Still Missing CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #91

[Skigh]

The one thing I keep wondering about is the wedding. It was the daughter of Suzanne's best friend so I would have thought Suzanne's daughters would also have been involved as they must have grown up with the bride. Would they have not also been part of the wedding?


Another thought I have had is was there ever any evidence of anything either Barry or the girls had done to celebrate mother's day for Suzanne...cards, gifts or flowers pre ordered ?

 

[sk716]

To answer you question, IMO the prosecution should group and make the presentation of their evidence more fluid and relevant. In my mind< I am comparing the hearing back in August with the Daybell hearing. Granted, we were not given the same access (no web coverage), so it could be the reporting of the hearing and the subsequent evidence released, that is making me feel this way.

IMO unless there is a major change in the prosection team, and an experienced prosecutor is bought in to lead, Barry will not be found guilty.

Please view the Plunder PH transcripts. The headlines make it seem like the defense is stacked. They're not.

This is the correct order for the Plunder transcript vids:

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew’s spy pen recordings, $ inheritance & Barry’s investment in silver

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew called the cops, Barry Morphew sneaked up to 19057 Puma Path house

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew’s LAST “planet Earth” 2:11pm LinkedIn DM to Jeff Libler: I’m on WA

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew & Jeff Libler MULTI-DAY MARCO ISLAND trip, Back2Back Barry Morphew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLHPcpMjQWg&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=7

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Barry Morphew’s text to Suzanne: I think I can overcome your distant unlovingness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS2lkLdczTw&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=6

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew's 2:11 pm May 9 sunbathing, Barry's 5-HOUR May 10 HOTEL ROOM stay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZY0AiDtlo&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=5

COURT TRANSCRIPT: "Chase me around the resort & threaten." Suzanne Morphew list of Barry grievances
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLJg1xurgjY&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=4

 

[sk716]

Im afraid her friend SO will not be much help. Like you pointed out she can recall and show what SM told her only. I’m not sure if she was an eye witness to anything substantial against BM. I don’t believe the girls will testify against their dad. Will they back up those statements where their mentioned in those texts? The defense is going to say SM lied to her own father about the reason she had to cut her visit short with him (she left to see JL), the defense already called out the friendship between SM & SO - IIRC something like “Suzanne lied to Shelia”.

I’m looking forward to watching any released LE interviews with BM. I want to see this dude just talking and get a feel for him myself.

I never have to be right on Webslueths but don’t share the same confidence in this case as the majority. I’m good with being wrong. IMO

Nope. Lots of stalking behaviors and several indications that Barry was suspicious that Suzanne was having an affair. She often, without her knowledge, used SO as an excuse. So SO got to see the stalking without knowing about the affair.

Sheila told FBI Agents in 2021 that Barry called her in the summer of 2019 when Suzanne was in Michigan, asking why Suzanne was not returning his calls, he stalked Suzanne and Sheila at the Puma Path house in September 2019 to see what Suzanne was up to – sneaking through the woods, and of earlier accounts in Indiana when Barry suspected Suzanne may have had a boyfriend before they got married. (AA)
...
Suzanne came back to visit Sheila twice from Colorado. Once was Thanksgiving 2018, while the Morphew’s were still trying to sell their house in Indiana. While Suzanne was at the Oliver’s house, she had stepped away from her cell phone to use the restroom, and Barry tried calling her several times within a few minutes, then tried calling Sheila, then tried calling Darin. He was persistent and obsessive about knowing where she was, at least when she was with Sheila. The other time was June/July 2019, when Suzanne returned to Indiana to visit Sheila, and then went to Michigan to visit her dad. Barry called Sheila saying he couldn’t get in touch with Suzanne. Suzanne told Sheila this was odd, because Barry never bothered to call Suzanne any other times. He was just very persistent in checking up on Suzanne when she was with Sheila. (AA)
...
PH SA Harris: Yeah. Barry was away hunting in New Mexico or Arizona, and Sheila and Suzanne and Macy I believe – I don’t know if Mallory was there — were at the house they saw headlights come up – their neighborhood is fairly secluded. So they saw headlights coming up to the house.
They turned off short of the Morphew’s driveway and then they thought they saw somebody walking in and coming through the driveway and up into the woods like they were looking into the house. So they were trying to determine what was going on they called Pete Cushman, one of the neighbors. He went out and looked around, didn’t find anything. Then they still thought they saw something so they ended up calling 9-1-1. And Suzanne spoke with the 9-1-1 dispatcher and during the course of the 9-1-1 call they figured out that it was – the headlights come back on and it comes into the driveway, and it was Barry in his truck coming into the neighborhood.​

 

[MassGuy]

Nope. Lots of stalking behaviors and several indications that Barry was suspicious that Suzanne was having an affair. She often, without her knowledge, used SO as an excuse. So SO got to see the stalking without knowing about the affair.

Sheila told FBI Agents in 2021 that Barry called her in the summer of 2019 when Suzanne was in Michigan, asking why Suzanne was not returning his calls, he stalked Suzanne and Sheila at the Puma Path house in September 2019 to see what Suzanne was up to – sneaking through the woods, and of earlier accounts in Indiana when Barry suspected Suzanne may have had a boyfriend before they got married. (AA)
...
Suzanne came back to visit Sheila twice from Colorado. Once was Thanksgiving 2018, while the Morphew’s were still trying to sell their house in Indiana. While Suzanne was at the Oliver’s house, she had stepped away from her cell phone to use the restroom, and Barry tried calling her several times within a few minutes, then tried calling Sheila, then tried calling Darin. He was persistent and obsessive about knowing where she was, at least when she was with Sheila. The other time was June/July 2019, when Suzanne returned to Indiana to visit Sheila, and then went to Michigan to visit her dad. Barry called Sheila saying he couldn’t get in touch with Suzanne. Suzanne told Sheila this was odd, because Barry never bothered to call Suzanne any other times. He was just very persistent in checking up on Suzanne when she was with Sheila. (AA)
...
PH SA Harris: Yeah. Barry was away hunting in New Mexico or Arizona, and Sheila and Suzanne and Macy I believe – I don’t know if Mallory was there — were at the house they saw headlights come up – their neighborhood is fairly secluded. So they saw headlights coming up to the house.
They turned off short of the Morphew’s driveway and then they thought they saw somebody walking in and coming through the driveway and up into the woods like they were looking into the house. So they were trying to determine what was going on they called Pete Cushman, one of the neighbors. He went out and looked around, didn’t find anything. Then they still thought they saw something so they ended up calling 9-1-1. And Suzanne spoke with the 9-1-1 dispatcher and during the course of the 9-1-1 call they figured out that it was – the headlights come back on and it comes into the driveway, and it was Barry in his truck coming into the neighborhood.​

Yup, and I don't think anyone can look at those situations and say that they are not an example of controlling behavior.

Add to that the money that he controlled, and the suicidal threats, etc.

Eventually he realized he had lost that control...say, around Mother's Day.

 

[sk716]

Has MM2 confirmed this? If she did, then I would want her as a witness to address her reasoning why she suggested it.

The restraining order is in the texts to SO. MM2 has said:

Sergeant Hysjulien spoke with REDACTED on May 11, 2020 and REDACTED admitted that her parents argued a lot and that she feared they would separate or divorce. She said that they were “not doing well” and that it was for the best that they would separate. REDACTED reported that they (Barry and Suzanne) were both in an “unsafe place” emotionally. (AA Page 6 of 129)
...
“I’m just so sad and REDCATED and I texted mom for Mother’s Day and she still hasn’t answered and I’m scared her and dad probably got in a big fight and I don’t even know it just made me want to be gone even more because I don’t want to be around them it hurts me and I know if REDACTED is working I might have to be home a lot more and it’ll probably be the worst summer of my life.”(AA Page 40 of 129)
​

So, pretty damning, really.

 

[sk716]

Thanks for postings these.

I have queries for two of the photos.

The scratches - I don't think they are fingernail scratches. My reasoning is that they are too short and uniform. However, i am wondering if I am looking at the picture the wrong way. If B had S in a headlock, that may work, but I still think that are too short, unless in this scenario, S lost consciousness quickly.


The Bike - is it just angles, as it seems to me that there is only dirt residue on part of the tyres (both back and front). Are there any cyclists on here who could tell me whether this bike has brakes on the back and on the front and what kind of dirst residue would be on the tyres if the bike braked hard and skidded to a halt.

Again, from the Arrest Affidavit (It's a great read):

Deputy Brown and CCSO Sergeant Lamine Mullenax drove to the Morphew residence and turned onto County Road (CR) 225 from US Highway 50 at about 7:31 PM. They drove slowly, looking along the steep incline along the shoulder of CR 225 for the bicycle. As Deputy Brown turned the comer, he saw a blue mountain bike down near the ravine close to the bottom of the hill with the front tire pointed downwards, toward the creek.

Sergeant Mullenax accompanied Deputy Brown to investigate the blue Santa Cruz mountain bike. They saw no indications of a crash, as Deputy Brown noted, “The vegetation around the bike was not flattened in the area where a human body would have landed.” There was no blood around the bike, nor was there any apparent damage to the bike. Due to the steepness of the incline, the bike should have been damaged if an accident had occurred. When Deputy Brown moved the bike up to the path, he noticed that the front brake pad was seized and the handlebars were turned completely to the left, causing the brake cables to wrap around the bike frame. Deputy Brown and Sergeant Mullenax examined the dirt shoulder of CR 225 immediately above the area where the bike was recovered and “did not observe any braking marks (skid marks) from a bicycle.”​

 

[sk716]

My husband and I have in our circle of friends several trial attorneys who have familiarized themselves with this case. They know and respect E&N but they see the case as a slam dunk for conviction, so long as the prosecution focuses on the core case and doesn't chase all the White Rabbits the defense will set loose.

Which is exactly what they are doing but somehow people think the Prosecution is the side that's flailing.

 

[Seattle1]

Still Missing - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #90

@Seattle1 it's cross from the PH.

Q Eytan: So Mr. Libler claimed that after his daughter discovered something going on between Mr. Libler and a woman that they stopped communicating completely, right?

A Harris: Yes, for a time.

Q Eytan: And that he actually said that he deleted all his apps including Facebook and Instagram and text with her to eliminate any ability for anyone to find anything out about them, right?

A Harris: Correct.

Q Eytan: And you said that soon after that, around December 2018 early 2019 Suzanne reached out to him finding him on a LinkedIn account, right?

A Harris: Yes, I believe he said it was around Christmas.

Q Eytan: And then Mr. Libler said that at that point they started it up again, right?

A Harris: Correct.

Q Eytan: But, actually, because you have Mr. Libler’s phone records during that time period, you know that they were talking consistently, almost daily, between November 15 and the end of December. Is that right?

A Harris: The phone records show that they were talking by phone. Yes.

Q Eytan: So it’s not true that they stopped communicating because his daughter found out about them, right?

A Harris: I don’t know that it’s not true that they —

MR. LINSDEY: Objection on that not true part.

THE COURT: I’m sorry, there were two people talking.

MR. LINDSEY: I object to defense counsel’s characterization of the not true part.

THE COURT: It’s the same objection one of you two made earlier.

MS. EYTAN: Why is that (inaudible). So I mean what he stated earlier was not true to what the evidence has shown.​

Lindsey's objecting, but JL is already an unreliable witness. He was already unlikable, now he's an unlikeable liar.

Thank you @sk716 -- I think I got it now:

Essentially, their contact after his daughter found their messages was limited to the phone. However, there must have been a time for however brief where JL stopped picking up that caused SM to track down his LinkedIn at Christmas and send her "worried sick about you" message.

I'm not worried about this for the prosecution and their unlikable witness.

If JL is called to testify and his testimony, (not an FBI Agent), is that he eliminated all forms but telephone contact and he stopped taking SM's calls during the holidays when his children and family were together, and not until SM located his LinkedIn and started messaging him did he respond, then I don't think that hurts JL's credibility. If anything, it might look to jurors like SM was stalking him and he could not say no to her. Nobody has to like JL here but he's also not on trial for murder. JMO

 

[Nikynoo]

I am very interested to hear from attorneys how the hearsay rule applies (or not) to all of the out-of-court statements by SM and BM. I generally see SM's statements coming in not to prove the truth of their contents (i.e. BM threatened suicide) but to establish her state of mind (she was scared, she wanted out of the marriage).

But could some of these statements come in as evidence that what she said was true? Will we see a motion to exclude at least some of these statements as inadmissible hearsay?

Is that what E&N are setting up by hammering on SM's lies to conceal her affair from her friends and family? That what she said in her written messages to them is too unreliable and prejudicial to be admitted in evidence?

This is the way I would play it, but I am not a criminal trial lawyer.

I would say that those statements to SO that can be confirmed as true by another source or more than one other source (e.g. MM2 and BF) then they would be given more weight. IMO the texts are simply a record of contact between friends which may (or may not) contain information that can be supported by another source.

 

[sk716]

I have to wonder about a 16 year old making that statement. Probably heard it from a friend whose parents were going through an acrimonious divorce.

If you read through the texts that went up yesterday. MM2 did have a friend with divorced parents but it was okay. I don't recall the full text.

 

[Nikynoo]

Please view the Plunder PH transcripts. The headlines make it seem like the defense is stacked. They're not.

This is the correct order for the Plunder transcript vids:

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew’s spy pen recordings, $ inheritance & Barry’s investment in silver

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew called the cops, Barry Morphew sneaked up to 19057 Puma Path house

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew’s LAST “planet Earth” 2:11pm LinkedIn DM to Jeff Libler: I’m on WA

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew & Jeff Libler MULTI-DAY MARCO ISLAND trip, Back2Back Barry Morphew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLHPcpMjQWg&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=7

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Barry Morphew’s text to Suzanne: I think I can overcome your distant unlovingness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS2lkLdczTw&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=6

COURT TRANSCRIPT: Suzanne Morphew's 2:11 pm May 9 sunbathing, Barry's 5-HOUR May 10 HOTEL ROOM stay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZY0AiDtlo&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=5

COURT TRANSCRIPT: "Chase me around the resort & threaten." Suzanne Morphew list of Barry grievances
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLJg1xurgjY&list=PLb5Y3Gt2L6EjWchpRmuIf9XK9b8ZD6Gz6&index=4

Thanks!

 

[Cindizzi]

If you read through the texts that went up yesterday. MM2 did have a friend with divorced parents but it was okay. I don't recall the full text.

 

[sk716]

Ive left similar scratches on my ex-husband from trying to pry him off me....

Several WSers had their spouses putting us in choke holds to check the scratches, we tended to agree that the scratches are in the right position and direction for clawing fingernails.

If you've left those marks in self-defense, I'm proud of you. Always fight back, draw blood if you can.

 

[K9Enzo]

Nope. Lots of stalking behaviors and several indications that Barry was suspicious that Suzanne was having an affair. She often, without her knowledge, used SO as an excuse. So SO got to see the stalking without knowing about the affair.

Sheila told FBI Agents in 2021 that Barry called her in the summer of 2019 when Suzanne was in Michigan, asking why Suzanne was not returning his calls, he stalked Suzanne and Sheila at the Puma Path house in September 2019 to see what Suzanne was up to – sneaking through the woods, and of earlier accounts in Indiana when Barry suspected Suzanne may have had a boyfriend before they got married. (AA)
...
Suzanne came back to visit Sheila twice from Colorado. Once was Thanksgiving 2018, while the Morphew’s were still trying to sell their house in Indiana. While Suzanne was at the Oliver’s house, she had stepped away from her cell phone to use the restroom, and Barry tried calling her several times within a few minutes, then tried calling Sheila, then tried calling Darin. He was persistent and obsessive about knowing where she was, at least when she was with Sheila. The other time was June/July 2019, when Suzanne returned to Indiana to visit Sheila, and then went to Michigan to visit her dad. Barry called Sheila saying he couldn’t get in touch with Suzanne. Suzanne told Sheila this was odd, because Barry never bothered to call Suzanne any other times. He was just very persistent in checking up on Suzanne when she was with Sheila. (AA)
...
PH SA Harris: Yeah. Barry was away hunting in New Mexico or Arizona, and Sheila and Suzanne and Macy I believe – I don’t know if Mallory was there — were at the house they saw headlights come up – their neighborhood is fairly secluded. So they saw headlights coming up to the house.
They turned off short of the Morphew’s driveway and then they thought they saw somebody walking in and coming through the driveway and up into the woods like they were looking into the house. So they were trying to determine what was going on they called Pete Cushman, one of the neighbors. He went out and looked around, didn’t find anything. Then they still thought they saw something so they ended up calling 9-1-1. And Suzanne spoke with the 9-1-1 dispatcher and during the course of the 9-1-1 call they figured out that it was – the headlights come back on and it comes into the driveway, and it was Barry in his truck coming into the neighborhood.​

Fair and good points. However, IMO, they were both a mess with each other. She’s tracking his cell location and secretly leaves a recording device in his truck. They both accuse the other of cheating and and dare I say stalk each other. This is a terrible relationship. IMO

 

[sk716]

The one thing I keep wondering about is the wedding. It was the daughter of Suzanne's best friend so I would have thought Suzanne's daughters would also have been involved as they must have grown up with the bride. Would they have not also been part of the wedding?


Another thought I have had is was there ever any evidence of anything either Barry or the girls had done to celebrate mother's day for Suzanne...cards, gifts or flowers pre ordered ?

As to the first part, what with COVID lockdown, it doesn't surprise me that they girls weren't involved, but since it was being streamed, they could easily have watched from the road.

As for the second ... I wonder? I'd be curious to know if he historically made a big deal on Mother's Day.

 

[sk716]

The problem is he doesn’t lie all the time. They have confirmed quite abit of what he claims. It is the time that can’t be confirmed that is suspect.

I'm going to need examples of times Barry told the truth (the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help him, God), where he wasn't faced with telling an even more damning tale.

Barry has confessed to small crimes to avoid confessing to larger crimes. Are those the truths you're talking about?

 

[Nikynoo]

Again, from the Arrest Affidavit (It's a great read):

Deputy Brown and CCSO Sergeant Lamine Mullenax drove to the Morphew residence and turned onto County Road (CR) 225 from US Highway 50 at about 7:31 PM. They drove slowly, looking along the steep incline along the shoulder of CR 225 for the bicycle. As Deputy Brown turned the comer, he saw a blue mountain bike down near the ravine close to the bottom of the hill with the front tire pointed downwards, toward the creek.

Sergeant Mullenax accompanied Deputy Brown to investigate the blue Santa Cruz mountain bike. They saw no indications of a crash, as Deputy Brown noted, “The vegetation around the bike was not flattened in the area where a human body would have landed.” There was no blood around the bike, nor was there any apparent damage to the bike. Due to the steepness of the incline, the bike should have been damaged if an accident had occurred. When Deputy Brown moved the bike up to the path, he noticed that the front brake pad was seized and the handlebars were turned completely to the left, causing the brake cables to wrap around the bike frame. Deputy Brown and Sergeant Mullenax examined the dirt shoulder of CR 225 immediately above the area where the bike was recovered and “did not observe any braking marks (skid marks) from a bicycle.”​

Thanks for the reminder and also the links to the transcripts. I didn't realise that Plunder was allowed here.

I read all of the AA when it was released . So, from the above, what we need is - What caused the front brake pad to seize? Was it the bikes journey down to near the ravine, or was it locked by other means?

I would have thought that a bike going downhill with or without a human would incur some sort of damage (e.g. scratches to the frame, embedded vegetation, damaged spokes). It would make more sense if someone carried the bike down and then threw it on the ground, so have no damage at all. It would also make more sense (to me anyway), to dispose of the helmet at the same time and place. BUT, I suppose someone who wanted to create an abduction scenario, would scatter items along a route, e.g. bike first and then helmet?

 

[sk716]

Fair and good points. However, IMO, they were both a mess with each other. She’s tracking his cell location and secretly leaves a recording device in his truck. They both accuse the other of cheating and and dare I say stalk each other. This is a terrible relationship. IMO

No argument from me. Is killing someone really easier than divorce to these guys? I think I'd rather pay the lawyers for a divorce than a murder rap.

 

[Megnut]

I don't think that it's just the matter of their relationship being terrible, I think it's the nature of their relationship.

In the end, it breaks this way:

Suzanne wanted to find Barry a separate place to live.

And Barry wanted Suzanne dead.

Therein lies the power imbalance.

So much worse than a terrible relationship.

She had fingernails. He had a dart.

She had no way out.

JMO

 

[sk716]

Thanks for the reminder and also the links to the transcripts. I didn't realise that Plunder was allowed here.

I read all of the AA when it was released . So, from the above, what we need is - What caused the front brake pad to seize? Was it the bikes journey down to near the ravine, or was it locked by other means?

I would have thought that a bike going downhill with or without a human would incur some sort of damage (e.g. scratches to the frame, embedded vegetation, damaged spokes). It would make more sense if someone carried the bike down and then threw it on the ground, so have no damage at all. It would also make more sense (to me anyway), to dispose of the helmet at the same time and place. BUT, I suppose someone who wanted to create an abduction scenario, would scatter items along a route, e.g. bike first and then helmet?

Just those Plunder transcripts, otherwise, Plunder is not allowed.