Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #107

[DizzyB]

I think Suzanne spent her life with Barry because she believed it was the righteous thing to do. She fell in love with him as a young woman, and he cared for her and never left her side during her first bout with cancer. He wanted children, but put that aside because Suzanne was not expected to be able to conceive after treatment. And they were blessed with two daughters. As religious as Suzanne was, she may have felt that this was her path. When she became so unhappy in her marriage, she may have felt she was going against God’s master plan. But she also was a child of divorce, who saw that people can find happiness with a second partner. I am sure she was very conflicted about her affair, but it did remind her that she could feel that spark that was gone for a long time. JL was her catalyst for knowing she should move forward to a life without Barry.

 

[Puzzles8]

Given it was decades since SM had personal wages/earnings to "legally commingle" with her husband, I'd say this guess is flawed.

However, we do know SM was the beneficiary of at least two estates that she legally deemed her separate property. Why else would BM promise to pay her back? Common sense dictates this was intended a loan.

If I remember correctly, BM borrowed money from a joint credit line to invest in silver. To that effect, I agree with @Megnut that it was the equivalent of risking SM's money -- especially if their personal residence was security for the LOC.

I don't think anybody's accused BM of being bad at managing money. To his credit, it was a significantly different time when the cost of money (i.e., interest rates) was some of the lowest in history. Had the forecast for silver paid off, it would have yielded a substantial profit. MOO

I agree and it appears even more suspicious that they bought the house in Maysville for cash. Borrowing rates were at a historic low. Why would they tie up their cash? Why did they have that much cash?

Oh, just one of many questions about BM's financial decisions...

JMO

 

[Seattle1]

I agree and it appears even more suspicious that they bought the house in Maysville for cash. Borrowing rates were at a historic low. Why would they tie up their cash? Why did they have that much cash?

Oh, just one of many questions about BM's financial decisions...

JMO

I recall SM's sister mentioning how BM aspired to buy a $million dollar property with cash as long as she could remember. IMO, I also think they had a history of buying with cash because BM under-reported his taxable income and the self-employed buyer would not be offered the best mortgage whereas using the residence owned free and clear as security on a line of credit would fit the ticket.

 

[arielilane]

And Here are those exhibits from the Preliminary hearing:

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases%20of%20interest/21CR78/People%20Exhibits%20Prelim%20Hearing.pdf

Y'all, here's an informative article which includes exhibits, as posted by @Cindizzi, last Thurs. MOO

Evidence in the Suzanne Morphew case

Bizarre clues and evidence in the investigation into the Colorado mother's disappearance include a spy pen, plastic needle cap, and a chipmunk alibi.

www.cbsnews.com

6/28/2023

Bizarre clues and evidence in the Colorado mother's disappearance include a spy pen, plastic needle cap, and a chipmunk alibi. "48 Hours" investigates in "The Susanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems."

In a dramatic turn of events, on April 19, 2022, just nine days before Barry Morphew was set to stand trial for his wife, Suzanne Morphew's murder, Judge Ramsey Lama granted the DA's motion to dismiss the charges against him, without prejudice, meaning the prosecution can re-file charges in the future.

Morphew, alongside his daughters, walked out of the Fremont County courthouse a free man after all charges against him were dismissed.

 

[mrjitty]

Humans can be poor judges of risk.

It's clear that SM was afraid of BM (her own words). She went to great lengths to keep her affair secret. But I guess she thought she could manage the exit, because who really suspects their husband will murder them in cold blood?

I don't think she saw that coming.

IMO, he isolated her that weekend, to give himself the opportunity. He no doubt pretended he would be reasonable.

 

[Megnut]

Humans can be poor judges of risk.

It's clear that SM was afraid of BM (her own words). She went to great lengths to keep her affair secret. But I guess she thought she could manage the exit, because who really suspects their husband will murder them in cold blood?

I don't think she saw that coming.

IMO, he isolated her that weekend, to give himself the opportunity. He no doubt pretended he would be reasonable.

Agreed.

I don't think she saw it coming. Until she saw it coming. I believe she heard his truck, saw him and maybe had just enough time to lock doors before barricading herself in her room.

The terror of seeing that coming --

Never talked about but does Suzanne have a missing Fitbit too? If she did, I bet there was a spike in her heart rate right around the time Barry jumped out of his truck.

Trail cams. Getting prey in his sight line. Thrill of the chase. Hunting, stalking, out-gunning. Disabling. Killing.

He's done it his whole life.

And IMO he did it with hers.

JMO

 

[waldojabba]

Totally agree. Barry pulls up the house and the switch in him is flipped. He becomes the hunter, the exterminator, with Suzanne as his target. Although I too believe she ran from him and locked herself in the bedroom - that was not enough to stop the adrenaline fueled red hot BM. She saw it coming but not until he got home that day
I think she always thought that he would escalate and she feared a beating but because of the children, I don’t think she thought he would ultimately kill her. She knew he was Jekyll and Hyde but I don’t think she truly realized the depth of the darkness she was dealing with until that fateful day.

 

[Megnut]

Totally agree. Barry pulls up the house and the switch in him is flipped. He becomes the hunter, the exterminator, with Suzanne as his target. Although I too believe she ran from him and locked herself in the bedroom - that was not enough to stop the adrenaline fueled red hot BM. She saw it coming but not until he got home that day
I think she always thought that he would escalate and she feared a beating but because of the children, I don’t think she thought he would ultimately kill her. She knew he was Jekyll and Hyde but I don’t think she truly realized the depth of the darkness she was dealing with until that fateful day.

Actually I think it was more subversive than this. She may have had a black eye (he says he was blocking her and it was accidental), he may have choked her (you know, to calm her.... as one does) but I think the bulk of his DV was the kind that doesn't leave marks and can take decades to identify. Is one thing if Suzanne adored Barry (at a point), for seeing her through her first round of cancer and for giving her her miracle babies; it's another thing entirely if he told her she was indebted to him....using what she valued against her.

By 2020, Suzanne knew that, whatever she did, therb'd be consequences, and not good ones from Barry -- because he was predictably unpredictable. There'd be a price to pay, just what would it be? Cut her off financially. Cut off her health coverage. Hurt himself. Use the girls.

IMO those were her biggest fears -- until something broke that last week. She must have realized then there may be no limit to what he might do.

JMO

 

[Lyanna]

Actually I think it was more subversive than this. She may have had a black eye (he says he was blocking her and it was accidental), he may have choked her (you know, to calm her.... as one does) but I think the bulk of his DV was the kind that doesn't leave marks and can take decades to identify. Is one thing if Suzanne adored Barry (at a point), for seeing her through her first round of cancer and for giving her her miracle babies; it's another thing entirely if he told her she was indebted to him....using what she valued against her. By 2020, Suzanne knew that, whatever she did, there be consequences, and not hood ones from Barry -- because he was predictably unpredictable. There'd be a price to pay, just what would it be? Cut her off financially. Cut off her health coverage. Hurt himself. Use the girls.

IMO those were her biggest fears -- until something broke that last week. She must have realized there may be no limit to what he might do.

JMO

Agree,

Wholeheartedly believe Barry used all of Suzanne's fears against her, particularly their daughters - they would have been the 2 things that had the biggest hold from being miracle babies to 'you know what you felt like when your parents divorced ' - all jmo though. But I wouldn't be surprised to learn something like that about him.
Suzanne knew. She knew what and who he was, and the last time he pulled the daughters in was when she finally had clarity - she said it herself, she lost all respect for him that day. I believe that's when she turned on a different path and saw a different way, a life without him. I think she knew he was capable of great harm, but you could see the struggle in her messages about how she felt at times, how quick she was to identify she caused some damage too, maybe she felt some level of responsibility for his behaviours ? I think that may have been another reason as to what kept her there for so long - misplaced guilt and responsibility for him and his actions


jmo

 

[arielilane]

Originally aired 4.30.2022

When a Colorado mother doesn’t return any calls from her family on Mother’s Day, authorities launch a search, and find a trail of clues along the way.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1675969011022962689

https://twitter.com/48hours

Watch 48 Hours Season 35 Episode 53: The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems - Full show on CBS

After a mother of two vanishes on Mother’s Day, bizarre clues emerge— a chipmunk alibi, a tranquilizer gun and a spy pen. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.

www.cbs.com

 

[Puzzles8]

Y'all, here's an informative article which includes exhibits, as posted by @Cindizzi, last Thurs. MOO

Evidence in the Suzanne Morphew case

Bizarre clues and evidence in the investigation into the Colorado mother's disappearance include a spy pen, plastic needle cap, and a chipmunk alibi.

www.cbsnews.com

6/28/2023

Bizarre clues and evidence in the Colorado mother's disappearance include a spy pen, plastic needle cap, and a chipmunk alibi. "48 Hours" investigates in "The Susanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems."

In a dramatic turn of events, on April 19, 2022, just nine days before Barry Morphew was set to stand trial for his wife, Suzanne Morphew's murder, Judge Ramsey Lama granted the DA's motion to dismiss the charges against him, without prejudice, meaning the prosecution can re-file charges in the future.

Morphew, alongside his daughters, walked out of the Fremont County courthouse a free man after all charges against him were dismissed.

Barry may 'technically' be a free man now. But IMO he will always live under the cloud of guilt and suspicion over his head.

I don't believe he will ever live anywhere again in peace. Not Indiana, not anywhere.

Funny how Karma follows you around......

JMO

 

[Seattle1]

Remember this?

Barry Morphew told friends wife Suzanne slept with 'a man'

FBI agent Ken Harris told the court that he interviewed one of Barry's friends, a woman called Holly Wilson, and that he told Holly described a conversation she'd had with Barry in November.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Typical DM clickbait headline. From the AA, the context is different:

 

[MyBelle]

Agree,

Wholeheartedly believe Barry used all of Suzanne's fears against her, particularly their daughters - they would have been the 2 things that had the biggest hold from being miracle babies to 'you know what you felt like when your parents divorced ' - all jmo though. But I wouldn't be surprised to learn something like that about him.
Suzanne knew. She knew what and who he was, and the last time he pulled the daughters in was when she finally had clarity - she said it herself, she lost all respect for him that day. I believe that's when she turned on a different path and saw a different way, a life without him. I think she knew he was capable of great harm, but you could see the struggle in her messages about how she felt at times, how quick she was to identify she caused some damage too, maybe she felt some level of responsibility for his behaviours ? I think that may have been another reason as to what kept her there for so long - misplaced guilt and responsibility for him and his actions


jmo

BBM. I think what kept Suzanne in her marriage was her deep, evangelical Christian faith. This case is too similar to the Heidi Firkus case in Minneapolis. It took 13 years for her husband to be arrested and come to trial. Members of their church supported him until the very end when the verdict was read. They still cried, not for the victim, but for her killer. smh

JMO

Husband sentenced to life in prison in wife's 13-year cold case murder

A Minnesota man was sentenced for killing his wife in 2010 over the couple's debt, which he kept from her.

abcnews.go.com

 

[BeachSky]

I agree.

I think the heart of the matter was that he personified a warped version in his mind of:

"If I can't have her, nobody can", which was:

"I don't really want her anymore, but the 'other man' can't have her and make off with what's mine -- Suzanne, her money, and her shine as the perfect wife that brightens my image as the perfect prestigous upstanding Christian family man."

JMO

…and to continue the charade by sadly using HER daughters.
He will always be like an OJ to me.
Reaching to shake many a recoiled hand.

Karma is patient too.
All MOO

 

[MyBelle]

…and to continue the charade by sadly using HER daughters.
He will always be like an OJ to me.
Reaching to shake many a recoiled hand.

Karma is patient too.
All MOO

BBM. Indeed, it is. Tick tock goes the clock and I'm a few thousand miles away.

JMO

 

[Twistinginthewind]

Humans can be poor judges of risk.

It's clear that SM was afraid of BM (her own words). She went to great lengths to keep her affair secret. But I guess she thought she could manage the exit, because who really suspects their husband will murder them in cold blood?

I don't think she saw that coming.

IMO, he isolated her that weekend, to give himself the opportunity. He no doubt pretended he would be reasonable.

I agree, @mrjitty, Suzanne didn't see that coming, or she wouldn't have allowed herself to be alone with him at their house that fateful day.

I wonder if she was looking forward to some alone time with him that day, because she maybe hoped they could "talk", and lay down some (more) groundwork for how they would separate.

IIRC, she was lounging outside and maybe reading a book, when he started shooting at chipmunks, and the rest doesn't bear repeating. What he did to her.

I have faith LE has a good idea where he disposed of her remains after he killed her, and they'll eventually find her.

In the Erin Corwin case, her killer disposed of her remains in a very remote area in one of dozens of abandoned mine shafts outside Twentynine Palms, CA.

It took LE and Search and Rescue months of methodically searching each and every mine shaft for months in the heat of the desert, and they found her, and he is serving LWOP.

MOO

 

[BeachSky]

Perhaps LE is floating that recent statement out regarding close to finding her…
to see if someone goes & checks on her in that difficult spot.

JMHope

 

[Seattle1]

I agree, @mrjitty, Suzanne didn't see that coming, or she wouldn't have allowed herself to be alone with him at their house that fateful day.

I wonder if she was looking forward to some alone time with him that day, because she maybe hoped they could "talk", and lay down some (more) groundwork for how they would separate.

IIRC, she was lounging outside and maybe reading a book, when he started shooting at chipmunks, and the rest doesn't bear repeating. What he did to her.

I have faith LE has a good idea where he disposed of her remains after he killed her, and they'll eventually find her.

In the Erin Corwin case, her killer disposed of her remains in a very remote area in one of dozens of abandoned mine shafts outside Twentynine Palms, CA.

It took LE and Search and Rescue months of methodically searching each and every mine shaft for months in the heat of the desert, and they found her, and he is serving LWOP.

MOO

I had no doubt BM would be convicted without SM's body recovered if not for the Court excluding 14 of the prosecution's expert witnesses -- tantamount to dismissal. I trust BM will one day pay his dues. I'll always be encouraged by the conviction of Cathy Krauseneck's husband, 40 years after her death. And I was more pleased her father lived to see justice for his daughter. MOO

Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death

In 1982, Cathy Krauseneck, a young mother, was killed in her bed – an ax lodged in her head. Investigators believe the crime scene was staged to look like a burglary to cover up the real crime – the intentional murder of Cathy by her husband.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Quite the path following this case and related legal filings or tangential cases on it.

After watching the recent 48 Hours episode on it this past weekend, I wonder if someone might have possibly at some point moved the remains to another location? I can only hope that law enforcement have been watching key individuals for their movements. And hope that more can be gleaned from electronics and other movements. And it is sometimes the case that other information release and investigative tactics are used to elicit certain responses or actions.

The recent legal suit by the defendant in my opinion seems a fishing expedition for information that the prosecution possesses and/or intimidation tactic.

An old adage of my late father a civil structural engineer: ‘there is never time to do the job right, but always time to do it over’. I am sure wishing for investigators and prosecutors to take the time and get it right.
MOO

 

[Seattle1]

July 2, 2023

Discussion on BM's case begins at about the 8:55 min marker:

Since Crime Talk host Scott R. speaks from the perspective of a defense attorney, I generally pick up a nugget now and then and skip the rest.

What I picked up from this video is relevant to BM appearing on Good Morning America (GMA) and the statements he willingly made to the world in contrast to the known facts about his marriage.

I've previously opined on BM's words coming back to bite him-- both in his civil suit and criminal case, when BM is recharged for murdering SM, and Scott provides the legal basis per my notes below:

Regardless of the warnings given to defendants not to talk about their case with anybody other than their attorney, WS is ripe with defendants that just can’t help themselves -- whether it be during recorded jailhouse calls or Good Morning America!

Admission by a Party Opponent – take note that ‘Anything You Say Can Be Used Against You’ isn’t limited to only what a defendant says to the police.

The legal basis for why your statements to anybody can be used against you is because, in addition to being a defendant, you’re also a Party to your case. For example, BM's case here is The People of the State of Colo vs Barry Morphew.