Couple who exposed Patrick Frazee knew he planned to murder Kelsey Berreth weeks before her death

The couple who allegedly broke open the Kelsey Berreth murder investigation and may have helped to put Patrick Frazee behind bars are under fire for not speaking out sooner.

Joe and Patty Rockstahl told KMVT that one of their employees came to them in October and said her best friend Krystal Lee had been contacted by a man who wanted her ‘to kill the mother of his child.’ 

The couple, who own a law firm in Idaho, did not share this information with officials at the time, and waited to call the FBI until December 17 – almost a month after Berreth, 29, was last seen alive.

That was also one day after officials announced they were offering up a $25,000 reward for anyone with information about the missing mom. 

Many are now lashing out at the Rockstahls and even calling for Joe, an attorney, to be investigated by the Idaho State Bar.

‘Wow! Owners of a law firm and they didn’t do a DAMN thing. Heroes?!?! Are you f’n kidding me?!?! They’re monsters!’ wrote the victim’s brother Clint Berreth on Facebook. 

He later responded to a comment calling the pair cowards by stating: ‘Those are my exact thoughts too. Hopefully they’re business folds following this.’

Backlash: Joe and Patty Rockstahl sat down for a series of interviews with KMVT in which they revealed that they informed the FBI about Patrick Frazee’s murder plot (Rockstahls above). They are now under fire for not sharing the information with authorities sooner 

Anger: 'Wow! Owners of a law firm and they didn¿t do a DAMN thing. Heroes?!?! Are you f¿n kidding me?!?! They¿re monsters!' wrote the victim's brother Clint Berreth (Facebook post above)

Anger: ‘Wow! Owners of a law firm and they didn’t do a DAMN thing. Heroes?!?! Are you f’n kidding me?!?! They’re monsters!’ wrote the victim’s brother Clint Berreth (Facebook post above)

Victim: The couple claim that their employee Michelle told them in October that her best friend Krystal Lee was asked by a man to 'kill the mother of his child' (Berreth with his mother Cheryl and daughter Kaylee in early 2018)

Victim: The couple claim that their employee Michelle told them in October that her best friend Krystal Lee was asked by a man to ‘kill the mother of his child’ (Berreth with his mother Cheryl and daughter Kaylee in early 2018)

The Rockstahls tried to mitigate the backlash to their interview by claiming they did not accept the reward being offered for information in the case.

DailyMail.com reached out to confirm that claim and see if the Rockstahls were offered that money, but officials have not yet responded.

It is also unclear whether the Rockstahls were compensated in any way for their exclusive interviews, which ran on CBS affiliates around the country over the course of three nights.

Berreth’s brother meanwhile is also questioning the validity of the couple’s story, writing: ‘I’m beginning to wonder if these people are full of s*** and just feeding a story for a reward.’

The Rockstahls claim they have never met Lee, the 32-year-old nurse who had been having an affair with Frazee.

They also said that after their employee Michelle first told them about Lee’s situation they asked to speak with the divorced mother-of-two.

Lee never got in touch with the Rockstahls, but the two said that Michelle had begged her not to go to Colorado to see Frazee at some point in November. 

Soon after, Michelle then came to them again on November 26 and said ‘that person, she’s missing, she’s also a pilot.’

Patty said that she immediately knew that Michelle was speaking about Berreth because of a post she had seen on Facebook.

It is unclear where this post generated from however, with Berreth not reported missing by her mother until a week after that date. 

‘I said, “Would you please text your friend Krystal and ask her if this is that woman?,”‘ claimed Patty. 

She said that Michelle spoke with Lee and confirmed it was the woman in question, at which point Patty claims to have told her employee, ‘your friend has 24 hours to go to the police, or I’m calling them.’

Patty said that she was told the next day that Lee had spoken to authorities.

Siblings: The two did not contact authorities then or on November 26 when Michelle confirmed that Berreth was the woman in question (Berreth and her brother Clint)

Siblings: The two did not contact authorities then or on November 26 when Michelle confirmed that Berreth was the woman in question (Berreth and her brother Clint)

Calling into question: The Rockstahls called the FBI one day after a $25,000 reward was first offered in the case, and almost a month after Berreth was last seen on November 22 (Berreth's brother comment on facebook)

Calling into question: The Rockstahls called the FBI one day after a $25,000 reward was first offered in the case, and almost a month after Berreth was last seen on November 22 (Berreth’s brother comment on facebook)

Investigate: These actions were deemed 'preposterous' in a letter that has been submitted to the Idaho State Bar by a friend of the Berreth family (Frazee above outside court on Dec. 31)

Investigate: These actions were deemed ‘preposterous’ in a letter that has been submitted to the Idaho State Bar by a friend of the Berreth family (Frazee above outside court on Dec. 31)

The Rockstahls claim that it took them two weeks to realize Lee had not gone to police.

And a week after that they called the FBI, one day after the announcement that a $25,000 reward was being offered in the case.   

At that point it had been almost two months since they first heard about Lee being solicited to commit murder.

The couple also claimed that Lee had been in possession of Berreth’s phone – which had pinged off a cell tower in a nearby town just a few  days after she went missing – and that she had sent texts to Berreth’s family and employer in the days after the woman disappeared.

These actions were deemed ‘preposterous’ in a letter that has been submitted to the Idaho State Bar by a friend of the Berreth family.

The letter goes on to ask that the organization look into ‘the timing of when the information was received, the delay in providing it to authorities, and the reward, if any, collected for having ‘connected the dots’ once a reward was made available. 

The couple meanwhile urged others who might have information to come forward during their interview, saying: ‘Be honest, tell somebody, speak up.’ 

Legal troubles: A section of the letter calling for the Idaho State Bar to investigate the Rockstahls 

Legal troubles: A section of the letter calling for the Idaho State Bar to investigate the Rockstahls 

Frazee is behind bars now awaiting trial, and last week he was served notice that a complaint had been filed by Cheryl and Darrell Berreth claiming he ‘enacted physical, mental, and emotional acts of violence upon their daughter prior to her death’ in a lawsuit.

The complaint goes on to state that ‘when Frazee acted as either the perpetrator or accessory to the murder of Kelsey Berreth, Frazee breached the duty of care with which a reasonable person should conduct himself toward another human being.’

The Berreths, who currently have temporary custody of their daughter’s 15-month-old child with Frazee, are demanding a jury trial to determine and ‘compensatory and general damages, interest from the date of Kelsey Berreth’s death as provide.’, as provided by law.’

And they have retained Perry Sanders to represent them in the case, the same man who represented Katherine Jackson after the death of her son Michael.

The body of their daughter Kelsey has not yet been found, and it is still unclear how she may have been killed.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk