Krystal Jean “Lee” Kenney, 32, was charged with one count of felony evidence tampering and will plead guilty after agreeing to testify against Patrick Frazee, the father of Berreth’s child who is accused in her death.
An Idaho nurse has pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence connected to the death of Kelsey Berreth, the 29-year-old Colorado mother police said was killed by her daughter's father, according to reports.
Krystal Jean “Lee” Kenney, 32, was charged with one count of felony evidence tampering and pleaded guilty after agreeing to testify against Patrick Frazee, the father of Berreth’s child who is accused in her death, KOAA-TV reported.
Prosecutors said Kenney destroyed evidence related to Berreth’s disappearance between Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, 2018. Authorities have not released information about the evidence Kenney allegedly destroyed. Court records containing details about the evidence that led to the arrests of Kenney and Frazee remain sealed.
“I learned that Patrick Frazee had committed a homicide on approximately Nov. 22 in Teller County," Kenney said in a statement read by 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May at a press conference following her court appearance Friday, KOAA-TV reported. "I knew that law enforcement would be investigating that crime. I moved the victim’s cellphone with the intent to impair the phone’s availability in the investigation.
"I had no right or authority to move the victim’s cellphone that occurred between Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, 2018 in Teller County.”
As part of her plea deal, Kenney cannot speak to the media.
Kenney will be sentenced after the conclusion of Frazee’s trial and faces as little as probation, or as much as 18 months on prison. If the judge determines there was an aggravating factor in the case, her sentence could be up to three years. She is due in court for a review on June 24.
Officials would not comment on the nature of Kenney and Frazee's alleged relationship, nor would they discuss the status of the search for Berreth's body.
Berreth, 29, was last seen at a supermarket on Nov. 22 near her home in Woodland Park in Colorado, police said.
Her employer, Doss Aviation, received texts from her cellphone on Nov. 25 saying she would not be at work for the next week, police said. Berreth worked as a pilot instructor. Investigators were able to determine Berreth’s cellphone pinged that day on a tower near Gooding, Idaho.
That area is about 800 miles from Berreth’s home in Woodland Park and is close to where Kenney lives in Hansen, Idaho, KOAA-TV reported.
Though investigators have not yet located Berreth's body, they believe she may have been killed in her Woodland Park home. Frazee is due in court Feb. 19. He has not yet entered a plea.
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