The woman who helped Patrick Frazee's cover up the murder of his fiancé, Kelsey Berreth, has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Recommended Videos
Krystal Lee, 29, was a nurse working in Idaho and Frazee's girlfriend at the time of Berreth's murder.
Before the killing, Frazee had tried to get Lee to get drugs to try to poison Berreth’s coffee, and told Lee that he wanted to "get rid of Kelsey," authorities said. He had allegedly tried to convince Lee to carry out the murder herself on three different occasions, but Lee didn’t go through with it.
Frazee, 33, who is now serving a life sentence for Berreth’s murder, wrapped Berreth’s head in a sweater before beating her to death with a baseball bat in their Colorado home on Thanksgiving in 2018.
He then burnt her body in a water trough, authorities said. The couple’s daughter was in the home when the murder occurred, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said Lee was not involved in the physical murder, but she later admitted she was involved in the cover-up.
She told authorities spent hours scrubbing the apartment, but said she left small spots of blood for investigators to find. She also disposed of Berreth's cellphone in Idaho.
Lee, who previously went by the last name Kenney, pleaded guilty last year to tampering with physical evidence and then testified against Frazee in a deal with prosecutors.
Lee will serve the maximum sentence of three years and faces a year of parole upon her release.
Before Lee was sentenced Tuesday, she told the court, "I am sorry that Kelsey’s friends and family will live the rest of their life without her. I am sorry Kaylee has lost her mother. I am sorry that I did not save Kelsey … My punishment comes every day."
Berreth’s family said in a letter read in court during the sentencing hearing that Lee only told the truth "to save herself," but did acknowledge that a conviction for Frazee might not have happened without her.
"She was an active participant in the murder," the letter said. "The only thing she didn't do was swing the bat."
Earlier in January, Frazee filed a notice to appeal his conviction.
RELATED STORIES
Video Shows the Room Where Kelsey Berreth Supposedly Died
Patrick Frazee Guilty of Murdering Fiancee Kelsey Berreth After Jury Deliberates For Just Hours
After Young Mom Vanished, Fiance Said He Had Wanted to Raise Daughter Without Her: Witness