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

[10ofRods]

Yes.

And if HE didn't take her out of the house, a cooler did.

JMO

A cooler and a Hunter's E-bike.

I doubt that both the body and the cooler are in the same area. I bet the cooler came back from that ride and was bleached and then disposed of elsewhere.

 

[Megnut]

A cooler and a Hunter's E-bike.

I doubt that both the body and the cooler are in the same area. I bet the cooler came back from that ride and was bleached and then disposed of elsewhere.

It was probably a pretty valuable cooler too.

I hope LE is kind enough to reunite him with it.

At trial.

All chlorine clean, fresh from the Broomfield landfill.

JMO

 

[Kittybunny]

I remain in the pre-meditated camp, and believe that where and how to dispose of Suzanne's body (and maybe how to do it) was the only element of this crime that was planned in great detail. It seems that killers like to think and fantasize about this aspect ("no body no murder no case"), and maybe their alibi at a high-level but when it comes to the aspects of predicting and anticipating human behavior and how much people aren't going to just take their word at face value, that's when they falter.

I also think that the actual doing the killing causes adrenaline anxiety and fear that makes things quite different than the rehearsal you had in your own mind. That's when killers get sloppy, they may be flustered, they may make mistakes, things take longer, they forget things. I think that's some of the sloppiness that we see after the fact. Unless they're a stone cold sociopath, which I don't think BM is.

The vast wilderness of Colorado is certainly of help. Even using pings, car GPS (if it was on), and other electronics only gets you so close. You could probably literally be standing close to on top of a body vertically and yet be very far from it. And then, with access to construction equipment....the odds of finding her decrease. I still have faith that she will be found, but also believe that there will be arrest, even if she isn't.

I think BM is shocked that people haven't fallen in line and gone along with him 100%. Like Watts, like Frazee, and many others, he can't conceive of the fact that others aren't just going to let this go and move on with their lives. He can't believe that LE dares to question him and his whereabouts. He is shocked that his meth head employees who were beholden to him, either because their livelihoods depended on it or because he's played the magnanimous benefactor role well, are suddenly willing to speak up against him and go against his wishes and advice to not cooperate with LE. And Suzanne's family....well! They are obviously in it just for the publicity, and to make him look bad.

He cannot act like a normal grieving husband simply because a) he isn't one and b) he can't fake empathy, compassion, and understanding of how a real person would react.

It's just a matter of time.

 

[sunflowerchick]

A cooler and a Hunter's E-bike.

I doubt that both the body and the cooler are in the same area. I bet the cooler came back from that ride and was bleached and then disposed of elsewhere.

Wait, how did a cooler come into play? Was there one missing from the house? Or are we just wildly speculating?

 

[Trackergd]

I'm struggling with long term pre-meditation. I think it was short term. I find it difficult to put myself in the head of an actor who could willingly murder their spouse, watch the life ebb from their eyes, someone they shared life with, loved at one time and mother of their two children. I'm just not wired that way thank goodness. I can however put my head in the head of an actor who is hiding evidence. Just not sure if the actor was smart and used the local topography at hand, or very stupid and used multiple sites, risking witnesses, cell phone tracking data and the risk of being discovered in the act.

 

[MassGuy]

Wait, how did a cooler come into play? Was there one missing from the house? Or are we just wildly speculating?

Moorman said CBI agents brought up other concerns as well.

“They did ask us, ‘why can’t we find any coolers at the house?’ And I said, ‘well I have no idea. I don’t know how many they had to begin with,” he said. “But I assume, as a hunter and a guy that maybe camps, he would have a few, and they couldn’t find a single one.”

Exclusive: Barry Morphew responds to explosive claims regarding the disappearance of wife, Suzanne | FOX21 News Colorado

 

[MassGuy]

I'm struggling with long term pre-meditation. I think it was short term. I find it difficult to put myself in the head of an actor who could willingly murder their spouse, watch the life ebb from their eyes, someone they shared life with, loved at one time and mother of their two children. I'm just not wired that way thank goodness. I can however put my head in the head of an actor who is hiding evidence. Just not sure if the actor was smart and used the local topography at hand, or very stupid and used multiple sites, risking witnesses, cell phone tracking data and the risk of being discovered in the act.

Yeah, I don’t believe this was planned well in advance. Had that been the case, I believe Barry would have had a solid alibi.

This job was ill planned, and apparently put together in a rush. That in and of itself is suspicious (lack of tools, no materials, etc).

It’s incriminating, and helps him in no way.

 

[sunflowerchick]

Moorman said CBI agents brought up other concerns as well.

“They did ask us, ‘why can’t we find any coolers at the house?’ And I said, ‘well I have no idea. I don’t know how many they had to begin with,” he said. “But I assume, as a hunter and a guy that maybe camps, he would have a few, and they couldn’t find a single one.”

Exclusive: Barry Morphew responds to explosive claims regarding the disappearance of wife, Suzanne | FOX21 News Colorado

Thanks. So the answer is both, it has come up and we are wildly speculating.

Because here is the thing: I camp and I don't have a cooler in my house. I usually borrow one or buy a cheap throwaway. Most people I know that hunt don't take a cooler because they don't want to lug that kind of weight while traipsing through the wilderness looking for prey. Do we even know how frequently the family went camping or hunting for more than a day? And is it possible the girls took the cooler(s) on their camping trip?

 

[al66pine]

No-Body Cases?

It says there’s no body, which is why I figured this would take over 6 months since day one. The burden is a hell of a lot higher.

@MassGuy IIRC, you've mentioned Tad Dibiase,* former Asst. US AttyGen who tried and won convictions in no-body cases, stated he's found over 550 U.S. no-body murder trials dating back to the 1800s.
Using FBI nationwide homicide statistics, his book** slices & dices some numbers, w no-body cases actually going to trial boiling down to a miniscule percentage of homicides trials and remaining "incredibly rare."

Yep, as you say, quite challenging.
_______________________________________________
* DiBliase website. Home - No Body Murder Cases
** His 2015 book: No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting, and Winning Cases When the Victim Is Missing. (Stats ^ at page xii and viewable in Amazon's Look Inside feature)
A US no-body listing not claiming to be comprehensive shows 60-70 "murder convictions" (by my quick count), much lower than DiBliase's ^ count. List of murder convictions without a body - Wikipedia

 

[MassGuy]

Thanks. So the answer is both, it has come up and we are wildly speculating.

Because here is the thing: I camp and I don't have a cooler in my house. I usually borrow one or buy a cheap throwaway. Most people I know that hunt don't take a cooler because they don't want to lug that kind of weight while traipsing through the wilderness looking for prey. Do we even know how frequently the family went camping or hunting for more than a day? And is it possible the girls took the cooler(s) on their camping trip?

From what I can gather, people don’t typically drag coolers with them while hunting. They keep them in the bed of their trucks to keep the meat cold on their way home.

I have a lot of friends who hunt and fish, and all of them have multiple coolers of varying sizes. I’d expect the situation to be similar with Barry.

This cooler line of questioning would have occurred well after Suzanne disappeared. I imagine at the earliest, it would have been around the time of the execution of that first search warrant.

By then they’d know if the girls took one or not.

I do think this factors in the same way that the black tote did in the Berreth case. It’s a great way to transport a body.

 

[ar3593]

^^bbm

^^bbm

It follows that without a body, proving the defendant's guilt is going to require not just evidence but substantial evidence to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

To quote @riolove77, the District Attorney's office only gets one bite at the apple.

Thank you for this understanding. We only get one bite at the apple. Why jump the gun if we don't have to? There's a reason on a felony (in California) we have a three year statute of limitations to charge (not counting murder of course). I might know on day three of an investigation what the deal is, but why not take the extra time to gather my evidence? The second you charge someone, they can invoke their speedy trial rights. Why would I cut myself down to a mere 60 days on a homicide when I can have a lot more? bbm

There is no doubt TONS of evidence in this case to go through. I'm not sure why people think they need to either arrest him NOW or announce he's been cleared and they need help after all. It's likely neither of those things. Just because we don't know what they're doing does not mean they don't know what they're doing.

Consider the intricacies of defendant rights once they've been charged. You (as a DA) do yourself no favors but jumping the gun, just to appease the public. bbm

CO - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #13

This is one of the best posts describing exactly why there has not been an arrest yet and the importance of time and patience. The minute you charge, the clock starts ticking. The DA has one shot and must have their "ducks in a row". MOO

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Wait, how did a cooler come into play? Was there one missing from the house? Or are we just wildly speculating?

Wildly speculating. A far amount of that going on today I noticed.

 

[GordianKnot]

Yeah, I don’t believe this was planned well in advance. Had that been the case, I believe Barry would have had a solid alibi.

This job was ill planned, and apparently put together in a rush. That in and of itself is suspicious (lack of tools, no materials, etc).

It’s incriminating, and helps him in no way.

BBM:

Depends on your definition of "well in advance."

I don't believe this was a crime of passion.

I DO think it was a crime of desperation. But not a crime of passion in the sense that you're using it.

There are indicators that the ground was prepared well in advance of Sunday for that "bike ride."

Daughters conveniently out of town on a camping trip.

Indiana worker informed on Thursday, May 9th, that a crew would be working on that wall the following week.

Because I'm convinced the motive is a financial one, I view the speed with which BM moved to grab guardianship of SM and sell that IN property as yet another damning indication that this crime was premeditated.

I would argue that financial motives generally lead to premeditated crimes, not crimes of passion.

Just because something wasn't planned well doesn't mean it wasn't planned well in advance.

Terrible planning does not preclude premeditation.*

A plan can only be as good as the mind of the planner.

We ain't dealing with a Rhodes scholar here.

JMO.

(*See Patrick Frazee)

 

[Fireflize]

Wildly speculating. A far amount of that going on today I noticed.

Speculation is encouraged and alowed; its a good way to source various takes on clues that are available. LE reportedly was asking about coolers, which makes the topic pertainant, not wild.
Massguy explains this well.

From what I can gather, people don’t typically drag coolers with them while hunting. They keep them in the bed of their trucks to keep the meat cold on their way home.

I have a lot of friends who hunt and fish, and all of them have multiple coolers of varying sizes. I’d expect the situation to be similar with Barry.

This cooler line of questioning would have occurred well after Suzanne disappeared. I imagine at the earliest, it would have been around the time of the execution of that first search warrant.

By then they’d know if the girls took one or not.

I do think this factors in the same way that the black tote did in the Berreth case. It’s a great way to transport a body.

 

[10ofRods]

I remain in the pre-meditated camp, and believe that where and how to dispose of Suzanne's body (and maybe how to do it) was the only element of this crime that was planned in great detail. It seems that killers like to think and fantasize about this aspect ("no body no murder no case"), and maybe their alibi at a high-level but when it comes to the aspects of predicting and anticipating human behavior and how much people aren't going to just take their word at face value, that's when they falter.

I also think that the actual doing the killing causes adrenaline anxiety and fear that makes things quite different than the rehearsal you had in your own mind. That's when killers get sloppy, they may be flustered, they may make mistakes, things take longer, they forget things. I think that's some of the sloppiness that we see after the fact. Unless they're a stone cold sociopath, which I don't think BM is.

The vast wilderness of Colorado is certainly of help. Even using pings, car GPS (if it was on), and other electronics only gets you so close. You could probably literally be standing close to on top of a body vertically and yet be very far from it. And then, with access to construction equipment....the odds of finding her decrease. I still have faith that she will be found, but also believe that there will be arrest, even if she isn't.

I think BM is shocked that people haven't fallen in line and gone along with him 100%. Like Watts, like Frazee, and many others, he can't conceive of the fact that others aren't just going to let this go and move on with their lives. He can't believe that LE dares to question him and his whereabouts. He is shocked that his meth head employees who were beholden to him, either because their livelihoods depended on it or because he's played the magnanimous benefactor role well, are suddenly willing to speak up against him and go against his wishes and advice to not cooperate with LE. And Suzanne's family....well! They are obviously in it just for the publicity, and to make him look bad.

He cannot act like a normal grieving husband simply because a) he isn't one and b) he can't fake empathy, compassion, and understanding of how a real person would react.

It's just a matter of time.

The computer onboard modern trucks and cars has GPS enabled at all times - the user interface on the dashboard doesn't turn it off. One would have to crack open the hood and know how to disconnect the GPS segment of the main board in the engine - which, in and of itself, would be obvious later to investigators.

A lot of people think that if you just turn off the consumer side of the GPS that it no longer tracks, but I believe that is not true. I'm no expert in GPS or automobiles, though, so perhaps someone else can weigh in. I just know we went through this several times in prior threads.

 

[ar3593]

BBM:

Depends on your definition of "well in advance."

I don't believe this was a crime of passion.

I DO think it was a crime of desperation. But not a crime of passion in the sense that you're using it.

There are indicators that the ground was prepared well in advance of Sunday for that "bike ride."

Daughters conveniently out of town on a camping trip.

Indiana worker informed on Thursday, May 9th, that a crew would be working on that wall the following week.

Because I'm convinced the motive is a financial one, I view the speed with which BM moved to grab guardianship of SM and sell that IN property as yet another damning indication that this crime was premeditated.

I would argue that financial motives generally lead to premeditated crimes, not crimes of passion.

Just because something wasn't planned well doesn't mean it wasn't planned well in advance.

Terrible planning does not preclude premeditation.*

A plan can only be as good as the mind of the planner.

We ain't dealing with a Rhodes scholar here.

JMO.

(*See Patrick Frazee)

Rhodes Scholar BM is not JMO

 

[10ofRods]

Wait, how did a cooler come into play? Was there one missing from the house? Or are we just wildly speculating?

It's not wild speculation. Somewhere on the media thread, I believe a cooler is mentioned. If not, someone please correct me.

At any rate, the cooler has been discussed many times. I want to say that it was PE that brought it up.

Wildly speculating. A far amount of that going on today I noticed.

If so, we've been doing the same wild speculation for about 15 threads. I'll stop mentioning it until I have time to find the prior citations and discussion. I won't have time to do that this week, but perhaps someone else will help me out. I believe it was AM to PE..

I find the accusation of me wildly speculating to be quite off-putting.

And thankfully, even before the above post was made, @MassGuy established where the information came from. Ball is no longer in my court. Whew.

 

[Megnut]

Road scholar. "My concern is this way....and that."

That about covers it. The whole 200 mile radius.

JMO

 

[Minordetails]

Rhodes Scholar BM is not JMO

Maybe not, but so far, a degree from Purdue has been good enough.

 

[Fireflize]

It's not wild speculation. Somewhere on the media thread, I believe a cooler is mentioned. If not, someone please correct me.

At any rate, the cooler has been discussed many times. I want to say that it was PE that brought it up.



If so, we've been doing the same wild speculation for about 15 threads. I'll stop mentioning it until I have time to find the prior citations and discussion. I won't have time to do that this week, but perhaps someone else will help me out. I believe it was AM to PE..

I find the accusation of me wildly speculating to be quite off-putting.

And thankfully, even before the above post was made, @Mass

Here's Lauren's report. The coolers are addressed at 4:15.

[MEDIA=youtube]FwXIpussnS0[/MEDIA]