Is The Witness In The Kelsey Berreth Case Getting Off Too Easy?
CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (CBS4) - What is expected to be a difficult and lengthy process will begin next week in the case of missing mother Kelsey Berreth.
A painstaking search will take place of a landfill in Fountain, south of Colorado Springs where evidence and perhaps Berreth's remains may be located.
Krystal Lee Kenney told investigators Berreth was murdered by Patrick Frazee, her fiancé of Florissant, then burned her body and the contents of her purse.
As a longtime friend and lover of Frazee, Kenney has been the key to this case.
CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger asked legal analyst Karen Steinhauser if Kenney is getting off easy. Steinhauser explained there is a reason why Kenney was given a plea deal with a relatively lighter charge than what she could have faced.
"She is absolutely the prosecution's star witness," she said.
An arrest affidavit for Frazee reveal Kenney told investigators she carried drugs, at Frazee's request, to poison Berreth's coffee, but didn't do it. She was asked by Frazee to beat Berreth with a pipe, but didn't. She told authorities she cleaned Berreth's condo after the murder and accompanied the body which was later burned.
Kenney transported Berreth's cell phone to Idaho then texted messages from there to mislead investigators, the court documents indicated.
Steinhauser said it appeared that Kenney could have acted on the information she possessed.
"Did she have the ability to prevent a homicide from happening? Yes she did," she said.
In January, Patty Rockstahl, a Twin Falls resident, told CBS News, "I think she was afraid she got in over her head. She was in love with Patrick. We've all heard what people will do for love."
The nurse, who lived in Twin Falls, Idaho, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, not accessory to murder after the fact. Kenney's sentence could be probation and up to three years in prison. It was deal prosecutors had to make according to Steinhauser.
"It gives the family, it gives the community, it gives our system a shot at achieving justice for a young mother who should never have been killed."