Still Missing CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #94

[sk716]

I remember this, which is one reason I am willing to believe we see the bike helmet outlined in the bag BM is carrying in People's Exhibit 32. http://www.[link removed]/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/People-Exhibits-Prelim-Hearing_Page_30.png

Where was it then? They seized his truck that night.

To dispute an argument before it starts: If three law enforcement agencies didn't find an accomplice, I have a hard time believing there is one. You would have to believe that Barry is smarter than Grusing. Barry doesn't trust anyone but himself. He would never bet his life on another party. He might have a couple of unwitting accomplices, but no one helped him dispose of Suzanne or the evidence.

I'm want to point out that the surveillance images we have are grainy still images. CBI and the FBI were working with actual video footage. If they thought it was the bike helmet, I think Grusing would have said it outright. That man does not play games in an interview. MOO

 

[DellaC]

I wonder if he had one of those sealed water proof bags that boaters, kayakers, and campers use. If so he could have hidden it down where the riverfront job site search on 105 was conducted a couple of weeks later. He had every right to be on that property, so wouldn’t have raised eyebrows by his presence. He stashed stuff Saturday night. That’s when the neighbor heard the loud machinery. Maybe that sound was simply BM’s truck running. MG said his truck sounded very loud and distinctive.
Did he retrieve it Tuesday evening stopping at Poncha Market on the way back to dump something there?
I’m still not sure how BM slipped away on Tuesday evening by himself. AM was in town and some IN friends. His truck was confiscated so what vehicle was he driving?

BBM. I think in the bodycam footage we can hear BM's truck about the time he quavers, "Where is it? Where's the bike?" followed more robustly by, "Where was it?...Was it a crash?...Lion?...No, a lion, a mountain lion?"

 

[sk716]

I wish we knew more about her biking habits/goals too.
On page 40 of the AA it shows how she would post on Instagram about her rides. ( Notice the time of day is afternoon, not 8:00-9:00 am like BM says).
On 4/20 she wrote captions : “ First single track!” “ Broke my first chain ”.

I’m not buying his story that SM asked him on Saturday to get the bike and helmet out of her car for a Sunday ride.
Especially the helmet part. Wouldn’t she grab the helmet herself when she grabbed the camelback/jacket/sunglasses?
Yes. Yes she would.
JMO

I think the biking was more Suzanne's "Me" time. We know she went to the gym pretty often and was working on getting certified as a fitness instructor. So the gym time was part of fitness and life goals. I think the biking was to be out communing with nature and having time to think things through.

 

[mrjitty]

I agree it is somewhere he knew . He had only lived at Puma Path for a couple of years so it is not as though he had the knowledge of a local who had been exploring the area since childhood. Quite a few months of the year there is snow so I do wonder how extensive his knowledge of the area he really has.

Again from No Stone unturned, if he drove 30-60 mins away and buried the body 4 feet down, finding it with no intel is likely impossible.

 

[MassGuy]

Where was it then? They seized his truck that night.

To dispute an argument before it starts: If three law enforcement agencies didn't find an accomplice, I have a hard time believing there is one. You would have to believe that Barry is smarter than Grusing. Barry doesn't trust anyone but himself. He would never bet his life on another party. He might have a couple of unwitting accomplices, but no one helped him dispose of Suzanne or the evidence.

I'm want to point out that the surveillance images we have are grainy still images. CBI and the FBI were working with actual video footage. If they thought it was the bike helmet, I think Grusing would have said it outright. That man does not play games in an interview. MOO

Exactly. Barry admitted turning left, which put him where that helmet was located.

He wouldn't have done that unless he did in fact make that turn (I'm sure he believed law enforcement knew that).

If an accomplice dumped it or he did it on his way back from Broomfield, then there's no reason to put himself there during those early morning hours.

 

[DellaC]

Where was it then? They seized his truck that night.

To dispute an argument before it starts: If three law enforcement agencies didn't find an accomplice, I have a hard time believing there is one. You would have to believe that Barry is smarter than Grusing. Barry doesn't trust anyone but himself. He would never bet his life on another party. He might have a couple of unwitting accomplices, but no one helped him dispose of Suzanne or the evidence.

I'm want to point out that the surveillance images we have are grainy still images. CBI and the FBI were working with actual video footage. If they thought it was the bike helmet, I think Grusing would have said it outright. That man does not play games in an interview. MOO

This is what I see in the AA, pg 7, about the truck seizure:

(Barry Interview – May 11th)

In the early morning hours of May 11, 2020, CCSO Detective Burgess and your affiant interviewed Barry Morphew.... (snipped here by me)
After your affiant ended the interview with Barry, he was told that law enforcement was going to seize his truck to process it.​

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Ok without mincing words, if you saw him going through a trash dumpster, not putting trash in but looking for something to take out, what would your exact words be?

I think “digging” is what most would come up with.

Guess someone would find humor in the looks of Barry’s truck. But since we are discussing a murder case, I find no humor there at all. Just a grisly reminder that he used his truck to drive to trash cans a long way from home to discarded of evidence used in a murder.
Not funny at all.

Some people are emotionally vested in cases they follow. Sometimes people make their mind up what happened before a trial. I am not emotionally invested. And if I've made up my mind about what happened I tend not to share and stay objective. I observe, read, listen, and think about trial strategy alot which is an interest I have and yes I think the preoccupation with some seemingly normal behaviors can be funny and can go on for pages and pages despite posters, and not only me, saying that something may not be unusual. I am not the only poster with a husband who has consumed the garage with junk and drives around with his life in his vehicle...and saves shoe laces. Sometimes I think I'm the only one brave enough to share those things. Sometimes it's like just waiting for the offensive line to come after you when you snap the ball. Trials are serious yes, and murders moreso, and it can be infinitely sad.... but ultimately it is not up to me...it is up to the jurors and what they hear that is accurate and unclouded and the case that prosecution brings and the defense put up to bring criminals to justice or to get them absolved if that is the case. The discussion that happens around the case is interesting, illuminating, often sad and yes, sometimes even humorous. People like me who believe in our system and believe in innocent until proven guilty absolutely can have different POVs...every case has two sides of the courthouse. And yes...words are important and impart different visuals and are used to illicit emotions or for intent. Reach down and grab and dig down and retrieve are very different actions and different words that may or may not accurate describe what actually happened. A garbage can and a dumpster impart different visuals per my comment about the NG "show" accounting of the very same situation.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Exactly. Barry admitted turning left, which put him where that helmet was located.

He wouldn't have done that unless he did in fact make that turn (I'm sure he believed law enforcement knew that).

If an accomplice dumped it or he did it on his way back from Broomfield, then there's no reason to put himself there during those early morning hours.

I agree, it seems like if he turned left an said he turned left he did. But, am I right in recalling his GPS did not SHOW his vehicle turning left or am I mixing up comments?

 

[sk716]

I suspect LE knew right away that there was no mountain lion, how? Lack of large cat prints. Not something you can fake easily.

Hey Tracker, what would need to happen to get a search team up that mountain?

 

[mrjitty]

I think the biking was more Suzanne's "Me" time. We know she went to the gym pretty often and was working on getting certified as a fitness instructor. So the gym time was part of fitness and life goals. I think the biking was to be out communing with nature and having time to think things through.

Biking is also great cardio without wrecking your knees - it's common amongst people of a "certain age" shall we say, who aren't jogging.

 

[MassGuy]

I agree, it seems like if he turned left an said he turned left he did. But, am I right in recalling his GPS did not SHOW his vehicle turning left or am I mixing up comments?

Nope, his truck didn't give them anything to work with. Barry was the gift that kept on giving.

 

[sk716]

This is what I see in the AA, pg 7, about the truck seizure:

(Barry Interview – May 11th)

In the early morning hours of May 11, 2020, CCSO Detective Burgess and your affiant interviewed Barry Morphew.... (snipped here by me)
After your affiant ended the interview with Barry, he was told that law enforcement was going to seize his truck to process it.​

Yes. Barry got to Maysville at roughly 8:45 pm. They were bagging Suzanne's bike clothes at 9:39pm. They interviewed Barry that night/early morning.

 

[Megnut]

I think part of that time was spent when he reflected upon just what he had done, all the while blaming Suzanne, of course. I wonder if he said a prayer for her, since he considers himself such a Godly man.

MOO

I imagine he did all his reflecting and grieving and forgiving in the evening hours of Saturday. And by "reflecting and grieving and forgiving" I mean that he threw a journal on the fire and fired up his grill.

A man's gotta eat.

By 11 pm, it was all business.

JMO

 

[annpats]

I think the biking was more Suzanne's "Me" time. I think the biking was to be out communing with nature and having time to think things through.

Exactly, and to get away from him for a while.....

 

[OldCop]

Is it possible when detecting fingerprints (his specifically) on the bike to determine how he held the bike and that he could have (and did) discard it?
Sorry if I’m not clear.

If you have a decent set of prints you would be able to tell how it may have been held. On something like this you would also look for palm prints to see if it was a grasp as opposed to just a touch. Sly BM made a point of touching the bike after he got back from Broomfield within sight of LE. So when that LEO was on the stand during trial testifying how BM’s prints were found on the bike, he would have to answer “yes” when the defense asks him, “Isn’t it true that you saw BM touching the bike AFTER SM disappeared?”
Ironically, BM complained loudly that 10 officers touched/handled the bike. That did not seem to be the case after reviewing the body cam footage, (although the officer that brought it up the hill should have had gloves on).

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Where was it then? They seized his truck that night.

To dispute an argument before it starts: If three law enforcement agencies didn't find an accomplice, I have a hard time believing there is one. You would have to believe that Barry is smarter than Grusing. Barry doesn't trust anyone but himself. He would never bet his life on another party. He might have a couple of unwitting accomplices, but no one helped him dispose of Suzanne or the evidence.

I'm want to point out that the surveillance images we have are grainy still images. CBI and the FBI were working with actual video footage. If they thought it was the bike helmet, I think Grusing would have said it outright. That man does not play games in an interview. MOO

I'm still not 100% convinced there isn't someone that witting or unwittingly was involved in her disappearance. I'm sure I'll eventually have to give that one up as they have not uncovered anyone nor has anyone slipped up in anyway. But there is really nothing to discuss as there's nothing that can be discussed other than the belief. I do not believe the helmet went all the way to Broomfield. If they bring up the "left turn" defense is going to counter that they are relying on his GPS and that didn't show the left turn. I'll be interesting in how defense "frame" some of Barry's responses. Just makes you wonder...but I imagine we might get a sense from the entire conversations if he was just fed up and feeding junk to Grusing to get him off his back...too bad we might not every hear them now :-(

 

[OldCop]

Some people are emotionally vested in cases they follow. Sometimes people make their mind up what happened before a trial. I am not emotionally invested. And if I've made up my mind about what happened I tend not to share and stay objective. I observe, read, listen, and think about trial strategy alot which is an interest I have and yes I think the preoccupation with some seemingly normal behaviors can be funny and can go on for pages and pages despite posters, and not only me, saying that something may not be unusual. I am not the only poster with a husband who has consumed the garage with junk and drives around with his life in his vehicle...and saves shoe laces. Sometimes I think I'm the only one brave enough to share those things. Sometimes it's like just waiting for the offensive line to come after you when you snap the ball. Trials are serious yes, and murders moreso, and it can be infinitely sad.... but ultimately it is not up to me...it is up to the jurors and what they hear that is accurate and unclouded and the case that prosecution brings and the defense put up to bring criminals to justice or to get them absolved if that is the case. The discussion that happens around the case is interesting, illuminating, often sad and yes, sometimes even humorous. People like me who believe in our system and believe in innocent until proven guilty absolutely can have different POVs...every case has two sides of the courthouse. And yes...words are important and impart different visuals and are used to illicit emotions or for intent. Reach down and grab and dig down and retrieve are very different actions and different words that may or may not accurate describe what actually happened. A garbage can and a dumpster impart different visuals per my comment about the NG "show" accounting of the very same situation.

Well said, @Momofthreeboys.

 

[NothingSurprisesAnymore]

I wonder if Barry and SD are spending Valentines Day together again this year.

I think it's lovely that she's been helping him get over the loss of his wife, and I think he was being completely truthful when he claimed that there was nothing sexual going on.

I mean, who doesn't spend a couple days holed up with another woman in a hotel room?

And shut their phone off.

And buy them a big bouquet of flowers.
View attachment 333613

Nothing to see here...

This is one of my favorite Barry lines: "Well, I just, I'll tell you right now, that she is a special person in my life and it's, I've told you before she is a, a dear friend. There is nothing sexual going on with her and I..."
View attachment 333614
Sure Barry. Page 93.

May I add another line to your favorite?
Barry to Grusing:
"I don't understand, I mean, she's (Suzanne) a good woman. You guys probably think she's a piece of crap."
Pg.82

 

[Megnut]

Oh, Barry was definitely feeding Grusing junk.

Chipmunk junk.

Long on answers, short on truth.

JMO

 

[DellaC]

Exactly. Barry admitted turning left, which put him where that helmet was located.

He wouldn't have done that unless he did in fact make that turn (I'm sure he believed law enforcement knew that).

If an accomplice dumped it or he did it on his way back from Broomfield, then there's no reason to put himself there during those early morning hours.

I agree that it makes the most sense that he'd turn left and plant the helmet. I'm not sure Barry does what makes sense to most of us. If we find out that his window rolled up/down somewhere on that Garfield left turn excursion, then I will be more convinced he dumped the helmet then. I have no idea what else he might have been doing there, although it seems he spent more time/miles needed than to dump just a helmet.

The helmet was found May 15, 2020, right? When was it publicly announced that the HELMET was found (and not just a personal item)?

I do remember AM saying he was surprised the rather bright teal helmet had not been noticed when a group had searched the area in the day or two after Suzanne's disappearance. He noted one of the search party had peeled off in the "helmet zone" before they were done. I can't find this interview. Can anyone point me to the source?

The HIE photo suggests BM had a helmet with him. Was it Suzanne's? I can't say, but the outline looks more like a bicycle helmet than a hard hat or firefighter helmet to me.

It's an interesting tanget to ponder--BM plants helmet AFTER May 10--but I don't think it changes the overarching argument that he planted the helmet, that his alibi stinks, and that his wife went radio silent on his watch.