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

[justtrish]

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

I believe the truck gave them the mileage and it didn't add up. Then we have the time his truck was moving and then video of him passing certain spots on the drive. I think that is how there was missing time/miles and when questioned he said he went left.

 

[katydid23]

IMO, BM thought she was probably sleep-walking, or the reception was so spotty, hard to say.

She was sleep walking and she went a few miles on the 'sleep' walk? How'd she find her way home?

 

[OldCop]

Any idea where you got the 1:06 am? Want to source it so I can put a time on the timeline.

It took me 2 hours lol but I found mention of 1:06 p.m.

https://twitter.com/stephaniebutzer/status/1424748784148385794?s=21
Walker says he spoke with Barry the following day (May 11) at 1:06 p.m.

Barry said the last time he saw #SuzanneMorphew was May 10 at 5 a.m. He said they had had a great day and evening. He said she was "his angel" since they were 17 and they "love each other to death."

Okay, and now I’ve found this:
After the break, Chaffee County Undersheriff Andy Rohrich described going to the Morphew home after receiving the missing persons report on May 10. He arrived five minutes after Barry Morphew and seized Morphew’s truck immediately.
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/preliminary-hearing-for-barry-morphew-continues-into-day-3-with-focus-on-darts-needle-sheath-trash-runs

Thanks for trying to track this down, @Cindizzi. I think it’s safe to say BM did not drive his truck after arriving home from Broomfield.
If Rohrich seized the truck five minutes after BM arrived home it was approximately 20:47 pm on 5/10.
I think BM did not realize he wouldn’t get his truck back until he was told he could leave which was sometime after midnight, early morning 5/11, but that his truck would be seized for processing.
This should put to rest any thoughts that BM came back from Broomfield with any evidence in the truck.

 

[Hoss569]

Thank you for the information.
@Hoss569 - I think you are local. Is there any place like this around?
Maybe locals know of one by word of mouth?
I can Google, don't know what I would call it.
Pit of Hell?

Pit of Hell sure sounds accurate. I am not a big hunter and yes I did grow up there quite a few years ago. Most of the hunters there are after bigger game, that requires or most often is field dressed at the site of the kill including quartering. The hunting is fairly remote and removal of the animal can be a challenge.

 

[MassGuy]

She was sleep walking and she went a few miles on the 'sleep' walk? How'd she find her way home?

Lol, I can just imagine Barry going with the sleepwalking excuse.

"Listen, well let me tell you this, Suzanne used to get out of bed every night, and she'd take my phone and go down to my truck and open and close the doors..."

 

[Kemug]

Those farmer’s markets! Hot beds of illicit carrots and tomatoes

Yes, lettuce put them all in jail.

 

[mrjitty]

You get that Barry said he turned left, right? The prosecution doesn't even need it because there is so much more.

SA Harris explained to Barry that sometimes questions shed light on things and helps investigators know where not to look for Suzanne as well. SA Harris states there are things about his truck we are wondering and asks Barry when he left for Broomfield, did he turn right or left on to Hwy 50?

Page 73 of 129

Barry said, “Yeah, there was a herd of elk in the road and there was one bull and he was a nice bull. And they all went up the gulley there, where that old washed-out road is and they went up there. And I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to see how big this bull is.’ And I turned down there, and and, they crossed right in front of me and then I went down to the Garfield turn around and then went to Broomsfield.”

SA Grusing asked what Garfield is.

Barry said, “It’s a little town before the ski town. Little ski town.”

SA Grusing asked if it was before Monarch.

Barry said, “Yeah. I turned around right there.”

SA Grusing explained that Agents have checked and hadn’t seen Barry or others go past the Monarch camera.

Barry said, “Yeah, I didn’t. I turned around there. I turned, I, I went that way because I saw those elk. They were in road right there, before I got up to 50. And I let ’em cross and then there was one good bull in there and I like, ‘Man.’ And I just missed seeing how good he was. Yeah know, I’m a hunter and I just wanted to see him and I just turned that way to look at him. That’s, yeah, that’s, that’s the only thing and when I went to Broomsfield, I told Joe and Derek everywhere I stopped. I had crap blowing out of the truck, I pull over at one spot, got my truck situated, went off … ”

http://www.[link removed]/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AA_Text_html_m382a4461.png
...
Barry was shown a map printout of Hwy 50 near the Garfield area west of his Puma Path house and asked about where he turned around at Garfield when he left his house. He asks where his road is and is told that it is off the map. Barry said, “I can’t tell you exactly where I turned around, but it was probably the first road or drive going into Garfield.”

Barry said the reason he was watching where the elk go is because he hunts sheds and that while the bull didn’t have its horns, it was a big bull and he figured that Barry could get its pattern then he could follow that pattern and find his horns.

Barry talks about the county road where the helmet was found and said he was pretty sure he went past that one, because he was stilling looking at the herd.

[As Barry discussed watching the herd and its patterns and where he turned around, he was motioning several times back and forth with the pen from the road to the location of Garfield mine on the map.]

http://www.[link removed]/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AA_Text_html_1289a8fd.png
(Page 80 of 129)

...

SA Grusing asked Barry if, after he looked at the bull elk, he continued past the exit to 285 to Denver or continued on Highway 50 into town. Barry said, “No, I went straight there.” When asked how long he watched the bull elk and if it was walking along the highway, Barry said, “No, they crossed. I was trying to see where they were going up the mountain because that’s where I was gonna look for his horns because they do the same things, they’re gonna drop their horns in the same pattern.”

He added, “They had already crossed. They were in the road when I stopped in the road before I got to fifty, they were in the road, crossing, and then they cross the road, and by the time I get up there, they’re already cross in’ the mountain. I mean, I don’t stop on fifty, I keep going. I’m just watchin’ to see where they’re going. I get to Garfield, tum around, go right to 285.”

(Page 84 of 129)

...

Barry was shown a map of Garfield, Colorado and he confirmed he turned around on Sunday, May 10th, at the first place he could have, pointing to exit 228. Barry said he did not climb that road leading up into the mountains, nor did he go into any of the mines. He said George and his buddy searched those mine shafts for Suzanne. (Page 119 of 129)

​

I hope the prosecution have a great Telematics expert

Such a strange coincidence that telematics isn't functioning fully, just on the day SM goes missing.

 

[MassGuy]

I hope the prosecution have a great Telematics expert

Such a strange coincidence that telematics isn't functioning fully, just on the day SM goes missing.

They tend to be good at that. The FBI has experts in various fields, and we frequently see the same people testifying in Colorado trials (there's one particular cell phone expert that pops up a lot).

During the prelim, Grusing testified to what the experts determined, but those experts did not appear themselves.

They will.

 

[mrjitty]

They tend to be good at that. The FBI has experts in various fields, and we frequently see the same people testifying in Colorado trials (there's one particular cell phone expert that pops up a lot).

During the prelim, Grusing testified to what the experts determined, but those experts did not appear themselves.

They will.

Agreed - it's why i don't read too much into the prelim. It's typical for someone like Grusing to front numerous exhibits, even though he is not the author of them, in the short form format of the PH

 

[Lyanna]

Don't forget notorious drug lord, "CBD Tim!"

He's the "El Chapo" of Salida.

The fact that he sold CBD products at a farmer's market, notwithstanding.

 

[Kemug]

Due to popular demand, I have now added rats, crabs and snipes to the zoo. (I'll be passing the hat around soon for all the extra buildings required.) The snipes are quite well-behaved, and the rats are really cute, but the crabs! Scuttling here, there and everywhere, and don't even try to keep in their proper place in the choir .

 

[Kemug]

So even Barry says he turned left towards Garfield. But since Barry said it, I find it almost impossible to believe.

 

[DeDee]

I for one would love to know which ones Barry listened to and maybe even when. On a similar note what podcasts do my fellow sleuths enjoy listening to? Thanks in advance.

I have others but these tabs are currently open

Body Bags by Joseph Scott Morgan
Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan | iHeart

Unsolved South Carolina Murders is produced by WCIV ABC News 4 in Charleston.
‎The Murdaugh Murders, Money & Mystery | Unsolved South Carolina on Apple Podcasts

The Forensic Files
‎Forensic Files on Apple Podcasts
.

 

[MassGuy]

On page 112, Barry tells us exactly where some of the money from the went.

Barry was asked where the $30,000 from the GoFundMe page for Suzanne went and whether it was used to pay for the Longhorn Ranch property. Barry said, "I don't recall where money went, but like I said, if it, there, a lot of that money, I paid George $4000 cause he, s-, stopped working. I paid a lot of things out of that money, but I don't recall a lot of what it was."

This is a simple "yes" or "no" answer. It's not complicated, you purchased property with that money or you did not.

We always knew it was a scam, but now we know that some of it was certainly used to buy that lot.

This man is so shady it's unbelievable.

 

[mrjitty]

Barry missed the podcast that tells one what NOT to do when murdering your spouse. Things like being out of town for work and using someone peripherally involved to make the 911 call.

RSBM

Agreed. Engineering the discovery of the crime by an innocent party is a known form of staging that Law Enforcement look out for.

The last things I’d want to think about if someone I loved was missing are the terrible things that could have happened. I’d hope for something solvable like a flat tire not a mountain lion. Then, as more time passed, I might start worrying that maybe a chain broke not he’s in the river.

Barry went right to the deadly stuff. He’s so predictable. It’s easy to see why LE suspected something was off.

For me, this is Barry's biggest tell.

As human actors in a drama, we should act/react according to our personalities, but also according to our knowledge. So if you placed an actor in Barry's role in a crime drama, the actor doesn't just read the script. They think how does a guy like Barry react in this situation, and especially what would he be thinking, based on what he knows ...

Only days before, Barry has been told his wife is leaving him. He believes she is having an affair. This is knowledge known only to Barry.

Suddenly his wife is missing, while he is away on a work trip. She hasn't taken her wallet or car but has her phone. She has been ignoring his calls.

Surely one of the most obvious conclusions Barry would draw, is that Suzanne is with her affair partner???

With his kids freaking out, wouldn't he take an officer aside and say "hey there is an obvious possibility here ..."

 

[Megnut]

Where did Barry get a wig for his gf?

Suzanne had had cancer....

I. Just. Can't.

WHO DOES THIS STUFF????

JMO

 

[Mimi in London]

RSBM

Agreed. Engineering the discovery of the crime by an innocent party is a known form of staging that Law Enforcement look out for.



For me, this is Barry's biggest tell.

As human actors in a drama, we should act/react according to our personalities, but also according to our knowledge. So if you placed an actor in Barry's role in a crime drama, the actor doesn't just read the script. They think how does a guy like Barry react in this situation, and especially what would he be thinking, based on what he knows ...

Only days before, Barry has been told his wife is leaving him. He believes she is having an affair. This is knowledge known only to Barry.

Suddenly his wife is missing, while he is away on a work trip. She hasn't taken her wallet or car but has her phone. She has been ignoring his calls.

Surely one of the most obvious conclusions Barry would draw, is that Suzanne is with her affair partner???

With his kids freaking out, wouldn't he take an officer aside and say "hey there is an obvious possibility here ..."

Barry wanted other people to find out about the affair and take HIM to one side and suggest it, IMO.

How frustrating for him that it took so long for LE to follow the clues he left that Suzanne was having an affair. Heck, he even stayed up late friending all those Jeffs.

I believe he banked on people saying ‘poor Barry, he is so distraught he is clutching at straws … a mountain lion, an abduction…. he can’t face the possibility that she was having an affair and that she has run off with her lover.’

As discussed previously, if he revealed her affair, he might be seen to have motive. If he acted ignorant, that would (in his mind) distance him from motive and also elicit sympathy.

Another poster (was it @Cindizzi?) suggested BM may have been trying to make it look as though SM staged her own disappearance to look like an abduction.

Which brings us to some actions BM took, intending for LE to come to a ‘Gone Girl’ conclusion:

• Drop hints to family/friends that she has new interests, eg. taking trips, cycling alone, drinking beer, spending a lot of time on the phone in her bedroom.
• As one poster recently suggested, SM’s missing phone charger may have been designed to make LE think she took it with her.
• $$ missing from safe.
• Mysterious vehicle spotted in the vicinity by ‘unconnected’ third parties.
• The icing on the cake, or at least so he thought? The bike. Put it near a trail she didn’t ride, at a time of day she didn’t tend to ride, and lock the front brake. (I bet he couldn’t believe he had to get his own nephew to prompt the media to ask LE the question about the condition of the bike.)

Clumsy and imperfect? Yes. Sometimes forgets which scenario he decided to go with? Yes. Because he’s an idiot. ACME Disappearances R Us.

And the Godly, forgiving Barry is milking this for all it’s worth with his poor daughters. Mom left us. Dad is so magnanimous, he has forgiven her. LE is setting him up. Saint Barry.

IMO

 

[DellaC]

Just occurred to me that the reason SD may have worn a wig while checking in to the Antlers Hotel on 2/12/2021 is because that was not their first time checking in there to celebrate Valentine's Day together, but she did not want anyone who makes it an annual thing to go there to recognize that she had been there with him the prior year as well...

ETA: Do I remember correctly that SM told JL that BM wasn't going to be around Valentine's Day 2020?
Edited again: Page 30 of AA (the spy pen conversation with JL) - SM is in FL in Feb 2020 and tells JL that BM will not be coming there for Valentine's Day, so she and JL talk about meeting sometime between Feb 11 (a Tuesday) and Valentine's Day since BM is unlikely to show up.

And you do wonder how the witness knew SD had on a wig. Was it really cheap and obvious? Did it fall off? Did she know SD and recognize her despite the disguise? Did she see the same person with several different hair styles/colors during the weekend?

And did the wig happen to match the hair color of a certain missing person? Had it been used before, say on a dumpster date the week of May 4, 2020?

 

[Momofthreeboys]

And you do wonder how the witness knew SD had on a wig. Was it really cheap and obvious? Did it fall off? Did she know SD and recognize her despite the disguise? Did she see the same person with several different hair styles/colors during the weekend?

And did the wig happen to match the hair color of a certain missing person? Had it been used before, say on a dumpster date the week of May 4, 2020?

I'm alittle leery of the investigation in general, but I have to believe that LE was looking high and low for evidence of an affair on Barry's part or anything related to Barry so I do tend to believe they found no evidence of an affair prior to Suzanne going missing. I also have to believe based on the affidavit info that they did interview anyone who called in a "tip" that intrigued them which I have to believe some local would have had the two been spotted. I find it disingenuous to say on one hand that SD doesn't resemble Suzanne at all and how dare someone compare the two and then on the other hand believe she does enough to "fool" people. Wig or no wig.

 

[Scootie98]

Lol, I can just imagine Barry going with the sleepwalking excuse.

"Listen, well let me tell you this, Suzanne used to get out of bed every night, and she'd take my phone and go down to my truck and open and close the doors..."

MassGuy...hate to correct you...but you left out "She's done it her whole life".....