providing testimony about the 2018 killing of the young Woodland Park mother. That testimony ultimately led to the murder conviction of Patrick Frazee, who shared a daughter with Kelsey Berreth.

Frazee is now serving a life sentence for bludgeoning Berreth with a baseball bat after he tricked her into playing a game of guessing candle scents while she was blindfolded. He then put her remains in a plastic tote, burning them.

It was just last month, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that Kenney was given far too long a sentence for the charge to which she plead guilty.

Under the statute, a sentence for the tampering charge is 18 months -- not three years, which is what Kenney was sentenced to.

Former 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May called the plea with Kenney, "a deal with the devil."

She began her sentence in January of 2020.

Before her conviction, Kenney walked crime scene investigators through the Woodland Park townhome where Berreth was killed, showing them where she cleaned blood splatter at Frazee's demand. She also admitted that Frazee had propositioned her to kill Berreth multiple times, but couldn't follow through with his requests.

AG Weiser's motion reads in part:

This Court recently concluded that the defendant’s sentence must be
reversed. Under the Court’s analysis, the defendant may be eligible
for release from incarceration in the near future.

The People have concluded that they will not be filing either a
petition for rehearing or a petition for writ of certiorari. The People
therefore give notice that they will not seek further review of this
Court’s decision and move that the mandate be issued on an
expedited basis, in the interests of justice.

The People have conferred with defense counsel, who indicated that
the defendant does not object to the relief requested in this motion.

Colorado attorney general's motion

The case will now be referred to the 4th Judicial District to modify her sentencing and/or release date. As of the time of this publishing, no date had been set.

Krystal Kenney remains in custody at the Denver Women's Correctional Facility.