'Cheating dad beat fiancee to death with baseball bat then burnt body in front of mistress'

Patrick Frazee is charged with two counts of first degree murder and three counts of solicitation to commit murder.

A cheating man beat his fiancee to death with a baseball bat and then burnt her body in front of his mistress, a court has heard.

Patrick Frazee, 32, allegedly launched the savage attack on Kelsey Berreth, the mother of his one-year-old daughter, on November 22.

Colorado police claim he blindfolded Ms Berreth, 29, from Washington, and asked her to guess the scent of a candle.

He then bludgeoned her to death with the bat in a prolonged beating.

A court heard Frazee had Thanksgiving dinner with his family just hours after the horrific murder of his partner.

Prosecutors claim he then left his daughter Kaylee in the care of his mother before returning home to begin covering his tracks.

Frazee then allegedly phoned Krystal Jean Lee, who he was having a romantic relationship with, and demanded she help clean up the crime scene.

Law enforcement official Gregg Slater testified in court that the accused told Ms Lee: "You have a mess to clean up."

Ms Lee, who is claiming she acted out of fear for her own safety, is said to have drove 13 hours from Idaho to Colorado to be with Frazee.

Shortly after this, police claim Kelsey Berreth's body was burned along with the baseball bat on a pile of haystacks at a farm.

She was reported missing and police launched a search for her a short time later.

The remains of Ms Berreth, a flight instructor, have never been found.

A few weeks after her disappearance, police arrested Frazee when Lee began giving evidence against him.

She took police to an area of land that had visible burn marks with traces of accellerant.

Local authorities claim Frazee tried to convince Lee to murder the mother of his child killed on numerous occasions before she went missing.

In September, Lee posed as a neighbour before giving Berreth a Starbucks drinks laced with drugs, it is claimed.

And the also court heard Frazee asked Lee her to beat the 29-year-old mum to death with a pipe and bat.

After the alleged murder, Lee took the mum's phone and drove out of the county in an attempt to convince detectives Ms Berreth had ran away from home.

Frazee also disposed of her gun to make it look like she took her own life.

Her friend Michelle Stein claimed Krystal Jean Lee only took part in the alleged crime because she feared for her life and her two children's safety.

She told CBS: "I will just tell you Krystal was very, very scared.

"Krystal is a level headed, kind, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky person.

"She's a tough cowgirl. She was absolutely scared and extremely upset.

"She did tell me that she's never seen that kind of evil in anybody."

Mr Frazee has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and three counts of solicitation to commit murder.

His plea hearing is scheduled for April 8.

Lee pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with evidence and will be sentenced at a later date.