Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #107

[10ofRods]

The only question to answer then is how? One of the other vehicles? I even considered a 4 wheeler. He's used to using those for hunting and I googled.. some have a range of 200 miles and can go 50mph. I tried looking up the trails in the area to see if there was a way he could use back roads and trails to get from his house to the Moffat area, but got interrupted. I'll look more later. I think I recall something about a cooler or several coolers missing from his house. If he's used to hauling large animals out of hunting areas on a 4 wheeler then I'd say he could haul a small human that way too.

This was one of my initial ideas, as well. I asked and looked, but could not find anything but anecdotal evidence (from Suzanne's stepbrother) that he had an e-bike designed for all terrain and for hunting. Here's what I think:

I don't think he could drive all 40 miles on the e-bike. But I do think he could put his phone in airplane mode and haul the e-bike. I also think he could have used a vehicle (to haul the e-bike) that was not his truck (IIRC, Suzanne's own vehicle didn't have GPS).

So he could have parked NEAR where she has been found, and used the e-bike. If he had an e-bike, it was never discovered or taken into evidence, though. He was also said to be able to carry deer heavier than Suzanne for several miles - so he would have used that to his advantage.

IMO. Missing cooler is important too. I just feel in my heart that LE would never have mentioned it, if they didn't wonder about it - and I wonder about it too.

I totally agree that if he could put his phone on airplane mode, use a different vehicle than usual, and then his e-bike/hunting 4-wheeler (which I personally believe he owned), he could create a problem that took LE this long to solve.

It makes sense, given his "hobbies" of hunting and killing and using such equipment in wilderness.

IMO.

 

[windrower]

#BREAKING - Authorities confirm they have found the body of Suzanne Morphew. @CBI_Colorado says remains were found 9/22 and positively identified 9/27. Morphew had been missing since 2020. Remains were discovered during an unrelated search. More info coming from @CBSNewsColorado

https://x.com/briancbs4/status/1707132817463804161?s=46&t=1LeaTK_fug_ONwN11qOyUw

I’m just gonna say HALLELUJAH

 

[Chimera]

The only question to answer then is how? One of the other vehicles? I even considered a 4 wheeler. He's used to using those for hunting and I googled.. some have a range of 200 miles and can go 50mph. I tried looking up the trails in the area to see if there was a way he could use back roads and trails to get from his house to the Moffat area, but got interrupted. I'll look more later. I think I recall something about a cooler or several coolers missing from his house. If he's used to hauling large animals out of hunting areas on a 4 wheeler then I'd say he could haul a small human that way too.

BBM
Hmmm.
Re-posting the link from my earlier post :

Exclusive: Barry Morphew responds to explosive claims regarding the disappearance of wife, Suzanne

CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. — Nearly four months have passed since anyone has seen missing Chaffee County woman, 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew. In an update published Thursday, Sheriff John Spezze ac…

www.fox21news.com

“I’ve heard the FBI lie and I know that they can legally do that in their investigations,” Barry said. “But it just pains me to know that they are doing this to me and my family.”
Emphasis mine.

Well, boo-hoo. No, the FBI didn't do this to you and your family.
I think hubby is guilty as sin.

Re. the coolers missing :

Moorman said CBI agents brought up other concerns as well.

“They did ask us, ‘why can’t we find any coolers at the house?’ And I said, ‘well I have no idea. I don’t know how many they had to begin with,” he said. “But I assume, as a hunter and a guy that maybe camps, he would have a few, and they couldn’t find a single one.”
(Moorman in this article is a relative of Suzanne.)
The pieces are coming together. (IMO) The husband maybe placed his wife into the cooler for transporting her, and that's why there are coolers missing ?
But why toss all of them, if there was more than one cooler ?

Did B.M. flip out and wildly get rid of everything he thought could be incriminating, esp. if they brought in cadaver dogs --aka HRD dogs ?

Sounds like he worked hard and diligently to cover his tracks.
Fortunately for his wife -- not diligently enough !
Omo.

 

[NuttMegg]

Great points.

I do think a live burial might leave some evidence in her lungs, depending on how decomposed the body is.

Regarding burial, I was thinking Barry would have went deep. He certainly has the knowledge, strength and tools to do so.

Maybe he thought it would look more like an after thought from a sudden random kidnapping. He had lots of time to really hide her.

 

[PaulaDC]

 

[Warwick7]

Shallow grave means any clothing would be contained therein....

Lion wouldn't undress her.

Left a trove of forensic evidence if you ask me.

Jmo

This is exactly what I was thinking.
Swim suit?
No clothes?
Dressed her while she was knocked out in a biking outfit?
Covered with the missing towel?

 

[Puzzles8]

Barry. Familiar w the Moffat Area?

snipped for focus @Herat Hmmm is right.
@Nikynoo said: Land for development maybe?

IDK. Did Barry search inline for "Cute Girls in Moffat"?

Srsly, didn't LE & prosecutor have custody of BM's phone, PC, various devices for some time?
Ditto, his truck-metrics-tracking-recording (terminology???) data?

Now w recovery of SM's remains, LE's review & analysis of that digital evd. could prove even more damaging to BM.

Extreeeeemely damaging?
Well, a Sleuther can hope.

I noticed the tiny town of Moffat has a fire department. I'm presuming Volunteer.
I wonder if Barry ever participated in Volunteer Firefighter training there?

JMO

 

[10ofRods]

We all thought that. I liked the mine shaft idea, but we also knew multiple cadaver dogs hit on his Bobcat, despite GPS data ruling it out.

It’s very difficult to dig in that type of soil, and it appears that a shallow grave was the best he could do with the time he had.

This wreaks of panic, and not some well thought out coherent plan. It’s like he put all his mental energy into the murder itself, and then decided to wing the disposal.

I agree. It's panic by a particular sort of man (who had some outdoor skills). I suspect he was constantly transgressing many boundaries and committing many sins, but was used to covering up and being "forgiven" (as we have seen his daughters do, IMO).

I am amazed and in awe of law enforcement's dedication to this case. I also realize that not every case gets this amount of attention - but when a crime is committed in a smaller jurisdiction, under these circumstances, it is not uncommon. It is my home county's coroner who broke the Joe DeAngelo rape/murder case - through long term diligence.

You, @MassGuy are one of the stellar proponents of Justice for Suzanne. I am still in a state of shock that it was a shallow grave.

 

[al66pine]

Where's Barry?

I’m really hoping there are news reporters knocking on Barry’s door in Indiana.

Wait a sec. I do not recall reading about BM living in IND. these days but very well could have missed it.

Anyone have a link handy? TiA

 

[Spartygirl]

#BREAKING - Authorities confirm they have found the body of Suzanne Morphew. @CBI_Colorado says remains were found 9/22 and positively identified 9/27. Morphew had been missing since 2020. Remains were discovered during an unrelated search. More info coming from @CBSNewsColorado

https://x.com/briancbs4/status/1707132817463804161?s=46&t=1LeaTK_fug_ONwN11qOyUw

Oh Happy Day !!!!
I was so happy to get home tonight and see this in the news.
OF course, I came right here knowing everyone would be discussing and now we will need to wait for forensics, autopsy, tox reports etc but that is ok... I am just thrilled they found her.

Suzanne... I think of you all the time and prayed that somehow, someway, you would be found some day.
RIP beautiful lady !!!

 

[Chimera]

Pretty sure she was dead while still at Puma Path.

I doubt that any forensic technique will give a time of burial within hours or days. Can you say more about why the timing matters to you? She was missing already on Mother's Day (she was not alive, IMO). He's out running around Colorado.

She could have been still alive when taken to her burial site and that's a good question (tranquilizer dart theory). It horrifies me though.

She could have been moved several times (soil analysis should help with that). At the time of the murder, there were rumors about a particular area, near a Fire Station, where people saw Barry at some point. IMO.

Sadly, not sure an autopsy can tell if she was alive or not when she was buried. However, if anything like a gun was used in killing her, that will be future news. If instead he shot her with a tranquilizer dart, removed her from the Puma Path premises, and then killed her via some method such as smothering or biochemical means - we may never know.

Emphasis mine.
Yep, actually you answered my questions and theories, thanks !

I did indeed wonder if she'd been moved after death.
Hoping there will be valuable evidence preserved !

With the husband's background in landscaping, I honestly considered he'd buried her 6 feet or more vertically under a tree and that she'd never be found !
Omo.

 

[Megnut]

Now that's she's been found, maybe more truths will be revealed. Surely someone somewhere will stand up and give her her voice back.

Jmo

 

[DenverToCali]

That's what the tweet says, and Sallinger's a very reliable journalist. Bbm.

I hope her blood ran cold when Sallinger told her, and I hope Barry's blood ran cold when Eytan told him. I'd pay money to see their faces as they watched their $15 mil disappear. The telltale heart is beating furiously beneath the floorboards.

Melinda (sister) said Barry was the first one informed.

“Moorman Balzer said Suzanne's husband Barry Morphew was the first person notified that his wife's remains had been positively identified because he was next of kin.”

https://gazette.com/news/crime/suzanne-morphew-remains-found/article_dbcc5047-cd98-510a-be84-18d4d6c66485

 

[Gizmo3]

I literally gasped when I saw the headline. Susanne's case is what first led me to discover Websleuths those long three years ago. I honestly thought this day would be never come. I hope her loved ones can begin to find some closure.

May justice be swift, and may all the mountain lions breathe a collective sigh of relief.

 

[justtrish]

Nor would a mountain lion bother to dump SM’s helmet in an attempt to mislead regarding which direction her body went. That’s a human action. And not that of a random abductor.

Oh and a random stranger abduction/murder would typically NOT involve staging a bike and the helmet going in the opposite direction of the way he was taking her. Why would a stranger need to do that? They aren't known to anyone.. why stage anything.

 

[Chimera]

I’m really hoping there are news reporters knocking on Barry’s door in Indiana.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that meeting !!!
Bet someone is very nervous, regardless.
Too bad, so sad.

Karma has now come a-callin'.
Omo.

Eta : Hope the husband doesn't pull a 'runner' !

 

[Error505]

#BREAKING - Authorities confirm they have found the body of Suzanne Morphew. @CBI_Colorado says remains were found 9/22 and positively identified 9/27. Morphew had been missing since 2020. Remains were discovered during an unrelated search. More info coming from @CBSNewsColorado

https://x.com/briancbs4/status/1707132817463804161?s=46&t=1LeaTK_fug_ONwN11qOyUw

This is absolutely one of the happiest days of my life! Whether Justice is served will be determined, but she can be buried properly and everyone knows she didn’t run off! Praise God!

 

[NuttMegg]

BBM
Hmmm.
Re-posting the link from my earlier post :

Exclusive: Barry Morphew responds to explosive claims regarding the disappearance of wife, Suzanne

CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. — Nearly four months have passed since anyone has seen missing Chaffee County woman, 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew. In an update published Thursday, Sheriff John Spezze ac…

www.fox21news.com

“I’ve heard the FBI lie and I know that they can legally do that in their investigations,” Barry said. “But it just pains me to know that they are doing this to me and my family.”
Emphasis mine.

Well, boo-hoo. No, the FBI didn't do this to you and your family.
I think hubby is guilty as sin.

Re. the coolers missing :

Moorman said CBI agents brought up other concerns as well.

“They did ask us, ‘why can’t we find any coolers at the house?’ And I said, ‘well I have no idea. I don’t know how many they had to begin with,” he said. “But I assume, as a hunter and a guy that maybe camps, he would have a few, and they couldn’t find a single one.”
(Moorman in this article is a relative of Suzanne.)
The pieces are coming together. (IMO) The husband maybe placed his wife into the cooler for transporting her, and that's why there are coolers missing ?
But why toss all of them, if there was more than one cooler ?

Did B.M. flip out and wildly get rid of everything he thought could be incriminating, esp. if they brought in cadaver dogs --aka HRD dogs ?

Sounds like he worked hard and diligently to cover his tracks.
Fortunately for his wife -- not diligently enough !
Omo.

They should be able to tell if she was even partially dismembered to fit in large coolers, ie if done by animal teeth or smooth knife on the cartilage (?) But she was so small anyway. Did we ever know how large the missing coolers were?

 

[Deleted member 718]

The 49-year-old's bones were found in a remote, dry desert field of sagebrush and natural grasses south of Moffat, according to Saguache County Coroner Tom Perrin. He said it appeared that the remains had been buried in a shallow grave before being scattered.

Perrin was called to the scene to collect the remains on Friday, and transported them to El Paso County for an autopsy. Wednesday, they were positively identified as Morphew's.

Morphew's remains were found in Saguache County during an unrelated search, CBI said. Sources close to the investigation told The Denver Gazette that her body was found 30-40 minutes from the Morphew home, but would not elaborate further.

Suzanne Morphew's remains found, Colorado Bureau of Investigation says

Suzanne Morphew's remains have been found, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced Wednesday.

gazette.com

 

[Diddian]

Melinda (sister) said Barry was the first one informed.

“Moorman Balzer said Suzanne's husband Barry Morphew was the first person notified that his wife's remains had been positively identified because he was next of kin.”

https://gazette.com/news/crime/suzanne-morphew-remains-found/article_dbcc5047-cd98-510a-be84-18d4d6c66485

BM notified, but he didn’t bother to tell his lawyer. She found out from a reporter.

“Things that make you go hmmmmm.”