Still Missing CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #87

[10ofRods]

To add to your point, I think the cap has to somehow be tied to BM's clothing that he was seen wearing. Without that tie to that weekend, the case, IMO, becomes significantly weaker. No body, no physical evidence of SM's death, and now no probable weapon. I think we are left with SM's silence after BM's arrival home and possibly (because I can imagine a cheap person doing this) the disposal of "garbage" at multiple commercial property dumpsters.
And, yes, I do believe he is responsible. I'm just thinking of the effect of loss of "means" evidence on the case.
IMO.

Don't forget his phone goes out to where the bike is found, at a time when he told LE he was sleeping.

And that his truck turns the wrong way and goes up where the helmet was found.

Why did he lie to the police about being awake all night, as his phone records show?

Why did he reset the GPS in his truck? Why did that occur on the same day Suzanne disappeared?

Why does his phone show him moving all around the property right after Suzanne's last text message?

If means doesn't exist, then prosecution will probably go ahead and show motive (although that's not necessary, in this case, it would help).

Opportunity is obvious.

Guilty mind is going to play a role too, with the fibbing and lying to LE (he's actually charged with it), as well as his selling off of her stuff.

 

[10ofRods]

"I mean I am not American but in the countries I've lived in, we hang these things out on a nice day so they air nicely? Why put them in the dryer which costs money when you don't have to?"

It's fortunate that you have the space to hang sheets. There isn't an area wide enough where Suzanne would've been able to hang sheets on her PP property. If there had been, she might have but they were, nevertheless, in the dryer.
He also told LE that he'd been running around the property shooting chipmunks with the darts that he'd also admitted to having disposed of at ONE of his dumps. His defense argued he'd have to be running through walls.
LE found the dart gun to be inoperable but the darts could also be fired by a 22. The same caliber as the unspent bullet they found in the bedroom.

I think people underestimate just how dry and dusty much of the American west is (it is SO dusty where I live and this year it's been non-stop). If I hung my clothes out, we'd have to wash them again. Every surface in the laundry room has to be wiped down daily (and more often than that if doing more than one load). We have filters running in the house all the time, so that we can breathe comfortably.

Salida is west of the Great Plains, which blow in dust and grit all the time.

I'm envious of those of you who have weather that allows you to use nice air - we do too, mostly in May and June, but those are also our dampest months so you have to really spin things, shake them hard to get out wrinkles and hope they dry before they mildew (caught between the Mojave and the Great Pacific Ocean).

 

[10ofRods]

I agree. Also, who would put sheets in the dryer without setting the timer signal in order to take them out right away so they wouldn't wrinkle? No one who normally does them because she didn't put them in the dryer, Barry did. Every woman here (and some men, I'm sure) know that would never happen. Even the finest Supima cotton sheets will wrinkle in minutes.
More importantly, why would Barry's shorts be in the dryer that he'd been wearing on Saturday ALONG with a syringe cap HE said *cough* he'd been using to tranq chipmunks on Saturday?
He said he'd last saw her on Sunday 5am which would mean she just let them sit in the dryer overnight, after the steak they shared from one plate, one fork and one knife a la Lady and the Tramp.

Just an aside, was the tranquilizer powerful enough to kill the little squirrel relatives? Why tranq them, if not. Did he skin them, gut them and get bragging rights again? Did LE find a bunch of dead or half dead chipmunks lying around? Yeah, didn't happen.
I would love to see the prosecutors bring in enormous physical bullet point presentations during their prosecution and especially amass them all at closing arguments. There's so much evidence and the defense will try to play with their minds at every turn. They'll also eat up time as much as they can in cross, just as they did (and will do) during the hearings.
Can't wait to see who they can possibly have on their witness list. How much you want to bet he doesn't have any other than his daughter and mother as character witnesses? They'd be cross examined to. Unless, he's paid people off which is a definite possibility.

IMO

Our dryer has a sheets cycle and cools the sheets before it's done with them. Of course, we wouldn't care if they were a little wrinkled anyway. We both work from home, and we don't have much choice, sometimes, but to ignore the buzzer - but our cotton sheets are truly not that wrinkled. My husband does all the sheets, though, so perhaps he has some magic I don't know about (doubtful, we don't use fabric softner and he puts it on a very short cycle - they dry fast here).

 

[mom2chloe]

I seriously doubt Barry grilled a steak to share with Suzanne. IMO LE seemed to hone in on that too with their questioning of how could he be grilling steak when they know where he was within the house and that he didn’t register being at the grill as he was in the garage opening and closing doors. Barry ate leftover pizza if anything. There was no breakfast and no steak. It’s doubtful that a man murdering his wife would even have an appetite although nothing would surprise me with Barry. He was too busy looking for socks in the dryer to be too concerned. IMO

 

[DeDee]

Why'd Barry even admit to accessing the dryer?

He is his worst defense.

JMO

That's the truth! In reading Post #369 by @mrjitty it shows how Barry lies. A serial killer, "Hannibal" Kimball, once told Agent Grusing, that he's lied all of his life so the FBI Agent cannot expect him to suddenly start telling the truth.

I think that explains Barry and his lies. He's lied so much during his life that it comes naturally. He lies when the lies don't benefit him and sometimes when there is no reason to lie.

I'm looking forward to Agent Grusing's testimony. Barry thought he was his friend!

Also, there's a youtube video about the PH where the narrator says Agent Grusling testified that they could not prove when the tranquilizer dart needle sheath came to be in the clothes dryer so the Defense already knows that much.

@sk716 is correct about FBI Agent Grusing being an excellent listener. He listened carefully to everything Barry said to him. We see in the AA how his story about the tranquilizer dart story continued to evolve until Barry finally said he'd never used one in Colorado. Liar!

I watched Agent G testify in the Mark Redwine murder of his son Dylan. He listened carefully to what Mark's story was and noted all the things that didn't make sense to him. Then, he'd question Mark a few days later about those important points. It was powerful testimony.

I fully believe the trial will prove that Barry loved Suzanne but once he had the idea to kill her, the idea grew by planning it then, it manifested into something he just could not stop until he killed her. Maybe it was for her money and maybe it was for her wanting to leave him. I feel he may be cheap but he's greedy so it was for both of those reasons.

JMVHO
.

 

[JosieMae]

Don't forget his phone goes out to where the bike is found, at a time when he told LE he was sleeping.

And that his truck turns the wrong way and goes up where the helmet was found.

Why did he lie to the police about being awake all night, as his phone records show?

Why did he reset the GPS in his truck? Why did that occur on the same day Suzanne disappeared?

Why does his phone show him moving all around the property right after Suzanne's last text message?

If means doesn't exist, then prosecution will probably go ahead and show motive (although that's not necessary, in this case, it would help).

This, and much more, will be heard in the Prosecution's closing statement. And it will be damning.

 

[mrjitty]

@sk716 is correct about FBI Agent Grusing being an excellent listener. He listened carefully to everything Barry said to him. We see in the AA how his story about the tranquilizer dart story continued to evolve until Barry finally said he'd never used one in Colorado. Liar!
.

RSBM

I think this is the real significance of the sheath. It doesn't matter how it got there. The sensitivity to Barry is the key.

Barry was willing to admit a whole dart could have been found, including inside, and gave a sensitive location to explain it, on top of the unbelievable story about 2 deer.

It was Barry who entertained a connection between the sheets and the sheath - why did he do this?

It was Barry who admitted disposing of the tranq stuff on the day of the disappearance ....

What an idiot!

 

[mrjitty]

This, and much more, will be heard in the Prosecution's closing statement. And it will be damning.

This is why I am such a fan boi for circumstantial evidence.

 

[Kittybunny]

The truth is actually even worse than this, as I discovered, when I went through the AA in detail

Agent Grusing really stitched him up!

10 March 21 Barry is confronted with fact that "a tranq dart having been fired “in or around the house.” Barry first admits to the FBI agents that he has used tranq darts on the 2 deer perhaps as recently as "April 2020".

5 April 21 - Barry is first confronted about the evidence of a tranq dart found "inside". Barry confesses to firing such a dart from the breezeway which looked on to where SM was sunbathing .

22 April, 21 Barry admits to disposing of the tranqs (no tranq chemicals recovered from his property). This is the interview where he comes close to confessing SM was tranqed. He says he last used the chemicals late April of 2020. He is confronted with the sheath found in the dryer and says it is nothing to do with him.

28 May 21 In a recorded interview with state police, Barry says he never used the tranqs in Colorado​

So you can truly see the lizard brain at work here - played by a maestro.

The lies on 10 March come easy enough, because it's partly based on truth. Grusing knows from Ted Turner that Barry was raising deer for sale in Indiana. But as Barry hasn't sold deer to anyone, he has to pretend he collects the horns. Barry even allows for "darts" to be found - this is highly significant IMO



Barry doesn't know what they found, but assumes it must be an actual dart, so claims that there are some lying around. Grusing encourages that thinking. No doubt Barry stews in the next days over whether he dropped a dart, and if so where. What is important is he is clearly open to the possibility of the agents finding a spent dart.

The 5 April interview I assume is a moment of pure panic. This is the first time Grusing reveals the dart is actually inside. IMO, with only seconds to think, Barry reveals the shooting location as the place he thinks he most likely dropped it.

This makes some sense IMO, because he must have been considering multiple possibilities and needed to cover all angles. Have the FBI recovered the spent dart, or an unfired one? I believe the spent dart is designed to drop out of the target after a short period. But surely Barry recovered that one and knows where it is... or...? Did he have more than one dart with him? As a backup? Or has he spilled one later somehow during his cleanup? Are the agents bluffing?

22 April is where the trap is sprung.

They never found a dart at all. Rather a tranq needle sheath. In the dryer. They come close to a confession in this interview because he realises they've got him.

It must be a psychologically crushing moment where he realises both how he messed up, and that they know.

(I know this is old hat to some of you, but I wanted to post this for later reference).

Refs
Barry Morphew Redacted Arrest Affidavit – Find Suzanne Morphew

Thank you so much for this great post, there is some detail in here that I had not personally read. It's amazing that he actually admitted to shooting a tranquilizer dart in the house, if that's not damning I don't know what is!!

 

[Murphy1950]

Barry agreed to wait and said if he was guilty, he would not be talking to Agents, adding, "Because I'm not stupid." And below was just the beginning...

 

[Lyanna]

I fully believe the trial will prove that Barry loved Suzanne but once he had the idea to kill her, the idea grew by planning it then, it manifested into something he just could not stop until he killed her. Maybe it was for her money and maybe it was for her wanting to leave him. I feel he may be cheap but he's greedy so it was for both of those reasons.

Rbbm

Agree that he's cheap and greedy, and money could have been a motivator. I also feel BM likes trophies and to him, Suzanne was his biggest, brightest and best trophy.
I think the phrase 'If I can't have you, no-one can' was on a loop in his head, he didn’t want her to leave because he couldn't stand the thought of her no longer being under his control. imo

 

[Megnut]

Barry agreed to wait and said if he was guilty, he would not be talking to Agents, adding, "Because I'm not stupid." And below was just the beginning...

Well, exactly.

I imagine his attorneys would like to unring his bell.

He had the right to remain silent.

He could've lawyered up.

Instead.... 129 pages.

If he'd buttoned up, his lawyers would've received all the discovery, and if he so chose, he could have then tried to string a story together. But as it was, with every interview, he tried to explain away what he thought they had on him.

It was a perfect marriage. Loving. Lots of loving. But then she was drinking and drugging (an IPA on occasion, prescribed meds for cancer/pain! Nothing illicit at all!) He knew nothing -- 100% nothing -- about an affair. But maybe okay an emotional affair. But again 100% he didn't know about it. But was it X or maybe Y? And no violence. I mean just the one time, where her nose hit his hand. Never blocked her just maybe blocked her. In a nonblocking blocker way. And she'd never sat him down and said the word divorce which he'd just have written her a check but also divorce? Not gonna happen. Loved her to death. Didn't make sense why his angel would be taken from him... but then God does things.

It's because of his mouth that we know ....

He was home at 2:44, secretive at 2:47. Firing his .22. Admitting to recently firing a tranq dart. In or near the breezeway. He even admits he looked in the dryer!

I think he really thought the investigators were going to wrap this up, call it a mystery and let Barry get on with his life. Running his Bobcat, moving Suzanne's money around, dumpster dating -- oh, but they're not dating, and just generally putting it all behind him.

From oh, Suzanne to Suzanne who?

Well, we aren't going to forget her. She just wanted to be happy, to live her best life.

May her truth be told.

JMO

 

[mrjitty]

The problem with the old "oh look my wife is missing" scheme is you pretty much have to talk to law enforcement to create the abduction story in the first place.

If law enforcement show up and you lawyer up, then that is pretty much the end of any abduction narrative.

It's why it's the dumbest of murder plots

 

[sk716]

This is why I am such a fan boi for circumstantial evidence.

Me, I'm all about a closing statement. I'm reasonably certain that the E&N closing statement is going to have me screaming obscenities at the television (even if it's just YouTube, I'm putting that on the big screen.). I miss the days when the defense tried to argue passionately about innocence and circumstance instead of the kinds of closing arguments we've seen in recent cases where the victims have been ignored, insulted, and demeaned.

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

The problem with the old "oh look my wife is missing" scheme is you pretty much have to talk to law enforcement to create the abduction story in the first place.

If law enforcement show up and you lawyer up, then that is pretty much the end of any abduction narrative.

It's why it's the dumbest of murder plots

The accident “oops she fell” scenario didn’t work out well for Harold Henthorn.

It’s difficult to murder or disappear your spouse without having some LE interactions. I’m not sure how you do it. Perhaps you get rid of their car and then say that they told you they were leaving you for another man...You didn’t notify LE that they left because they told you they were leaving.

 

[Megnut]

The problem with the old "oh look my wife is missing" scheme is you pretty much have to talk to law enforcement to create the abduction story in the first place.

If law enforcement show up and you lawyer up, then that is pretty much the end of any abduction narrative.

It's why it's the dumbest of murder plots

Which is, of course, precisely why he was so chatty. All 3 30 hours, answered every question -- yup, just like an innocent spouse would.

It's just that there's

A syringe cap
Airplane mode
Deleted texts
A bike where it made no sense
A helmet where it made less sense
100%s
One steak
One plate
A lot of dumpsters
Suzanne's words
Suzanne's silence
A lot of surveillance
Not a lot of work
A lot of shirts
A damning load of laundry
26 seconds that telegraphed poorly
Scratches

The list really is endless.

Let's hope that the sentence is too.

JMO

 

[mrjitty]

I always loved the "poisoned professor case" in my home town. Basically the jilted lover poisoned him with a very unusual chemical from a lab. He didn't actually die but it was a fairly ingenious murder attempt.

Professor Lloyd, then in his mid-50s, was struck down by a mystery illness in late 1992 after he broke up with Dr Calder and married Canadian plant researcher Linda Newstrom.

The twin trials filled newspapers and television screens with their claims of a scorned woman accused of trying to murder her former lover with a mystery poison.

Dr Calder, a molecular biologist, was arrested in June 1994 and charged with attempted murder or, alternatively, poisoning with intent.

The first trial ended in a hung jury. The jury in the second trial acquitted her.

When Professor Lloyd collapsed in 1992 he was in a coma for more than three months and left blind with severe, unusual and complicated nerve damage.

Scientist in poison scandal dies - NZ Herald

 

[genuineusa77]

Not that it matters but I have one so do my neighbors but we're in FL. I wouldn't hang sheets but hang things of value that I don't want ruined in a hot dryer. But I don't have anywhere near the wealth of BM so my purchases are valuable to me. moo

And I hang things on plastic hangers on my shower bars.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

And I hang things on plastic hangers on my shower bars.

Yup silk and cashmere that I wash by hand and don’t take to the dry cleaners. Everything else goes into the dryer with whatever it got washed with and it get folded and put away when I have time. Anything of my husbands that needs pressing he takes to the cleaners to be pressed. It has been fascinating reading about everyone’s “laundry habits”. It is impossible to make generalizations about the Morphew laundry habits IMO.

 

[sk716]

Noticed something odd.

(Deputy Brown Reporting)
In the main floor/foyer area of a storage closet, Deputy Brown observed what appeared to be a reddish/brown substance that was smeared midway on the side of the closet wall.3 (3 This reddish-brown stain was processed by CBI Laboratory and determined not to be blood.)

(May 11, 2020 Search of Puma Path Residence)
On May 11, 2020, pursuant to an authorized search warrant obtained by your affiant, while assisting with the search of the exterior of the residence your affiant located what appeared to be suspect blood on the apron of the garage near the east side of the three-car garage.

(Suzanne’s Helmet)
On May 13, 2020, search teams were still searching areas in the proximity of Suzanne’s bicycle and helmet as well as law enforcement driving roads in these areas attempting to locate Suzanne. During this effort, law enforcement located what they believed to be fresh tire impressions and a piece of cloth with a reddish/brown unknown substance on it.​

Is this the same reddish brown substance? If so, what is it because it's not blood?