Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #33

[BeckyF]

@Simmons77 : The many better sleuthers than I are now asleep, so I will seize the honor to say: Welcome to Websleuths!


Edit to add: I take that back about the better sleuthers being asleep - MassGuy is still up!

There are lots of good sleuthers here, in different capacities. Including MassGuy of course.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Interesting idea! If LE could prove no electricity, water, cable tv, etc. were used during a morning when a victim was supposedly at home, they could prove that a perpetrator was lying. I don't recall ever seeing information like that brought up in a court of law, but it sounds like great evidence. Is it hard to get that kind of data?

A regular modern home will have sporadic spikes of usage even if no one is home or actively using electricity. Examples: refrigerator, freezer, tank water heater. Maybe even the hot tub, I assume is kept hot between uses? These things turn themselves on/off as needed so do not reflect whether a person is on site or not. Although a pattern of normal for these items could perhaps be seen if usage over a long time frame was studied, so that an aberration from the pattern might be detectable.

However, a "smart home", while using a hopefully-constant baseline of electricity for all the appliance monitors and stand-by devices such as thermostats, remote controls, and appliance internet-connections, MIGHT track usage by specific appliances rather than just cumulative house usage? I think I understand that a smart system tracks specific appliances, for the ostensible purpose of identifying poorly performing appliances or other opportunities to suggest power-saving measures.

So possibly looking at the Puma Path house electricity usage over that weekend might yield some interesting data indeed.

As for water, there were still patches of snow on the ground there in early May (from photos IIRC) so large irrigation usage was unlikely. If that weekend happened to include the annual (or quarterly or whatever) draining and refilling of the hot tub, I would find that to be suspicious and an unlikely coincidence.

All MOO

I’ll add the barbecue sauce of the month club to the kitty.

BBM, Haha! This case has got to take the feline-connection cake...

 

[HongKongPhooey]

May 9, 2020

Search for Suzanne Morphew pushes on despite silence from Chaffee County Sheriff

Thank you so much Seattle for sharing (your fellow Eurobods are grateful).

Well, I'm disappointed here at LS. Easy cheap shots at the Sheriff, that's how that felt to me. Obviously he isnt going to share info if it will compromise the investigation.

Sheriff's not the POI here Lauren, stay focused...

 

[Birmingplumb]

Wonder why she included a business owner or resident reference to "people with money can do dangerous things " or words similar and something about the mountains .......imo

 

[Ssschu]

Looking forward to tomorrow night. If it’s a “bombshell” and includes another employee it seems it almost has to be C or M. Right?

MOO.

PE teased it as a bombshell about BM's timeline but I'm having serious doubts after tonight's story. LS is so chummy with BM now that I think it will be with M or C at BM's prompting. BM will have one of them interview with LS to corroborate his version of events.

BTW, once again I noticed the time stamp on her phone was at 26 minutes while talking to BM. They're doing a lot of talking that isn't being shared. He is completely manipulating and controlling what she can and cannot say in her reports. Right now she is his mouthpiece to push his narrative. We definitely haven't heard her ask any tough questions.

This case gets weirder and weirder...

 

[steeltowngirl]

There are lots of good sleuthers here, in different capacities. Including MassGuy of course.

Absolutely! And apparently many nightowls tonight, wow! Can’t sleep and see lots of activity still. Sign of a hot case.

 

[steeltowngirl]

A regular modern home will have sporadic spikes of usage even if no one is home or actively using electricity. Examples: refrigerator, freezer, tank water heater. Maybe even the hot tub, I assume is kept hot between uses? These things turn themselves on/off as needed so do not reflect whether a person is on site or not. Although a pattern of normal for these items could perhaps be seen if usage over a long time frame was studied, so that an aberration from the pattern might be detectable.

However, a "smart home", while using a hopefully-constant baseline of electricity for all the appliance monitors and stand-by devices such as thermostats, remote controls, and appliance internet-connections, MIGHT track usage by specific appliances rather than just cumulative house usage? I think I understand that a smart system tracks specific appliances, for the ostensible purpose of identifying poorly performing appliances or other opportunities to suggest power-saving measures.

So possibly looking at the Puma Path house electricity usage over that weekend might yield some interesting data indeed.

As for water, there were still patches of snow on the ground there in early May (from photos IIRC) so large irrigation usage was unlikely. If that weekend happened to include the annual (or quarterly or whatever) draining and refilling of the hot tub, I would find that to be suspicious and an unlikely coincidence.

All MOO



BBM, Haha! This case has got to take the feline-connection cake...

I work in the electric utility industry. From what I can tell, Salida is served by Xcel Energy. They won’t be implementing smart meters until 2021. The old-style AMR meters are typically read monthly.

Unfortunately, I don’t think they will be able to learn much about the weekend electricity usage from the utility meter.

 

[Rolo]

Listen, i have done over 400 tours of this thread and i can't see any other logical explanation other than barry being behind this.

PERFECT!!!

 

[MrsWatson]

So, is Lauren trying to get BM onside for better information? Is it all a ruse, criticizing the Sheriff? I completely understand not releasing details of the investigation, but what would it hurt for the CCSO to release a statement that says nothing? "We're continuing the investigation into the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew. The tip line is ######. " End of. PR people can think up meaningless statements in their sleep, I would imagine.

 

[lamlawindy]

Rumpole22 will respond (if he chooses) to questions directed to him, but I (chastened) feel obliged to further qualify my statement about court decisions allowing investigators to lie to a suspect during questioning. The underlying factual/legal issue appears to be whether a resulting confession is voluntary or coerced. Courts have allowed a wide range of lies by investigators in this context. Interrogators have assembled a phony linup and told the suspect falsely that an eyewitness identified him. They have told a murder suspect the victim had recovered after surgery and identified him. An investigator has posed as a jail inmate and offered to protect the suspect from violent prisoners in exchange for a confession. Courts looking at these tactics under a broad "totality of the circumstances" standard have found the confessions to be admissible. The defendant can argue to a jury that his confession was coerced, but juries (up to now) have given the benefit of the doubt to police officers in the overwhelming majority of cases.

The tactic is not without controversy. Some of the convictions proven to be based on false confessions have involved such lies by interrogators. And one wonders not only whether police who lie to suspects will be inclined to lie on the witness stand as well, and whether the practice will ultimately undermine public confidence in the police.

There is a limit: prosecutors must disclose to the defense whenever an LE witness in the case has knowingly lied in an official capacity - on a search warrant, in testimony, etc. Cops who earn this status are called "Brady cops" after the successful defendant in the Supreme Court case of that name.

I am one whose knowledge of most subjects - including this one - is very thin indeed. I invite more knowledgeable members to complete this discussion.

You're correct about Brady. Indeed, Brady requires that the State disclose all exculpatory evidence to the defense, and "exculpatory" is defined somewhat broadly.

I was very fortunate to be a deputy prosecutor in a county where our office & the defense bar were very collegial. We had an open file policy* with counsel of record: We would hand defense counsel our file & they could copy anything inside except our notes/strategy documents. There never was a Brady violation alleged because all exculpatory evidence was available to defense counsel.

* The open file policy did not apply to domestic violence cases or sex offenses. This was not because we mistrusted defense counsel but because we mistrusted defendants.

 

[Seattle1]

So, is Lauren trying to get BM onside for better information? Is it all a ruse, criticizing the Sheriff? I completely understand not releasing details of the investigation, but what would it hurt for the CCSO to release a statement that says nothing? "We're continuing the investigation into the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew. The tip line is ######. " End of. PR people can think up meaningless statements in their sleep, I would imagine.

So True. My support of the sheriff not to release information about the investigation is as strong as my disregard for FB but I agree that the PIO or the under-sheriff for that matter could help put on a better face for a town that relies heavily on tourism.

We've had so many small-town cases here including Woodland Park, Co, Brooklyn, Iowa, and Barron, WI where the cases did not suffer because the sheriff's office engaged with media without releasing information. We could see the physical toll of the cases on the faces of these department heads with each passing month. Totally humanized them and their communities. 120 days strong for Suzanne Morphew....

 

[MsBetsy]

Um, yah...not what I expected from Lauren at all. Not wise to go after the Sheriff's office. I want to hear what's going on behind the scenes as bad as anybody but there's a reason he isn't talking. I wish she'd go in that hard on BM.

Also, PE teased earlier this week that Lauren's story was going to be explosive. Hmmmmm....did I miss something??

She has probably put a lot of effort into building a rapport with Barry. It took a long time to get him to open up and agree to be recorded.

LE can't be happy about the details of the investigation that have come out recently. I wouldn't expect them to give the media an update unless they have something new to report. They aren't required to make a public statement on demand.

Maybe Lauren is just giving the impression that she agrees with Barry to make him comfortable so he will continue talking to her.

We still haven't heard the interview with the employee contradictiong his alibi and how incriminating it is. If it's as bad as the PE guys said it would be, that might be the end of Barry's interviews with Lauren.

 

[swedeheart]

a few things that stood out in lauren's report:

* BM claims the neighbor said BOTH her car and bike were missing from the home. ("she said, 'suzanne is not at the house, her car is here, but her bike's missing.'") in the interview with tyson, he said he had to ask the neighbor to go back to the home a second time to check for the bike. could be nothing, as both of those do mean that the neighbor did technically say the car and bike were missing, but the story has been slightly re-written again. (later he says "i don't remember what i said, but i probably said something like 'is her bike there?'")

*BM sounds insistent that he left denver to come back home at 5:00, immediately after hearing that his wife was possibly missing. in tyson's video, he didn't get home until 9pm. it's a 160 mile drive (about 3 hours). BM went straight to the scene of the found bike.

*where are/were the tools? BM says he left all his tools in the room for the workers, JP says he didn't leave any tools, and hasn't contacted him since. if he'd left his tools (his livelihood) with a worker(s), how did he get them back and did he get them back?

*BM's been searching on his dirt bike for suzanne. not sure if there's any significance, but it's new info.

* what does this mean, and why was it included in the story?"

“We are such a small town where everyone knows everything. You would be amazed by the secrets the mountains hold regarding this case,” a business owner said.

Another store owner added, “people that have money can do dangerous things, if you get too close to the fire you can get burned.”

 

[lamlawindy]

So, is Lauren trying to get BM onside for better information? Is it all a ruse, criticizing the Sheriff? I completely understand not releasing details of the investigation, but what would it hurt for the CCSO to release a statement that says nothing? "We're continuing the investigation into the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew. The tip line is ######. " End of. PR people can think up meaningless statements in their sleep, I would imagine.

Maybe, but perhaps Lauren is becoming genuinely frustrated with the lack of transparency on CCSO's behalf. The relationship between police agencies and the media really is a two-way street to some extent: police provide the media with something to report in exchange for the media providing positive coverage. Each side has some wiggle room, but if one side gives nothing, then the other may believe that the "silent bargain" has been violated.

 

[lamlawindy]

Could the eventual investigation be affected by the leaks into public domain? Could a trial be dismissed because there was too much info released in public domain?

Leaks wouldn't be a reason to dismiss a case. They might make a case more difficult to prove. For example, if media leaked that the police were searching for a blue Chevrolet Impala, the perpetrator might drive the car into a lake to conceal it.

 

[lamlawindy]

Um, yah...not what I expected from Lauren at all. Not wise to go after the Sheriff's office.

Well, as a journalist, Lauren's obligation isn't just to Suzanne or the investigation: as a member of the press she also has an obligation to inform the public if the taxpayers aren't getting their money's worth. I think that this report is a shot across the CCSO's bow, essentially warning CCSO to be more forthcoming with info or expect further scrutiny as to what is/isn't going on with the investigation.

CCSO need not be BFFs with the media, but it would not hurt to select a few factual items from time to time that will not injure the investigation & release them to the media.

 

[MsBetsy]

a few things that stood out in lauren's report:

* BM claims the neighbor said BOTH her car and bike were missing from the home. ("she said, 'suzanne is not at the house, her car is here, but her bike's missing.'") in the interview with tyson, he said he had to ask the neighbor to go back to the home a second time to check for the bike. could be nothing, as both of those do mean that the neighbor did technically say the car and bike were missing, but the story has been slightly re-written again. (later he says "i don't remember what i said, but i probably said something like 'is her bike there?'")

*BM sounds insistent that he left denver to come back home at 5:00, immediately after hearing that his wife was possibly missing. in tyson's video, he didn't get home until 9pm. it's a 160 mile drive (about 3 hours). BM went straight to the scene of the found bike.

*where are/were the tools? BM says he left all his tools in the room for the workers, JP says he didn't leave any tools, and hasn't contacted him since. if he'd left his tools (his livelihood) with a worker(s), how did he get them back and did he get them back?

*BM's been searching on his dirt bike for suzanne. not sure if there's any significance, but it's new info.

* what does this mean, and why was it included in the story?"

“We are such a small town where everyone knows everything. You would be amazed by the secrets the mountains hold regarding this case,” a business owner said.

Another store owner added, “people that have money can do dangerous things, if you get too close to the fire you can get burned.”

I thought BM said he left Denver at five and went straight to the location where the bike was found. In the interview with TD, he said he got home at 9:00 pm, and Andy thought he said 6:00 pm. So if he left at 5:00, wouldn't he be there at around 7:30 or 8:00 pm?
Either way, he had about 9 hours to prepare the jobsite, so what was he doing all that time?

I'm curious about the tools, too. He said he left them at the hotel but we haven't heard anyone confirm that. Maybe the interview with the employee will provide some answers.

I'm not too concerned about the statements from the store owner. How does he or she know what secrets the mountains hold? There are probably lots of rumors going around. Yes, people with money can do dangerous things, but so can people without money.

 

[303gmf]

deleted by me cuz i was being a sarcastic beeotch.

LOL
You say that like there is something wrong with that?!?!

 

[Seattle1]

IN THE WORDS OF SHERIFF SPEZZE:

Oct 19, 2018

What is the most important aspect of the job of a county sheriff?

Overall public safety of our county is the responsibility of the county sheriff as well as ensuring the services we deliver to our entire county meet the expectations of our residents and visitors as well.

The sheriff also has the responsibility to ensure that decisions that are made protect the county from scrutiny and liability.

The sheriff has the responsibility to put key people in command positions so our day-to-day operations meet the needs of the public as well as ensuring that our staff is safe in doing their jobs day to day.

Another key responsibility is the fact that the sheriff recruits the best people for all positions in the county.

In our current economic condition in the county the sheriff has to find ways to recruit, train and retain the very best employees because they are truly the ambassadors of the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and Chaffee County.

What will your policy be in releasing information to the public?

I have consistently released all information to the media and public that is legal to release and does not jeopardize an open and ongoing investigation.

The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office has a media policy for its employees that encourages them to be open with the public and media when they can safely address questions asked of them.

Spezze runs for re-election as sheriff

 

[Tate123]

As someone who has followed numerous cases here on Websleuths, I don't find this silence from LE at all unusual.

The sound of crickets is nothing new to these ears.

This has been especially true in cases where LE knows what's happened, and that the missing person is deceased.

They aren't going to share specific areas they've searched, because they don't want the perp to know the specific areas they've searched.

LE has in fact issued press releases where they've identified which agencies/organizations were/are assisting them in their searches and/or investigation into SM's disappearance, as well as what types of searches (air, water, etc.) were carried out.

They're building a case behind the scenes.

As Barry angrily noted in his recent interview with LS: "I'm in the dark here."

Indeed, Barry. You are.

Advantage: LE.

JMO.

We all better cozy-up to the reporter at The Mountain Mail because Speezes going to break the story to them first after the LS piece. JMO