Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #34

[legalmomma]

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

“Barry said at that point, he was already on his way back to Salida.

“I rushed home, left all my tools at the hotel, called my workers and said, ‘I’ve got a family emergency. You’re gonna have to figure this out on your own,’ and went directly to the site where the bike was,” said Barry Morphew.”

THIS is what is most revealing to me. Why would Barry go right to the scene of the bike and not the house??? Your wife is reporting missing and you don’t go to your house to check? HUGE red flag and one that LS got out of Barry. I think she’s doing a great job. LE has no reason to share more info but I do believe they could help with a larger scale search effort and maybe call in Tim Miller at EquuSearch. But then, they may have a reason for not doing so that we of course are not privy to.

 

[EggSalad]

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

“Barry said at that point, he was already on his way back to Salida.

“I rushed home, left all my tools at the hotel, called my workers and said, ‘I’ve got a family emergency. You’re gonna have to figure this out on your own,’ and went directly to the site where the bike was,” said Barry Morphew.”

THIS is what is most revealing to me. Why would Barry go right to the scene of the bike and not the house??? Your wife is reporting missing and you don’t go to your house to check? HUGE red flag and one that LS got out of Barry. I think she’s doing a great job. LE has no reason to share more info but I do believe they could help with a larger scale search effort and maybe call in Tim Miller at EquuSearch. But then, they may have a reason for not doing so that we of course are not privy to.

Technically he would pull up to the place where the bike was staged before arriving to his house if I remember the roads in that area correctly.

 

[kkdj]

If there is video of him carrying a large container into the hotel, there must also be video of him taking it back out, since JP was adamant there were no tools left with them, to do the job.

jmo

True. It's occurred to me that someone didn't want to admit the tools were in the room.

 

[Megnut]

Reading between the lines, I think BM may have PREpaid JP. That would explain why JP waited around at the hotel... honorable.

I wonder if BM is on hotel video carrying in A COOLER. Explained by him as his tools. Because you see that -- contractors carrying their trade tools in coolers -- um, next to never?

I won't be surprised to learn, when one day there's an AA, that an ice chest visible in footage is missing, along with a crucial couple of tools.

IF we could find them, I trust they'd be bleach clean. And in a Broomfield landfill, after a brief stay in a Holiday Inn Express dumpster.

No fingerprints, no DNA.

While I envy no one the task, I hope that one of the major searches we don't know about was a LE field trip to Broomfield's landfill. And a productive search at that.

Oh, I hope a concealer gets to see all his favorite hidden things again!

JMO

 

[Fireflize]

On the interview last night, Barry said he didn't know there were no flyers or missing posters at the sheriff's office. Guess that means that BM has not bothered to stop by.

That bit of info will be like blood bait to a shark for BM. He will be all over it. Moo

 

[DizzyB]

Re: the neighbor who allegedly said SM's car was home, but not her bike.

I wonder where SM kept her bike. I don't think they live in a high crime area, but neither do I - and I do not leave my bikes outside, I keep them in the garage. I don't know any cyclist who lives in a house who keeps his/her bike(s) outside.

Did the neighbor do a thorough walkaround? Or was SM's bike usually stored outside, as easily seen as the family cars?

Among the many odd things: non-working security cameras, but you leave an expensive bike out for anyone to see/steal? Even when you are aware of a disgruntled employee who you have fired, taking away his income?

 

[MsBetsy]

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

“Barry said at that point, he was already on his way back to Salida.

“I rushed home, left all my tools at the hotel, called my workers and said, ‘I’ve got a family emergency. You’re gonna have to figure this out on your own,’ and went directly to the site where the bike was,” said Barry Morphew.”

THIS is what is most revealing to me. Why would Barry go right to the scene of the bike and not the house??? Your wife is reporting missing and you don’t go to your house to check? HUGE red flag and one that LS got out of Barry. I think she’s doing a great job. LE has no reason to share more info but I do believe they could help with a larger scale search effort and maybe call in Tim Miller at EquuSearch. But then, they may have a reason for not doing so that we of course are not privy to.

Didn't Barry say his friend was at the scene? The one who did the 400 tours and knows all about how investigations are done? Maybe he was communicating with him on the way back from Denver.

 

[Megnut]

I wish I could go to Maysville today. And get myself in the creek. To check something out.

Someone said there's a fence of some sort down by where the bike was found, separating the area from the creek, and as well, the creek is as much as 100+ yards distant.

What I want to explore is whether a person could carry a bike out the back way from Morphews'.... walking in the creek to the area below the bridge. And from that vantage, are there any breaks, natural or otherwise, in the fencing? Is it possible to throw the bike uphill, from the water to where it was found? Is it possible that Suzanne's phone is in the water right at that location? (Seems like a thing for which a person would be willing to get all wet, to check on)..... perhaps someone is upset LE missed it, what with all their traipsing and touching. Staging a phone in water achieves a secondary benefit too -- good way to ruin a phone.

LE wouldn't and won't say what personal item was found.... imagine how aggravating if you were the person who staged items and you can't be sure which ONE LE found and which they didn't. YOU'D HAVE TO return to the SCENE OF THE STAGE to check.

JMO

 

[Hatfield]

AKA name stickers on their shirts. Lol

Thats a great idea for any WS'ers that will be participating in the Colorado search.

WS has merchandise now that is available. I heard about it during one of the YT broadcasts that Tricia does almost every night. She is even live right now there. Sorry I dont know of a direct link to the merchandise but I am sure someone in that chat will know. And getting matching WS T-shirts would be a good way for fellow WSers to find each other during the Colorado search.
Or buttons or a sweatshirt because it may be too cold there for T-shirts.

General link to WS YT below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSiqBuCJlK1uQqE_nV6ehfQ

Current Live WS YT going on right now with link below:

 

[Dalgliesh]

LS’s full transcripts have never been released that I’m aware of. I follow her on FB and Twatter, and she’s certainly not posted any of them there.

To me, it seems self-evident that LS promised some level of confidentiality to BS in order to get an interview - e.g. I will record and propose what will be in the story, and you (BS) can say no. Everything else will be confidential source material. If a professional journalist makes such a promise, she would likely consider it sacrosanct. And the the Colorado reporters shield law would be a significant barrier to any attempt by LE to get the tape or transcript. We shouldn't expect her to release this information.

 

[Megnut]

BM says he was in Denver, setting up for a job, that his worker says wasn't set up. I guess that's not substantially different than saying you're at fire training that doesn't exist because it was cancelled.

I've been wondering all along how a certain someone has been soooooo on top of real estate maneuvering, assuming there's not a clear Google history. Just occurred to me he may have been smart enough to USE SOMEONE ELSE'S COMPUTER. I wonder if, with the right subpoena, hotels have data to throw up, indicating what websites are accessed through their wifis....

I really want to know what BM was doing all day on Mother's Day and with, if not alone, whom. The insurance papers suggest to me he might have been working (working out his next move$) -- he brought those papers in for some reason. I hope LE has access to ANY device he may have been using.

JMO

 

[Lilypad13]

Personally, I think it is in all of their best interests to stay away from it. Ive seen some crazy stuff being said and done by random people in this case. The last thing those girls need right now is an abundance of questions, and some people just dont have that respect or know how to behave like that. I would love for them to be surrounded by their family members who are coming out for the search. But watching from afar would be my best recommendation.
Jmho.

I think people would be respectful of them and not ask questions but there are always a few crazies in every large crowd. If they want to be there and feel the love for their Mom they should be safe with their uncle AM. It should be their decision if they attend or not, not BM’s. IMO

 

[Rumpole22]

Quite correct. Quick question: During closing, do you allow defense counsel -- if police admit to lying to a defendant for investigatory purposes during the cases in chief -- to argue that we don't know whether we can rely on the officers' testimony because they've shown that they have lied during the investigation?

Yes attorneys are allowed to challenge the credibility of any witness. In cases where police testimony is the evidence against the deft., the defense must be permitted to try the case as they see fit. Accusing the police of lying is proper as often it is the only defense available to the accused. Preventing such arguments would be unfair, inappropriate and reversible error. The prosecutor, who argues last, can rebut the credibility challenge by using the police acknowledgement of a falsity to the accused to buttress the officer’s credibility. Ultimately, the jury, not the judge decides credibility and must be permitted to hear the issue fully argued to them.

 

[Lilypad13]

He said it was after the second search of the house, said they didn't find her cell phone, or her body or any sign of a struggle 59:00:

Short of police flat out lying to Andy which I dont think there's a high probability of that. When they refused to answer Andy's question they would say "we cant share that information".

There's still a lot of areas in Chaffee county to search, like for example
38°29'53.7"N 106°04'40.2"W

Hopefully the FBI and CBI know the route Barry took to Broomfield.

Okay @Topppps I’m going to bite this time...almost looked up those coordinates the last time you posted them. So I just went down a big Poncha Springs rabbit hole. What is that creepy, abandoned looking place? Old mining camp? Ghost town? I couldn’t get down to eye level. Interesting how 115 turns off from 285 and loops through the rocky, wooded mountainous terrain with lots of cliffs and gorges and intersects back onto 285...what is it that makes you suggest this specific area as a possible location? Is it just because it’s a good hiding place or do you have information or research leading you to suspect this area? Well more than an “area” as you have exact coordinates. Did you send to PE, AM or CCSO? I agree it looks like a very good place to hide a body and is close to Maysville and could be done en route to Broomfield with just a little detour off the highway. There is also a little stretch of 285 that runs very closely and parallel to the Arkansas River with a secluded turn off where you could drive right up to the bank of the river. I haven’t caught up to the end of the thread so disregard if already asked & answered. TIA!

 

[Hoosierfan72]

I think people would be respectful of them and not ask questions but there are always a few crazies in every large crowd. If they want to be there and feel the love for their Mom they should be safe with their uncle AM. It should be their decision if they attend or not, not BM’s. IMO

I can say from attending the vigil in Indiana, there were quite a few of BMs family members present (as was AM, of course). It seemed that everyone there was respectful, MOO. Hard to know if it would have been significantly different if BM himself was there, but I agree that 99% of people would see the daughters for the victims they are and be supportive.

It will be interesting to see what BM does with the vigil. On one hand, it is bad form to skip your missing wife's vigil. On the other, we have yet to see BM put himself in a situation that isn't fully controlled. My money is on a no show (I'm going with a "feeling ill" excuse - maybe he ingested some expired peanut butter). JMO.

 

[Tate123]

I can say from attending the vigil in Indiana, there were quite a few of BMs family members present (as was AM, of course). It seemed that everyone there was respectful, MOO. Hard to know if it would have been significantly different if BM himself was there, but I agree that 99% of people would see the daughters for the victims they are and be supportive.

It will be interesting to see what BM does with the vigil. On one hand, it is bad form to skip your missing wife's vigil. On the other, we have yet to see BM put himself in a situation that isn't fully controlled. My money is on a no show (I'm going with a "feeling ill" excuse - maybe he ingested some expired peanut butter). JMO.

This made me laugh!

 

[Dalgliesh]

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.

There will always be tension between the public's right to know and the public interest in sound investigations, responsible public statements, and fair processes. FN is probably frustrated with the lack of information - they are on one side of the balance point. Here are some potential issues for LE, in disclosing information:

• premature disclosure could result in the guilty party concealing evidence;
• premature disclosure could result in harassment of witnesses (or worse);
• premature identification of an individual as a suspect could have multiple consequences, including a possible defamation/invasion of privacy lawsuit against the County;
• pretrial publicity focused on the person ultimately charged can give him an argument that he cannot receive a fair trial because no jury exposed to the coverage will be impartial.

I am sure there are many more. Public relations is an area where a seasoned prosecutor with murder trial experience would be a great asset. MOO

 

[Hatfield]

BM says he was in Denver, setting up for a job, that his worker says wasn't set up. I guess that's not substantially different than saying you're at fire training that doesn't exist because it was cancelled.

...snipped by me for focus above and below....

I really want to know what BM was doing all day on Mother's Day and with, if not alone, whom. The insurance papers suggest to me he might have been working (working out his next move$) -- he brought those papers in for some reason. I hope LE has access to ANY device he may have been using.

JMO

Re BBM

Me too. It does not take an entire day Sunday to get your workers checked into a room. In fact it should not take any of his time as they are the ones checking in.

So what exactly was he doing all day Sunday before he decided he needed to start the drive home?

 

[Dalgliesh]

For fellow nerds - here is an article written by Pat Furman, one of the attorneys who represented Patsy Ramsey in the investigation of her daughter JonBenet's death. It's an interesting perspective on pretrial publicity, studded with "war stories." And here is a thoughtful CNN story on the question whether several recent high profile defendants could get a fair trial. Tsarnev won his sentencing appeal on that question, recently.

 

[Hair of the Dog]

I wonder if the windows at the Holiday Inn Express open or if they are the type that are locked shut?

I also wonder which floor BM/JP’s room was on?

In my recent stint at a Holiday Inn Express first floor room, there was one window in the room and it only opened about 5". Because the bathroom was just inside the entry door to the room, the window provided very limited air circulation for the room and none directly to the bathroom. MOO