NOV 7, 2019
Patrick Frazee trial: Star witness stands ground under cross-examination, declaring, 'It's the truth'
[...]
“That’s the story that you had to tell those agents to get your plea deal, is that right?” asked Adam Steigerwald, a public defender.
“I had to tell them the truth,” Krystal Lee replied.
[...]
The attorney pointed out that the plea deal spared Lee from being charged with far more serious charges, including attempted murder and accessory to murder. Lee pleaded guilty in February to evidence tampering, and faces from three years in prison to just probation.
“So you were looking at essentially the rest of your life in prison, did you know that?” Steigerwald asked, his voice rising.
“I did not,” Lee replied quietly.
[...]
“Just in case it’s not, you brought a hairnet? You brought a box of rubber gloves? You brought shoe covers? You brought a full body suit? You brought bleach?” Steigerwald asked. “But you were hoping this was a trick?”
Each time, Lee replied, “Yes.”
[...]
For two days, Lee wept, dabbed her tears with tissues and occasionally sobbed as she recounted the killing and its cover-up.
[...]
Until Thursday afternoon, when prosecutor Jennifer Viehman asked Lee to point out the man who beat Berreth to death with a baseball bat.
Rising slightly, Lee turned right and pointed straight at Frazee. He stared back at her, sitting expressionless with his defense team in a blue striped button-up shirt and khakis.
[...]
Two teenagers later testified that they unwittingly helped cover up the burn area with dirt from near Frazee’s driveway, at Frazee’s request. They also said they helped dispose of the trough, and one of them helped load a trash can that apparently contained ashes from the fire.
Frazee never told them anything other than wood and deer or elk antlers were burned in the fire, the teens testified.
Lee said she left to drive back to Idaho while it was still burning.
[...]
Even as the onslaught of questions from Frazee’s attorney continued, Lee’s responses grew more confident — and at times, defiant.
Steigerwald asked: Is her story — her testimony over the last two days — going to keep her out of prison?
“It’s the truth,” Lee replied.
[...]