Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #36

[Moonchime]

If he indeed planned a hunting trip, maybe it was to move a body? MOO

These were my thoughts exactly. I hope he's under constant surveillance. MOO

 

[dmac55]

I would add that we have a very sparse information set to work with and much of it would not be admissible as evidence before a jury (e.g. general studies of femicide, the investigative significance of search warrants, the refusals to take polygraphs, the mere accusations of criminal history).

Moreover, WSers do what juries are not permitted to do: we speculate and hypothesize, like investigators generating lines of inquiry. I think this can have value in many ways. However, I find it scary that some fail to recognize the limited scope of information we have and the speculative nature of our discussions, and have convinced themselves of BS's guilt. I suspect that projection and confirmation bias may be at work, and I would ask each WSer to reflect on that possibility.

The public has nowhere near the evidence needed to prove that BS killed his wife. Many of the vignettes of BS that we examine are, in fact, equivocal when examined by one applying the presumption of innocence. When we hear that TD observed BS near the river, dripping wet, distraught, slumped over the steering wheel, those who have formed a strong belief in BS's guilt may see a man who just checked to see if SM's body was where he left it, and found to his chagrin that the river had taken her downstream where she might be discovered. The person who applies the presumption of innocence sees a man exhausted after desperately searching the river at great peril to himself, hoping against hope that he finds SM, or at least evidence of her, caught on the rocks and branches.

I love you all, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I am opposite
My experience on Websleuths has been that most members understand the difference between what we know, and what LE knows, they understand we discuss things that a jury wouldn't be able to consider, and that members are clear about the purpose of Websleuths

My view/opinion

 

[Itsapuzzle]

His alibi is beyond shoddy.

His behavior is inexplicable.

If we are to believe Andy, the vehicle GPS contradicts Barry’s account, and Suzanne suddenly stopped communicating mid conversation.

Then Suzanne goes dark, and BM last sees her in bed early Sunday Morning.

Then he heads to a job site, which reeks of alibi building. Nothing was done to set up the job for his workers, he left the wrong tools, and left his room stinking of chlorine.

When he arrives on scene, BM all but declares his wife dead, pushing this insane mountain lion story. A story that defies all common sense, as mountain lions don’t typically toss bikes, and leave no trace of themselves and their victim. The average person knows this, and a hunter and outdoorsman even more so. Still, he’s pushing this garbage, despite knowing better.

The CBI and FBI descended quickly, apparently realizing that something was very wrong with the picture they saw.

They didn’t release a missing poster like in the Berreth and Watts cases. They didn’t start holding daily press conferences, or doing any of the things they always do when an abduction is suspected. I don’t think they were making a guess here.

What they did do, is execute two search warrants on the home, and spend 3 days excavating Barry’s job site.

Since then we’ve seen a man acting contrary to human nature, who refuses to do the one thing that really matters in a missing persons case (utilizing the media to get the word out).

Instead of appealing to the public to find his wife though, he’s more concerned with defending himself.

I’ve seen this before. Incidentally, all those guys are in prison.

I couldn’t possibly care less about Barry’s wet t-shirt contest in the river, or whatever else TD saw. There’s plenty more to care about, and draw an inference from.

I wonder if prison commissaries have peanut butter?

I think the only person who doesn't suspect Barry at this point is, err, Barry

 

[citygirl]

I would add that we have a very sparse information set to work with and much of it would not be admissible as evidence before a jury (e.g. general studies of femicide, the investigative significance of search warrants, the refusals to take polygraphs, the mere accusations of criminal history).

Moreover, WSers do what juries are not permitted to do: we speculate and hypothesize, like investigators generating lines of inquiry. I think this can have value in many ways. However, I find it scary that some fail to recognize the limited scope of information we have and the speculative nature of our discussions, and have convinced themselves of BS's guilt. I suspect that projection and confirmation bias may be at work, and I would ask each WSer to reflect on that possibility.

The public has nowhere near the evidence needed to prove that BS killed his wife. Many of the vignettes of BS that we examine are, in fact, equivocal when examined by one applying the presumption of innocence. When we hear that TD observed BS near the river, dripping wet, distraught, slumped over the steering wheel, those who have formed a strong belief in BS's guilt may see a man who just checked to see if SM's body was where he left it, and found to his chagrin that the river had taken her downstream where she might be discovered. The person who applies the presumption of innocence sees a man exhausted after desperately searching the river at great peril to himself, hoping against hope that he finds SM, or at least evidence of her, caught on the rocks and branches.

I love you all, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I'm not saying your impressions of BM or his alibi are wrong, that your speculation is improper, or that LE doesn't have evidence-based reasons for its searches and its focus on BS. In fact, I have great respect for your experience, your instincts, and your analyses about this case.

My point is that we should remind ourselves to reserve final judgment on BS's guilt until we have actual evidence showing where SM died, when, and how, and that BM had motive, means, and opportunity. Forensic evidence will be vital for that, and we haven't seen any of it. We have only secondhand rumor quoted in MSM for some of it.

If you have evidence to support your conclusory statements above, lay it out and let the defense lawyers among us do what defense lawyers do. That may be illuminating and lead to further lines of inquiry.

I wouldn't be a very good juror.
So much,to me, is based on intuition and commonsense.
I am a KISS kinda girl.
That being said, I could examine and analyze all the testimony and evidence.
That's why I like it here. We can opine, weigh what we know, and speculate. Much easier. LOL.
MOO.

 

[Chocoholic]

I wouldn't be a very good juror.
So much,to me, is based on intuition and commonsense.
I am a KISS kinda girl.
That being said, I could examine and analyze all the testimony and evidence.
That's why I like it here. We can opine, weigh what we know, and speculate. Much easier. LOL.
MOO.

I think you’d be a great juror! Using intuition and common sense along with being analytical. Great combination IMO.

 

[Moonchime]

I'm not sure if BM did public work or not. It seems most of his jobs were private so maybe the wall was just near the interstate as opposed to "on" the interstate. Either way I would think there would be permits and paperwork involved.

The man BM hired is Pucket, I think, if you are referring to JP.

We don't know if it was BM who had the choice as to when to fix the wall or whoever hired him to do the work.

It could be that BM himself only found out on Saturday, and he had to rush to get to get a crew and supplies at the last minute. That might explain why nothing was done and there were no materials there. He may have been busy doing other things for 8 or 9 hours.

Actually, in the LS interview, MG said that this job had been originally scheduled for April and then it was canceled. MG also revealed that the job had also been planned with only BM and her doing the work. BM contacted MG unexpectedly on Mother's Day to ask her to get a team together and head to Broomfield to fix the wall.

I understand that BM was trying to set up his alibi, but it also seems as if he wanted MG out of Salida at the time that LE was first searching for SM. MOO

 

[Moonchime]

Yes. Did he do something on Friday that left the beach mucked up? Like bury his wife? That throws our time line way off, by a whole day. But MG does state that she thought that he was acting weird about the beach area Saturday morning. If she was picking up weird vibes, it could have been he was upset about something else, tho, and she wrongly assumed it was all about the beach area.

Just imagine for a moment: if that's where Suzanne is buried, what BM must be going thru, since MG gave her interview. Moo

Wow, you make some great points. And as someone else mentioned earlier in this thread, why did BM have to give MG a ride to and from the beach site on Saturday? Did he not want her there alone in case she found something he didn't want her to find/and or see?

 

[citygirl]

Actually, in the LS interview, MG said that this job had been originally scheduled for April and then it was canceled. MG also revealed that the job had also been planned with only BM and her doing the work. BM contacted MG unexpectedly on Mother's Day to ask her to get a team together and head to Broomfield to fix the wall.

I understand that BM was trying to set up his alibi, but it also seems as if he wanted MG out of Salida at the time that LE was first searching for SM. MOO

This is what baffles me.
The wall that was pictured was this large concrete thing on the highway.
How would those two be able to correct that?
What equipment would you need?
And is it really a two man job?
MOO.

 

[MsBetsy]

Actually, in the LS interview, MG said that this job had been originally scheduled for April and then it was canceled. MG also revealed that the job had also been planned with only BM and her doing the work. BM contacted MG unexpectedly on Mother's Day to ask her to get a team together and head to Broomfield to fix the wall.

I understand that BM was trying to set up his alibi, but it also seems as if he wanted MG out of Salida at the time that LE was first searching for SM. MOO

Yes, it was first scheduled for April and then for May. BM apparently didn't mention anything to her about the wall job on Saturday. He saw JP on the same day but I can't remember if he mentioned the job to him or not. Either BM himself didn't find out they had to do the job on Monday until the last minute or he made the decision himself. One days notice seems pretty unusual.

 

[Moonchime]

↑
Still interested in knowing who changed the dates for the job, the client or BM. That they had changed got my attention and if I am remembering correctly, we learned from a different source that the dates for the camping trip had also been changed. Does anyone else remember that?

This is the first I've heard of this.

Me too. I hadn't heard that the camping trip dates had been changed.

 

[10ofRods]

You're 100% correct. It would've been simple for CCSO to create a central site (a Google Form or JotForm, for instance) where one could upload the MP4, MOV, or other file type along with providing contact information (address, phone, email) for purposes of (a) authentication and (b) chain of custody, both which would be necessary at trial.

It all depends on the resources of the department. The agencies I've worked with the most are bigger than Salida/CCSO and there are times when either the IT positions are empty or filled by people just starting out.

There are entire jurisdictions in the West where courthouses and sheriffs run much more as they did in 1950.

It's entirely possible, but budget has been an issue - and I'll bet you a latte that they didn't have such a person on staff.

 

[10ofRods]

If he owes the money, he might send her a check before the court date or just default and not show up.

IMO, she can't afford to just not get paid for a job that she performed. She probably needs the money.

Didn't she say she was afraid of him?

 

[jakat]

Didn't she say she was afraid of him?

Yes, she said she was afraid of him when LS interviewed her. She said she never wants to see him again.

 

[10ofRods]

No just a guess but perhaps because he was going to pay her in cash and because she is a woman they were concerned it could look like a payment for the wrong kind of services.

Who would be watching this transaction? People get paid in cash all the time and presumably, GM had been paid in cash before, if in fact that's how they rolled.

Where I live, I'd say that about 80% of transactions involving home repair or landscaping work are in cash. I"m just judging from data collected in the Los Angeles area. No one bats an eye. It usually starts (and often continues) by hiring family and friends...

Why would anyone think MG worked in any capacity other than raking sand and so on? As that's what she actually did. Who would even be watching or know about it?

 

[10ofRods]

Yes, she said she was afraid of him when LS interviewed her. She said she never wants to see him again.

Well, then, she should trust her instincts, stay where ever she is and let that paycheck go. Not worth it. At all.

 

[Fireflize]

Wow, you make some great points. And as someone else mentioned earlier in this thread, why did BM have to give MG a ride to and from the beach site on Saturday? Did he not want her there alone in case she found something he didn't want her to find/and or see?

Good point. I also got the impression that he was unusually focused on MG's raking job, overseeing it like he had never done before. Nitpicking it. Moo

 

[Knox]

I think you’d be a great juror! Using intuition and common sense along with being analytical. Great combination IMO.

A dream juror to be sure. One purely analytical person can hang a jury.

I've been away all day. Is Morgan taking legal action to get her paycheck from Barry?

 

[Dave F.]

The project owner, Denver Regional Transport District "RTD" was first defined by DM in the interview with JP.

Public Works agents are typically responsible for design, permits, etc.

Missing Suzanne Morphew’s husband Barry Morphew stayed at hotel the weekend she disappeared; room left full of towels and smelled of chlorine [REPORT]

Construction Engineering

I wonder if it was fixing this wall?

Google Earth Street view from November 2019 from 39°55'58.16"N, 105° 7'26.53"W. Google Earth search term "RTD US 36 and Flatiron" will land in the bus stop. This is the end of the decorative retaining wall at the southwest entrance.

 

[DizzyB]

I wonder if it was fixing this wall?

Google Earth Street view from November 2019 from 39°55'58.16"N, 105° 7'26.53"W. Google Earth search term "RTD US 36 and Flatiron" will land in the bus stop. This is the end of the decorative retaining wall at the southwest entrance.

That wall certainly needs fixing. Would Jeff’s explanation apply to that wall? Would anyone refer to the material as “brick”?

“Once you build [the wall] up, you run a layer block, some dirt, get [it] inspected, then you keep continuing until the next level – and there was nothing like that to work with,” Puckett said.

 

[Murphy1950]

That wall certainly needs fixing. Would Jeff’s explanation apply to that wall? Would anyone refer to the material as “brick”?

“Once you build [the wall] up, you run a layer block, some dirt, get [it] inspected, then you keep continuing until the next level – and there was nothing like that to work with,” Puckett said.

Most of us wouldn't call it brick...Jeff called it block, which is what is in the picture, that looks like a one man job at most. That location is a mile from the Holiday Inn.