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

[Seattle1]

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?

I dunno about the specific evidence here but can say that the soil in this area has a lot of clay. When it dries, it definitely can have the appearance of dried blood. MOO

 

[FromGermany1]

Gonna try to clear up what I can.

I've come to think he staged the bike without moving his truck, then went back to the house. He must have known his truck was going to rat him out or he wouldn't have disconnected the battery. So I don't know if he walked the bike up or used the other RR. He might have used his truck, but I think Grusing would have nailed him with the truck stopping on that little bridge, him getting out disappearing for three minutes and the door opening and closing again.

He also had an ATV on property, but I can't come up with any scenario that works in moving a mountain bike on an ATV.

Maybe, he used his trailer or another little trailer (borrowed perhaps and brought back asap)?

 

[FromGermany1]

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

I believe, the money, she would have taken with her after divorce, is likely 50% of the reason to murder her. Leaving him, being the new trophy of a rival, having a very good start into her new life with money ("he had worked hard for" ), which he would looove to own by himself ..... unbearable for him. IMO

 

[FromGermany1]

I dunno about the specific evidence here but can say that the soil in this area has a lot of clay. When it dries, it definitely can have the appearance of dried blood. MOO

Maybe, he used clay to fill in some sort of "grave"? Since cement would immediately give away the source (building business)?? Out in the nature cement would have been something, which doesn't belong there without a reason. Clay can be present anywhere.

 

[Megnut]

Dial back.

Do y'all recall when PP first got listed and we wondered about who took the photos? Kitchen and mudroom, lacking. Some personal photos that seemed out of place. Anyone remember the towel in the bathroom? It was hanging like someone had recently used it, not folded like a guest towel or arranged to sell. In my memory, it was a brown towel....

I have no idea when that photo might have been taken. Or by whom.

But do we know when LE recovered/ discovered Suzanne's last photo? Could the brown towel have gone missing AFTER 5/9-10 (but before the recovery of said photo)? Wish we had both photos. To compare.

Now naturally if they had A brown towel, they may have had a whole SET of brown towels. For the record, I highly doubt it was a BROWN towel. I imagine it might have been taupe or coffee or any number of other trendy bed and bath colors. In any case, if the missing towel was part of a set, how could law enforcement determine ONE was missing and specifically THE one? Unless it was a singular towel. Like a bath sheet. A favorite for sunbathing maybe. It almost HAD to a be a one-off, right?

It is very curious that the towel is missing but her bikini isn't.

That tells me that Suzanne had already removed her bikini and put it away, and the brown towel was used in some capacity, in relation to the crime. If the bikini had been, IMO it would have met a dumpster.

JMO

 

[mrjitty]

Maybe, he used his trailer or another little trailer (borrowed perhaps and brought back asap)?

I am going to be so fascinated to learn more detail on what evidence that have from the truck heading West.

I tend to agree with @sk716 they he can't have stopped, or they'd have the data of the doors opening which would be brutal - i think we would have seen that in the AA. But we don't know exactly what they do have.

But then why did he go back down that road with the truck?

Was it because he forgot to throw away the cycle helmet?

Seems to be a fairly massive blunder.

 

[Megnut]

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?

Thank you for putting these all together. I wonder if LE was ever able to identify the substance.

I wonder if it was the SAME substance in all three.

I wonder if Suzanne's condition (cancer remission) and/or maintenance treatment had any impact on the character of her blood. Anything that might interfere with presumptive testing, for instance. Also I wonder if there's any reason she might bleed more than expected. Medication with anticoagulants ...

Nothing in the AA about a chlorine smell in the house so maybe that was an errant rumor but might he have used A chemical? Something for cleaning? Or something to obfuscate? I'm thinking about something like skunk scent. That would be obvious but what else might a hunter have in his hunting kit? The closet frame, the garage apron (on the cement?) and the roadside fabric. If they're related and if it's the same substance on all three, what could it have been? BAM? Does it oxidize funny? Mixed with blood, does it change the chemical nature of both?

I have to imagine Barry gave at least a cursory look before he left on the house on MD. It wasn't a GOOD look (because he left visible remnants in the fireplace, he left a round in the bedroom, he left a syringe cap in the dryer, he left a plate and a fork in the dishwasher, he left the doorframe splintered.) I have to think he would've TRIED to clean up any obvious traces of his activities pre- and post-2:44 but then, I don't think he thought LE was going to lock down his house and pick it apart! The site of the bike was the "crime scene" after all. LE was supposed to look THERE. And this way and that, because of Cat, and in the water because Suzanne may have gotten herself in it. Here, there, just anywhere but the house --

JMO

 

[mrjitty]

Dial back.

Do y'all recall when PP first got listed and we wondered about who took the photos? Kitchen and mudroom, lacking. Some personal photos that seemed out of place. Anyone remember the towel in the bathroom? It was hanging like someone had recently used it, not folded like a guest towel or arranged to sell. In my memory, it was a brown towel....

I have no idea when that photo might have been taken. Or by whom.

But do we know when LE recovered/ discovered Suzanne's last photo? Could the brown towel have gone missing AFTER 5/9-10 (but before the recovery of said photo)? Wish we had both photos. To compare.

Now naturally if they had A brown towel, they may have had a whole SET of brown towels. For the record, I highly doubt it was a BROWN towel. I imagine it might have been taupe or coffee or any number of other trendy bed and bath colors. In any case, if the missing towel was part of a set, how could law enforcement determine ONE was missing and specifically THE one?

It is very curious that the towel is missing but her bikini isn't.

That tells me that Suzanne had already removed her bikini and put it away, and the brown towel was used in some capacity, in relation to the crime. If the bikini had been, IMO it would have met a dumpster.

JMO

But dumping the bikini would give the game away wouldn't it? Isn't it in the photo? I think he realised it had to stay, but figured a towel wouldn't be missed?

 

[Megnut]

Between 4 pm and 10 pm, give or take, and IMO, if we could zoom in, I think we'd have seen Barry do what Barry does. Maneuver with ease amid the acreage around his property. His beloved hunting ground. Driving an ATV. If not his, his immediate neighbor's. IMO he'd have NO PROBLEM borrowing such a thing. Without permission. Didn't know he couldn't.

If someone saw him, on Saturday evening, in his camo jacket, tooling up a mountain path in an ATV with a cooler, a couple of shovels, maybe a dead animal, who would think twice? A day in the life.

By 10:30, he would've been back home. ATV put away (hey, I wonder if, if the neighbors had an ATV, stored and in disuse, if Barry had to problem solve. Around 5:30 pm. And borrow his truck battery. )

Anyway, back home by 10:30, hungry from manual exertion. No time like the present to grill up a nice steak. Throw a couple logs on the fire and start reading a journal, page by page into the blaze.

Oh, Suzanne...

JMO

 

[mrjitty]

I have to imagine Barry gave at least a cursory look before he left on the house on MD. It wasn't a GOOD look (because he left visible remnants in the fireplace, he left a round in the bedroom, he left a syringe cap in the dryer, he left a plate and a fork in the dishwasher, he left the doorframe splintered, I have to think he would've TRIED to clean up any obvious traces of his activities pre- and post-2:44 but then, I don't think he thought LE was going to lock down his house and pick it apart! The site of the bike was the "crime scene" after all. LE was supposed to look THERE. And this way and that, because of Cat and in the water because Suzanne may have gotten herself in it. Here, there, just anywhere but the house --

JMO

RSBM - I tend to agree.

I think he gives the game away in the AA transcripts. He confidently states Law enforcement won't find any evidence at the house or in his car. He's not a sophisticated guy. I think he means "evidence of the murder". That's because he thinks he's been so clever not to leave any forensic evidence of murder, and hide the body. So he knows they can't find "the evidence"

To him, none of the other stuff mattered, because it doesn't directly link to the murder.

02c

 

[Megnut]

RSBM - I tend to agree.

I think he gives the game away in the AA transcripts. He confidently states Law enforcement won't find any evidence at the house or in his car. He's not a sophisticated guy. I think he means "evidence of the murder". That's because he thinks he's been so clever not to leave any forensic evidence of murder, and hide the body. So he knows they can't find "the evidence"

To him, none of the other stuff mattered, because it doesn't directly link to the murder.

02c

And he completely forgot about the absence of evidence! Which is evidence itself!

The cessation of Suzanne's digital footprint
The cessation of any credible, meaningful activity for Suzanne (according to him, over 24 hours, Suzanne had soup, sunbathe, may have hiked, he just couldn't remember which day, did or didn't drink, would have made a vegetable, shared a steak, had sex and slept, naked and in an outfit -- his recollections seemed forced, speculative. No conversation recalled, no believable interaction IMO).
A towel identified in a photo, gone
Her journal, missing (even if it had been burned entirely to ash, just its removal from her nightstand is suspect)
The missing phone cord
The absence of his digital footprint at key times

He missed what he missed.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

Dial back.

Do y'all recall when PP first got listed and we wondered about who took the photos? Kitchen and mudroom, lacking. Some personal photos that seemed out of place. Anyone remember the towel in the bathroom? It was hanging like someone had recently used it, not folded like a guest towel or arranged to sell. In my memory, it was a brown towel.

JMO

Quoting myself, for reference and snipped for focus

I sifted back through a dozen threads to find the original discussions when PP was listed the first time, in October 2020. First with only exterior photos, then interior photos.

Thread #44

@Seattle made this exact observation in Post #262, comparing old and intermediate listing photos of the bathroom. Unfortunately the 2020 photo is Xed.

Off to search for that photo. @AmandaReckonwith

JMO

 

[Megnut]

@Cindizzi posted the photos in Thread 44, Post #376, if anyone's interested in seeing the listing photo as of October, 2020.

It's definitely a brown towel. Not taupe. Not beige. Not espresso. Brown.

JMO

 

[Momofthreeboys]

I dunno about the specific evidence here but can say that the soil in this area has a lot of clay. When it dries, it definitely can have the appearance of dried blood. MOO

Silt, a fine granular substance, can also take on reddish clay looking color and is generally carried by the water and deposited and when it dries would be a reddish brownish "blood" looking color. I cannot imagine LE would eliminate anything unless they had very good reason to. Ironic that this came up as we were just discussing the difference between clay and silt on Thanksgivng with our geo-tech/civil engineering kid.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

@Cindizzi posted the photos in Thread 44, Post #376, if anyone's interested in seeing the listing photo as of October, 2020.

It's definitely a brown towel. Not taupe. Not beige. Not espresso. Brown.

JMO

Agree that the towels were brown just plain old brown. What is interesting to me is that anyone would know one was missing. I'm not sure anyone in my family but me knows how many towels we even have of a particular color let alone if one were "missing". I'm wondering who "reported" a missing towel and who could verify that one was actually missing. It's intriguing if indeed "one" is missing but doesn't seem to have been something prosecution so far as pointed out so makes me wonder if the missing towel ended up being accounted for.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

I am going to be so fascinated to learn more detail on what evidence that have from the truck heading West.

I tend to agree with @sk716 they he can't have stopped, or they'd have the data of the doors opening which would be brutal - i think we would have seen that in the AA. But we don't know exactly what they do have.

But then why did he go back down that road with the truck?

Was it because he forgot to throw away the cycle helmet?

Seems to be a fairly massive blunder.

The only evidence they have is GPS data from vehicles and phones and Barry himself saying he went west before turning east to go to Broomfield to follow Elk to see their path so when shed season came he would know where to go look for antlers. Given what we know about Barry and selling antlers it is highly plausible and it's pretty common knowledge that deer, Elk etc. create and follow the same paths over the course of the year(s). Barry said he turned around at Garfield. We're not aware of any additional evidence yet. If there is no other evidence then it will be the jury who will need to decide if he went west to get rid of the helmet or if the possibility exists he turned west because he spotted the Elk as he said to LE. I personally could go either way without more clarity that will occur at trial because I find it odd that with the shut down of Hwy. 50 west and the search by LE and public the helmet was not found sooner.

 

[Boxer]

Between 4 pm and 10 pm, give or take, and IMO, if we could zoom in, I think we'd have seen Barry do what Barry does. Maneuver with ease amid the acreage around his property. His beloved hunting ground. Driving an ATV. If not his, his immediate neighbor's. IMO he'd have NO PROBLEM borrowing such a thing. Without permission. Didn't know he couldn't.

If someone saw him, on Saturday evening, in his camo jacket, tooling up a mountain path in an ATV with a cooler, a couple of shovels, maybe a dead animal, who would think twice? A day in the life.

By 10:30, he would've been back home. ATV put away (hey, I wonder if, if the neighbors had an ATV, stored and in disuse, if Barry had to problem solve. Around 5:30 pm. And borrow his truck battery. )

Anyway, back home by 10:30, hungry from manual exertion. No time like the present to grill up a nice steak. Throw a couple logs on the fire and start reading a journal, page by page into the blaze.

Oh, Suzanne...

JMO

The only evidence they have is GPS data from vehicles and phones and Barry himself saying he went west before turning east to go to Broomfield to follow Elk to see their path so when shed season came he would know where to go look for antlers. Given what we know about Barry and selling antlers it is highly plausible and it's pretty common knowledge that deer, Elk etc. create and follow the same paths over the course of the year(s). Barry said he turned around at Garfield. We're not aware of any additional evidence yet. If there is no other evidence then it will be the jury who will need to decide if he went west to get rid of the helmet or if the possibility exists he turned west because he spotted the Elk as he said to LE. I personally could go either way without more clarity that will occur at trial because I find it odd that with the shut down of Hwy. 50 west and the search by LE and public the helmet was not found sooner.

Are you saying you think helmet was put into roadside bush later? Who do you think would do that and why?

 

[sk716]

I dunno about the specific evidence here but can say that the soil in this area has a lot of clay. When it dries, it definitely can have the appearance of dried blood. MOO

Maybe, but wouldn't local deputies know what red clay is? Because of the way they are listed in the AA, I think they were noted by three different individuals.

I wondered about doe scent and other attractants ... is there anything in that wheelhouse that might stain reddish-brown? I think they're illegal in CO, but so are the tranqs.

 

[sk716]

Dial back.

Do y'all recall when PP first got listed and we wondered about who took the photos? Kitchen and mudroom, lacking. Some personal photos that seemed out of place. Anyone remember the towel in the bathroom? It was hanging like someone had recently used it, not folded like a guest towel or arranged to sell. In my memory, it was a brown towel....

I have no idea when that photo might have been taken. Or by whom.

But do we know when LE recovered/ discovered Suzanne's last photo? Could the brown towel have gone missing AFTER 5/9-10 (but before the recovery of said photo)? Wish we had both photos. To compare.

Now naturally if they had A brown towel, they may have had a whole SET of brown towels. For the record, I highly doubt it was a BROWN towel. I imagine it might have been taupe or coffee or any number of other trendy bed and bath colors. In any case, if the missing towel was part of a set, how could law enforcement determine ONE was missing and specifically THE one? Unless it was a singular towel. Like a bath sheet. A favorite for sunbathing maybe. It almost HAD to a be a one-off, right?

It is very curious that the towel is missing but her bikini isn't.

That tells me that Suzanne had already removed her bikini and put it away, and the brown towel was used in some capacity, in relation to the crime. If the bikini had been, IMO it would have met a dumpster.

JMO

The photos would have been staged and taken by the listing agent. I don't think they moved back into PP before putting it up for sale. Note the other rooms have no personalized decor and MM2 lived with Barry through all of that.

 

[sk716]

Agree that the towels were brown just plain old brown. What is interesting to me is that anyone would know one was missing. I'm not sure anyone in my family but me knows how many towels we even have of a particular color let alone if one were "missing". I'm wondering who "reported" a missing towel and who could verify that one was actually missing. It's intriguing if indeed "one" is missing but doesn't seem to have been something prosecution so far as pointed out so makes me wonder if the missing towel ended up being accounted for.

How many brown wash cloths? Four. Brown hand towels? 4. Brown bath towels? 3.

What color towel was in the pic? Brown.

Probably the girls, but in a round about way. When Suzanne shopped for home stuff, did she buy sets or mix and match? That kind of thing.