Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #108

[steeltowngirl]

Can anyone helpfully clarify for me, I am seeing a lot of theories floating around regarding motive and the affair but also the fact that Suzanne wanted to leave and speculation that Barry was infuriated because he stood to lose half his assets.

However I recall very early on reading that Suzanne was actually more well-off than Barry, due to inheritance or something to do with her family's restaurant. Is that not the case? Was Barry actually worth 3 million by himself? Because I was under the impression 2 million of that was Suzanne's from her family somehow.

He wanted ALL of the money. Not split it equitably.

jmo

 

[PaulaDC]

It wasn't a moonless night.

It was a covid night.

 

[Boxer]

Agree. Strongly. She's a flash n the pan, to begin with. She will soon be synonymous with "defends only guilty men." IMO (if she's not already).

She ought to have only delivered a specific (jointly written) message from her client. But she went off on her own thing.

She has no idea what they found at Suzanne's grave. It's disrespectful obviously (which she should patent as her style) but it's also bad lawyering. I don't care how famous she is in Colorado, it's still not good lawyering. (See what I did there? Her actions are in between "bad" and "not good.")

She lost real credibility, unless her actual goal is to do PR for a living. She is not his criminal attorney right now, so she gets to sit and wait like all the rest of us while LE recalculate charges.

I strongly believe there will be charges against BM. While I am a bit pessimistic about the forensic evidence itself, the fact that there's now a body (just over the hill from Puma Path, really) is incredible. And there will be SOME evidence from the grave and the body that helps the State. It cannot be otherwise.

If no clear cause of death is found (no strangling, no shooting), then it points even more to someone who possessed, admitted to using (in other circumstances) and did use animal anesthesia on his wife. On the very day he came home and caught her in a convo with her lover - which is exactly what he was hoping to do.

Not once has he shown that he's still looking for her. Or begging her to at least contact her daughters. Nothing. He's been in hiding since Day 1. No annual remembrances. No attendance at vigils. Just carrying SHOVEL into a hotel - which most people will recognize as a digging tool (whether or not there's still soil analysis, let's be real: most people have common sense).

IMO. Sorry for the somewhat rant-like quality of what I just typed - but I can't help but have strong reactions to your well thought-out posts.

I say she is crushed on him for some reason. Maybe the effort of not seeing the obvious broke something.

 

[PaulaDC]

Lawyer for Suzanne Morphew’s husband Barry lashes out at accusers ‘blindly pointing finger back at him’ after Colorado mom’s body was found in a shallow grave in desert field - and suggests death may be work of serial killer.

Lawyer for Suzanne Morphew's husband lashes out at accusers

Iris Eytan, attorney for Barry Morphew, on Thursday spoke out against the 'finger pointing' at her client, and said it would now be 'ludicrous' to claim he was ever near his wife's shallow grave.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I love these made up stories. Last seen. Smh.

 

[Charlot123]

So we know there was about 5 hours of BM unaccounted for time between roughly 10pm Sat-3am Sunday (remembering Andy Moorman said in his Dr. Phil interview shortly after his big search concluded that LE had narrowed down this window of time and needing to draw a circle around that and figure out where and what BM was doing during that timeframe).

IMO, he left both their phones at home and 5 hours gave him plenty of time to travel to Moffat, prepare shallow grave, dump Suzanne in said grave, and travel back to Puma Path. Remember he’s a skilled landscaper and big he-man trophy hunter (gag!), meaning, he had/has the necessary skills and tools to work fast and expeditiously. Being familiar with the area, he also knew traffic would be light at those late/wee hours so yeah all considered, I believe he had more than enough time to do it under the cover of darkness, light traffic and in a very remote, isolated area, an area he’s very familiar with. And if he knew of/took a shortcut to and from Moffat, well… that would have afforded him even more time.

I will say, I was surprised to hear it was a shallow grave and since learning that fact, I’m leaning more toward an unplanned rage killing (though I still believe BM probably had thought/ruminated about killing Suzanne many times before that day but didn’t have a fully completed plan/worked out the details (in his mind) yet). So I think what spurred this all on/led to the fateful day BM ended Suzanne for good were a few key events that happened in the days leading up to Mother’s Day.

Those events would be the “Im done” text Suzanne sent to BM on Wednesday 5/6/20; possibly (likely) saw the list/notes Suzanne uploaded to her phone on Friday 5/8/20 and the text she sent to her Sister Melinda also on 5/8/20 wherein both her list/notes she uploaded to her phone and her text to her Sister, Suzanne documents BM’s abuse; those events had him stewing/simmering/rage bubbling under the surface. Then came the final straw- the events on Saturday 5/9/20 when he could no longer contain/control himself and bubbled over/exploded.

IMO on 5/9/20, via trail cams and/or spy app on one of his phones, BM was spying on SM while she was talking with her lover JL and sending him pictures and ignoring BM’s calls that afternoon. (I believe at the very least he suspected, possibly flat out knew she was having an affair, maybe just not sure whom with but I definitely believe he suspected or knew she was having one). This infuriated him and he’d had it! (She’s been talking with her lover and sending him pictures and she’s ignoring me!). This sent him over the edge and his simmering rage boiled over, the catalyst if you will. I believe he rushed back home that Saturday afternoon in a full-on rage and 1 of 2 scenarios happened when he arrived back home at 2:44pm and jumped out of his truck without even closing the door (truck telematics).

1st scenario- BM jumps out of truck, grabs working tranq gun from garage, (which he later dumps in Broomfield) starts running around the property gun in hand (he admits to this and claims he was shooting chipmunks -see AA), shoots Suzanne out back where she’s been sunbathing. Suzanne jumps up startled (perhaps she had put her head down and fallen asleep on her lounge while chatting with JL), chase ensues. Suzanne is running for her life, runs inside the house and locks as many doors as she can while still semi? conscious, made it to the master bedroom and locked the door.
BM running after her, broke through the bedroom door while she was possibly searching in the bedroom for a gun for protection. Suzanne is starting to lose consciousness due to the tranq effects, BM grabs her in the bedroom (possible small struggle ensues on the bedroom floor), BM of course overpowers her as she’s losing consciousness and strangles her to death.
2nd scenario- BM jumps out of truck, and sees she’s not outside, grabs tranq loaded syringe from garage and runs into the house looking for her going room to room, he then hears something through the other side of the locked master bedroom door (she may have gone inside to change for bike ride, or to take a shower, or to get ready for video call with JL), BM breaks through the door, chased her around the bedroom area, caught up to her, grabbed her, jabbed her with a tranq filled needle, strangles her to death. I do think it was one of the above 2 scenarios or some variation thereof as to what happened/how Suzanne met her fate
when BM arrived home on Saturday afternoon.

The question I have if either of those scenarios is what happened, after tranq’ing her, did he finish her off (strangled her to death) at home in the bedroom and possibly put her on ice in a cooler or draped her dead body over the bobcat in the area the dogs hit on the bobcat and waited until around 10pm (cover of darkness) and used another vehicle he had access to (neighbor’s? fire dept.vehicle? friend’s vehicle unbeknownst to said friend?), drove her dead body to the gravesite, dug shallow grave, dumped her in, drove home, returned “borrowed” vehicle and no one was the wiser. If the borrowed vehicle belonged to someone close by like the neighbor, he just had to walk home.
Or, did he drive her to Moffat in an unconscious state in his daughter’s older non-GPS Range Rover and finished her off at the gravesite before digging and dumping her body (takes only 2-3 minutes to strangle to death). This scenario doesn’t fit with the 5 hour unaccounted for timeframe of 10pm-3am because he would have had to have driven her there in the non-GPS RR shortly after tranq’ing her at home (mid afternoon) while still unconscious. So I think he finished her off at home and waited until darkness to transport her makes more sense with the timeline and he must have used a non-Morphew vehicle to transport her because no dogs hit on any of their vehicles including the non-GPS RR.

Other reasons I now believe it was more of a rage fueled unplanned or ‘less planned’ killing- the aftermath period reeks of panic. Traveling to Moffat, digging shallow grave, dump Suzanne in said grave, drive home, cleanup and load up truck with incriminating evidence he knew he had to get rid of, and quick. IMO all the truck activity in the 3am hour, was BM in a total panic loading up his truck with said incriminating evidence, dump the bike and helmet before hightailing it outta dodge to head to Broomfield to dump evidence hundreds of miles away in various dumpsters and to put distance between himself and the crime scene(s). Once in Broomfield, proceeds to make five trash dumps at different locations around town, various changes of clothes, goes to the jobsite for 11-15 mins just to say he’d been there (there was no job on Sunday, no permit to work, etc etc) and then spent the majority of the rest of the day in the hotel room imo cleaning the tools he used in the burial, washing himself and his clothes off, and likely slept for awhile (exhausted from the previous night’s and early morning “activities”) while waiting for the inevitable emergency call he knew he’d be getting- no one could get in touch with or locate Suzanne.

Like many, one of my biggest questions is what vehicle/mode of transportation did he use for transport to Moffat??? I realize we will probably be waiting quite awhile to have that and many of our other questions answered. Even if LE knows, they will not reveal what they know to protect the integrity of the investigation. I’m ok with that and will patiently wait until (hopefully) BM’s future trial.

I could be wrong but I really don’t think he’ll try to pull a runner or take the F. Dulos way out and off himself. I think he thinks too highly of himself/extreme arrogance and still thinks he can beat this. BM is a legend in his own mind. (insert eyeroll).

At any rate, hopefully LE has eyes on him/surveillance just in case he gets any ideas. In the meantime, keep shaking in your cowboy boots and looking over your shoulder BM wondering when they’re coming for you, imo just a matter of time.

Tick tock, tick tock…


#Suzannefound
#JUSTICEFORSUZANNE

IMHOO

Great post.

I would assume that BM killed SM at the grave. Simply because there is still a risk of being stopped by a LEO while driving. You remember he said, "drunk eyes" about SM's photo? Well, a tranquilized wife one can explain (drunk, overusing painkillers for cancer, smoked pot); and in a way, a chemo port comes in handy. But to explain away a dead woman in a car is a tall order.

 

[Boxer]

So what was or is his profession? I’m seeing “landscaper” which can be very lucrative if you are literally doing hardscaping jobs in wealthy areas like building retaining walls and laying out gardens and basically building exterior living spaces… building patios, pergolas, decks, pool spaces and so on...

He has a degree in Horticulture Production from Purdue.

 

[Hatch]

Most, not all, might want to see her remains, though it may not be much. I kinda doubt if they will

dbm

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

He has a degree in Horticulture Production from Purdue.

A degree doesn’t necessarily mean what he actually does for a living tho. My question asked what he does for a living.

 

[Megnut]

IE can spout all she wants that LE never looked south as if that somehow exonerates BM

But I'd like to point out the obvious. BM had about 5 hours off grid. The grave sits solidly within the radius.

Someone might want to tell IE that LE isn't pointing fingers a BM. The evidence is.

JMO

 

[10ofRods]

I’m just catching up so this may have been mentioned already but they can test hair for drugs. Hair is the last part of a body to decompose. Hopefully Suzanne’s is still viable.

I just now saw your post - but, I am very pessimistic about this. I can provide citations if anyone is interested. But hair follicles do not usually record chemical interactions of the last day of life. I fear that Suzanne was already dead by the time her organs had started to process the deer anesthetic. It's possible the deer anesthetic killed her, in which case there was no time for those chemicals to get through the various organs necessary before arriving at the hair follicles.

OTOH, I hope and pray you are right. I'm usually an optimist, but on this one, I need to take off my science hat and hope and pray that science is good enough to detect truly micro amounts of deer anesthesia in a hair follicle. The area of the body where it's more likely to be detectable would be the marrow chambers.

To put it another way, longer term chronic drug use is detectable in hair.

Hair follicle drug test: How it works, what to expect, and accuracy

Hair follicle drug tests can determine whether a person has been using drugs or medications within the past 3 months. Learn more about how they work here.

www.medicalnewstoday.com

Quote from that page:

Hair follicle tests can detect drug use for up to 3 months before testing, using hair samples that come from a person’s scalp.

Urine tests can detect more recent drug use, while hair follicle tests can identify regular, long-term drug use.

There are attempts to study newly dead people (who died in hospital after anesthesia) and even there, it's difficult to get much data except from the marrow channels. However, even there, it's difficult and iffy. I can't find any studies (so far) where much was gained in the way of toxin analysis at this length of time. Some toxins (elements like arsenic) are detectable in bone (but always hard to say if the poisoning was chronic or acute).

I hope I didn't post this twice. I'm exhausted! It's been a wild ride trying to keep up with this breaking news.

 

[SleuthBee]

Yes. It is.

Which is why, to me, unless the hyoid bone evidence is there, strangulation is still on the table. It's not hard to do without breaking the hyoid bone (esp if a person is unconscious).

Could be smothering with a pillow. But I don't believe he killed her at PP. Never have believed it. I think he really did plan to tranquilizer/anesthetize her. He also threw away stuff related to that tranq dart in his 5 stops at trash dumping, IIRC. A bit too coincidental for me.

I doubt that Barry "shot and missed." There could have been a chase (and multiple darts) but I think this is a man who would not stop until he hit his target.

I think he'd be way more comfortable tranq'ing her to death that smothering her. It's fairly difficult to smother someone (although he could have done it - I'm not going to give instructions) but there's a risk of screaming, of his own hands being bitten (and he did have scratches, as it was). It's longer, slower, more brutal (esp. from his perspective as someone who owned and used deer tranquilizers).

IMO.

<modnip - no link>

I am hopeful because if he used a tranquilizer it will be detected in her bone marrow and even in the dead bugs surrounding her body.

Since dental records and her chemo port was used for identification, we know that her head and chest must be intact. This may be more of a body found in a shallow grave vs bones scattered about. It's also possible she was wrapped in an identifiable blanket or towel. My biggest hope is that her fingernails can be scraped because BM had a few scratches on him.

<modsnip - no link>

 

[fcavanaugh]

Snipped for focus....

Are you heading towards suggesting he cut her up? Removed all her flesh? This would speed up decomposition, presumably.

No not at all. What I meant by BM being a landscaper and hunter and had the tools and skills necessary to work fast/expeditiously- being a landscaper he had tools at the ready for digging i.e., shovels, and being a hunter he’s very comfortable in the outdoors, familiar with the area and navigating Colorado wilderness/terrain due to his hunting excursions and if he hunted at night, he’s even more comfortable skulking around the wilderness and digging under the cover of darkness.

Not that I don’t think BM capable of cutting her up. I just don’t think he did due to time constraints and no evidence of it. That we know of anyways. Put it this way, I don’t think he had time to cut her up but wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he did. I absolutely despise the thought of Suzanne being cut into pieces and really hope he did not do that. IMO it’s whole other level of evil, the stuff of nightmares. Just knowing the terror she must have felt while imo BM strangled the life out her as she dug her nails into his skin makes me sick to my stomach. I can hardly bear the thought of how terrified and alone Suzanne must have felt in that moment, absolutely heartbreaking.

#Suzannefound
#JUSTICEFORSUZANNE

IMHOO

 

[Cindizzi]

(MOFFAT, Colo.) — The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted another search near the town of Moffat in Saguache County in connection to the case of Suzanne Morhpew, whose remains were found in the area on Friday, Sept. 22.

49-year-old Suzanne Morphew went missing on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2020.

The CBI did not say what investigators were looking for, only that another search had been conducted in conjunction with the Saguache County and Chaffee County Sheriff’s Offices.

Follow-up search conducted in Morphew case in Moffat

(MOFFAT, Colo.) — The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted another search near the town of Moffat in Saguache County in connection to the case of Suzanne Morhpew, whose remains were…

www.fox21news.com

 

[Boxer]

A degree doesn’t necessarily mean what he actually does for a living tho. My question asked what he does for a living.

He is landscaper.
He was working trying to get his business off the ground in Colorado.

 

[10ofRods]

my mind wanders off in strange and awful directions, I think he sedated her with a dart, trussed her and packed her in some fashion and drove her to where he decided to bury her.
If he used the second vehicle it's not traceable.

I wonder if he shot her in the grave?

I wonder too if maybe it will yield no evidence at all..

You and me both. I always go to what's most simple and in this case, putting a 110 pound woman in a Yeti, closing it and let her suffocate is an easy and mostly cadaverine-free (except for the Yetis) way of doing it.

Turns out that some good cadaver dogs can smell cadaverine within a few minutes after death; most take longer. It used to be thought it took several hours, but apparently not. Maybe he put the Yetis on his truck for disposal later. He must have been getting really tired and lazy by early morning.

I don't think he shot her in the grave. By then, he was thinking he might get away with this crime. There are ways of ensuring a sedated person dies. Also, she did have that port - and he had syringes. He'd have been better off just using more deer anesthetic.

I think there will be *some* evidence from finding her body. Proof that she was put there in May, 2020 for example (pollen analysis, etc). So, she wasn't kidnapped and kept hostage. Someone who knew the area put her there.

But...I'm not optimistic that anything more will be known about her manner of death - so on that one, I'm as pessimistic as you are. Poor Suzanne.

In my rare moments of optimism, I think maybe the port will add information (but probably not). He had thought about this. He had gathered the materials (syringes, anesthesia) and thought about roughly where he would put her. He didn't need to shoot her, IMO. Sadly, this is a case where if he had done so, things would be much easier in prosecuting him (although, he'd have needed to locate the bullet and the casing...)

IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

So what was or is his profession? I’m seeing “landscaper” which can be very lucrative if you are literally doing hardscaping jobs in wealthy areas like building retaining walls and laying out gardens and basically building exterior living spaces… building patios, pergolas, decks, pool spaces and so on...

He was a student athlete at a college where most student athletes took the major of "landscaping/plant management."

He got into some trouble by assaulting a major client in Indiana and I don't think his reputation ever recovered. His landscaping of his own place on Puma Path was...desultory and not a good advertisement for his skills. He tended to concentrate on grading, gravel, concrete work, walls, etc. Not so much on actual landscape design (a college degree in landscaping makes one think...landscape design; with Barry it was "Bobcat skills, excavation, rock moving" (and to be fair, those skills are needed in CO).

Retaining walls made NOT according to code are the reason that the State of Colorado (where a friend of his got him a subcontract) rejected his build near the freeway in Broomfield. If you look at what he did and what is there now, you'll see why.

He was living off Suzanne's money (her father distributed her part of his children's inheritance early, IIRC). Not that he made NO money - he did. But he spent it really fast too.

I have no idea how he's making a living now.

 

[Love Never Fails]

You and me both. I always go to what's most simple and in this case, putting a 110 pound woman in a Yeti, closing it and let her suffocate is an easy and mostly cadaverine-free (except for the Yetis) way of doing it.

Turns out that some good cadaver dogs can smell cadaverine within a few minutes after death; most take longer. It used to be thought it took several hours, but apparently not. Maybe he put the Yetis on his truck for disposal later. He must have been getting really tired and lazy by early morning.

I don't think he shot her in the grave. By then, he was thinking he might get away with this crime. There are ways of ensuring a sedated person dies. Also, she did have that port - and he had syringes. He'd have been better off just using more deer anesthetic.

I think there will be *some* evidence from finding her body. Proof that she was put there in May, 2020 for example (pollen analysis, etc). So, she wasn't kidnapped and kept hostage. Someone who knew the area put her there.

But...I'm not optimistic that anything more will be known about her manner of death - so on that one, I'm as pessimistic as you are. Poor Suzanne.

In my rare moments of optimism, I think maybe the port will add information (but probably not). He had thought about this. He had gathered the materials (syringes, anesthesia) and thought about roughly where he would put her. He didn't need to shoot her, IMO. Sadly, this is a case where if he had done so, things would be much easier in prosecuting him (although, he'd have needed to locate the bullet and the casing...)

IMO.

Wouldn’t the coroner know by now if there is an obvious gun shot wound? I know it may not be public for weeks due to lab testing, etc. But don’t you think they have an idea now of what could have caused her death? I thought testing was much faster now. Admittedly I am pretty dumb about these things, especially forensics, etc.

 

[al66pine]

SM's Remains Found in LE's Search for Another MisPers.

.... doesn't that make LE look weak publicly saying "We were looking for another person but stumbled upon Susannes remains" I would think it looks better to say "We found her remains and we are not going to comment any further..." Unless LE wants to "look weak" as a strategy....

@SteelCity91 snipped for focus.
First, agreeing w ^^^^ "better to say "We found her remains and we are not going to comment any further.""

But not sure why LE acknowledging SM's remains were located while searching for another MisPers --- i.e., finding SM more or less by coincidence --- makes LE "look weak."
Do you think "looks weak:"
- Now to gen public, or
- Later at trial, if circumstances are detailed, or
- _____?
@SteelCity91? Anyone?

Sorry to be dense. Off to the kitchen for caffeine.

 

[10ofRods]

<modsnip - no link>

I am hopeful because if he used a tranquilizer it will be detected in her bone marrow and even in the dead bugs surrounding her body.

Since dental records and her chemo port was used for identification, we know that her head and chest must be intact. This may be more of a body found in a shallow grave vs bones scattered about. It's also possible she was wrapped in an identifiable blanket or towel. My biggest hope is that her fingernails can be scraped because BM had a few scratches on him.

<modsnip - no link>

I too hope that her marrow channels might have evidence of the anesthesia. But it's a maybe (many reasons). And...I'm doubtful about the bugs getting enough of that chemical to help out - but I would be happy to eat my words. You have just outlined the only two ways I think they can get to a cause of death if he used deer anesthesia. Deer anesthesia can cause anaphylactic shock in humans - but as of right now, determining that someone now 3 years dead, died of anaphylaxis is very very difficult.

Her lower jaw is intact. Dental records only require that lower (or the upper) jaw. I would hope that her skull was in only two pieces - it's hard for animals to do much with it. Her chemo port could have just be lying on the ground. I do not think her "chest was intact" after 3 years, personally. The remains are described as "scattered." There are no muscles, tendons or ligaments left to hold the torso together - but unless animals have stolen them, the bones should all be there (but carrion birds probably took off with some - although a 3 foot deep grave might have fended them off - depends on the soil and what else the murderer did to conceal her - some rocks would keep her 3 feet deep and away from the carrion birds.

I was taught that most perpetrators are brought down by their over-estimation of their own intelligence. They aren't stupid (antisocial personality types are usually slightly higher than the average population in IQ) but arrogance is their Achilles' heel. This is true of students, as well. The bright students don't cheat, because they are aware they will be caught by their (smarter and more knowledgeable professor). It's the next tier that does the Chat GPT nonsense.

I totally agree with your last sentence. And I take some satisfaction in the fact that he has been proven wrong.

IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Wouldn’t the coroner know by now if there is an obvious gun shot wound? I know it may not be public for weeks due to lab testing, etc. But don’t you think they have an idea now of what could have caused her death? I thought testing was much faster now. Admittedly I am pretty dumb about these things, especially forensics, etc.

I think so, yes. Would they say it publicly right now? Probably not - but it should not be taking weeks. So I'm guessing no stab wounds, no bone fractures, no gunshots.

IMO.