Patrick Frazee Pleads Not Guilty In Murder Of Kelsey Berreth

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (CBS4) - Patrick Frazee, the 32-year-old Florissant man accused of killing his 29-year-old fiancee last November, pleaded not guilty on Friday morning. Frazee is charged with two counts of murder and three counts of solicitation of murder in the death of Kelsey Berreth. A judge set his trial date for October.

Berreth was last seen on Thanksgiving Day in her hometown of Woodland Park and police have yet to find her body.

Frazee has been in custody in Teller County since his arrest in December 2018.

In April Teller County District Attorney Dan May said the arraignment hearing will start a clock ticking on his office's decision on whether to pursue the death penalty against Frazee.

"Death penalty decisions aren't made until after arraignment by law in Colorado," May said. "Once the defendant enters a not guilty plea we have nine weeks to decide whether this is a death penalty case or not."

Investigators who have testified in the case said Frazee's mistress, Krystal Lee Kenney of Idaho, told police he beat Berreth to death with a bat and then burned her body and planned to dump her remains in a river or at a landfill.

Crews searched for Berreth's remains at a landfill in Fountain for more than a month.

RELATED: Kelsey Berreth's Parents Maintain Custody Of Her Daughter

Frazee's trial is expected to last approximately three weeks. The trial is set to begin Oct. 28.