Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #106

[Seattle1]

Not to stray to far off topic, but, IMO, it is not pointless. There are systems in place that handle certain scenario's that happen. One for instance, if you are on the phone with someone and you hear something happening that needs immediate emergency services. You can call 911, best to not hang up as they can retrieve the location of the third party wireless phone, if phone was manufactured in the last 4 to 5 years, but all they really need is the address to transfer to the correct PASP (public safety answering point).

If there is interest, this FCC document can maybe shed some light on how wireless geo tagged data has not progressed as much as you would think until very recently. Many wireless 911 calls still go through the nearest cell tower for the location, not based off the geo location data of the phone making the call. In other words, the PASP center closest to the tower gets the call and not the PASP center closest to the phone. This is all currently changing/upgrading right now.

Sadly 988 is yet to accept wireless geo location data.

There was much discussion about this issue early in the case.

What I know for a fact is when I was sitting in Alaska and talked to a friend residing in Pueblo West, CO, concerned about his blood sugar, I dialed 911 and the call center taking my call routed me within seconds to the appropriate dispatch in Colorado. The operator stayed on the line and announced my call to the operator that I was reporting an emergency for 719... I only made one call, period.

I'd bet my house that BM could have done the same with the same result.

BM could have called Sheriff Speeze directly if he wanted -- but there was no emergency.

The Ritters were victims of BM.

JMO

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Because 911 calls are geolocated to the area they are placed from. Calling 911 a couple hours away from Salida would have been pointless.

It might have already been said in these threads, but if investigators are still attempting to determine the husband and his locations during that period (when she disappeared and when he reported this to someone)….. could investigators use his phone contacts and location history at that time and whom he contacted then and their data to form any details? MOO.

If the phone(s) are no longer available or also disappeared, that would complicate such an effort. MO

 

[GOBliaison]

His probation period for the weapons charge is coming to an end.

I happen to think IE plans to file civil suits, looking for damages. A lot of noise and potential windfall if players roll and settlements are reached.

Nothing about justice, everything about self-promotion.

Barry Suzanne twice.

Jmo

IE ...?

“...but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets (her) hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: (Her)'s is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Macbeth, Act V Scene 5, (attrib.)

[Acknowledgement, with my apology, to The Bard;
my appreciation, once again, for Our Megnut's cue.]

 

[GOBliaison]

ETA: And 99% of the population in Chaffee County would have been left sitting in jail on the bond conditions set by Judge Murphy.

But...
... how is it that BM was permitted to use community property - there was no showing that this 500K cash bond was his separate property - particularly as doing so allows of the strong inference that BM "knew" (with his infantile legal certainty) that all the marriage's $$$ was then and there his; that said asset could not possibly be in any part Suzanne's property because of his absolute certainty that she no longer existed.
Somebody here should have (1) "reminded" the court that the unrestricted control of such wealth might have more likely than not been the motive for a husband murdering his wife, and (2) further moved that the court not tacitly assume that Suzanne was a nullity.

^ AIMO ^​

---------------------------
Ergo:
From atop the woolsack, it is pronounced:
Mrs. Barry Morphew, physical whereabouts presently unknown, shall hereby, herewith and henceforth in these proceedings be rebuttably presumed to persist in all property interests of which she was seized as of May 9th, 2020.

As a courtesy, Mr. Barry Morphew is again reminded as to the availability, upon application and financial qualification, of counsel from the Public Defender's Office. {The recorder will note the instant and noisome exodus, absent leave of court and all decorum, of defense counsel from this courtroom, apparently triggered by this reminder.}

 

[Auntie Cipation]

There was much discussion about this issue early in the case.

What I know for a fact is when I was sitting in Alaska and talked to a friend residing in Pueblo West, CO, concerned about his blood sugar, I dialed 911 and the call center taking my call routed me within seconds to the appropriate dispatch in Colorado. The operator stayed on the line and announced my call to the operator that I was reporting an emergency for 719... I only made one call, period.

I'd bet my house that BM could have done the same with the same result.

BM could have called Sheriff Speeze directly if he wanted -- but there was no emergency.

The Ritters were victims of BM.

JMO

Entirely agree.

Especially since BM had no ostensible reason to think his wife had been killed, kidnapped or even had had trouble while on a bike ride.

He and his daughters had tried to call/text SM with no reply. That was as much as they knew.

His reasonable concern would have been only for a welfare check. She might have suffered nothing worse than a dead phone, as far as they knew (again, ostensibly).

His immediate "need" for 911 only points to his guilt as far as I am concerned. MOO

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Is BM still living with his daughters? Have they given any recent interviews? TIA

 

[Seattle1]

It might have already been said in these threads, but if investigators are still attempting to determine the husband and his locations during that period (when she disappeared and when he reported this to someone)….. could investigators use his phone contacts and location history at that time and whom he contacted then and their data to form any details? MOO.

If the phone(s) are no longer available or also disappeared, that would complicate such an effort. MO

Welcome to WS @I am not Sherlock H. and thread for Suzanne. This case actually progressed to a few weeks before the scheduled trial date before it was requested dismissed without prejudice by the prosecutor.

It wasn't dismissed for lack of evidence including the husband's phone/location forensics but for court sanctions striking most of the state's expert witnesses. In other words, the prosecution already has BM's phone history and location but lost the expert to present and validate the information.

The MEDIA ONLY link is a good resource to catch up on the details.

CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 , MEDIA,MAPS,TIMELINE *NO DISCUSSION*

NO DISCUSSION A Chaffee County woman is missing after a neighbor said she went out for a bike ride Sunday and never returned https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/chaffee-county-woman-missing-since-sunday-after-neighbor-said-she-went-out-for-bike-ride

www.websleuths.com

 

[Seattle1]

Is BM still living with his daughters? Have they given any recent interviews? TIA

I don't recall anything about and/or from the "family" since their GMA interview. At the time, it was reported BM moved to Denver. IMO, they are all adults now (and further speculation of non-suspects violates TOS).

 

[CGray123]

Isn't it the case that CO has no capital offenses? Making everything bailable, right? And they appear to be giving bail to people who are rather dangerous, IMO.

Since Colorado abolished the death penalty, this argument is available to first degree murder defendants who are denied bail, and we will probably see it one day IMO. However, BM's offense occurred just before the effective date of the DP repeal: he didn't even try this argument.

 

[10ofRods]

I'd have to go back into the original posts here but didn't the neighbor call Barry and tell him Suzanne was missing? Why would he call somebody else to call 911 then? Of course it's logical he would ask the person who told him his wife was missing to call police.

IIRC, he gets calls from the daughters who state that mom isn't answering her phone. I believe the daughters may have called the neighbor, then Barry calls her (or she calls him, can't remember). The neighbor then is asked (by Barry) to walk over to the house and see what's up. Neighbor responds that car is in the garage, but no Suzanne. Suzanne is missing. Bike hasn't been found yet - but I believe the neighbor makes a second trip after speaking to Barry and finds the bike, establishing that Suzanne "went on a bike ride and is now missing" motif.

It's not at all logical that the neighbor would be asked to call the police. Barry could have dialed 911 from Denver and they would have transferred him to his local 911 system (guess he wasn't paying attention during firefighter training). He also could have called the business number, since it was not yet an apparent emergency. Or his VERY good friend (also a firefighter?) who lived on the other side of the house and could have gone to investigate the "bike accident" more ably than the elderly neighbor.

Nope, Barry wanted to protect his friends and to have an elderly neighbor (who cannot be suspected in any way of involvement in Suzanne's disappearance) call it to the police. The girls could have called the police too. They had smart phones - takes about 15 seconds to get the non-emergency police number for Salida/Puma Path area. Much less suspicious than having his good buddy call it in.

If he was racing to get back home, calling the police himself (even if the neighbor did dial 911) would have been the thing most people would do - to make sure police were responding and give his estimated time of arrival. For Barry was pretending that he had just heard about Suzanne's "bike accident." Wouldn't he have wanted some of his able bodied friends (one of whom lived about a 10th of a mile away) to go check out the situation?

No, no he did not want that. At all.

IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Because 911 calls are geolocated to the area they are placed from. Calling 911 a couple hours away from Salida would have been pointless.

This is simply not true in most locales and I wish we could stop repeating this. See @Seattle1 's post above. I only have volunteer fire training Level 1, but every volunteer in my group knows that 911 is nationwide and we can dial on cell phones from anywhere and be RAPIDLY patched through to the jurisdiction where we are requesting help. Those of us who have had elderly relatives know this well.

That being said, I do not know that this works in every state of the United States, but it works in every state that I've lived in or visited for a substantial amount of time (which includes Colorado).

If you need help for a person while you are away from home, dialing 911 is still the best way to get it.

IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

It might have already been said in these threads, but if investigators are still attempting to determine the husband and his locations during that period (when she disappeared and when he reported this to someone)….. could investigators use his phone contacts and location history at that time and whom he contacted then and their data to form any details? MOO.

If the phone(s) are no longer available or also disappeared, that would complicate such an effort. MO

Not sure exactly what you're asking - but on the day Suzanne disappeared, no, investigators would have had no access to that information. Yet.

By the time he is arrested, they have ample records of his phone and its whereabouts (that's one way they found his trash dumping sites).

There's no evidence he switched phones (which would have been suspicious). At any rate, his phone records from the day of the murders show him running all around the back yard (where Suzanne is also on her phone) "shooting chipmunks" (he admits he had a firearm and was shooting. Or something like that - the trial never happened, so we do not have "evidence" in the traditional sense. Others may remember more details.

IMO.

 

[MountainDad]

Initial investigation into Suzanne Morphew's disappearance. CBS News

At 5:58 p.m. on May 10, 2020, Damon Brown, a deputy with the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, received a call to contact a man who had called to report that his neighbor was possibly a missing person. Dispatch told Brown that Suzanne Morphew’s husband was driving back from Denver and did not have cell service, but he was actually at a hotel in Broomfield, where there was service, the affidavit reads.

The neighbor said one of Suzanne Morphew’s daughters, who was in college, had contacted him because she couldn't reach her mother and wanted him to check on her. The neighbor’s wife looked around the residence, but didn’t find Suzanne Morphew, so the neighbor called Barry Morphew, who said he couldn’t reach Suzanne either and asked the neighbor to call 911.


Consciousness of guilt - Avoiding interactions. Creating alibi.

 

[GatorFL]

IIRC, he gets calls from the daughters who state that mom isn't answering her phone. I believe the daughters may have called the neighbor, then Barry calls her (or she calls him, can't remember). The neighbor then is asked (by Barry) to walk over to the house and see what's up. Neighbor responds that car is in the garage, but no Suzanne. Suzanne is missing. Bike hasn't been found yet - but I believe the neighbor makes a second trip after speaking to Barry and finds the bike, establishing that Suzanne "went on a bike ride and is now missing" motif.

It's not at all logical that the neighbor would be asked to call the police. Barry could have dialed 911 from Denver and they would have transferred him to his local 911 system (guess he wasn't paying attention during firefighter training). He also could have called the business number, since it was not yet an apparent emergency. Or his VERY good friend (also a firefighter?) who lived on the other side of the house and could have gone to investigate the "bike accident" more ably than the elderly neighbor.

Nope, Barry wanted to protect his friends and to have an elderly neighbor (who cannot be suspected in any way of involvement in Suzanne's disappearance) call it to the police. The girls could have called the police too. They had smart phones - takes about 15 seconds to get the non-emergency police number for Salida/Puma Path area. Much less suspicious than having his good buddy call it in.

If he was racing to get back home, calling the police himself (even if the neighbor did dial 911) would have been the thing most people would do - to make sure police were responding and give his estimated time of arrival. For Barry was pretending that he had just heard about Suzanne's "bike accident." Wouldn't he have wanted some of his able bodied friends (one of whom lived about a 10th of a mile away) to go check out the situation?

No, no he did not want that. At all.

IMO.

Sorry but I still disagree. In times of crisis, you're asking the neighbor who is on the phone with you to call 911 in your absence. Plenty of time to call the police while you're on your way back.

IMO

 

[GatorFL]

This is simply not true in most locales and I wish we could stop repeating this. See @Seattle1 's post above. I only have volunteer fire training Level 1, but every volunteer in my group knows that 911 is nationwide and we can dial on cell phones from anywhere and be RAPIDLY patched through to the jurisdiction where we are requesting help. Those of us who have had elderly relatives know this well.

That being said, I do not know that this works in every state of the United States, but it works in every state that I've lived in or visited for a substantial amount of time (which includes Colorado).

If you need help for a person while you are away from home, dialing 911 is still the best way to get it.

IMO.

I'm sorry, but a 15 second Google to the Federal 911 website 100% contradicts your statement.

FAQ About Calling 911

Find answers to some of the most common questions Americans have about calling 911, teaching children to call 9-1-1, becoming a telecommunicator and more.

www.911.gov

Following is a direct quote from the website which I've linked:

"With few exceptions, 911 calls cannot be transferred to other towns, cities or states. The best option to obtain emergency assistance in a different state, county or city is to dial the 10-digit phone number for law enforcement in the community where assistance is needed. Those numbers can be found on the local law enforcement agency’s websites."

 

[Charlot123]

Just a thought:

Can it be, that SM is hidden in a burned (burnt)-out ruin somewhere?
I looked at a joke minutes ago about "sexy firefighters", as BM surely considered himself, and "Pling!", the lightbulb began to glow.

Brilliant idea, especially if the ruin was burned with her inside. Even if she is found, sometimes one doesn't realize that he is seeing a human body. Among other things,
it shrinks. DNA proof is often next to iimpossible.

 

[Seattle1]

Since Colorado abolished the death penalty, this argument is available to first degree murder defendants who are denied bail, and we will probably see it one day IMO. However, BM's offense occurred just before the effective date of the DP repeal: he didn't even try this argument.

An offense does not cease to be 'capital' where the death penalty may not be imposed. Since at least the 70's, case law provides it's unaffected by the constitutionality of the DP. And BM's defense did try this argument but Judge Murphy quickly shut it down.

Found Deceased - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #106

This is actually one of things about this case that I don't have a problem with. He was out of town and unable to call 911, best he could do was the Salida main police phone. Having the neighbors call 911 on his behalf ensured an emergency response in his absence. As somebody who travels for...

www.websleuths.com

ETA: Supreme Court Oral hearing on May 4, 2023 at 9:15 AM

2023SA2 (1 HOUR)
In Re: Plaintiff: The People of the State of Colorado, v. Defendant: Jerrelle Aireine Smith.

Issue: Whether, following the repeal of the death penalty, those charged with class 1 felonies have an absolute right to bail. Whether the court of appeals erred in dismissing Smith’s appeal taking pursuant to section 16-4-204, C.R.S.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Supreme_Court/Oral_Arguments/Schedules/May%20orals%20docket1.pdf

 

[jakat]

What was Barry doing in Broomfield?

Napping? Destroying a ton of evidence?

 

[FromGermany1]

Entirely agree.

Especially since BM had no ostensible reason to think his wife had been killed, kidnapped or even had had trouble while on a bike ride.

He and his daughters had tried to call/text SM with no reply. That was as much as they knew.

His reasonable concern would have been only for a welfare check. She might have suffered nothing worse than a dead phone, as far as they knew (again, ostensibly).

His immediate "need" for 911 only points to his guilt as far as I am concerned. MOO

His reasonable concern must have been (because his wife wanted to separate and he knew it very well), that SM on MD didn't drive her bicycle out of sporting motives, but that she could have met a charming rival* in town. All her family had left her even on MD, so SM could have planned a wonderful day for herself as a consolation. That BM didn't speak about this possibility, says it all: He KNEW 100%, that SM wasn't able, to have a nice day somewhere, because she already had been "disposed" of. His task was thouroughly done; publicly he hadn't to worry except about 2 things: a bike accident or a disappearance (or both).

Any (innocent) jealous man would have had other ideas first, I am sure.

* I don't mean JL!

 

[FromGermany1]

Last night I saw a movie/crime. 2 men were walking on top of a mountain, the father of a murdered daughter and the fiance of his dead daughter. The father suspected the fiance to be the murderer of his daughter. When the fiance's guilt became clear, the father shot him to death with his hunting rifle.
After his deadly shot the father threw himself on his back and stared at the sky.

I had to think of Bury, when he did the same, after his revenge campain against his wife and a half-hearted search.