Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #22

[Truecolors]

Which one is it?
1) LE has shared with SM’s family that they have evidence to suggest SM is deceased.
2) LE has shared with SM’s family that it is highly unlikely SM is still alive
3) SM’s family has arrived at their own conclusions and no longer believe SM to be alive

I guess #2 based on statistics alone.

 

[10ofRods]

Regardless of if BM's alibi in Denver checked out or not, it doesn't come anywhere close to clearing him. Without knowing the last time anyone had verifiable contact with SM, it only shows where he was at on Sunday. MOO.

If it didn't check out, it does the opposite: it keeps him squarely and plainly under the LE magnifying glass.

It will be very hard to establish time of disappearance or time of death precisely, in this case. Time of death needs a body. Time of disappearance needs more than just BM's word.

If BM is responsible, then he made a major error when he told TN and his friends that he went on firefighter training and then later said he had talked to Suzanne that morning before leaving for Denver to prepare a job site. Both alibis place him in Denver and give him a reason to have traveled there despite CoVid restrictions, but it's very unlikely that BM actually met up with clients in Denver on May 10 or otherwise has anything other than a digital footprint to explain what he was doing out of town that day.

Lauren's pictures of the bike site were really helpful - I didn't realize just how close the bike was both to the house, to the road, or that the bike was found in a place where it could have been tossed and the tosser would not be seen from the main road.

If Suzanne had gone off the road right there, while riding (she would have just left home, most likely), she would either still be near the bike or some sign of her would have been found nearby. It almost looks like "bike accident" was the intended picture, but that the "personal item" found further away was an attempt to make it look like an abduction, perhaps the perp decided to focus the staging a little more carefully.

 

[TexLil]

Which one is it?
1) LE has shared with SM’s family that they have evidence to suggest SM is deceased.
2) LE has shared with SM’s family that it is highly unlikely SM is still alive
3) SM’s family has arrived at their own conclusions and no longer believe SM to be alive

MOO I think it's #2. My gut tells me LE is keeping evidence related informations very close to vest, even from family.

 

[Charlot123]

I did some thinking on the family silence, with regards to the M's family in IN. I had a thought, but I think it's loose coupling and indeed might be too contrived. However, I'll share it.

We (at least me), know very little about the church that the M's were involved with in IN, and whether the entire family out there are members. It's an extreme example, but if they were Amish (say), would we be surprised by the silence? What I'm wondering is maybe this is a situation where "you don't talk outside the church".

All MOO. This opinion and a quarter might get you a cup of coffee.

Makes total sense to me. When a person killed several friends in one old case, all of them being from a Christian, rather circumscribed, group, some posts on their open FB were, “we shall deal with it ourselves”. They were coming from friends and relatives; one parent was more open. I wonder if SM’s father would feel differently, and been more open, too. In general, the smaller and more blood connected the group, the louder the silence. MOO

 

[susiQ]

Which one is it?
1) LE has shared with SM’s family that they have evidence to suggest SM is deceased.
2) LE has shared with SM’s family that it is highly unlikely SM is still alive
3) SM’s family has arrived at their own conclusions and no longer believe SM to be alive

I’ll take door #3. SM’s family trust LE know what they are doing, unlike BM. They, like many of us, see the direction LE has taken and come to the same conclusion. It’s not being treated as an abduction, animal attack or accident. Two SW’s executed on the home, one on a job site BM is linked to. BM has not been cleared. There are obviously good reasons for that. All MHO.

 

[charminglane]

@Jimbythelake here ya go.

I run a true crime book club at my work. This would be an interesting choice. I can also add the forthcoming book to our book orders for the library collection.
Thanks for the heads up!

 

[al66pine]

Case "Cold" in a Week?

I can honestly say in all my years of following true crime cases, today is the first time I'm seeing this. Anyone else ever hear of a detective declaring a case "cold" after a week?

@OntarioMom Agreeing w you. Nope. Been following T/C for 40+ yrs, read 1000+ T/C books, can't remember any case that LE declared cold that soon. Sometimes when LE is silent, the gen public & fam members clamoring for media attn prematurely claim a case is has gone cold.
When a death case is 'big enough' to merit a book, often months or years, even a decade+, passes before a trial or other case resolution, so selection bias (book-publishing) could be an unreliable factor as a standard for measuring 'cold.' But just thinking about T/C news and this site, I still can't think of any declared cold in a week, even a couple months.

(Or maybe reader's memory fail? Holds up mirror to face.)

 

[Ontario Mom]

I did some thinking on the family silence, with regards to the M's family in IN. I had a thought, but I think it's loose coupling and indeed might be too contrived. However, I'll share it.

We (at least me), know very little about the church that the M's were involved with in IN, and whether the entire family out there are members. It's an extreme example, but if they were Amish (say), would we be surprised by the silence? What I'm wondering is maybe this is a situation where "you don't talk outside the church".

All MOO. This opinion and a quarter might get you a cup of coffee.

What we do know about the Morphew family is that in CO, they attend a Baptist church.
While I don't think the name of their old church has ever been in the MSM, I believe the previous church is also a Baptist denomination.

While some religious extremists do have that sort of mentality, basically "the church v. the world" I'm definitely not getting that vibe in this case, at all.

jmo

 

[Charlot123]

I’ll take door #3. SM’s family trust LE know what they are doing, unlike BM. They, like many of us, see the direction LE has taken and come to the same conclusion. It’s not being treated as an abduction, animal attack or accident. Two SW’s executed on the home, one on a job site BM is linked to. BM has not been cleared. There are obviously good reasons for that. All MHO.

Door nr 3. Some of SM's family would have made good character witnesses for SM and BM, but since LE is on the case, and the case is active, and for the Ms girls, too, they are silent.

 

[Dave F.]

Makes total sense to me. When a person killed several friends in one old case, all of them being from a Christian, rather circumscribed, group, some posts on their open FB were, “we shall deal with it ourselves”. They were coming from friends and relatives; one parent was more open. I wonder if SM’s father would feel differently, and been more open, too. In general, the smaller and more blood connected the group, the louder the silence. MOO

I think it is common for family to simply walk away denial, when someone in their immediate family is a POI in a horrific crime, even if they have their own suspicions. Ted Bundy had three siblings, Charles Manson had one, and Lee Harvey Oswald had two. What public comment did anyone ever hear from any of them? IMO

 

[Charlot123]

In my family, it was half and half. I think my brothers were far more comfortable talking to women. BM, living in a house with women, was likely equally comfortable with both. But also probably the big tough guy around other men. Guess we will learn later. I still say TD was a total stranger and BM had a missing wife. Either talk to all the media or don’t talk at all. But he chose TD.

Strictly MOO - I don't know B, but judging by "oh Suzanne" plea, BM has some major histrionic traits. This, coupled with parochial views (that he may, ironically, not quite share, although he tries his best) might create certain inferiority, and one major complex. Think of it - besides money, what a man like BM might be thinking he is missing in life? He had a beautiful family. What else? It might be important in the context of the story.

Remember his interview with TD. He was boasting of his friend's military feats. What does it tell you? What else
would he love to boast, but can not? MOO

P.S. Strictly my idea. (I would have bought popcorn, but quarantine doesn't help as it is.) I think the motives would include money, BM's extreme moodiness that TD had noticed, and histrionic perception of aging self.

 

[susiQ]

Strictly MOO - I don't know B, but judging by "oh Suzanne" plea, BM has some major histrionic traits. This, coupled with parochial views (that he may, ironically, not quite share, although he tries his best) might create certain inferiority, and one major complex. Think of it - besides money, what a man like BM might be thinking he is missing in life? He had a beautiful family. What else? It might be important in the context of the story.

Remember his interview with TD. He was boasting of his friend's military feats. What does it tell you? What else
would he love to boast, but can not? MOO

P.S. Strictly my idea. (I would have bought popcorn, but quarantine doesn't help as it is.) I think the motives would include money, BM's extreme moodiness that TD had noticed, and histrionic perception of aging self.

BBM
I have an idea of what he would like to boast about, but in his own words, “it’s too soon.” . MOO

 

[thaddeusjames80]

On the slim chance BM is not involved. Has the possibility of SM while being on a bike ride, then struck by a vehicle, been ruled out? In a panic the motorist could have moved and hid her body and also planted the personal item up the road. In my opinion this is not what happened and I also believe it's a very slim chance of a possibility. I'm just wondering if this scenario has been ruled out?

 

[MassGuy]

On the slim chance BM is not involved. Has the possibility of SM while being on a bike ride, then struck by a vehicle, been ruled out? In a panic the motorist could have moved and hid her body and also planted the personal item up the road. In my opinion this is not what happened and I also believe it's a very slim chance of a possibility. I'm just wondering if this scenario has been ruled out?

In a situation like that, there’s really no reason to take the body. In the unlikely event that did happen, the priority would be getting away as fast as possible. There would be no reason to stage anything.

Judging by the way this was handled early on, and continues to be handled now, it doesn’t look like authorities believe anything like that occurred. It also doesn’t look like they believed this was a kidnapping situation either.

Personally, if there ever was a bike ride, I’d be absolutely stunned.

 

[susiQ]

On the slim chance BM is not involved. Has the possibility of SM while being on a bike ride, then struck by a vehicle, been ruled out? In a panic the motorist could have moved and hid her body and also planted the personal item up the road. In my opinion this is not what happened and I also believe it's a very slim chance of a possibility. I'm just wondering if this scenario has been ruled out?

It’s been floated but pretty much ruled out. Everything is pointing in one direction and has been from very early on. Three LE agencies appear to agree there was no abduction, no animal attack and no accident, in fact, many of us are convinced there was never a bike ride. That’s a problem for BM. MOO

ETA: @MassGuy beat me to it. Did a better job too!

 

[Barry]

On the slim chance BM is not involved. Has the possibility of SM while being on a bike ride, then struck by a vehicle, been ruled out? In a panic the motorist could have moved and hid her body and also planted the personal item up the road. In my opinion this is not what happened and I also believe it's a very slim chance of a possibility. I'm just wondering if this scenario has been ruled out?

Judging by LE actions (the one's we know of), it has been ruled out. MOO.

 

[Barry]

What we do know about the Morphew family is that in CO, they attend a Baptist church.
While I don't think the name of their old church has ever been in the MSM, I believe the previous church is also a Baptist denomination.

While some religious extremists do have that sort of mentality, basically "the church v. the world" I'm definitely not getting that vibe in this case, at all.

jmo

It was tenuous thinking at best.

 

[Ninja Bunny]

On the slim chance BM is not involved. Has the possibility of SM while being on a bike ride, then struck by a vehicle, been ruled out? In a panic the motorist could have moved and hid her body and also planted the personal item up the road. In my opinion this is not what happened and I also believe it's a very slim chance of a possibility. I'm just wondering if this scenario has been ruled out?

The site where the alleged accident occurred has been examined and to the best of my knowledge there were no signs of skid marks (bike or car) or broken branches or disrupted shrubbery where a person would have tumbled down the hill and a second person would have followed them. The hill is steep too, someone would have struggled mightily to get even a small body back up to the road.

 

[Love Never Fails]

There are interesting family dynamics involved with daughters their dad. I don’t believe the family has been reassured that there is a POI and plenty of evidence. JMO

I don’t think LE is showing any of their cards to anyone.
JMO

I was referring to the unverified rumour that the daughters are living with their dad. I find it difficult to believe that the daughters have been told by LE that LE knows who killed their mother and they have plenty of evidence.
JMO

I was asking specifically about the “interesting family dynamics” you spoke of.

 

[O.Incandenza]

If it didn't check out, it does the opposite: it keeps him squarely and plainly under the LE magnifying glass.

It will be very hard to establish time of disappearance or time of death precisely, in this case. Time of death needs a body. Time of disappearance needs more than just BM's word.

If BM is responsible, then he made a major error when he told TN and his friends that he went on firefighter training and then later said he had talked to Suzanne that morning before leaving for Denver to prepare a job site. Both alibis place him in Denver and give him a reason to have traveled there despite CoVid restrictions, but it's very unlikely that BM actually met up with clients in Denver on May 10 or otherwise has anything other than a digital footprint to explain what he was doing out of town that day.

Lauren's pictures of the bike site were really helpful - I didn't realize just how close the bike was both to the house, to the road, or that the bike was found in a place where it could have been tossed and the tosser would not be seen from the main road.

If Suzanne had gone off the road right there, while riding (she would have just left home, most likely), she would either still be near the bike or some sign of her would have been found nearby. It almost looks like "bike accident" was the intended picture, but that the "personal item" found further away was an attempt to make it look like an abduction, perhaps the perp decided to focus the staging a little more carefully.

Do you have a source for TN saying that BM was in Denver for firefighter training? I've seen that repeated on this thread a number of times, but I couldn't find a MSM source for it myself. As far as I can tell, the first MSM mention of the firefighter training version of the alibi is from this Daily Mail article which just says 'Suzanne’s husband Barry Morphew, 52, has said he was away on a training course for his job as a volunteer firefighter in Denver, Colorado, when she vanished.' But it doesn't give a source for that. And I don't think BM has ever spoken to the Daily Mail. So I wouldn't be shocked if they were just paraphrasing a social media rumor or something.

On the one hand, BM changing alibis could account for why LE became focused on him so quickly. On the other hand, lying about attending a firefighter training seems like the world's dumbest fake alibi since all it would require to debunk is asking any of the other firefighters. And of course there wasn't even a training in this case. So I'm a little hesitant to believe that BM went with something that transparently false. Of course, you don't have to look farther than the Stauch case to see that some people aren't very good at lying to the police, so anything is possible.