Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #16

[Itsapuzzle]

Thanks again @vaporlass and @daveF for this: April Isaacs, MS, RPT
Ah, I've finally figured out where everything is thanks to this footage of the drive making its way to Hwy 50.
In the 4th video that goes for 9 minutes at the 4.23 minute mark you can see a green sign saying Puma Path, Private Property, and I think there's a letterbox there. H'mm, BM very close-by. At the 5.00 minute mark we're at the first bridge. At the 5.51 mark we're at the second bridge (this is the one where BM was with TD) . Car drives on and at about the 6.06 minute mark we are at the spot where BM pointed out where the bike was found (they actually stop the car there for a while). Car starts up again at 7.03 from the bike scene and it hits the Hwy 50 at 7.25! I'll just pop a few pics up here from the video to demonstrate if anyone's interested.

 

[Deleted member 102539]

I re-watched the TD video. As far as I can tell, because parts of the audio are inaudible, Barry never says the word Suzanne. In the 8:39 interview he refers to SM as “her” or “my wife.” I think that’s interesting.

BM talked with a stranger. In this case I wouldn't use the first name Suzanne, but would say "my wife".

 

[Mimi in London]

BBM
Yes I don’t think they do realize this - In fact I could swear one of these killers said as much - something about they didn’t know attention would come their way? Maybe Patrick frazee or fotis dulos? I can’t remember maybe someone does ?

It was that well-known charmer Patrick Frazee.

‘After Berreth had vanished .......weeks into national news coverage of the missing young mom, Moore testified that Frazee said he did not understand why Berreth’s case was getting so much attention since people go missing every day.

Moore told the jury that Frazee said: “If I had known it was gonna be this big I never would have....”. According to Moore Frazee then stopped talking’.

Friend offers bombshell testimony about Patrick Frazee's alleged behavior before, after Kelsey Berreth's disappearance

 

[lamlawindy]

"Feistyomi, post: 16166863, member: 262569"]you are correct in your assessment. Imo, this is standard procedure, for LE. The husband is always going to be under suspicion in a disappearance. This you learned from your friend’s disappearance.
IANAL, so the lawyers can explain it. These are the normal places to search for evidence, therefore if the husband agrees to these searches, aren’t search warrants just standard procedure? Are search warrants 100% in finding evidence of a crime? Aren’t there some that come up w/zip? I assume that if LE, including the judges and husband all agree to let this process document no evidence, the focus shifts toward other possibilities quite smoothly.

Well, there's a lot to unpack, but let's give it a go:

1. If a homeowner/renter agrees to allow officers to search (concensual search), no warrant is needed. The best practice, of course, would be to obtain written consent from the homeowner/renter.

2. Just because investigators have a warrant, it does not mean that they will find something. A warrant just gives the investigators permission to conduct the search. A search may turn up nothing because the homeowner/renter got rid of any evidence or because the evidence was never there in the first place.

3. Warrants have to be based on probable cause, which is a pretty low standard. For searches, a judicial officer must be satisfied that a reasonably prudent person would conclude -- based upon facts stated by an investigator -- that evidence of a crime exists at the place to be searched.

4. For the concrete slab situation, Barry Morphew would have no say in the matter, since the slab is not his property. I'm not quite sure whether Colorado law will require the county to repay the homeowner for the damage to/removal of the slab. Obviously, this could be quite an expense.

Note point #1: while a homeowner may consent to a search if an officer asks, s/he does not have to agree to a search. Indeed, my children all learned from a very early age that if an officer came to our door asking to be let in, they should politely decline and let the officer know that -- without a warrant -- the officer was not allowed to enter.

 

[dalsglen]

@FromGermany Really? My husband would definitely call me by my name, stranger or not.

And yes this guy may have been a stranger, but it's a stranger who knows Suzanne is missing, so in that sense I find it strange as hell he wouldn't call her by her name.

 

[lamlawindy]

I'm not defending Barry Morphew, but I've yet to see a motive for his harming Suzanne. <modsnip: If it's rumor, please don't mention it> His actions and demeanor -- whether one considers them suspicious or not -- don't provide an answer to this question. Perhaps investigators found something on a computer or cellphone that may point to a motive, but that information -- if it exists -- is not public.

Of course, it's possible that we're not dealing with murder but with some other type of killing (manslaughter, accident).

 

[Deleted member 102539]

@FromGermany Really? My husband would definitely call me by my name, stranger or not.

And yes this guy may have been a stranger, but it's a stranger who knows Suzanne is missing, so in that sense I find it strange as hell he wouldn't call her by her name.

For me there is a difference between stranger and non-stranger. The first name seems to me to be somewhat "private/intimate". I noticed, that other countries (or people) have other rules, people even calling their Politicians or their Police Officers by the first name. That wouldn't occur to me in my dream!

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Well, there's a lot to unpack, but let's give it a go:

1. If a homeowner/renter agrees to allow officers to search (concensual search), no warrant is needed. The best practice, of course, would be to obtain written consent from the homeowner/renter.

2. Just because investigators have a warrant, it does not mean that they will find something. A warrant just gives the investigators permission to conduct the search. A search may turn up nothing because the homeowner/renter got rid of any evidence or because the evidence was never there in the first place.

3. Warrants have to be based on probable cause, which is a pretty low standard. For searches, a judicial officer must be satisfied that a reasonably prudent person would conclude -- based upon facts stated by an investigator -- that evidence of a crime exists at the place to be searched.

4. For the concrete slab situation, Barry Morphew would have no say in the matter, since the slab is not his property. I'm not quite sure whether Colorado law will require the county to repay the homeowner for the damage to/removal of the slab. Obviously, this could be quite an expense.

Note point #1: while a homeowner may consent to a search if an officer asks, s/he does not have to agree to a search. Indeed, my children all learned from a very early age that if an officer came to our door asking to be let in, they should politely decline and let the officer know that -- without a warrant -- the officer was not allowed to enter.

... and an add on to your #1 point - assume you told your children never to cross the threshold of the front door to walk outside the home as that is the barrier for your protection,, which is lost on your person if you step outside MOO Information a friend gave me years back that crossed the threshold.

 

[lamlawindy]

... and an add on to your #1 point - assume you told your children never to cross the threshold of the front door to walk outside the home as that is the barrier for your protection,, which is lost on your person if you step outside MOO Information a friend gave me years back that crossed the threshold.

That is good advice, for sure.

In Indiana, the"threshhold" of the home is an interesting question. A homeowner retains an expectation of privacy in his/her curtilage, which is "an area of land attached to a house and forming one enclosure with it." For example, a front porch attached to a home may very well be part of
the curtilage. However, a court may find that the porch is not included in the curtilage. This is why it's less risky to remain within the structure.

 

[Birmingplumb]

I'm not defending Barry Morphew, but I've yet to see a motive for his harming Suzanne. <modsnip: If it's rumor, please don't mention it> His actions and demeanor -- whether one considers them suspicious or not -- don't provide an answer to this question. Perhaps investigators found something on a computer or cellphone that may point to a motive, but that information -- if it exists -- is not public.

Of course, it's possible that we're not dealing with murder but with some other type of killing (manslaughter, accident).

Motive= Dulos motive. $$$$$ .........Why was the search so precise?.....someone or video camera saw something thrown in during concrete pour or dirt compaction.? IMO

 

[lamlawindy]

Motive= Dulos motive. $$$$$ .........Why was the search so precise?.....someone or video camera saw something thrown in during concrete pour or dirt compaction.? IMO

Money is always a strong motive, but I don't see the connection. The Morphews appeared to be well off, and I haven't heard about any life insurance policy that Barry hopes to collect.

If, however, you mean that Barry was afraid that he'd lose money in a divorce, that's possible. However, we've seen no evidence that Suzanne was wanting to divorce Barry. Rumors have floated around but nothing solid.

 

[enelram]

I’m on the fence a bit about this. I tend to think they didn’t find anything either. What I find perplexing is that out of that whole slab, the search was very concentrated. We have that one section cut out, then 3 days of sifting dirt. Why was the search so precise? What did they expect to find? Why, if they didn’t find anything in the first hole, wouldn’t they have enlarged the hole or checked another area under the slab?

Great questions and I'm reconstructing from memory here:
When we learned of the slab search, LE had already been dismantling the slab for at least one day before media knew about it.
Talk around Salida was the property owners
saw dirt work being done weekend of Mother's Day. They see news of SM missing, had seen
BM on site that weekend, called LE.
If I recall, an inspection of dirtwork prior to pouring slab was scheduled for Monday. Dirtwork FAILED inspection for some reason.
Was compaction/tamping work disrupted by
someone placing something in the dirthole?
If inspector believed dirt was not properly compacted or had been re-dug up he would
fail inspection prior to pouring slab.
I think this is why LE put so much effort in the
methodical slab search. Inspector showed them where the dirt had been loosened up to fail the inspection. There was only a partial area of dirt disturbed 'after' it had been compacted.
Did someone go in and remove 'something' that had been buried over the weekend and consequently 'disturbed the compaction of the
slab site? Then they methodically re-compacted the dirt so it'd pass inspection- which it did on either Wed. or Thurs, as I recall.
This is what I think happened.

 

[KLM6]

I could be way wrong here, but regarding the search in the concrete - is it possible they chose a central location to break up the concrete and were then able to extract from under the whole foundation from that point?

 

[Tate123]

Was there even a tip to LE, or just a suggestion to the builder?

And the builder forced the search. this entire speculation of BMs guilt is based on the assumption that LE forced the issue?

snipped and bbm

I can't imagine the FBI, CBI and CCSO would be involved in digging up a concrete slab because a builder wanted to make sure the building site was clear. It seems like excessive manpower and an abuse of taxpayer dollars. IMO

 

[DizzyB]

Great questions and I'm reconstructing from memory here:
When we learned of the slab search, LE had already been dismantling the slab for at least one day before media knew about it.
Talk around Salida was the property owners
saw dirt work being done weekend of Mother's Day. They see news of SM missing, had seen
BM on site that weekend, called LE.
If I recall, an inspection of dirtwork prior to pouring slab was scheduled for Monday. Dirtwork FAILED inspection for some reason.
Was compaction/tamping work disrupted by
someone placing something in the dirthole?
If inspector believed dirt was not properly compacted or had been re-dug up he would
fail inspection prior to pouring slab.
I think this is why LE put so much effort in the
methodical slab search. Inspector showed them where the dirt had been loosened up to fail the inspection. There was only a partial area of dirt disturbed 'after' it had been compacted.
Did someone go in and remove 'something' that had been buried over the weekend and consequently 'disturbed the compaction of the
slab site? Then they methodically re-compacted the dirt so it'd pass inspection- which it did on either Wed. or Thurs, as I recall.
This is what I think happened.

My timing & understanding might be off, so please correct me. Was dirt work performed after SM was reported missing? Who did this dirt work? Crew? BM?

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I'm not defending Barry Morphew, but I've yet to see a motive for his harming Suzanne. <modsnip: If it's rumor, please don't mention it> His actions and demeanor -- whether one considers them suspicious or not -- don't provide an answer to this question. Perhaps investigators found something on a computer or cellphone that may point to a motive, but that information -- if it exists -- is not public.

Of course, it's possible that we're not dealing with murder but with some other type of killing (manslaughter, accident).

I agree with you that I dont think there is a clear motive (yet) although we've had plenty of v interesting speculation here.

Re the manslaughter or accident possibility. I think some coincidences dispel this IMO, for instance SM being home alone. That feels pre planned to me, but I may of course be wrong.

V much enjoyed your posts, thank you.

 

[Madeleine74]

I'm not defending Barry Morphew, but I've yet to see a motive for his harming Suzanne. <modsnip: If it's rumor, please don't mention it> His actions and demeanor -- whether one considers them suspicious or not -- don't provide an answer to this question. Perhaps investigators found something on a computer or cellphone that may point to a motive, but that information -- if it exists -- is not public.

Of course, it's possible that we're not dealing with murder but with some other type of killing (manslaughter, accident).

Love your posts! Really appreciate getting the lawyer perspectives.

Could have been an argument that escalated and then led to her death and there wouldn't necessarily be evidence showing the motive.

I understand motive is not an element that has to be proved to a jury, though juries naturally want to know the motive and it's icing on the cake if the state can present what they believe is the motive.

IMO

 

[Dave F.]

My timing & understanding might be off, so please correct me. Was dirt work performed after SM was reported missing? Who did this dirt work? Crew? BM?

No.....indications from the permits and inspections are that all dirt work was completed before Sunday May 10, 2020. Final compaction may have happened on Saturday May 9, 2020. The actual pour most likely began on Monday May 11, 2020 and could have stretched into Tuesday due to the size.
LE has confirmed that the search was directly connected to the SM missing person investigation, but they have NEVER said that BLM was involved in the dirt work. How mainstream media made that connection has not been revealed. IMO

 

[Birmingplumb]

I could be way wrong here, but regarding the search in the concrete - is it possible they chose a central location to break up the concrete and were then able to extract from under the whole foundation from that point?

While hydro excavating is used to tunnel under a concrete slab say n California to repair or replace a drain pipe that collapsed- and workers do go in the tunnel- the job must get re-compacted with dirt undr the slab to prevent future failure. While I have not seen this done, I assume a jack hammer device with a square plate on tip is used to compact, fill, compact , fill until the guy works his way out of the hole. That would have to have been done in the new construction slab referenced, then inspected. Speaking of inspected, the cutting of the slab by L.E. would have to be re-inspected during/after repair and a paper trail should exist .

 

[enelram]

My timing & understanding might be off, so please correct me. Was dirt work performed after SM was reported missing? Who did this dirt work? Crew? BM?

As I recall, dirtwork reportedly done by BM prior to weekend of Mother's Day then BM was
reportedly seen on the site during weekend of Mother's Day. Dirtwork failed inspection on Monday 5/11 after SM reported missing on 5/10.
'Someone' we don't know who corrected compaction of dirt after inspection failed.
Site (dirtwork) was re-inspected and passed inspection either Wed. or Thurs. 5/13 or 5/14.