Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #20

[Spartygirl]

Since I'm saying I don't think the creek is his theory, I guess it's safe to say that I think you haven't heard any theory at all from him, only some ramblings about other people's theories.
Many of you know my good friend was brutally murdered in college. There was no reason at all for it to happen. None. For an uncomfortable amount of time, my young mind simply refused to accept that it had happened. I had all of the functional intelligence of an unplugged Alexa. I don't know how anyone copes with it, with grace. So, I give him more benefit of the doubt that many are willing to extend. I'm trying to listen to the few words he has spoken seeking facts. The puma, the creek, and even the bridge aren't facts................they are somebody's theories.
If you listen really close to what TD was telling us before and after he met BM, theories is exactly what he drove all the way from Arizona for. TD turned it right around, giving us theories that can be discussed endlessly. The only facts I saw in the whole four video set were when BM pointed over in the trees and sad "There's where they found the bike." IMO

BBM-
So sorry about your friend. It is an overwhelming roller coaster of emotions when someone close to you is murdered or unexpectedly dies.
I did want to add in BM's theory about the mountain lion though.
JMO

 

[Madeleine74]

Big time déjà vu happening.

The exact same conversations. The same questions. On a repeating loop, is the impression.

Maybe case amnesia has set in by now. Feels like (being in) the movie "Groundhog Day," but no Bill Murray.

IMO

 

[Puzzles8]

BBM: Exactly, you can call 911 from any location and tell them what area you need to speak to and you will be transferred to that particular 911. He simply did not want to be the one to call. Maybe he was afraid of where it would show his call coming from. JMO

True, but BM's phone/text messages with his daughters would show exactly where he was when he asked others to make phone calls...

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

Landscaping is a fairly seasonal business. Spring and Fall are the busiest times. If you have a big regular customer that needs you to be on site on Mother's Day then you will go to great lengths to keep your customer happy.

Even if it means going to a job site three hours away, on Mother's Day. If need be, the owner of the landscaping company (BM ?) will go and do the job himself. Have to keep your most lucrative clients happy.

MOO

Do we know if this Denver job site is legitimate? Has it been confirmed by anyone other than Barry?

 

[oviedo]

We do know one big thing; who law enforcement is investigating.

In many recent cases however, we have known a hell of a lot more at this stage.

In the Stauch case, we had Letecia running her mouth, and all but telling us what happened. We also had security camera footage.

In the Berreth case, she was initially a missing person. We had video of her last known sighting, and reports of pings in another state.

Here, Barry ain’t talking, and law enforcement ain’t sharing.

I’m convinced there’s a reason for that though.

And with Kelsey- Patrick’s silence and failure to participate in the presser (Who can forget “you have to ask him” )with Cheryl pretty much decided it for me and others what had happened - he disappeared KB - so we wait ...
JMO

 

[lamlawindy]

Home Sale, Tax Stategy. Exclusion or Deferral of Gain?
@BuySellTrade
Even if M's IN home sale & CO home purchase did qualify as Section 1031 like-kind exchange (which it did not, imo, because Sec. 1031 does not apply to principal residences) that would only have deferred taxation on capital gain from IN home sale. Just deferred taxes to a future tax year.

Seem to me a better tax strategy may have been to use the exclusion of gain on sale of principal residence,* allowing married couple filing jointly to exclude up to $ 500,000 - not just defer taxes on it. And even if the gain was say, $ 600,000, they would recognize the gain, but pay taxes only on amt exceeding $500,000, i.e., pay taxes on $100,000 of $600,000 gain.
Tax-wise makes sense to me, but could be basing it on mistaken azz-umptions or misinterp's.
As always I welcome comment, clarification, correction from our professionals --- legal or tax.

....................................................................................................................
* Azz-uming the M's had a gain from IN home sale, plus a few other assumptions: owned the home for 2 of last 5 yrs; principal residence for 2 of last 5 yrs; 2 yr look-back, etc. Presumably they had not acquired or relinquished IN home in a like-kind exchange. Publication 523 (2019), Selling Your Home | Internal Revenue Service

I thought the same thing. Principal residences don't qualify for § 1031 exchanges, but nobody cares because primary residence gain isn't generally taxable.

 

[lamlawindy]

We do know one big thing; who law enforcement is investigating.

In many recent cases however, we have known a hell of a lot more at this stage.

In the Stauch case, we had Letecia running her mouth, and all but telling us what happened. We also had security camera footage.

In the Berreth case, she was initially a missing person. We had video of her last known sighting, and reports of pings in another state.

Here, Barry ain’t talking, and law enforcement ain’t sharing.

You're right, @MassGuy.

Unfortunately, my experience has been that -- despite my warnings -- clients like to talk about their situations. Often, I'll be retained after a client has already had a lengthy chat with investigators.

If Barry Morphew was my client, I would've advised him long ago to exercise his right to remain silent, irrespective of whether he was involved in Suzanne's disappearance or not. I'm fairly confident that any attorney he retained would've told him the same. Barry may
actually be the relatively rare person who takes his attorney's advice & clams up.

 

[MassGuy]

You're right, @MassGuy.

Unfortunately, my experience has been that -- despite my warnings -- clients like to talk about their situations. Often, I'll be retained after a client has already had a lengthy chat with investigators.

If Barry Morphew was my client, I would've advised him long ago to exercise his right to remain silent, irrespective of whether he was involved in Suzanne's disappearance or not. I'm fairly confident that any attorney he retained would've told him the same. Barry may
actually be the relatively rare person who takes his attorney's advice & clams up.

I think he clammed up before he lawyered up. Now he can hide behind a lawyer if he so chooses.

And if he had nothing to do with this, then when he’s doing is all but unprecedented. But no, being a terrible husband doesn’t make you a killer.

I do hope Suzanne returns, divorce papers in hand. Because where I come from, this selfishness don’t fly.

 

[Gigi3]

Thinking about that 911 call. I said many threads ago that my husband is a wild land firefighter and is on call a lot during fire season.

Those calls can come from different agencies, LE or fire districts- sometimes people that know him will call him personally before taking the proper channels to report a fire.

That said, he has many personal numbers of firefighters and LE. I would think since BM was said to be a wild land firefighter, he too would have access to personal numbers of his first responder buddies.

Why wouldn’t he just call one of them to check on his wife instead of worrying his poor neighbor? You would think they could better assess the scene to see if it warranted an emergency. Just thinking out loud.

All MOO.

 

[Tate123]

I think he clammed up before he lawyered up. Now he can hide behind a lawyer if he so chooses.

And if he had nothing to do with this, then when he’s doing is all but unprecedented. But no, being a terrible husband doesn’t make you a killer.
I do hope Suzanne returns, divorce papers in hand. Because where I come from, this selfishness don’t fly.

At the very least ...he's a coward.

 

[Madeleine74]

How long had BM worked as a volunteer firefighter/first responder?

I had the impression he was asked to join and was in the process of getting trained, but had not been working that volunteer gig long at all.

Any info on that?

 

[Dave F.]

RSBM
And again... within a few hours he or someone he directed sent an email to their former church....CrimeOnline has viewed a message that was sent to members of the Morphew’s former church in Indiana, requesting prayers following the news of her disappearance. The message notes that Morphew’s bike was found “crashed,” and mentions that a mountain lion had been seen in the area where the bike was discovered.

Barry was definitely driving that narrative.

In the TD video, KI believe BM said:
"There was a car parked rightg here, one of them, you know, and a mountain lion walked uo from down there where they found the bike and went behind that car, and then went on up the hill."

A moment later, when TD asked him if the bike was found "right there, leaning against that tree?"
BM responded:
"No, it was on the ground. The bike was lying on the ground with the wheel turned up. It was flat on the ground."

The email to the church does not seem to match BM's version at all, other than both involve a mountain lion and a bike. Obviously, by the timing of the church letter, the writer had knowledge that had not been released to the public, but the two versions are very different. IMO

 

[Madeleine74]

When (and *IF*) a husband kills his spouse and it's not an accident, of course he's going to try and get away with it. I mean, how many killers do you see who immediately turn themselves in and own right up to their bad deed(s)? Very, very few do that. IMO.

The vast majority of intimate partner killers try to get away with it. Some do, many don't.

With that understanding comes the realization that of course a perp is going to try and save themselves, of course they're going to lawyer-up if they can, of course they're going to lie and evade, and create as much distance between themselves and the crime as they can. It's what they do; it's like spousal murder 101.

Thank goodness they tend to get caught quite often and put away for decades if not for life, but there's really nothing unique going on--it's all variations on a similar theme that gets played out.

It's why so many episodes of Dateline are practically cookie cutter in content.

IMO

 

[BuySellTrade]

Home Sale, Tax Stategy. Exclusion or Deferral of Gain?
@BuySellTrade
Even if M's IN home sale & CO home purchase did qualify as Section 1031 like-kind exchange (which it did not, imo, because Sec. 1031 does not apply to principal residences) that would only have deferred taxation on capital gain from IN home sale. Just deferred taxes to a future tax year.

Seem to me a better tax strategy may have been to use the exclusion of gain on sale of principal residence,* allowing married couple filing jointly to exclude up to $ 500,000 - not just defer taxes on it. And even if the gain was say, $ 600,000, they would recognize the gain, but pay taxes only on amt exceeding $500,000, i.e., pay taxes on $100,000 of $600,000 gain.
Tax-wise makes sense to me, but could be basing it on mistaken azz-umptions or misinterp's.
As always I welcome comment, clarification, correction from our professionals --- legal or tax.

....................................................................................................................
* Azz-uming the M's had a gain from IN home sale, plus a few other assumptions: owned the home for 2 of last 5 yrs; principal residence for 2 of last 5 yrs; 2 yr look-back, etc. Presumably they had not acquired or relinquished IN home in a like-kind exchange. Publication 523 (2019), Selling Your Home | Internal Revenue Service

Of course we at WS have no idea of the income and tax situation of SM and BM.

The 1031 is for someone active in the real estate business to flip time to pay capital games into the future by acquiring a new asset when selling another. The one time sale of a principal residence is a one time exclusion and the Morphews are probably too young take that tax exclusion now.

But who knows?

 

[Gigi3]

How long had BM worked as a volunteer firefighter/first responder?

I had the impression he was asked to join and was in the process of getting trained, but had not been working that volunteer gig long at all.

Any info on that?

I’m trying to go back and find the post because I wondered the same thing. I had even doubted that because it was said he was a wild land firefighter, and I personally did not think a volunteer could be such.

However, the person responded by saying that in that rural area, you actually could. I believe it was stated he had been one since 2018? Anyone remember that? I guess it may have been deleted, but I’m still trying to find it! MOO

 

[MassGuy]

I think we just don't know enough to assume anyone is or is not a suspect. All they have said is nobody is excluded.

Possibilities that don't involve BM as perp but fit into what we do know include:

• Known or unknown perp attacked SM on property or in house. Evidence may have been found during first search and additional evidence sought.
  
• We know nothing for certain about SM. Everyone assumes she was this wonderful and stable person because she looks pretty in her photos. Yet it has been acknowledged that nobody is talking about who she is/was. Perhaps she disappeared herself. Maybe she suffers a mental illness of some kind that has been controlled with medication or that came on quickly post cancer treatment. Stranger things have happened. I don't necessarily believe this, but many people are wondering why her friends and family seem so distant. Maybe there are reasons for that.
  
• Dissension within the family is another possibility. People say they believe LE knows exactly who did it and are focusing in appropriately. But we know little about the nuclear family and almost nothing about the extended family or how everyone got along.

If we knew more it would be easy to say they are focused on a specific person or place. We don't even know if they ever opened their home for a cousin, inlaw, niece, nephew or sibling to move in.

But SW of the husbands nearby worksite and of the place where the victim lived seem standard. They can attain DNA, electronic trails, and even exculpatory evidence as needed.

They typically don’t dig up properties that the husband of a missing spouse worked on.

Just saying.

 

[lamlawindy]

Of course we at WS have no idea of the income and tax situation of SM and BM.

The 1031 is for someone active in the real estate business to flip time to pay capital games into the future by acquiring a new asset when selling another. The one time sale of a principal residence is a one time exclusion and the Morphews are probably too young take that tax exclusion now.

But who knows?

The principal residence exclusion is not a one-time exclusion. It can be used multiple times but only every two years & has no age requirement. Indeed, it's legally possible for an unmarried person -- the exclusion isn't only for couples -- to buy a house every 3-4 years, flip it, and pay no taxes on any gain up to $250,000 (married couples have a $500,000 cap). Of course, moving has costs in itself, not to mention that moving is a huge pain!

 

[BuySellTrade]

The principal residence exclusion is not a one-time exclusion. It can be used multiple times but only every two years & has no age requirement. Indeed, it's legally possible for an unmarried person -- the exclusion isn't only for couples -- to buy a house every 3-4 years, flip it, and pay no taxes on any gain up to $250,000 (married couples have a $500,000 cap). Of course, moving has costs in itself, not to mention that moving is a huge pain!

I defer to you as I am truthfully 20 years out of date regards thinking about stuff like that (and the details have changed).

 

[LietKynes]

Thinking about that 911 call. I said many threads ago that my husband is a wild land firefighter and is on call a lot during fire season.

Those calls can come from different agencies, LE or fire districts- sometimes people that know him will call him personally before taking the proper channels to report a fire.

That said, he has many personal numbers of firefighters and LE. I would think since BM was said to be a wild land firefighter, he too would have access to personal numbers of his first responder buddies.

Why wouldn’t he just call one of them to check on his wife instead of worrying his poor neighbor? You would think they could better assess the scene to see if it warranted an emergency. Just thinking out loud.

All MOO.

bbm
Good point !

Speculation :
Because the fellow firefighters are in some locations also first responders and might have noticed something wrong or out of place ?
Plus, they may have asked the husband questions he did not want to answer.

Or they may have realized this was no missing persons' case, but something far more sinister ?
Whereas an elderly neighbor wouldn't know ?
Imo.

 

[Fireflize]

Thinking about that 911 call. I said many threads ago that my husband is a wild land firefighter and is on call a lot during fire season.

Those calls can come from different agencies, LE or fire districts- sometimes people that know him will call him personally before taking the proper channels to report a fire.

That said, he has many personal numbers of firefighters and LE. I would think since BM was said to be a wild land firefighter, he too would have access to personal numbers of his first responder buddies.

Why wouldn’t he just call one of them to check on his wife instead of worrying his poor neighbor? You would think they could better assess the scene to see if it warranted an emergency. Just thinking out loud.

All MOO.

It was suggested by old cop that he probably did call a good buddy or two from the firefighters, filled them in with the bike story and sent them over to be sure and fill LE in. I could see that happening. He'd likely have a couple that he was comfortable with, that he felt would be 'on his side.' LE would have gotten the bike story from the girls, the neighbor, the good buddies, all before he got there, cause he really didn't wanna talk to LE. Speculation, of course. But fits the pattern he presents. Moo