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Idaho nurse charged with tampering with evidence in Kelsey Berreth case; Friday court appearance set

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Posted at 11:22 AM, Feb 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-20 14:47:55-05

DENVER – Prosecutors in Colorado late on Monday formally identified the Idaho nurse charged in the disappearance of Woodland Park mother Kelsey Berreth and said she had been charged with one felony count of tampering with physical evidence in the case.

Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Scott A. Sells on Monday issued a summons for Krystal Jean Kenney Lee, 32, of Hanson, Idaho to appear in a Teller County Combined Court room for a first appearance on one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class 6 felony.

According to ABC News, who spoke with two of her relatives, Lee is expected to plead guilty in the case on Friday. The relatives said she has been cooperating with investigators in the case.

It’s unclear to which charge she could plead guilty, but multiple authorities told ABC News that Lee is suspected to driving Berreth’s phone to Idaho to dispose of it.

The criminal complaint against Lee says the alleged tampering with evidence occurred on either Nov. 24 or 25, or both.

“Between and including November 24, 2018 and November 25, 2018, Krystal Jean Lee Kenney, believing that an official proceeding was pending or about to be instituted, and acting without legal right or authority, unlawfully and feloniously destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed, or altered physical evidence with intent to impair its veracity or availability in the pending or prospective official proceeding,” the document states.

Prosecutors have charged Patrick Frazee, who was Berreth’s fiancé and the father of their child, with Berreth’s murder though her body has not been found. It’s unclear how Lee and Frazee might have known each other, but Frazee also faces three counts of solicitation, indicating he tried to get other people involved in his alleged plan.

ABC News reported Monday afternoon that the Idaho hospital at which Lee worked confirmed she "no longer works at the hospital."

Berreth has been missing since Thanksgiving and was last spotted in a grocery store in Woodland Park that day. Frazee was arrested on Dec. 21 in connection to her disappearance.

He was formally charged with murder and solicitation on Dec. 31. The three solicitation charges, which are second-degree felonies, accuse Frazee of commanding or trying to persuade another person to commit first-degree murder.

Police in Twin Falls said they thought they had found possible evidenceon Dec. 22, but it’s unclear what that evidence was.

Authorities have said they do not believe Berreth is alive. There is another custody hearing involving Berreth’s daughter scheduled for Thursday ahead of Lee’s Friday appearance. A preliminary hearing in Frazee’s case is set for Feb. 19.