Still Missing CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #97

[marylamby]

This also seems to indicate she thought her father was at home, not at his big, important job in Broomfield.

Damn you're good!

 

[Warwick7]

Remember when AM was under the distinct impression that BM had taken both a polygraph and a voice analyses test, and passed. He seems to have had no reason to disbelieve this information until he was told by the CBI agent that it was not true.

 

[Kemug]

I don't think I could have put up with Barry for more than a few years, if that - apart from everything else, he is just so childish. Threatening to kill himself, threatening to jump out of the car, going off for days in a huff, slamming on the brakes - and who knows what else. And has never had the brains to try to grow up a bit. I would like to know a bit more about his upbringing.

 

[al66pine]

Homicide by Fall/Push. "Survivable" Height?

...4. It was Barry trying to set a plan in motion and then he decided against the hiking plan as a way to get rid of her.
Side note: I listened to a podcast recently about a couple that went hiking and the woman "fell" to her death... turned out he pushed her. I wonder if Barry had listened to a podcast on that story and was kicking the idea around?

@justtrish sbm for focus. Thx for your post. Yes, BM may have heard podcast & considered the push-her-off-cliff technique but may have thought of a potential drawback: Fall causing injuries, not fatality.

Fall Risk? Lethal Distance.*
"... LD50, or distance at which you have a 50% chance of fatal injuries. If you fell from 48 feet (about 4 stories),
statistically you have about a 50% chance of survival. At 84 feet (or 7 stories), the mortality rate is 90%, meaning you'd be very unlikely to survive a fall from this height."

A schemer finding no handy cliff w fatal freefall drop might decide against that method. my2ct
_______________________
* Falling Injuries & Fatality Rates | RECOIL OFFGRID
^ has link to source of info, a medical trauma textbook.
BTW A list of seven ppl , w no parachutes, surviving falls from
6000 to 33,000 feet, from planes or skydiving accidents.
Highest falls survived without a parachute - Wikipedia

 

[marylamby]

Snipped from post made by @marylamby in thread 96
re BM ogling women:
" ....Barry and Suzanne had A PERFECT MARRIAGE, remember? Yet another lie from the man..."

@marylamby bbm sbm Thx for your post.
Despite BM's ogling - and possibly much, much more - he may have believed he had a perfect marriage, w no thought given to Suzanne's take on the marriage.

Is it possible he was not deliberately lying about his feelings about their relationship. At least not until Spring 202o when he saw her drastically changing. But then telling LE & others sooo many lies.

Remember the old line (joke?), a man in bar replies to woman:
"This band on my left ring finger? Well, my wife is married but I'm not. Lemme buy you a drink."

Very funny! I recently saw that in a movie where a man said something to that effect.
However, LE were specifically asking him the state of the marriage and if there was talk of divorce etc over and over.
Little did he know M1's boyfriend and M1 herself had already stated that there was in fact talk of divorce.
But yeah, I agree. He did think it was the perfect marriage until Suzanne found her voice, decided she deserved more and got her groove on.

 

[FromGermany1]

I agree! When she texted, "wanna meet to hike", and he didn't respond to that . . .

ETA: Including text snippet from Page 34 of the AA:
On May 9, 2020, at 9:50 AM, Suzanne's texted Barry, "Want to hike?"
At 10:36 AM, Suzanne texted Barry, "Wanna meet to hike?"
At 10:48 AM Barry responded, "No. I'll come home."


JMVHO.

bbm
Can we say, that at 10:48 AM his final plan probably was completed in his mind?

 

[marylamby]

Can anyone here who knows way more about this document explain what the meaning of:

"Keep Protected-contains sa vic info*****"

which I presume to mean sexual assault victim.

It is Exhibits 27, 30,and 26 on page 5 at this link:

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Freemont/Morphew/MORPHEW ROA AS OF 3_1_22.pdf

Is that pertaining to the victims of the DNA on the glove box, or something found in email discovery?

I don't follow you, heck it's hard to follow any of it but on a completely unrelated note - -I'm not sure if I'm reading this correctly but it looks like the date of Barry's offense of 'Public Servant - Attempt to Influence' was on 5/9/20 which was 4 days after his arrest?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[marylamby]

Well, I don't think she would have been thinking that one of them was dead, JMO. More likely, she thought that they were arguing for hours, with maybe yelling and sobbing. And even "only" that would be particularly sad on Mothers Day.

As @OldCop said, Barry couldn't be in two places at once. He told them where he was, even though there was no job.

 

[Niner]

Friday, March 4th:
*Motions Hearing (@ 9:30am) - CO – Suzanne Renee Moorman Morphew (49) (missing May 10, 2020, did not return from bike ride (supposedly), Maysville, Chaffee County, not found) - *Barry Lee Morphew (53/now 54) arrested & charged (5/5/21) with 1st degree murder after deliberation, tampering with physical evidence & attempting to influence public servants. And additional charges (5/18/21) of tampering with a deceased human body & possession of a dangerous weapon (short rifle) & amended (5/18/21) to add domestic violence as sentencing enhancement. The possession of a dangerous weapon (short rifle) charge has been severed from other charges. Plead not guilty. $500K Cash only bond. Bonded out on 9/20/21.
Trial set to begin on 4/28/22 with jury selection for 2 days & trial begins on 5/3/22 thru 6/3/22 & was moved from Chaffee County to Fremont County in Cañon City.
*Charged (5/13/21) with felony forgery of public records & misdemeanor elections-mail ballot offense. $1K Bond. Chaffee County
Felony forgery charges will be addressed after murder trial.
Missing info, Barry’s PP loan & court info from 5/10/21 thru 2/6/22 reference post #863 here:
Still Missing - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #93
2/10/22 Update: This morning: judge ruled prosecutors must hand over evidence from the system inside Suzanne's Range Rover. It was listed in an email between pros & agents as "helpful" but was never handed over to defense. Prosecutors are also ordered to hand over anything found on Suzanne Morphew's iCloud. Her phone was never found. This was previously ordered to be turned over by Judge Murphy, but apparently wasn't. Prosecutors have 14 days to get defense both. Prosecutors asked to use evidence in the trial from comments Sheila Oliver made regarding what she says Suzanne explained as Morphew being "physically violent". Judge ruled prosecutors can not use any statements Sheila made. Basically, Sheila told investigators Suzanne made comments about Barry being abusive. No concrete evidence to prove this like texts or what not. So technically this would be hearsay. Prosecutors are NOT allowed to use this. She is still allowed to be called as a witness. The judge changed Morphew’s trial date. It’s now set for 4/29/22 to 6/3/22. Next court date is for motions hearing on 2/24/22. And motions hearing on 3/4/22, hearing on 4/7/22 pretrial readiness conference hearing jury selection begins on 4/8/22 & jury selection with a motions hearing on 4/29/22. Trial will continue from 5/3/22 thru 6/3/22.
2/24/22 Update: Morphew defense talked a lot about concerns they have of improper use of witnesses by the prosecution. The judge ruled any profiling or victimology will be excluded at trial. The prosecution can use a witness as an observation witness as well as an expert. Morphew defense says the prosecutors have not complied with deadlines imposed by the judge for several months like a detailed witness list explaining what type of experts the witness is & their qualifications. “We really think the court should take severe sanctions, including dismissal,” Morphew’s lawyer said. Morphew attorneys say they're still requesting the trial to be dismissed. A statement allegedly made by Agent Cahill saying Barry's arrest was "premature." It's likely this will be discussed in the hearing 3/4/22. Defense also says they plan to call members of CCSO & 7 LE officers have been subpoenaed for that day. The credibility of a former CBI agent who worked on the Morphew case will likely be discussed. Judge Ramsey Lama has not issued any sanctions on the prosecution yet. The discovery defense supplement is due 3/4/22 & a final Motions hearing is set for 9:30am on 3/4/22. A notice of those who will be called to testify is due 3/25/22. Extra day added to trial for jury selection, will now start on 4/28/22. They'll send out 1,000 summons to people in Fremont County with a 120 count backup summons. First two days will be jury questionnaires. A request was made by the defense to extend the trial days & the court set the trial to run from 5/3/22 through 6/3/22. At the end of today’s hearing, Morphew’s defense attorneys told the court they have filed for the dismissal of the murder case, saying prosecutors have mismanaged case.
2/9/22: Defense's Supplement to Motion for Sanctions [D-17(c)]. Exhibit A, B & C [D-17(C)]. 2/23/22: State's response to defense supplement to Motion for Sanctions [D-17(c)]. 2/24/22: Notice filed Event ID #000128. The people of the State of Colorado: Notice of withdrawal of attorney Daniel Edwards.

 

[marylamby]

Does anyone still have a link for the AA. I thought it was downloaded on this tablet but can't find it. I tried the link on the first page and doesn't show it there now. Thanks!

file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/21cr78%20Morphew%20Redacted%20Affidavit-4.pdf

 

[Megnut]

I agree! When she texted, "wanna meet to hike", and he didn't respond to that . . .

ETA: Including text snippet from Page 34 of the AA:



JMVHO.

bbm
Can we say, that at 10:48 AM his final plan probably was completed in his mind?

Whoop, there it is.

Suzanne refused to get in a car with him. Ballsy.

I think Barry had been angling to get her alone. Away from the house.

That must've been what the pizza date was all about.

And the hiking.

Her radar was up.

Barry didn't want to meet to hike. That would have defeated his purpose.

What I wonder is what happened between 10:48 and when he got close to PP. Said he was coming home but decided to detour -- spending time behind the house. Up to no good.

You know, maybe that's when the idea to tranquilize her entered his mind. That's how he could get her into a vehicle with him. Sedate her.

Only he underestimated her (in every way a man could but here I mean in her resolve to fight back) resulting in his loss of control, breaking through the door and connecting with her (violence resulting in her defensive maneuver, gouging him).

So my point: when Suzanne refused to go hiking with him in the same vehicle, he took matters into his own hands.

Literally.

JMO

 

[ivegotthemic]

I don't follow you, heck it's hard to follow any of it but on a completely unrelated note - -I'm not sure if I'm reading this correctly but it looks like the date of Barry's offense of 'Public Servant - Attempt to Influence' was on 5/9/20 which was 4 days after his arrest?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

@swedeheart

The keeps protected section means they arent including the name of the person the evidence comes from. Public court documents do no list the names of minors, so I assume their from one of the daughters. the evidence is email and a supplemental report (ie factual summary from and interview). Ive never worked with CO court docs so I could be wrong, but im 90% sure thats what it refers to

 

[DeDee]

You don't need physical evidence to reach a conclusion. The Schelling case had no body or physical evidence, and it resulted in a conviction. Cell phone evidence and lies go a very long way. We're way past "CSI."

In crime investigations, digital evidence ‘outweighs’ DNA

“From trespassing to capital murder, there are pieces of digital evidence,” Hillman said. “DNA is important, but digital evidence outweighs it 100 percent.”

Digital evidence from cell phones or computers can often provide leads, information and hard evidence. DNA is still useful, Hillman said, but an electronic trail is present more often than DNA in most cases.

“If you think about it DNA was very critical and does play a big role in what we do, but it’s only in a very small percentage of our cases,” Hillman said. “Digital evidence, however, is in 90 percent of our cases.”

I am so grateful you are here to consistently post relevant data, information and evidence when need be. I also appreciate all of you who continue to do the same.

Folks these days, that don't live with their head in the sand, understand tracking devices. The jury will comprehend the telematics and Barry's insidious habit of turning his phone on and off in airplane mode, especially early on Mother’s Day Morning as he made numerous stops to dump trash and check into a HIE. This will be evidence used in a murder trial. They are not hints, allusions or disparaging remarks.

Nearly the entire country just watched in awe as Elon Musk raced his satelite across the sky in order to provide internet connections for the Ukrainian people.

They have no proof that we know about. No body, no physical evidence tied to a crime, just innuendos. I think he did it but don't see how they can convict.

That is simply not true but thanks for playing. We all know the body is the most important evidence of a murder investigation. BM thought about this event often and for a long time. He knew, due to his hunting and tracking skills, how to secret Suzanne in those mountains so that she could not be found; although not for a lack of trying. He hunted his wife that Mother's Day Weekend, tracked her down and, without a thought about her children, murdered her then discarded her body because she was "done" with him.

"On Mother’s Day, May 10th, 2020 Suzanne Morphew was reported missing to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office. Almost immediately the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office asked for
assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, CBI, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI.

A search For Suzanne started immediately and over the course of the past nearly four months over 100 personnel, including air support, water craft, underwater equipment, drones and
numerous types of K-9 have been utilized in an attempt to find Suzanne.

A tip line was immediately established and hundreds of tips have been fielded and are being investigated.

The investigation team has conducted hundreds of interviews both in Colorado and out of state and continue to develop leads and contact potential persons who may have information into
the disappearance of Suzanne.

With the assistance of both the CBI and the FBI our investigate team has tapped the full resources of both agencies.

As with any investigation our responsibility and priority is to determine the facts and maintain the integrity of the investigation. Our sole focus is either finding Suzanne or determining the
circumstances behind her disappearance and the only way to do this is to keep the information gathered as the result of this investigation under seal.

The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, CBI, FBI and the 11 th Judicial District continue to devote our resources to this investigation. Not one day has passed since Suzanne was reported missing
that our investigative team has not been focused on Suzanne Morphew.

Our investigative team is committed to releasing information to the public ONLY when it is in the best interest of Suzanne Morphew and this investigation."

Suzanne Morphew - Chaffee County Sheriff
.

 

[ivegotthemic]

That is simply not true but thanks for playing. We all know the body is the most important evidence of a murder investigation. BM thought about this event often and for a long time. He knew, due to his hunting and tracking skills, how to secret Suzanne in those mountains so that she could not be found; although not for a lack of trying. He hunted his wife that Mother's Day Weekend, tracked her down and, without a thought about her children, murdered her then discarded her body because she was "done" with him.

.

To piggy back off your eloquent analysis, Prosecutors must adhere to a special ethical rules while carrying out their duties. In criminal cases, a defendant must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, this is a very high bar, jurors must be 99% a person committed a crime to find them guilty. To bring criminal charges against someone, the prosecutor must believe, given the facts and evidence of a case, that they can prove a person is guilty of a crime, beyond a reasonable doubt. if they htink they have a 50/50 shot of winning, bring the case to trial is a violation of ethics rules.

Also No body cases are inherently harder to win because there's usually not a ton of physical evidence and the case is based on a lot of circumstantial evidence. Prosecutors are always hesitant to bring no body cases to trial for that reason and because they only get 1 shot at BM. If they go to trial and lose, he cant be charged for the murder again due to double jeopardy rules. SM deserves to get justice for what happened to her, they know no body cases are harder to win, and I assure you they would not bring this case to trial unless they felt they had a very strong case.

 

[mrjitty]

To piggy back off your eloquent analysis, Prosecutors must adhere to a special ethical rules while carrying out their duties. In criminal cases, a defendant must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, this is a very high bar, jurors must be 99% a person committed a crime to find them guilty. To bring criminal charges against someone, the prosecutor must believe, given the facts and evidence of a case, that they can prove a person is guilty of a crime, beyond a reasonable doubt. if they htink they have a 50/50 shot of winning, bring the case to trial is a violation of ethics rules.

BIB - a minor point but I think you might be conflating two things here

The prosecutor must believe they have evidence that can prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt at trial.

However their assessment of their prospects of winning is different. e.g in the UK, the CPS will prosecute if they believe they have a realistic chance of success i.e. is the court/jury more likely than not to find the accused guilty.

 

[mrjitty]

Interesting breakdown...especially the part about what witnesses will and will not be allowed to testify to at trial.

In his view the trial will be way different than the AA and even the prelim.

His comments about the DNA lead me to believe he isn't very familiar with the detail of the case.

 

[pseudo_hum]

I wonder what Grusing's success rate is?

I too wonder; if Agent Grusing believes BM guilty, what made him know that, and at what time during the "befriending" relationship did it occur?

 

[susiQ]

I too wonder; if Agent Grusing believes BM guilty, what made him know that, and at what time during the "befriending" relationship did it occur?

Well, my guess is Agent Grusing strongly suspected BM was guilty before he even interviewed him .

On May 28, 2020, Agents Cahill and Graham interviewed BM and questioned him on the tranquilizer darts. They had located the sheath in the dryer and Barry lied about not having used any tranquilizer darts in CO. Whoops! Enter Agent Grusing on June 2, 2020. I really do think Grusing knew before he went in that Barry was guilty of disappearing his wife and the bike story was total bs. Oh, and there’s the 3-30 hrs of Barry’s word salads that Grusing would have heard. Heck, we all seriously suspected he did something to her just by watching that ridiculous FB video he released. I still cringe when I see it. JMO

 

[Scootie98]

I would characterize the motive as the divorce and BM's absolute refusal to concede to it. It was SM's expressed determination to go through with it and the signs that she was already moving on that triggered BM's decision to physically act to prevent the divorce. SM was no longer allowing her intentions to regain her own life to be impacted by BM's denial, dismissiveness, argumentativeness, intimidation, and threats of self-harm. So, he escalated to a form of control that would more effectively serve his ends.

It goes beyond BM's "absolute refusal"...which you correctly noted: It is also BM's often expressed declaration that "marriage is for life". That can and should be interpreted in the literal sense.

 

[Scootie98]

Snipped from post made by @marylamby in thread 96
re BM ogling women:
" ....Barry and Suzanne had A PERFECT MARRIAGE, remember? Yet another lie from the man..."

@marylamby bbm sbm Thx for your post.
Despite BM's ogling - and possibly much, much more - he may have believed he had a perfect marriage, w no thought given to Suzanne's take on the marriage.

Is it possible he was not deliberately lying about his feelings about their relationship. At least not until Spring 202o when he saw her drastically changing. But then telling LE & others sooo many lies.

Remember the old line (joke?), a man in bar replies to woman:
"This band on my left ring finger? Well, my wife is married but I'm not. Lemme buy you a drink."

I would submit that BM's definition of a "perfect marriage" does in fact differ greatly from conventional thought. If he gets his way, its perfect. There really aren't any other factors for him to consider.