Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #109

[Observer33]

I think it's important to keep straight aspects of evidence and procedure

If BM is charged again my understanding is that it a fresh trial from the start - this means much of what happened pretrial in the dismissed prosecution doesn't matter this time at bat

eg. Cahill messing up on the glove box DNA evidence in the prelim

The whole glove box sex offender abductor thing won't be happening in a new trial because that evidence never existed. Cahill just bumbled the testimony. A DNA expert will explain there is no sex offender.

e.g "Exclupatory evidence"

There is no exculpatory evidence. These arguments happened in the context of the discovery violations. No doubt IE wil try and make something of the dog handler at trial but it's weak sauce

We know from the state's response to the sanctions that IE managed to pull the wool of the judge's eyes to a significant extent to get the sanctions. In any do over the state needs to be on the ball with these aspects. Which I am sure they will be. But there really is not a bunch of scary evidence out there. IE 'won' by overwhelming the state with procedural attacks which the first judge was alive to but the second judge was not.

So hopefully we get a more discerning judge, and an resourced up prosecution.

IE can complain if the move venues but the only place for sure that a crime was committed was in Saguache County. Her body was found there. An argument could be made that they drove down there and then BM killed SM right in that field. The good thing is all the previous judicial orders are null and void in another county. Everything will have to be relitigated which gives the chance for the state to do it by the book this time.

 

[waldojabba]

Thinking about the civil suit in context (before SM was found)
How on earth a lawyer thinks they are going to pull this off when their client is caught and proven lying at every angle.

His bold face lie about the state of his marriage the day she vanished with provable evidence of the opposite.
That alone should have it thrown out of court.

The audacity of this is shameful.

LE had very solid justifiable reasons to look at him and charge him at the time.

His team just got lucky with the technicality of the prosecution withholding info from them and then them being punished for it.
Which ended with their case falling over.

My question to any of our wonderful legally knowledgeable posters here is, can the prosecution utilize all the information they were blacklisted about next time around?

BBM from above @k-mac
"His team just got lucky with the technicality of the prosecution withholding info from them and then them being punished for it.Which ended with their case falling over."

The crazy thing is that it really is just that SIMPLE !
The techicality of tardy discovery. Granted not just once. IIRC the late discovery was not necessarily impactful. For example with the experts, the D had the names of those being called to testify on time they just did not have all the expert's CV's.
Even Llama, as biased as he was imo, did not see the tardiness as willful. Those last sanctions, taking away the ability of most experts for the P to testify is what led to the withdrawal of the case. There was much talk here about the severity of those sanctions and if they should be appealed.
Reading across all platforms today, there is so much misinformation and "what aboutism" out there about this case and why it got dismissed. Not alot of accuracy.
There is good reason that the word "gaslighting" was Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2022. It has a good chance to be the word of the decade IMO. Behavior that's manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful is all around us.
Gaslighting and "chaos making" by the D was the undoing of this case in many significant ways and thankfully the P will have a lot better awareness of this now, in real time. And we all know the lack of funding and resources also played a significant role in the P falling down and not meeting deadlines. Hopefully the lessons have been learned.
ALL JMO

 

[JnRyan]

I want to know if there was water in her camelback. She may have been preparing for her afternoon ride.

Did we ever determine whether her bike had been repaired?

"There were personal items, to include Suzanne's driver's license and credit cards, throughout the vehicle. Items from the interior were pulled out by sections or areas and photographically documented on butcher paper. Some of the items collected included a women's jacket and knit cap in the rear, pairs of sunglasses and a key in the glove compartment, a Camelbak 16 and sunglasses in the front passenger seat, spa chemicals on the front passenger floorboard, and a Scot Bicycle Service receipt in the front driver door."

I wonder if that receipt was it. In any event, if she broke the chain on 4/20 and rode her bike again on 4/27, it had to have been repaired.

 

[SleuthBee]

It probably pained him to throw out that camoflauge jacket.

jmo

... probably, if it was a part of his formal camouflage attire.

 

[Boxer]

I think it's important to keep straight aspects of evidence and procedure

If BM is charged again my understanding is that it a fresh trial from the start - this means much of what happened pretrial in the dismissed prosecution doesn't matter this time at bat

eg. Cahill messing up on the glove box DNA evidence in the prelim

The whole glove box sex offender abductor thing won't be happening in a new trial because that evidence never existed. Cahill just bumbled the testimony. A DNA expert will explain there is no sex offender.

e.g "Exclupatory evidence"

There is no exculpatory evidence. These arguments happened in the context of the discovery violations. No doubt IE wil try and make something of the dog handler at trial but it's weak sauce

We know from the state's response to the sanctions that IE managed to pull the wool of the judge's eyes to a significant extent to get the sanctions. In any do over the state needs to be on the ball with these aspects. Which I am sure they will be. But there really is not a bunch of scary evidence out there. IE 'won' by overwhelming the state with procedural attacks which the first judge was alive to but the second judge was not.

So hopefully we get a more discerning judge, and an resourced up prosecution.

Agree.

 

[SleuthBee]

Premeditation, Premonition or Coincidence ??

"Under the file numbered “03/22/2020,” Suzanne appears to place her recording pen in the truck of Barry as he took a trip to Pueblo. The pen recorded him listening to multiple episodes of “Forensic Files,” to include: the killings of Mary Lee Wilson and Donna Payant by Lemuel Smith; the murder of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson - who went missing after riding her bike." [AA page 29]

Forensic Files - Season 3, Episode 11 - "Speck of Evidence"

It's 21:44 min. Very sad case. I noted a few similarities with Suzanne's case.
Of course BM couldn't make the piece about SM disappearing after leaving on her bike fit.

• The location topography is similar.
• Remains buried in a shallow grave.
• Bones found scattered.
• Body identified with dental records.
• Unable to determine cause of death.

 

[Seattle1]

Thinking about the civil suit in context (before SM was found)
How on earth a lawyer thinks they are going to pull this off when their client is caught and proven lying at every angle.

His bold face lie about the state of his marriage the day she vanished with provable evidence of the opposite.
That alone should have it thrown out of court.

The audacity of this is shameful.

LE had very solid justifiable reasons to look at him and charge him at the time.

His team just got lucky with the technicality of the prosecution withholding info from them and then them being punished for it.
Which ended with their case falling over.

My question to any of our wonderful legally knowledgeable posters here is, can the prosecution utilize all the information they were blacklisted about next time around?

^^bbm

In a Court granting a government Motion for Dismissal w/o prejudice, nowhere is it intended to serve as a "do-over" for any previous mistakes by a prosecution.

IMO, we can rest assured that the prosecution's Motions to admit expert witnesses earlier denied as the result of Court sanctions for discovery violations, will be highly scrutinized in any retrial.

However, I believe it's extremely important to note for both the Civil Suit and any retrial of BM that throughout the first prosecution, and no matter how hard the defense tried, no Court ever found bad faith by the prosecution (i.e., not by Murphy nor Lama).

IMO, this is going to prove a critical fact for the next Court when deciding expert witness testimony.

“They’re going to try this case again, they’re going to evade the court’s ruling,” Eytan argued in court.

Lama rejected that argument, saying he did not find bad faith and that it was reasonable for the prosecution to reassess their case after he limited their expert witnesses.

^^rsbbm

 

[Love Never Fails]

I am certain Barry removed the battery from her phone and threw her phone in a dumpster in Broomfield. But it would be awesome if he threw it in her grave and it was found. Asking too much?
I was just thinking, a random killer isn’t going to bury her cell phone with her but someone close to her might. In fact a random killer wouldn’t bury her. She would have been tossed.

 

[Error505]

IE can complain if the move venues but the only place for sure that a crime was committed was in Saguache County. Her body was found there. An argument could be made that they drove down there and then BM killed SM right in that field. The good thing is all the previous judicial orders are null and void in another county. Everything will have to be relitigated which gives the chance for the state to do it by the book this time.

I must say the idea of starting over sounds like an excellent idea, without a DA Stanley!
edit by me MOO

 

[Hilt]

When the question comes up of where she rides and who knew it is interesting. We're told she is a "beginner" implying those are the routes she would ride, but pg 40 seems to say something different:
"From a review of Suzanne Morphew's Instagram account (obtained through a search warrant in the state of Colorado), the attached pictures of her often in biking outfits were located with the dates:
05/06/2020 4:30 PM (MST) with location "Little Rainbow Trail"
04/27/2020 4:36 PM (MST) with location "Mount Shavano"
04/20/2020 2:18 PM (MST) with location of Methodist Mountain and captions "First single track!" and "Broke my first chain (smiling emoji)"

5/6, Little Rainbow Trail. While it does have section with 10+ degree climbs it is rated as "Beginner" or "Easy".
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/little-rainbow
This is part of the Methodist Mt trail system and is south of Salida, requiring one to most likely to load up the bike in a vehicle and drive there since it is a ~15 mile trip to the trailhead.
Skipping to "Methodist Mountain" on 4/20. I can't find a specific trail labeled "Methodist Mountain", rather it is an entire trail system consisting of 12 trails of which I found were either "Beginner" or "Intermediate". But again it is ~15 miles from her house so she would have to drive to the trailhead.

Methodist Mountain

Methodist Mountain is a singletrack mountain bike trail in Salida, Colorado. View maps, videos, photos, and reviews of Methodist Mountain bike trail in Salida.

www.singletracks.com

It is the entry on 4/27 that I find interesting. Shavano Mt. This one is DEFINITELY NOT a beginner trail, but rather is rated "Advanced" or "Black Diamond" on different sites. This trail can be accessed from her house without driving by crossing Hwy 50 and going up the Colorado Trail. BUT it can also be accessed from the east by driving up to the trailhead as depicted here:

Mount Shavano Trail

Mount Shavano Trail is a singletrack mountain bike trail in Salida, Colorado. View maps, videos, photos, and reviews of Mount Shavano Trail bike trail in Salida.

www.singletracks.com

Either way she accessed the trail it is a difficult ride which belies her status as a "beginner". She might be "new" to mt biking, but this lady can definitely ride if this is true. I had been riding and racing for over 20 years (mostly road) when I tried to take on a 5+ mile black diamond in the Shenandoah area and I almost didn't make it.

As to who knew about her riding there are a couple of points:
On pg 6. "Mallory stated that Suzanne mountain-bikes regularly during the afternoon hours, often using a wide trail across the highway. Suzanne normally took her cell phone, sunglasses and blue backpack/ hydration bladder on the bike rides." (So SM did ride up to Hwy 50 and used that trail? That one is not clear to be sure.)
On pg 16. "In March through May of 2020, Libler and Suzanne talked a lot about mountain biking and Libler looked at the trails online in Colorado and they sometimes talked before Suzanne went for a ride. Suzanne put her bike in her car on her way to the trail heads and did not often ride in her own neighborhood. She normally rode in the evening for about half an hour or forty minutes."
('...did not often ride in the neighborhood'. But often, not never. 'rode for about half an hour or forty minutes.' Now that does sound like a beginner.)
My personal favorite is on Pg 6 again. "Macy stated that Suzanne works out at the gym regularly and that recently she has taken up mountain biking daily. Macy added that Barry has mountain biked with Suzanne a couple of times."
(BM actually rode with her???? I'd like to see photographic evidence! I know it is her daughter, but I just can't picture him on a bike trying to get up even a 3% grade.)
Finally, on Pg 9. "There were personal items, to include Suzanne's driver's license and credit cards, throughout the vehicle. Items from the interior were pulled out by sections or areas and photographically documented on butcher paper. Some of the items collected included a women's jacket and knit cap in the rear, pairs of sunglasses and a key in the glove compartment, a Camelbak 16 and sunglasses in the front passenger seat, spa chemicals on the front passenger floorboard, and a Scot Bicycle Service receipt in the front driver door."
(Beginner or not, there is NO WAY you go out without either water bottles or your hydration (i.e., Camelbak) pack! No, I don't see a ride happening that day.)

(Broke her chain? On 4/20 with what is apparently a fairly new bike? Nine times out of ten I've seen the rear derailleur break before the chain gives out. Not that it has anything to do with her case, I just find it interesting.)

From this, I don't believe Libler, BM, Mallory or Macy really knew much about her riding. In fact, I don't believe anybody really knew.

I’d be interested in your thoughts on Suzanne’s 4/27/20 bike photo indicating “Location Mount Shavano”. Many trails on and around Mount Shavano are technically difficult but there are some that are moderate-easy (such as the Angel of Shavano Trailhead). I think a lot would depend on whether she drove up the mountain or as you note, accessed from the Colorado Trail near Maysville (this would be a pretty tough 5 mile uphill). But the bigger question to me is whether the higher levels were accessible in April 2020. Most of the bike trails on Mount Shavano are above 9000 feet, though there are roads from the Valley floor up. In her picture she’s down in the flat Valley with Mount Shavano in the far distance. I’m wondering if she was biking on the lower elevation roads at that time. This might be more in line with a beginner, particularly one just coming off chemo.

 

[JnRyan]

I’d be interested in your thoughts on Suzanne’s 4/27/20 bike photo indicanting “Location Mount Shavano”. Many trails on and around Mount Shavano are technically difficult but there are some that are moderate-easy (such as the Angel of Shavano Trailhead). I think a lot would depend on whether she drove up the mountain or as you note, accessed from the Colorado Trail near Maysville (this would be a pretty tough 5 mile uphill). But the bigger question to me is whether the higher levels were accessible in April 2020. Most of the bike trails on Mount Shavano are above 9000 feet, though there are roads from the Valley floor up. In her picture she’s down in the flat Valley with Mount Shavano in the far distance. I’m wondering if she was biking on the lower elevation roads at that time. This might be more in line with a beginner, particularly one just coming off chemo.

Indeed, we can't if rode in the vicinity of the Mt OR rode the Mt Shanano trail itself. If we are to believe one of her daughters that she would cross the "highway" (hwy 50?) then maybe she could have actually climbed Mt Shivano trail. Even on the "beginner" Little Rainbow there are 10+ % grades.

 

[Seattle1]

From this, I don't believe Libler, BM, Mallory or Macy really knew much about her riding. In fact, I don't believe anybody really knew.

^^rsbm

I disagree that nobody really knew much about SM's riding. Quite the opposite, IMO, those SM trusted for advice and those interested in her welfare and well-being had knowledge.

The Morphews had only resided in Colorado for a couple of years and during most of this time, SM was battling cancer for the second time. It was during SM's later months of recovery that she found an interest in fitness and biking for the first time (a suggestion most likely by Libler). In the AA, BM also makes note of this as yet another change in the SM he once knew.

As evidenced by only a handful of documented bike rides beginning in late April 2020, this region is not conducive to biking year-round-- requiring SM to wait until Spring breakup before having her bike serviced and being reintroduced to her bike again.

I recall SM's brother Andy commenting on recent conversations SM had with her dad, Gene, regarding the mechanics of her bicycle. I believe her bike mechanic gave evidence of temporary repairs.

As attested by the pro-athlete former boyfriend, It certainly doesn't follow SM would choose to ride the staged trail on May 10. MOO

 

[Boxer]

i also think if he is charged and if she drops the civil suit, she will ask him to find another lawyer. The stakes are up and she will want a hefty fee.

Why should the suit be dropped?
I would like to be, but the wrongs alleged would remain.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Why should the suit be dropped.
I would like to to be, but the wrongs alleged would remain.

The suit should be dropped for the same reason it should have never been brought. It’s bogus. IMO. Shameful.

 

[Jurisprudence]

Agree.

It's all out there. You can't unring the bell.

jmo

 

[Jurisprudence]

There's no excuse for being unprepared. Book rigid thoughts of "procedure won't allow this" if we re-file charges is not only naive imo, it could prove fatal.

jmo

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

How many of you immediately had a gut feeling of Barry’s guilt after viewing his 30 second, facebook plea video? I live in Colorado and the video was shown May 17, 2020 on local tv news stations.

Not one piece of evidence has come to light in the intervening three years to cause me to change my mind.

 

[k-mac]

Why should the suit be dropped?
I would like to be, but the wrongs alleged would remain.

Because its based on lies and a technicality.

 

[annpats]

In fact a random killer wouldn’t bury her. She would have been tossed.

Exactly!

All those rural mountains and ravines in Colorado! He could have thrown her down into somewhere deep with foliage where she'd never be seen again.

But no. He buried her in a shallow dirt grave.

BM doesn't do joined-up thinking. (But I'm glad, as hopefully justice will be served!)

 

[Sachi]

I am certain Barry removed the battery from her phone and threw her phone in a dumpster in Broomfield. But it would be awesome if he threw it in her grave and it was found. Asking too much?
I was just thinking, a random killer isn’t going to bury her cell phone with her but someone close to her might. In fact a random killer wouldn’t bury her. She would have been tossed.

THIS "A random Killer wouldn't bury her. She would've been tossed."