OCT 26, 2019
Media blitz expected for Patrick Frazee trial; national attention not new for Teller County
As the proprietor of a business advertising free water with healing powers in the heart of downtown Woodland Park, WH can’t help but get his fill of gossip from customers about the upcoming trial of Patrick Frazee.
But the dust devil the Frazee case has kicked up
— which begins Monday with at least four days of jury selection
— has nothing on the media maelstrom that snared WH back in 2001, he says.
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Residents of the nearby town of Cripple Creek, about a 40-minute drive from Woodland Park, might disagree come Monday, when the media crush returns.
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Opening statements are on pace for Friday or Monday, Nov. 4, and media outlets are expected to provide blanket coverage.
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“It’s a rural area, and stuff like this doesn’t happen all the time,” said Bob Wibstad, 52, who lives in the same subdivision as Frazee between Divide and Florissant. “This has been the talk of the town for the last year.”
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Another case that put Teller County under a microscope came in 1992, when 15-year-old Jacob Ind fatally shot and stabbed his parents as they slept in their home in an upscale subdivision of Woodland Park.
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The Frazee case has divided Teller County’s notoriously independent residents.
Several people who knew Frazee and grew up with him told The Gazette they can’t believe he did it, and pin blame instead on Frazee’s mistress, Krystal Kenney, who is expected to serve as a key witness against him.
Cripple Creek is a town well-known to Frazee and his family. Those who don’t know him personally generally know someone who does.
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“Personally, I think he’s getting shafted somewhere,” said JM, 84, who knew Frazee from the 2 Mile High Club. “I don’t think he’s that kind of guy. And that is the general opinion on the street in Cripple Creek. He’s a decent, normal guy.”
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“We hope they fry his



,” said DW, 52, a Teller County resident of 26 years, even though prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. “We don’t like people treating our women like that up here. (In) Teller County, we like to think of ourselves as old-fashioned America.”
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“Even if he comes out of this not guilty, he won’t be able to live in this town,” the bartender said. “There’s no way. They will run him out of here.”
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Updates from inside the courthouse will be sparse. A judge has banned any live-reporting from the trial, including the use of Twitter to report on testimony.
Reporters will be able to file dispatches during just a few windows during testimony: morning break, lunch break and afternoon break. Anyone leaving to alert the public to breaking news — or to use the bathroom — will be barred from reentry until after the next break.
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In this town of 1,200 people, some people wonder if jury summonses issued across Teller County for the trial could outnumber the town’s population.
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“We live up here for people like that to stay away — for people who are up to no good to stay away,” she said.