CO CO - Kelsey Berreth, 29, Woodland Park, Teller County, 22 Nov 2018 - #33 *ARREST*

[WildcatRunner]

Daughter of a beef cattle rancher and I agree to the selling all year around although prices are usually better later in the year. It's a bit unusual to be selling cows in calf though. We wouldn't typically do it.

I haven't seen his sale records. Cow-calf might be different, true. We aren't an operation that calves very many, so while I understand it from the lifestyle, it's not where I'm most knowledgeable.

 

[WildcatRunner]

The sale said it was a "complete dispersal". Which means getting rid of everything.

Or complete dispersal of a lot....

 

[Seattle1]

The issues raised are very basic, but very complex. The outcomes simply can't be predicted in a discussion forum. Both sides will have their best effort put forward in the courtroom, and it may turn into a bitter exchange. The results might satisfy no one. IMO

The first hearing of the civil suit should be explosive. Stay tuned and prepare for disappointment. IMO

Given that your concise post eluded to something you clearly believed "explosive" - I found it worthy of an inquiry.

However, I disagree there will be any drama as you describe and/or eluded to, especially as I now believe the Berreth's claim was most likely filed within their rights to file wrongful death lawsuit pursuant to 2009 revised statute providing that a designated beneficiary of a wrongful death victim has the right to bring a wrongful death claim. Emphasis added.

Denver Wrongful Death Lawyer Colorado | The Sawaya Law Firm

 

[Trudie]

I haven't seen his sale records. Cow-calf might be different, true. We aren't an operation that calves very many, so while I understand it from the lifestyle, it's not where I'm most knowledgeable.

Our stockyard sales increase when the weather turns harsh, hot or cold or excessive rain. The large farms (not commercial like yours) have issues getting in the fields during flash flooding, cows get stuck in the ponds & die, or calve & the elements are not conducive for their survival. So, we kind of keep an eye on the future forecasts.
The profit is in the younger cows, I expect P usually sold around this time of the year. After the cows turn 8-9, in my area, they lose value.

 

[NanZDrew]

Our stockyard sales increase when the weather turns harsh, hot or cold or excessive rain. The large farms (not commercial like yours) have issues getting in the fields during flash flooding, cows get stuck in the ponds & die, or calve & the elements are not conducive for their survival. So, we kind of keep an eye on the future forecasts.
The profit is in the younger cows, I expect P usually sold around this time of the year. After the cows turn 8-9, in my area, they lose value.

With older cows like he had, it would seem good to sell them in calf since they would likely bring more money knowing the purchaser would at least get a calf from each cow.

It's really funny how different ranching is in different parts of the country based on weather, availability of pasture and etc.

 

[Kapua]

JMO
This case really baffles me in so many ways.

Mainly because PF had so many alternatives and did not have to kill KB. If things were not working out then join the millions of other normal couples and work out a shared custody agreement. Instead he loses the child and most likely loses his freedom for life. Its crazy.

The other thing that baffles me to no end is how he thought he could get away with it based on his actions.

Takes her purse and phone but leaves her two cars there. But then sends texts telling employer and himself that she is going to be gone for a week or so.

So even if we are to believe she left on her own without her car or someone picked her up then what happens after that week is up? She would never abandon her child and she had 2 vehicles she would not abandon nor the house she owned. So who did he expect LE would think was responsible for her being gone? Hmmmm. Maybe the person that got her child the day she disappeared.

This case is really along the lines of the Chris Watts case as far as the stupidity part goes. I really think he believed if nobody could find her body then there is no way charges would come down on him. ehhh...Wrong. He obviously did not learn that no-body cases can be successfully prosecuted and they seem to be on the increase. They may not be nearly as common as body cases but there are many examples of them and the one common thing among them is all fingers point to the only likely suspect or the only reasonable reason the person is missing. In this case all fingers were pointing right at him from the start.

He gave LE no other reasonable reason why she would be gone so long without her cars or her baby.

It really makes me think something went wrong in his planning. Like maybe he really did dump her purse with the keys in it before he realized he needed them to move the car. Or maybe something else went wrong with his plan. It just seems so crazy how he thought he would get away with it.

I just wish he would have came to his senses and just had an amicable breakup like millions of other couples. None of this had to happen. They werent even married yet. And sure he may have not gotten all the visitation he wanted but that was his fault as much as anyone elses, so too bad. He needed to get past that and deal with it.

He needed to own it, take responsiblity, do the right thing, and not be selfish. He did none of those things.

Sorry for the small rant. This case really bothers me for the reasons mentioned. It was so preventable and did not have to happen.

The 'expected to get away with it' line of thought baffles me in this and many other similar cases.
It's like he's missing the circuit in his brain that kicks in to tell him, "but if you get caught, you'll go to jail. It's not worth the risk. Let's figure out a better solution."

 

[Trudie]

With older cows like he had, it would seem good to sell them in calf since they would likely bring more money knowing the purchaser would at least get a calf from each cow.

It's really funny how different ranching is in different parts of the country based on weather, availability of pasture and etc.

Idk if he had old or young cows.
Idk if they were even his, or if Ma F owned them.
I was thinking of the irony, CB commented declining cattle prices delayed a wedding. Now, the cattle are sold.

 

[Kapua]

Seattle, my interpretation of that = PF is strapped for cash.
Monetary stressors indicated.
What are your thoughts?

I think $100,000 is not going to cover his attorney fees for the civil case. I also think that his mom is going to need some help on the farm.

 

[Aydrianna523]

Our stockyard sales increase when the weather turns harsh, hot or cold or excessive rain. The large farms (not commercial like yours) have issues getting in the fields during flash flooding, cows get stuck in the ponds & die, or calve & the elements are not conducive for their survival. So, we kind of keep an eye on the future forecasts.
The profit is in the younger cows, I expect P usually sold around this time of the year. After the cows turn 8-9, in my area, they lose value.

@Trudie, What do you make of the term, complete disposal?

 

[nwmouse]

Oh, this will not work at all. Take a mother's child and daughter's mother give me a break.

edited. thanks and I agree.

 

[Trudie]

Trudie, What do you make of the term, complete disposal?

The “lot” of a specific number was to be sold as one unit.
Small farms might sell 4-5 cows a week, one cow auctioned at a time.
Or a like farm might want to haul once a month & sell 20 in a “dispersed lot”.
This could have been P’s annual dispersal sale.
A lot of farms/ranches on my area have spring/fall dispersal sales of cattle/horses. They’re not going out of biz, by any means. Only raising cash, bringing in new stock, etc.

 

[seageorge]

not a farmer but:
Slaughtering beef animals at 12 months is most profitable, say scientists - Farmers Weekly

probably different farmers have different takes on this. it seems possible to me that PF/SF would normally sell a lot of stock before winter because in the winter they would have no grazing land available and no place to house all the cattle and they would be expensive to feed, so maybe this was a typical time to sell.

He wasn't selling 12 month old calves though, he sold pregnant heifers and prime breeders (cows < 8 years) amongst that lot. For a beef cattle owner, that's your core stock, and what you would hold onto. That he's selling those suggests to me that he's downsizing considerably if not clearing. I would guess he needs the funds, but there could be other reasons.

 

[MassGuy]

He wasn't selling 12 month old calves though, he sold pregnant heifers and prime breeders (cows < 8 years) amongst that lot. For a beef cattle owner, that's your core stock, and what you would hold onto. That he's selling those suggests to me that he's downsizing considerably if not clearing. I would guess he needs the funds, but there could be other reasons.

Yeah, I think this is the equivalent of a “going out of business sale.”

It’s probably not a sustainable business with PF looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Although the commercial says: “Happy cows come from California,” I’ll be willing to bet that there’s no happier cattle than in Florissant, Colorado.

They’re probably still getting used to the lack of daily beatings.

 

[crhedBngr]

Yeah. I’m just hoping that he and mommy slept in separate rooms.

I have little doubt they atleast slept under the same roof.

RBBM

Errr . . . ummm, that's an interesting thought!

 

[crhedBngr]

With all due respect, if done before rigor sets in, corpses' bodies can be manipulated and contorted in ways that living bodies cannot be. I have fit myself into many different suitcases over the years, for various reasons. I'm not saying that I necessarily believed this happened to KB, but I am not discounting it.

You fitted yourself into many different suitcases over the years....!

I believe @mtnlites writes crime-related books (fictional? true?). If disposing of a body via suitcase, one needs to ensure said body will fit inside a particular suitcase.

 

[kkdj]

With all due respect, if done before rigor sets in, corpses' bodies can be manipulated and contorted in ways that living bodies cannot be. I have fit myself into many different suitcases over the years, for various reasons. I'm not saying that I necessarily believed this happened to KB, but I am not discounting it.

BBM
Well that took me by surprise! You have? And for various reasons? Like multiple times?

 

[justpeachy22]

Ita. The only way I see him living in small, connected quarters is in jail. Where he obviously belongs according to the DA.
Living off the ranch would have been a hardship for him.
Cattle get put, injured, need medical attention, as do horses/dogs.
Idk if we will ever know the status of their relationship. Seems they both told a dif’ story.
I can honestly say if I had a child out of wedlock, my mom would have hounded me daily “when you getting married”, just because that’s how she was. I would have said what I needed to say to shut her up & change the subject. Moo

Agree. I’d read the plan all along was for them to get their own ranch together. But she’d just gotten her pilots license...what were they thinking?

 

[katydid23]

I was surprised they filed because as far as I know, KB has not been officially declared dead yet.

True, not officially declared dead. But the DA is bringing murder charges against her alleged killer, so there's that...

 

[InvSmith]

True, not officially declared dead. But the DA is bringing murder charges against her alleged killer, so there's that...

I would think death for probate and death for homicide are two different things. DA and Sheriff says she is decessed.

 

[?mysterian?]

Very interesting note by the Colorado auction owner on January 2019 sales....

- JACE'S NOTES

Very interesting site, giving great insight to cattle market. Thanks for linking it!