Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #105

[Megnut]

we will.
Back to the beginning again and out with the maps and think like he thought after he chased her around and used a dart on her allegedly..
where did he take her?
I know we have looked at it a million times but let's look again..

Yes, when, where and how?

Between roughly 4 and 10 or 11 and 3?

By vehicle, by ATV or by foot?

Mineshaft, burial pod, animal den?

With or without a decaying elk carcass?

Aided by a Bobcat? Auger?

COD? Cardiac? (What is the mechanism of death from sedation? Manual strangulation? Sedation and manual strangulation? Strangulation by garrote? Phone cord...

Location: within or without 6 miles of PP?

Where is her phone?

Question of the hour: why did he turn left? Is that where the missing 12 miles or so went?

 

[MountainDad]

RSBM

Ok it's been a year, and thanks to the indefatigable work of @Seattle1 I now read again the People's response to the Sanctions. It's been a year so by way of background, 10 of 14 experts were sanctioned and thus blocked from testifying as expert witnesses. State applied to get the core experts reinstated. i.e telematics, cellular, computer

The situation appears to be rather different that how IE advertised it to the judge

1. The key reports were in fact discovered for the prelim 8 months previously or shortly thereafter
2. Defence admits to have reports and disclosures it claimed not to have
3. despite the pattern of violations observed by the previous judge, there was no prejudice here

Basically IE ended up arguing that the reports actually disclosed didn't meet the disclosure requirements (i.e there were no expert opinions disclosed in the report), so the judge then made the sanctions based on Judge's Murphy's observations plus the slightly late filing of the expert CVs

Seattle is correct that this has been badly reported, and people are criticising the DA for a state of affairs that does not exist, but unfortunately the Judge went along with.

Hence my recollection upthread. There is no suggestion the expert reports were not completed - they were completed before the prelim and form the basis of the probable cause! The exception is the DNA which we've discussed before.

IMO the most likely explanation for all of this, apart from IE's usual deceit which didn't work on Murphy but worked on Lama is that the DA is perhaps just too administratively chaotic. Had they had their paperwork more nicely organised, they could have created the paper trail that said 'hey you got everything" and headed this all of at the pass

But at the end of the day, dumb judge gonna dumb judge

Especially it seems incomprehensible to me that the Judge never ruled on the detail of the state's final motion to have this reconsidered. How can it be that he imposed such wild sanctions for reports the defence admits it had all along?

No wonder he was so happy to dismiss the case without prejudice.

The lies worked on Judge Murphy as well. He granted bail and said the possibility existed that soddi based on a partial DNA marker , brought up by Cahill in the PH. There is no such thing as partial match. Never has been. Never will be. No case law exist using partial DNA. Partial dna does not exist. DNA must be a complete match or NO match. And it was found in SM glove compartment- no where else. I wonder what their logic was. A sex offender killed Suzanne and then broke into her glove compartment in the garage and left a partial DNA match. Then months later after bail and change of venue granted they say the DNA is unrelated.

 

[kittythehare]

dbm, dup apologies

 

[MountainDad]

Also, Murphy allowed the main focus of the first two days of the PH to be about an unrelated affair SM was having with a guy living in Indiana. Libler actually had a believable alibi- he was in Indiana- not some fake big job in Broomfield on mother's day when not allowed to work with no materials and five trash dump runs.What did that affair have to do with her murder? Why was it admissible?

 

[kittythehare]

Yes, when, where and how?

Between roughly 4 and 10 or 11 and 3?

By vehicle, by ATV or by foot?

Mineshaft, burial pod, animal den?

With or without a decaying elk carcass?

Aided by a Bobcat? Auger?

COD? Cardiac? (What is the mechanism of death from sedation? Manual strangulation? Sedation and manual strangulation? Strangulation by garrote? Phone cord...

Location: within or without 6 miles of PP?

Where is her phone?

Question of the hour: why did he turn left? Is that where the missing 12 miles or so went?

Thinking shaft, he wouldnt have needed bobcat, arrived flustered at forewoman's house
a hole he knew from previous work in area.
then again, did dogs not signal near bobcat or site?
Maybe rocks on top... flashback areas her brother wanted to search when met with resistance?
Oh.
Bad thought. Maybe more than 1 site.
smell of bleach in home reportedly..
Phone destroyed.

yeah, why did he turn left?

 

[CGray123]

It would be rare for feds to get involved in a state case…and especially a local state case in my opinion. None of the situation fits the instances when a murder might be tried as a federal crime.

Here is a link to the DOJ's Principles of Federal Prosecution, under which several individuals who committed and/or have been charged with murder in state/local cases have been prosecuted for Federal crimes. I don't find any obstacle to charging BM if the DOJ has the political will to do that.

But I tend to agree that without advocacy from SM's family or the local community affected by the murder, the USDOJ will not even have the case on their radar. If people were outraged and contacting their US Senators, there would be a chance of a Federal prosecution of BM. The daughters seem to have no inclination to see their father punished, and I haven't heard a peep from Chaffee County citizens and officials, keeping the case in the spotlight and agitating for Federal help. In these circumstances ITA that a Federal investigation and prosecution to deter spousal murder in this small community is unlikely.

MOO

 

[CGray123]

He got demoted to the Marijuana division, after ruining this case with his ego and incompetence. Lama resigned (health reasons)and started private practice in Salida, handling DUIs. Jeff Lindsey resigns abruptly after taking the case through the PH. Murphy recuses himself because he knew Barry's girlfriends attorney in the trespassing case that was later dropped. Murphy grants change of venue. Gives the case to Lama. Darn justice is hard with shady people in positions of power

"Shady" means "of doubtful honesty" IIRC. Were any of Lama's decisions (including his decision - not Murphy's - to grant a change of venue) - dishonest? How?

Was Lindsey's decision to accept appointment as Chief Deputy DA in the 10th Judicial District after taking the BM prosecution through the preliminary hearing dishonest? How?

Was Murphy's decision to recuse himself dishonest? How?

I disagree with many of Lama's decisions, but IMO they were honest mistakes, made within the scope of his discretion and grounded in facts and law as he saw and articulated them.

I share your frustration, but I will not so easily let it poison my thinking with cynicism.

All MOO.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

I think

The lies worked on Judge Murphy as well. He granted bail and said the possibility existed that soddi based on a partial DNA marker , brought up by Cahill in the PH. There is no such thing as partial match. Never has been. Never will be. No case law exist using partial DNA. Partial dna does not exist. DNA must be a complete match or NO match. And it was found in SM glove compartment- no where else. I wonder what their logic was. A sex offender killed Suzanne and then broke into her glove compartment in the garage and left a partial DNA match. Then months later after bail and change of venue granted they say the DNA is unrelated.

I just think LS pulled the trigger too fast, wasn't organized, didn't have the "team" in alignment and then got out-lawyered. I think the case could have made it to trial with a different prosecution team and waiting to arrest. I also think they over charged and lost focus with the addition of the sentence enhancer for DV. I'm also not sure the case could have been won on the information that was known to us, the public, but might have been swayed had I heard it presented in an entirely different way and based in facts. I'm not sure it can even be determined where SM is located from the known information or if someone else was involved. She could be in an entirely different state for all we know. Like most, I hope the mystery is solved someday, she is located or someone knows something that alters the known facts and someone is brought to justice, but I predict even a new prosecutor would be wary given the known facts. It's a fascinating case. Personally I wonder if it might be beneficial to not start with "Barry did it" and look at the facts from that perspective to see if anything has been missed. If you analyze it from Barry did it then you are looking for the facts to fit that presumption. All the circumstances seemingly point to involvement and knowledge on BM's part but many of the circumstances don't necessary mean involvement and knowledge so which speculation is meaningful and which is just circumstances? Then there are all the interesting tidbits...why is the phone AND the charger missing? Why did he hang out in the hotel for hours? What was going on in his driveway that night? Was there someone else there? What are we missing?

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Requests filed for investigation into 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office

Two requests for investigations have been submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel, citing violations of Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct by the 11th Judici…

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

 

[CGray123]

Also, Murphy allowed the main focus of the first two days of the PH to be about an unrelated affair SM was having with a guy living in Indiana. Libler actually had a believable alibi- he was in Indiana- not some fake big job in Broomfield on mother's day when not allowed to work with no materials and five trash dump runs.What did that affair have to do with her murder? Why was it admissible?

The rules of evidence are not strictly enforced in a PH, the presentation being made to a judge who can presumably separate wheat from chaff. Judges typically let the prosecution present its case and let the defense get some discovery on cross examination.

IDK why E&N spent time on Libler - it didn't get them anything useful as you say.

Your comment brings to mind one of the few bones I have to pick with Murphy: he didn't enforce the time limits he set for the parties. In the end it didn't matter. The prosecution wrapped up before the overall limit expired, and the defense put on no witnesses.

 

[kittythehare]

Requests filed for investigation into 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office

Two requests for investigations have been submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel, citing violations of Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct by the 11th Judici…

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

In an email response requesting comment on the cases Friday, District Attorney Linda Stanley said she is unable to comment on the Allen case because it is sealed and she cannot comment specifically on the Neely cases since he still has open cases.

“What I can tell you is that Rule 16, which governs discovery, states if an item is in the possession and/or control of law enforcement, it is considered to be in the possession and/or control of the District Attorney’s Office,” she said. “Therefore, when law enforcement doesn’t electronically send everything to the DA, as they are required to, the DA doesn’t necessarily know that everything wasn’t sent until there is a request for an item in the case that we didn’t give to the defense (because we didn’t have it or know it existed). Our office doesn’t purposely withhold discovery from defense; generally speaking, it is a matter of not being aware of the existence of something we didn’t have sent to us by law enforcement that results in the DA’s office facing sanctions for discovery violations.”

Florence child sex assault case dismissed by the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office

Another case involving alleged sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust has been dismissed by the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Brandon Christopher Allen, 39, …

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

 

[Momofthreeboys]

The rules of evidence are not strictly enforced in a PH, the presentation being made to a judge who can presumably separate wheat from chaff. Judges typically let the prosecution present its case and let the defense get some discovery on cross examination.

IDK why E&N spent time on Libler - it didn't get them anything useful as you say.

Your comment brings to mind one of the few bones I have to pick with Murphy: he didn't enforce the time limits he set for the parties. In the end it didn't matter. The prosecution wrapped up before the overall limit expired, and the defense put on no witnesses.

My only guess is IE was setting the stage for some of the known information about their marital dynamics which apparently wasn’t always as portrayed.

 

[O.Incandenza]

What is remarkable about this order April 8, is Lama simply refers to the hearing March 10 where he found the discovery violations and issued oral rulings sanctioning the experts - but i don't see anywhere in his written judgement, what specific violations in respect of the key experts he found.

Like @Seattle1 says, he seems to have simply believed IE.

On 7 April, the State finally makes a detailed argument in respect of the core experts that none of this is true but it seems to have been too late

So we end up with the bizarre situation where the key experts (telematics, cellular, computer, DNA, Codis) were sanctioned despite the judge noting any possible prejudice had been cured and any violations being technical

Indeed the judge himself states this was simply punishment on the State to deter future violations.

Sigh.

Consider me highly skeptical that the prosecution actually disclosed real expert reports but just didn't remember that it had. And then only realized it a month after being sanctioned for not disclosing them. Why not just say all of this on Feb. 14th or Feb 28th?

To me, the Apr. 7th motion (1 full month after the order excluding their experts and only 3 weeks before the trial date) reads as if they didn't have their expert reports ready, missed the deadline and then spent a month going back through previously disclosed discovery desperately looking for anything vaguely resembling expert opinion that they could then claim met the expert report requirements. An expert report is supposed to summarize all of the the expert's conclusion and what they're going to testify to at trial. Raw data or emails discussing raw data aren't the same thing at all. I've worked with experts to prepare expert reports before. The idea that you would have prepared an expert report and not remember that you had is just wildly implausible to me.

I can't see the appendices to that motion, so it's impossible for me to judge how much what they're referencing resembles an actual export report. But if they actually did disclose expert reports, why in the world wouldn't they identify them earlier and why wouldn't they appeal the sanctions?

 

[O.Incandenza]

These most recent articles include on-the-record statements from the Fremont County Sheriff and the Florence Police Chief criticizing the DA's office for not turning over discovery in a timely manner. It sounds like the Fremont County Sheriff has also filed complaints with the Colorado Supreme Court over someone from the DA's office lying in court about when they had received evidence.

 

[O.Incandenza]

Here are the quotes:

Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper filed two formal complaints against the DA’s Office with the Colorado Supreme Court last year.

“Basically, I had an assistant district attorney lie in court and try to shift the blame to my deputies,” he said. “They found in my favor, but nothing happened. They don’t really say ‘you are right and they are wrong,’ they use language like ‘the allegations you made are supported by what we see,’ but they don’t tell me if there will be any sanctions.”

He said the DA’s Office has alleged in court that they weren’t receiving evidence from law enforcement.

Cooper said e-Discovery, the system used to file and share information between law enforcement and the prosecution, also provides an audit track.

“I can tell you when it was sent over and I can tell you when it was uploaded in their office,” he said. “That is the evidence I used in open court against the ADA. She stated in open court that they had not received the body-worn camera, I produced receipts of when it was sent and when it was uploaded in their office.”

This allegation upset Cooper to the point that he had a deputy take this evidence directly to the judge just to let them know that they had followed protocol in a timely manner.

“If a judge or attorney could prove that an officer or deputy lied in open court, it would be the end of their career,” he said.

Requests filed for investigation into 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office

Two requests for investigations have been submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel, citing violations of Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct by the 11th Judici…

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

"With dismissals on cases that my detectives are doing a great job investigating, I just don't understand why they are being dismissed," said Florence Police Chief Sean Humphrey. "When the DA's Office gets their e-Discovery, it is at their office where it is not getting disseminated to the proper channels. As far as our reports, we send them over immediately – they have everything. We don't hold anything back."

He said it is a concern that alleged sex crimes against children are not being prosecuted.

"It is a concern because when our officers and detectives investigate these and try to get justice and when they are dismissed and not filing for 'insufficient evidence,' we are just revictimizing the children," he said. "And that is what we are here for. To safeguard the children and the community."

He said his investigators are "very competent," with Det. Alex Wold, who has 50 years in law enforcement and Det. Jeff Wolsey with 35 years under his belt.

"I am not very happy with revictimizing juveniles on sex assaults," Humphrey said. "That is a huge concern and it needs to be dealt with because there is no justice for these sex assaults."

‘A pattern of violating, neglecting discovery:’ Fremont County law enforcement expresses its frustration with District Attorney’s Office

Local law enforcement is frustrated by the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, alleging in open court that they are to blame for not receiving timely evidence. Violating rules of discov…

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

 

[kittythehare]

<modsnip: quoted post edited>

Here are the quotes:

Requests filed for investigation into 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office

Two requests for investigations have been submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel, citing violations of Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct by the 11th Judici…

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

‘A pattern of violating, neglecting discovery:’ Fremont County law enforcement expresses its frustration with District Attorney’s Office

Local law enforcement is frustrated by the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, alleging in open court that they are to blame for not receiving timely evidence. Violating rules of discov…

www.canoncitydailyrecord.com

Again, playing devil's advocate here, if sabotage was an aspect is it possible they were withheld from her?

 

[kittythehare]

Good synopsis/refresher here

Accused Wife Killer Barry Morphew Cited Wild Animals in Cover-Up Scheme, Affidavit Says

A newly-unsealed affidavit includes talk of chipmunks and tranquilizer darts as part of a truly deranged alleged attempt to throw off cops in the grisly case.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[kittythehare]

Back to Suzanne's possible location.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases%20of%20interest/21CR78/21cr78%20Morphew%20Redacted%20Affidavit.pdf

Page 4.
Why did bM dispose of the tranquiliser solution on his way to Broomfield if he did not expect her body to be found quickly and containing traces of said tranquiliser?

Does anybody recall name of tranquiliser, I want to check half life to try guessing at how long he expected it to remain in her body?

 

[kittythehare]

refresher, might be ideas for a new search found within..

Husband of missing Colorado woman Suzanne Morphew arrested on first-degree murder charge

Barry Morphew, the husband of missing Colorado mother Suzanne Morphew, has been arrested in Chaffee County on multiple charges, including first-degree murder, almost a year after Suzanne was first reported missing, according to court documents.

www.denver7.com

 

[kittythehare]

Accused Wife Killer Barry Morphew Cited Wild Animals in Cover-Up Scheme, Affidavit Says

A newly-unsealed affidavit includes talk of chipmunks and tranquilizer darts as part of a truly deranged alleged attempt to throw off cops in the grisly case.

www.thedailybeast.com

It woz a bull elk all the while..!

Bull elk probably killed the mountain lion too.. Exonerate the bull elk.

Full in case anybody feels like going through it again with a view to guessing at where he may have disposed of her body..
(I'm only on Page 5)

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases%20of%20interest/21CR78/21cr78%20Morphew%20Redacted%20Affidavit.pdf