TELLER COUNTY, Colo. – Public defenders have filed notice that Patrick Frazee, the man convicted in November of killing his fiancée Kelsey Berreth in 2018, plans to appeal his conviction on first-degree murder and other counts, court records show.
Frazee’s public defender earlier this month filed a notice of appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals notifying the court of Frazee’s plans. It is the first step in potentially appealing his convictions, though first-degree murder convictions in Colorado are automatically appealed, 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May said Tuesday.
READ MORE: Inside the Patrick Frazee Trial
A Teller County jury convicted Frazee on Nov. 18, 2019 on counts of first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and tampering with a deceased human body. He was sentenced that day to life in prison without parole plus 156 years.
His court-appointed public defender filed the notice Jan. 6. A filing attached to the notice says that Frazee is indigent and cannot pay for the appeal.
As part of the notice, attorneys requested transcripts from Frazee’s prior court hearings and from every day of his trial to support the possible appeal. The transcript request form says the transcripts are needed by March 9 but says little else about the nature of the potential appeal.
"Issues on appeal may include, but are not limited to: All issues preserved by objection at trial; sufficiency of the evidence; sentencing; and, any other issues Appellant chooses to raise as plain error," the notice says.
Colorado court records show that a status hearing is set in Teller County District Court for March 27.
Krystal Kenney, who had a longtime on-and-off relationship with Frazee and who pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against Frazee, is set to be sentenced Tuesday in the same courtroom in which Frazee was convicted and sentenced.
She faces probation, at minimum, and three years behind bars as a maximum sentence.
Click here to read all of Denver7’s coverage on the Kelsey Berreth case.