[castlesteve]

I'll follow up and answer my own question.

Pulling back the rubber cover on the inside of the door exposes an oblong, hotdog shaped access hole. From that hole, you can use a T25 to loosen the screw (it remains in place) for the lock/light portion. This is not needed for just removing the handle though.

The handle is accessed with a T15 driver. Back it out a few rotations and the handle can be lifted out. The hinge side exposes the power connector for the light (2 pin connector) and the 4 pin connector for the comfort access. I just removed the 4 pin connector and put the handle back in place.

Now, the car still detects the key from the drivers door and the trunk, but not passenger side. So all the functionality is still there except passenger side. Also my battery drain warning is now gone as is the faulty detection of the key when inside the car.