GUILTY Kelsey Berreth, 29, Woodland Park, Teller County, 22 Nov 2018 - *Arrest* #67

[acutename]

Did his brother give a time? I thought he said that he and his family "arrived at 230 and PF sometime after that."

I do not recall an exact time in the initial testimony, but I do not think he said that PF was very late

 

[Seattle1]

was there any mention of whether PF actually had any prior history with Mr. Bentley? to attempt this conspiracy with a total stranger seems even more irrational than with some one he might have known in some capacity.

Reportedly, PF and JD had friends in common both in and outside of the rodeo circuit. Teller County is a small community and I don't think anybody surprised that they could relate with one another.

MOO

 

[Mountain Misst]

I believe closing arguments are due in Cripple Creek 8:30am tomorrow... time to sharpen my axe methinks, metaphorically-speaking of course.

 

[Aydrianna523]

Nope.
Judge said it would take quite a bit of time to go over those with jurors, so decided to wait until Monday.

Ok, thx

 

[Aydrianna523]

Nope! My understanding is that had been the original plan, but the judge wanted to get the jury home before 5pm as that has been important to him.

Gotcha

 

[MemPat]

Something to ponder: while PF was drafting his Bountiful Confessions, careful to include only the most sensitive information, JD was apparently streetwise enough NOT to answer in kind. He must have answered in spoken fashion, because with what we know, there's only one author of the Moron Chronicles. You can't make up that kind of stupid.

MOO

I picture a gathering in the jailhouse yard every day as a new Mutiny/Stupidity on the Bounty episode was released by Patrick.

Hilarity in the Hoosegow as John Doe pulled the towels out of his gang banger britches to share.....

Hootin' and Hollerin' like you've never heard!

I'm not kidding here. This happened.

MOO? Maybe.

 

[jakat]

Yes, I totally expect a quick verdict!

Elect a foreman = 5 minutes
Take an initial vote to see where everybody stands = 5 minutes
Foreman says, "Oh, gee, we've only been here 10 minutes. We can't just walk out there and say Guilty. Anybody got cards? Texas Holdem okay with everybody? Who wants to deal?"

 

[MemPat]

was there any mention of whether PF actually had any prior history with Mr. Bentley? to attempt this conspiracy with a total stranger seems even more irrational than with some one he might have known in some capacity.

IIRC Sam told us they just made a connection in the jail over having been in rodeos.

 

[scdiv]

Question:

I’m confused on the jury instructions. I thought they’d been given to the jury on Friday or maybe that was just deciding on what the instructions (and charges) would be without the jury present. I was under the assumption that we only had closing arguments left for tomorrow. I’m sure someone can tell me ..... thank you!

Here are my detailed notes from Sam on this from Friday:

Noon lunch break.

1:07 p.m. - State rested case when they came back from lunch.

1:09 p.m. -

• Defense tried arguing the felony murder robbery charge. The robbery would have happened after the presumed murder so he doesn’t think the charge is being correctly applied.
• Lead prosecutor said there is testimony that PF took KB’s phone. Doesn’t matter if was before or after the murder. She asked the court to recognize the substantial evidence she says supports it.
• Judge said the prosecution has the burden of establishing sufficient evidence for that charge beyond reasonable doubt. Said the People have presented that evidence.
• Judge denied the motion for acquittal on that.

Then the judge gave PF his advisement. He asked PF if he understands he has the right to testify. PF says, “Yes, your honor.” Asks if he understands he’ll be the subject of cross examination on ANY relevant info, and also be subject to jury questions. PF says, “Yes your honor.” Ask if he knows it’s only his decision, PF says, “I do.” Asked if he knows he has the right not to testify, PF says, ‘I do.” Asked if he had questions, PF said “No, sir.” When asked, PF said he did not need more time. And then when asked, PF said, quote, “I will remain silent.”

Jury re-entered at 1:16 p.m.

Defense rested their case without witnesses.

Judge told the jury he was cautiously optimistic to have closing tonight, but he said it will have to happen on Monday because they were not done with jury instructions. He did not want to keep them around, just kind of sitting on their hands for almost two hours, so he sent them home then.

Judge said, “It’s my responsibility that there be a fair trial, not the fastest trial.” If they went on, he wouldn’t get them out by 5:00 p.m., which has been very important for him.

So jury filed out and judge stayed with the attorneys to pan out the jury instructions. Judge didn’t want to keep jury waiting while they did this.

Colorado law requires the judge to read the jury instructions out loud verbatim after closing arguments. But he did say, “We’re in the home stretch here.”

Once jury was out, defense tries to get one of the first degree murder charges dropped..

Ashley Porter for the defense attempted to argue that basically the state's case lacks real definitive evidence. She says it all basically comes from Krystal Kenney who has been untruthful toward several parties already. She also cites no cause officially of death.

Instead, Jennifer Viehman, prosecution, said no, it's quite the opposite, we have a lot of evidence, it's up to the jury to decide, not in the jury instructions.

Essentially it's decided that if the jury doesn't charge him with first degree, it gives the jury option of a lesser charge, wants to keep that on the table, doesn't want appeals down the road, wants one trial altogether.. judge says obligated to include option of lesser charge...

- Closing arguments will begin first thing Monday morning. each side gets a maximum of 90 minutes.. They do not have to take all of that time.

 

[MemPat]

I'm learning a lot about requirements legally to prosecute murder-for-hire and solicitation. Oxygen channel has a television program on right now called murder-for-hire.

Some similarities to this case. Someone that he was working with started working with the government and then he was put into jail. Then he put out a hit on the three witnesses from jail, including the person that helped put him in jail and his wife, and one of the law enforcement guys.

Drew Peterson, a murderer who was convicted quickly, adding years onto his sentence by trying to hire a hitman, is one that should give us confidence about Patrick's future.

 

[MemPat]

I do not recall an exact time in the initial testimony, but I do not think he said that PF was very late

5:00 PM

 

[Mountain Misst]

Will the jury get time for a coffee break before 10am, or will they already be in deliberation?

 

[makayla]

Here are my detailed notes from Sam on this from Friday:

Noon lunch break.

1:07 p.m. - State rested case when they came back from lunch.

1:09 p.m. -

• Defense tried arguing the felony murder robbery charge. The robbery would have happened after the presumed murder so he doesn’t think the charge is being correctly applied.
• Lead prosecutor said there is testimony that PF took KB’s phone. Doesn’t matter if was before or after the murder. She asked the court to recognize the substantial evidence she says supports it.
• Judge said the prosecution has the burden of establishing sufficient evidence for that charge beyond reasonable doubt. Said the People have presented that evidence.
• Judge denied the motion for acquittal on that.

Then the judge gave PF his advisement. He asked PF if he understands he has the right to testify. PF says, “Yes, your honor.” Asks if he understands he’ll be the subject of cross examination on ANY relevant info, and also be subject to jury questions. PF says, “Yes your honor.” Ask if he knows it’s only his decision, PF says, “I do.” Asked if he knows he has the right not to testify, PF says, ‘I do.” Asked if he had questions, PF said “No, sir.” When asked, PF said he did not need more time. And then when asked, PF said, quote, “I will remain silent.”

Jury re-entered at 1:16 p.m.

Defense rested their case without witnesses.

Judge told the jury he was cautiously optimistic to have closing tonight, but he said it will have to happen on Monday because they were not done with jury instructions. He did not want to keep them around, just kind of sitting on their hands for almost two hours, so he sent them home then.

Judge said, “It’s my responsibility that there be a fair trial, not the fastest trial.” If they went on, he wouldn’t get them out by 5:00 p.m., which has been very important for him.

So jury filed out and judge stayed with the attorneys to pan out the jury instructions. Judge didn’t want to keep jury waiting while they did this.

Colorado law requires the judge to read the jury instructions out loud verbatim after closing arguments. But he did say, “We’re in the home stretch here.”

Once jury was out, defense tries to get one of the first degree murder charges dropped..

Ashley Porter for the defense attempted to argue that basically the state's case lacks real definitive evidence. She says it all basically comes from Krystal Kenney who has been untruthful toward several parties already. She also cites no cause officially of death.

Instead, Jennifer Viehman, prosecution, said no, it's quite the opposite, we have a lot of evidence, it's up to the jury to decide, not in the jury instructions.

Essentially it's decided that if the jury doesn't charge him with first degree, it gives the jury option of a lesser charge, wants to keep that on the table, doesn't want appeals down the road, wants one trial altogether.. judge says obligated to include option of lesser charge...

- Closing arguments will begin first thing Monday morning. each side gets a maximum of 90 minutes.. They do not have to take all of that time.

Thanks ever so much! Your level of detail is commendable and I really appreciate it!

 

[scdiv]

Will the jury get time for a coffee break before 10am, or will they already be in deliberation?

Patrick requested that Krystal bring coffee to all the jurors.

 

[riolove77]

If you were defense who would you have put on as a witness and for what purpose?

Also thank you so much again for sharing your expertise as a prosecutor. You uniquely know more than any of us about how this all works.

No problem!

I probably would have put on just plain old character witnesses. People from the community who’ve known him, worked with him, can attest to his reputation for honesty and calm, collected demeanor. The Patrick they know couldn’t and wouldn’t do this. No way. The People have the wrong man.

Preferably these people would not also be on the paper towel hit list. Perhaps no such people exist.

 

[Seattle1]

Question:

I’m confused on the jury instructions. I thought they’d been given to the jury on Friday or maybe that was just deciding on what the instructions (and charges) would be without the jury present. I was under the assumption that we only had closing arguments left for tomorrow. I’m sure someone can tell me ..... thank you!

On Friday - outside of the jury present, the defense argued that the jury should be given options to the first-degree murder charge and the court granted the inclusion of 2nd-degree murder and manslaughter for consideration. (Did not remove the first-degree charge. If the jury cannot convict on first-degree murder, then they may consider the lesser charges).

As to formal "Jury Instructions" - Colorado court procedures requires the Judge to read the instructions to the jury. In this case, PF is facing 8 Charges and the Judge will read the Instructions to the jury for each of them.

 

[Lhughessk]

I don't think visitors can pass papers to inmates.

So how did he get the information then?

 

[acutename]

I'm not aware of any history between the two of them. I just think he is that delusional and he thinks he is so important that anyone will jump when he says jump and ask how high.

and also it did not occur to him that it would look at all suspicious if all the witnesses and anyone involved in his case were suddenly murdered and/or they mysteriously vanished...

The body is irrelevant at this point. We know she's dead, and if that tooth is hers, and we know it is, well, she's dead. I don't think anyone is even arguing that at this point. If his attorneys get up tomorrow and try to say she took off and there's not enough forensics to indicate incompatibility with life, I'll laugh. So the death isn't an issue at this point.

It's clear from the evidence the jury knows this woman is dead and this man is responsible for it. He's buried himself. So at this point, the only thing they CAN do is try to get him a lesser sentence via a lesser level of homicide.

what she is saying is if he tries to say "manslaughter," then he implicitly admits that he knows where KB's body is

 

[riolove77]

Thank you, riolove, for your perspective on Kelsey's case.
You bolster our confidence that this can only turn out well for the Berreths and all the people on Patrick's hit list.

Cautiously optimistic. Cautious because like I said earlier, juries are WEIRD. But I’m confident here. Cautiously.

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 16, 2019
Patrick Frazee murder trial: 10 key moments from testimony
[...]

Here are 10 key moments from the last two weeks of trial, in order of when they happened.

Kenney testifies about multiple plans to kill Berreth
[...]

“People go missing every day. … She had gone to an alcohol and drug rehab facility. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary,” she testified Frazee told her, claiming Berreth had been to rehab in August.

[...]

Kenney testifies about the cleanup
[...]

“It wasn’t like a can of paint thrown on the wall,” she said. “It was like if you took a paintbrush and flicked paint on the wall.”

... She followed bloody footprints up the stairs, she said, and found the candles that Frazee had mentioned to clean. Kenney described the footprints as being larger in size and appearing to be from boots.

She said they were all over the kitchen, near the bedroom and in the bathroom.

[...]

Kenney: Frazee detailed the alleged murder
[...]

“He told me how hard it was to eat Thanksgiving dinner with my family when the mother of your child is in a tote in the back of your truck,” Kenney said in court.

[...]

She testified that Frazee told her he “swung away” but called the method “inhumane” and said in the future he would stick to “normal weapons.” She said that he told her he brought a tote in from the back of the truck after he killed Berreth and put the bat inside, then washed his pants and tried to clean up.

Frazee's friend says he told him 'I found a way to kill her'
[...]

“ He said, ‘I figured out a way to kill her,’ ” Moore testified, “And I went, ‘Don’t even talk about things like that. Get that s**t out of your head.’ He just kind of grinned and said, ‘No body, no crime, right?'”

[...]

During that summer, Moore said, Frazee told him about how he had people spying on or watching Berreth and taking pictures of her because he said he wanted to sue her for custody of Kaylee.

[...]

Moore replied that a white, beautiful, young mother had gone missing, so it was what the media cared about.

He said Frazee’s response was: “Man, if I had known it would have blown up this big, I never would have —” and didn’t finish sentence.

[...]

Analysis of blood found at Berreth's home
[...]

The blood sample from the bathroom toilet was at least 108 septillion times more likely to be from Berreth than someone else, Rogers testified. ...

Partial tooth on Frazee's property had female human DNA
Prosecutors then asked Rogers about one of two possible tooth fragments, both of which appeared to have come from where Frazee had allegedly burned Berreth's body. ...

Rogers said she analyzed the fragment, which tested negative for blood and saliva. But a DNA test detected female human DNA , Rogers said. ...

Agent: Doesn't know where case would be without Kenney testimony

When asked where the investigation would be without Kenney's testimony , lead Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Gregg Slater responded: "I honestly don't know."

He said before Kenney's Dec. 20 interview — when she spilled her testimony to law enforcement and investigators — Slater believed something had happened in Berreth's bathroom and home, but that was it. He said they didn't know about the tote, burn pit, Nash Ranch or Frazee and Kenney's meet-ups at a Florissant Conoco on Nov. 24. ...

[...]

Records tracked Berreth's phone and Kenney's phone together

Kevin Hoyland – a cell phone expert with the FBI who helped track the cell phone activity of Frazee, Berreth and Kenney – testified that cell phone records showed that Kenney's phone moved from Idaho to Colorado on Nov. 23, arrived in Colorado on Nov. 24 and left later that day, arriving back in Idaho on Nov. 25.

[...]

Analyst: Blood stains consistent with someone getting hit by bat 10-15 times

Jonathyn Priest, a former Denver police officer who now specializes as an expert in blood stain pattern analysis, testified that the blood stains found inside Berreth's townhome matched what he'd expect to find in a case of a bloodied person getting struck repeatedly by a baseball bat. He said the victim in this case — he didn't name Berreth — could have been hit 10 to 15 times.

[...]

Letters, former inmate: Frazee wanted witnesses dead

Prosecutors showed 17 different letters that a witness, who's a former inmate and convicted felon, said he exchanged with Frazee, who was in the same jail. The man is on probation now. In their passed notes, Frazee asked the man to kill witnesses — Kenney, Michelle Stein (Kenney’s friend in Idaho), John Moore (Frazee's friend who previously testified), Wendi Clark (Moore’s significant other) and lead CBI Agent Gregg Slater — and described where they live now and what they look like. In a testimony, Slater confirmed the descriptions of each person and their places of residences were all accurate.

In one letter, Frazee allegedly wrote he’d “really like to see Kenney with a bullet in her head.”

[...]