Trevor Phipps
Last week, the Fourth Judicial District court set the resentencing of Krystal Lee Kenney for March 23
This could mean that Kenney will get released from prison next week for her role she played in the brutal murder of Kelsey Berreth of Woodland Park. Kenney, dubbed as the “Mistress of Death” by some residents, reportedly helped clean up the murder scene and tampered with key evidence, such as a cell phone of the homicide victim.
The resentencing in Kenney’s case came about after the Colorado Court of Appeals vacated her sentence last month. The court ruled that District Judge Scott Sells made an error when he gave Kenney the maximum of three years for her charge of tampering with evidence.
The appeals court found that there were no grounds to give Kenney a sentence in the aggravated range and that it violated her Blakely rights. The appellate court sent the case back to the district judge for resentencing in the range of 12 to 18 months.
Last week the Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser decided not to appeal the decision and agreed with the appeal court’s ruling. He declined to intervene, despite a request by the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Since Kenney has already served nearly 14 months of her sentence, she could be released on time served.
The original sentencing took place in Jan. 28, 2020 after Patrick Frazee was found guilty of first-degree murder on Nov. 18, 2019. Kenney was only charged with tampering with evidence in the case due to a plea agreement she made with the district attorney.
As a part of the deal, Kenney agreed to testify against Frazee which led to him getting convicted and sentenced to life in prison. According to her testimony, Kenney came to Woodland Park from Idaho to help Frazee clean up the crime scene after he brutally murdered Berreth by beating her with a baseball bat.
After cleaning the crime scene, Kenney met up with Frazee after getting food at a Woodland Park restaurant. The two then went to retrieve Berreth’s body from a ranch near Guffey, and then burnt the remains, the murder weapon, and other evidence of the brutal crime.
After burning Berreth’s remains, Kenney then took Berreth’s phone and handgun to Idaho with her. She said it was Frazee’s idea for her to take the phone to throw off investigators and make them think Berreth left the state on her own will.
Kenney originally lied to the FBI and told them that she barely knew Frazee. After the FBI found out Kenney was lying, she hired a lawyer and didn’t talk until her plea agreement was made.
During her testimony, Kenney admitted to having an affair with Frazee for a lengthy period. She said that she cooperated with Frazee because she was afraid of him and what he was capable of.
