Still Missing CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #86

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With this, I had wondered if maybe BM had used that pile of clothing laying in the closet to wipe sweat off himself or just put his arms or whatever in the shorts/pants and the dog actually was looking for his scent.....
Would that work that way?
For instance, if that pile of clothes was clean and he handled them and got his smell on those clothes, and knew he did, then give them to officers for the dogs, would the dogs pick up SM scent from the clothing or BMs?
He could have done that, but who knows. When he was asked for a piece of Suzanne's clothing, he pointed to it in the closet. He didn't handle that piece of clothing. Then he gave LE a plastic bag to put it in.
 
As I was browsing Bobcat Model #S590's this picture caught my eye.
img.axd

2021 BOBCAT S590 For Sale in Maspeth, New York

Notice the position of the attachment to the cab. To get into the cab you would probably need to step on the bucket first then step into the cab. I wonder if the barefoot person's footprint was entering or exiting the cab? After she was darted, did she try to enter the cab to escape Barry?

JMO
You're right about stepping into/onto the bucket to get into one. It doesn't make sense that he was barefoot and stepped on the bucket. He had just gotten home and was chasing Suzanne. He left the truck door open so as to not alert her.

how to get into a bobcat - Google Search
 
As I was browsing Bobcat Model #S590's this picture caught my eye.
img.axd

2021 BOBCAT S590 For Sale in Maspeth, New York

Notice the position of the attachment to the cab. To get into the cab you would probably need to step on the bucket first then step into the cab. I wonder if the barefoot person's footprint was entering or exiting the cab? After she was darted, did she try to enter the cab to escape Barry?

JMO
Verrry interesting!
 
Maybe Barry did use the Bobcat early in the morning.... by then, he's reaching the 12 hour mark for cadaverine. Possibly he's utilizing the cooler, unaware he's transferring the scent to himself.

Barry didn't want Suzanne to leave PP. (He can't seem to leave it either.) He knows how to dig deep holes. What else is missing? Any Bobcat attachments? He's an excellent Bobcat handler. Picture: Suzanne is transferred to a cooler immediately. At 10 pm, when he backs in truck up, likely he detrailered it. Hides the cooler in the dirt on the trailer overnight. In the early AM he uses the Bobcat to lift the cooler from the trailer and executes his burial -- he's got roughly 20 raw acres at his DISPOSAL -- he returns in the Bobcat about 3 AM. Everything he was wearing is bagged up, boots off. He parks the Bobcat, swaps the SIM, steps down barefoot and begins loading the truck.

JMO
 
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It's not Alex Murdaugh is it?!?! Haha. Seriously though if you haven't started following that case, you definitely should, it's crazy!

On topic, I too look forward to the document release.

When I get too annoyed by the defense shenanigans, I remind myself that I'm here for the real victim, Suzanne Morphew. A beautiful, brave, kind woman who beat cancer twice, only to have her life snuffed out when she gathered the courage to leave and beat the cancerous toxicity of her marriage.

Despite how Barry might think of himself he is not the freaking victim. Not even close.
It isn't the Murdaugh's but that happening at the same time (and both are from South Carolina) there have seen so many similarities other than murder. Embezzling, drug addiction, living a double life, and lies lies lies. The most unbelievable lies. The one thing I feel good about is I never trusted him and thought he was just a fake human. My advice when your hinky goes up about someone there is a reason.

I am 100% here for Suzanne and want to see the one responsible for erasing her future held accountable and locked away. He doesn't deserve this extra time he's been given with his girls but he better use the time wisely because the clocks-a-ticking!
 
ITA. We've seen the evidence that is the core of the case. I suspect at the trial there will be much more detailed forensic testimony and the expert witnesses will file written reports at some point before the trial. These won't be posted on the website: they will be provided on request as public documents, like the motions.

I will be interested to see if the prosecution is able to track down the relative of the AZ sex offender, and establish whether he has an alibi for the afternoon and evening of May 9, 2020.

To me, the motions are of interest not for new information, but because they will show us what the defense doesn't want the jury to see, and why. IMO, the most persuasive evidence in this case is all admissible, although some will be subject to an instruction that it is admitted for a limited purpose.

Now that I've seen the AA, I understand what the judge was saying about evidence that may be inadmissible. Most of these items are just irrelevant. The essential evidence will be admitted. MOO.
 
7 acres, 11+ acres, any acreage adjacent to that.

He's an expert Bobcatter...

Barry a couch, why not barry an auger?

How long would it take, under cover of night, while the home fires are burning (journals) to rake back a peat driveway, dig a very deep hole, barry an auger and a cooler, back fill it, smooth it over, replace the rock, park the Bobcat, step down?

How soon after that would you lay down a whole extra layer of peat rock, tidying up that entire driveway and spare no expense?

Job like that, Bobcat barely moves.

JMO
 
Notice the position of the attachment to the cab. To get into the cab you would probably need to step on the bucket first then step into the cab. I wonder if the barefoot person's footprint was entering or exiting the cab? After she was darted, did she try to enter the cab to escape Barry? JMO

You Only need to watch the first minute. My guess is the print is entering the cab, since they only mention one print. While under duress and having to actually pull yourself up to enter the cab seems to me as the body landed it would distribute most all your weight on that footprint.

 
7 acres, 11+ acres, any acreage adjacent to that.

He's an expert Bobcatter...

Barry a couch, why not barry an auger?

How long would it take, under cover of night, while the home fires are burning (journals) to rake back a peat driveway, dig a very deep hole, barry an auger and a cooler, back fill it, smooth it over, replace the rock, park the Bobcat, step down?

How soon after that would you lay down a whole extra layer of peat rock, tidying up that entire driveway and spare no expense?

Job like that, Bobcat barely moves.

JMO


Who owns a specialized metal detector that can detect metal as deep as 20 ft.?

My toy one can find coins as my child finds a $20.00 bill blowing in the wind.
"Is this what you're looking for, Mommy?"

Those were the good 'ole days.

I wish you were here, Suzanne, to reflect on the good 'ole days. So unfair.

RIP, dear Suzanne.
 
Tomorrow is Election Day in Colorado. As hubby and I got ready to drop off our ballots this morning, I noticed something new has been added to the signature box.
“ Power of Attorney will not be accepted “.
Hmmm, wonder what prompted that?
 

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Maybe Barry did use the Bobcat early in the morning.... by then, he's reaching the 12 hour mark for cadaverine. Possibly he's utilizing the cooler, unaware he's transferring the scent to himself.

Barry didn't want Suzanne to leave PP. (He can't seem to leave it either.) He knows how to dig deep holes. What else is missing? Any Bobcat attachments? He's an excellent Bobcat handler. Picture: Suzanne is transferred to a cooler immediately. At 10 pm, when he backs in truck up, likely he detrailered it. Hides the cooler in the dirt on the trailer overnight. In the early AM he uses the Bobcat to lift the cooler from the trailer and executes his burial -- he's got roughly 20 raw acres at his DISPOSAL -- he returns in the Bobcat about 3 AM. Everything he was wearing is bagged up, boots off. He parks the Bobcat, swaps the SIM, steps down barefoot and begins loading the truck. JMO
^^bbm

From the AA, pg 5:

At 9:37 PM, CCSO Commander Avila brought Barry into the house and advised Deputy Brown that they were looking for a piece of clothing from the residence for the search dogs to locate Suzanne. Barry walked to the master bedroom and pointed to the clothing on the floor in the closet. Deputy Brown observed mountain bike gloves and padded shorts in the pile; Commander Avila took a pair of the shorts. Deputy Brown was walking in the driveway when Deputy Defurio told him that there were barefoot marks inside of the bucket on the Bobcat. Deputy Brown went with him to examine and found that the cutting blade on the bucket of the Bobcat appeared to be newly replaced, along with the nuts and bolts.

At this time, the multi-day preliminary hearing concluded, and the entire AA released, IMO, it doesn't follow that evidence as unique as a barefoot mark would not have been thoroughly examined or tested for touch DNA, yet there's no evidence these "marks" were ever explored, period.

Seriously, it truly makes no sense that investigators would have passed on the opportunity to identify BM, SM, or an unknown individual's DNA found inside the bobcat bucket!

However, given the complete context of the AA's barefoot reference on pg 5, and knowledge that the bucket blade was in fact replaced at DSi on May 9, I really think this reference was most likely intended to read as "boot" or "shoe" footprint marks, and that "barefoot marks inside the bucket on the Bobcat" was a simple typing error.

Furthermore, from the previous YT posts demonstrating a blade change on a skid steer/Bobcat -- shoe/boot marks inside the bucket would not be unexpected if not typical. MOO
 
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To be fair, it's rare to find all 46 chromosomes in any circumstance - especially a touch DNA circumstance. Unless the person recently bled on the object. But often, there's one complete chromosome - which if autosomal, in particular, gives a unique profile.

If several chromosomes are found on an object, unless they are still in the nucleus of the cell, no one can tell for sure that they are all from the same person.

It's not completely clear in this case what exactly is going on with the glove box DNA, as it was explained by lawyers who, IMO, are notorious for bending nomenclature around DNA. Further, sometimes analysis tries to put chromosomes back together if it looks like they should go together, like puzzle pieces (this leads to controversial findings, for sure). What seems to be certain is that more than one Y chromosome was found - but how they would know which autosomal chromosome each of those went with, well...again, unless it was recent and involved body fluid of some kind, it's not easy for a forensic analyst to put a complete picture together. Y chromosome matches are legion (because it doesn't go through a process called "crossover" and so it tends to be passed from father to son virtually unchanged...)
We need to know exactly what LE and the lab did in order to understand the DNA evidence and the meaning of partial match.

Forensics scientists type to exclusion, they don't match or partial match anything.

Some random thoughts-

Human Identification isn't a homebrew science like it was in the 90's. Labs buy kits with pre-packaged probes for regions that span the genome (autosomes and sex chromosomes) just as you described. 75% of the kits come from 1 company. When you are looking for a possible sexual assault, you first try and find evidence of the Y chromosome. There is a gene on Y that is almost always interrogated and there is a huge database of phylogenetic data on it. We have no idea what approach this lab took or why LE used the term partial match. Forensics Scientists typically don't use terms like partial match, the data is exclusionary, or its not with a certain probability.

My best guess, and we will need to wait until the trial to see this most likely, is that for both the truck and the sheets they first ran a quantification kit to see if they had measurable male DNA and looked for Y-chromosome STRs and or SNPs just as you said. They used a kit that interrogated many Y-STRs (multiplexed) and did not get a read on all of those STRs because the DNA concentration was well below the LOD. They may have gotten a read on 1, 2, 5, or whatever. They may have also sequenced some of the amplification products to get more information.

If they got a read on all of the Y-STRs and they all matched an SO in Arizona, that person would have been arrested and questioned.

I am surprised they found random male DNA on the bedsheets in the dryer- For one, those had presumably also been washed. If the DNA was trace before washing, it would be undetectable after washing. To me this says the DNA was not so trace or the sheets were not washed. (could Barry have picked up the sheets at the motel?; could Suzanne have had more than one affair? Perhaps a weird switch at the laundromat?) Keep in mind that if these were her sheets that she slept on every night, her DNA and Barry's DNA would dominate any signal from trace contamination; many thousands of times higher. Barry's Y chromosome would be all over those sheets. And where would trace DNA on your sheets come from anyway? You by them, you use them, you wash them dozens of times in warm soapy water. Pulling a trace sample off an entire sheet in that background is something. So- something is going on with the sheets because you don't get random touch DNA on your sheets.

You sometimes find DNA from people who made the little bits and pieces of the kit- they are supposed to be known and fingerprinted so you can pull those out.

Was the DNA in the truck the same Y-Haplotype as the sheets? Lots of nerdy questions to ask...
 
^^bbm

From the AA, pg 5:

At 9:37 PM, CCSO Commander Avila brought Barry into the house and advised Deputy Brown that they were looking for a piece of clothing from the residence for the search dogs to locate Suzanne. Barry walked to the master bedroom and pointed to the clothing on the floor in the closet. Deputy Brown observed mountain bike gloves and padded shorts in the pile; Commander Avila took a pair of the shorts. Deputy Brown was walking in the driveway when Deputy Defurio told him that there were barefoot marks inside of the bucket on the Bobcat. Deputy Brown went with him to examine and found that the cutting blade on the bucket of the Bobcat appeared to be newly replaced, along with the nuts and bolts.

At this time, the multi-day preliminary hearing concluded, and the entire AA released, IMO, it doesn't follow that evidence as unique as a barefoot mark would not have been thoroughly examined or tested for touch DNA, yet there's no evidence these "marks" were ever explored, period.

Seriously, it truly makes no sense that investigators would have passed on the opportunity to identify BM, SM, or an unknown individual's DNA found inside the bobcat bucket!

However, given the complete context of the AA's barefoot reference on pg 5, and knowledge that the bucket blade was in fact replaced at DSi on May 9, I really think this reference was most likely intended to read as "boot" or "shoe" footprint marks, and that "barefoot marks inside the bucket on the Bobcat" was a simple typing error.

Furthermore, from the previous YT posts demonstrating a blade change on a skid steer/Bobcat -- shoe/boot marks inside the bucket would not be unexpected if not typical. MOO

It's a question I'd really like for Deputy Brown to answer.
 
We need to know exactly what LE and the lab did in order to understand the DNA evidence and the meaning of partial match.
Some random thoughts-
I am surprised they found random male DNA on the bedsheets in the dryer- For one, those had presumably also been washed. If the DNA was trace before washing, it would be undetectable after washing. To me this says the DNA was not so trace or the sheets were not washed. (could Barry have picked up the sheets at the motel?; could Suzanne have had more than one affair? Perhaps a weird switch at the laundromat?) Keep in mind that if these were her sheets that she slept on every night, her DNA and Barry's DNA would dominate any signal from trace contamination; many thousands of times higher. Barry's Y chromosome would be all over those sheets. And where would trace DNA on your sheets come from anyway? You by them, you use them, you wash them dozens of times in warm soapy water. Pulling a trace sample off an entire sheet in that background is something. So- something is going on with the sheets because you don't get random touch DNA on your sheets.

Was the DNA in the truck the same Y-Haplotype as the sheets? Lots of nerdy questions to ask...
RSBM
@Curiousobserver .. Thanks! You definitely have a handle on this and I appreciate your posts. The more I read to understand this DNA business the more confused I get. It seems to moving as fast as our technology, something different every day.

Taking a leap here based on so many "perceived error" accusations directed at the DA's office. I'll bet in the end it's "Sheath' not sheets. Up until now they have not bothered to set the record or correct anything in MSM or on SM that is clearly wrong.
 
For those who understand DNA better than I, here is where the Prosecution was trying to address the results and where it led them. This was the 4th and final day of the Prelim and the Defense had called CBI Agent Cahill as their witness and made him appear incompetent because he had initially been in charge of the DNA test results and then was called away on Military duty, therefore he could not answer all their questions. Then when Prosecution was up, they ( the Defense)decide he’s “ not an expert “ and said they were done at 2:00 p.m. Defense was hoping Judge would make a ruling that day and free their client on bond.
IMO both sides already have reports from their chosen experts scientists that we didn’t get to hear about yet.
Since the Prosecution brought up “ alleles “ I’m going to read up on that.

https://twitter.com/laurenscharftv/status/1430252362262851592?s=21

Back on the record: CBI Agent Joseph Cahill is back on the stand for the #BarryMorphew hearing. The is asking him about allele which is a variant form of a gene. The defense objects saying he isn't a specialist in DNA or forensic scientist.

The state is now asking about Agent Cahill familiarity with a CODIS hit. Cahill says a match means a lead for investigators to attempt to take a standard (another sample of DNA from the subject) to get it analyzed from the original DNA sample from the crime scene.

Agent Cahill is being asked about what a keyboard search is. Scientists are comparing the two samples to decide if it is worth law enforcement time to investigate.

CBI Agent Cahill said in each one of these cases (the three sexual assault leads from other states obtained from the DNA swab on #SuzanneMorphew glove box) did not arise for probable cause.

Iris Eytan is now at the podium for redirect.

According to the forensic scientist report, there was an unknown male DNA on the seat of #SuzanneMorphew bike. Eytan asked if Agent Cahill LE knew if there were individuals that had matches to the DNA if he would have a swab sample done. He said yes.

Judge Patrick Murphy said he isn't going to make a decision today. He took 25 pages of notes and there were over 20 hours of testimony. Looks like he is going to talk with attorneys about when the next hearing will be set.
 
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