Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #59 *ARREST*

[LietKynes]

First time posting here but I've lurked since the Arias Trial. I don't often agree with some of the things posted here but I'll do my best to post clear thoughts and my logic to what I post.

Regarding the gun. I don't think it was the murder weapon.

First, BM is an avid hunter and gun guy. A sawed off-shotgun, and that is what I believe the gun is, makes an awful mess and LOUD noise. Not only would you have to contend with a lot of blood splatter but you would also have a lot of pellets to account for. A shotgun shell contains multiple projectiles. IF he was using say Double 00 buck shot that's at least 12-15 pellets a lot more if it was a smaller gauge. Furthermore, once fired from a short barrel the spread of the projectiles opens up a larger pattern in the air than a long barrel. Even at close range you could still find pellets that don't hit the target. That's taking a lot of chance that some pellets miss, go through or bounce off/ricochet into the the surrounding area of the crime scene. An experienced gun person would know this and look for a different option. One that is less messy, loud and leaves the less potential for evidence.

Furthermore, and I'm not a lawyer but wouldn't there be another charge on top of possessing an illegal firearm? A further charge of not only possessing an illegal firearm but also using that firearm to commit a crime or homicide would be tacked onto the charges. That's another felony on top of the one for just possessing it. If the DA was packing charges onto the AA I would think that that charge would be more serious and carry more weight. If they had the murder weapon, I think that would have been added to the charges. The way that the charge is worded leads me to believe that the firearm in question was found during a search hence just the possession charge.

Great first post.
Welcome to Websleuths, @Derph !

IF Barry was himself a true crime aficionado , he'd know the results of a gunshot in the home.
Add to that his friend who says Barry's an avid hunter.

My theory leans more towards drowning in their hot tub or strangling.
I also think it's important who was living there at the time and if they were in the beginning stages of separation ?
This will be revealed in the AA, possibly.

Was Suzanne expecting to be home alone during that time ?
Had Barry stayed at the home the night before or not ?

If not, then his claim to have seen her sleeping at 5am would be false .
Not enough for the charges being brought, but a piece of evidence that adds to the mountain that LE would have to charge with first degree murder and not manslaughter as in accidental.
As in Barry cannot say he pushed her in a rage and she fell on the floor and hit her head and died.
If so, why hide her remains ?
Imo.

 

[Cindizzi]

All I know is that she is new and was a PO before studying law and becoming a prosecutor. I have no idea what cases she has prosecuted previously nor her track record. Anyone have this info?

I have not read up on DA LS’s background but I did find this on her Senior Deputy DA, JL whose name is under hers on the charging documents. JL has at least 24 years experience here in Colorado.
ETA JL just left the 4th District DA ( El Paso County) office in December 2020 after 16 years. Let’s hope he learned a lot from Dan May.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyjeff

 

[Cindizzi]

I disagree (see bolded). Unless he could present very good evidence of prejudice or misconduct by the appointed public defender (and it would have to be aggregious), the private counsel was chosen by BM and is being paid for by him. I am not a lawyer but it is explained very well here:

Before You Fire Your Court-Appointed Lawyer

If the citizens of Chaffee County are paying for his private counsel, that would be a major hornswoggle, as we say here in Texas.

ITA with you that it is highly improbable that BM’s private attorneys will be paid by anyone other than BM. Colorado has organizations that provide legal help for CIVIL matters, not Felony Criminal charges AFAIK. JMO IANAL.

MOO

 

[Seattle1]

I have not read up on DA LS’s background but I did find this on her Senior Deputy DA, JL whose name is under hers on the charging documents. JL has at least 24 years experience here in Colorado.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyjeff

Yes -- Jeff Lindsey will be the lead prosecutor on this case and was present for the People at BM's advisement. I believe the second chair is somebody named Hamilton but I'm not certain.

 

[CGray123]

I disagree (see bolded). Unless he could present very good evidence of prejudice or misconduct by the appointed public defender (and it would have to be aggregious), the private counsel was chosen by BM and is being paid for by him. I am not a lawyer but it is explained very well here:

Before You Fire Your Court-Appointed Lawyer

If the citizens of Chaffee County are paying for his private counsel, that would be a major hornswoggle, as we say here in Texas.

You may well be right! I'd actually love it if BM tried to appropriate his victim's wealth to buy top-notch legal talent. That would be a major mistake!

However, since I speculate BM is practically broke and the PD is unable to handle the workload my guess is either the PD hired them or the Judge appointed them at public expense. Judge Murphy is a former PD. I have no doubt he knows of the E-N lawyers, and (like all of us) he wants BM to be well represented so any conviction will withstand appeal.

As I say, we'll see!

 

[al66pine]

Any Possible Connection to SM?

Probably unrelated but: Sheriff investigating dead body found near storage unit | 9news.com
Directions from the Holiday Inn: Google Maps

@MakitTakit Thx for your post w link.
From link & Adams County Sheriff's spokesperson:
"ACSO could not say if the body was an adult or child at this time citing that investigators are still working on the case.
"We are not releasing any information about the body or the condition of the body until our investigators are ready to share that information," added Sherman." bbm

^ bbm does not tend to necessarily exclude SM as the "body" found, but if it is SM, i wonder if this year-later find would be described as "body" rather than (skeletonized?) "remains." Could be. my2ct. Hope an ID can be made soon,

Regardless of identity, extremely sad.

 

[SouthAussie]

Very good Skype/Zoom video Melinda Moorman interview I’ve not seen before.
SM was afraid of Barry, per Melinda. She says it outloud, no hesitation when asked!
Melinda Moorman “My sister had sent me a text Friday morning before Mother’s Day. It was very lengthy, very powerful, very revealing. She was ready to reveal some things she had been keeping close to her vest.” “Suzanne was scared of Barry”.
Short 2 minute video from Inside Addition

EBM

Good video. Thank you.

Melinda makes it very clear that Suzanne was not scared for financial reasons or any other reason. It was BM's 'dominance and intimidation'.

So, it truly sounds as if something had happened, something was going on, that made Suzanne fearful of how BM would dominatingly and intimidatingly handle it.

 

[al66pine]

Verification on W/S?

Great first post. Welcome to Websleuths. If you are an attorney, you might want to go through the verification process on WS. Glad to have you.

@Error505 @CGray123
Atty. Or are/have been/employed as a legal professional, law enforcement, etc.

@CGray123 Thank you very much for your post.
ETA. Verification Process:
Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters

 

[SouthAussie]

I agree. I would not want to hang my hat on that (BM) as my claim to fame. Maybe it's just me but i'd have a hard time sleeping. I suppose if you are able to do this with a clear conscience you also are okay if a tragedy befalls your family by the hand of a perpetrator and if they are acquitted, you are okay with that too.

JMHO MOO

A little bit OT ..... but related

High profile defense attorneys are a curious breed. From what I hear, they enjoy the challenge. And somehow are able to turn off the gruesome details. Or perhaps they have heard them often enough they become desensitised.

My best friend's DIL is an ADA and says she could never be a defense attorney (but she is young yet) ... but that is where the big bucks are. So, in her experience, after people cut their teeth in ADA positions they sometimes then go on to leave prosecution and pursue the big bucks and the challenge.
And then, of course, there are those that jump right into it (defense) and work their way up the ladder (or not).

 

[jakat]

This pic was taken by one of Andy's friends from Indiana - when they came out to Colorado right after Suzanne went "missing" . The guys broke into search parties to look for Suzanne.

Andy's friend was with Barry. They were driving up the back side of the mountain when Barry stopped - got out and said he needed to look over a bluff. Then Barry instead laid on his back in the middle of a field. Andy's friend found it odd so he took a pic of it. IMO
The link is from PE - Chris was talking to Andy a little after 19 minutes in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkQsQL1gkco

LE took an interest where BM laid down in the dirt. Because Chris showed the picture again, there might be something LE found there belonging to Suzanne. Or?

This place seems to be a lot closer to PP than Crested Butte, but there wasn't anything said about how many miles away it is from PP.

The video was done in August and is a great refresher. Thanks for posting this @waldojabba

JMO

 

[Error505]

He thought if he changed out attachments there’d be no evidence relating to SM on the main body of the Bobcat.

Good to have your input @OldCop. Thank you!

 

[Error505]

I agree. It was like a "kildeer" moment. Those birds pretend they have broken wings, flop around on the ground, and make continuous noise to divert predator's attention away from their eggs and their young.

It'd be interesting to know where the group was headed next or what the group was talking about immediately before this happened.

I remember CM talking about the photo. AM’s friend was out with BM searching, AM’s friend snapped the photo because he became “afraid” of BMs strange behavior.

 

[Error505]

I have not read up on DA LS’s background but I did find this on her Senior Deputy DA, JL whose name is under hers on the charging documents. JL has at least 24 years experience here in Colorado.
ETA JL just left the 4th District DA ( El Paso County) office in December 2020 after 16 years. Let’s hope he learned a lot from Dan May.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyjeff

Excellent info! I’m a huge fan of Dan May! This Sr Deputy DA will no doubt have learned a lot from May! I assume this Sr Deputy is the lead prosecutor on this case. My faith gets stronger everyday justice for Suzanne is coming! Thank you for this Information !

 

[Error505]

Verification on W/S?
@Error505 @CGray123
Atty. Or are/have been/employed as a legal professional, law enforcement, etc.

@CGray123 Thank you very much for your post.
ETA. Verification Process:
Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters

Thank you @al66pine

 

[SouthAussie]

I have not read up on DA LS’s background but I did find this on her Senior Deputy DA, JL whose name is under hers on the charging documents. JL has at least 24 years experience here in Colorado.
ETA JL just left the 4th District DA ( El Paso County) office in December 2020 after 16 years. Let’s hope he learned a lot from Dan May.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyjeff

Interesting that Linda Stanley is a former police officer.


Stanley describes herself as a farm kid born in Nebraska and then raised in Iowa. She got an Associates’s Degree in Iowa, worked as a police officer, drove a long-haul truck, then got a BA in Criminal Justice at Metropolitan State College in Denver and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

She attended the University of Denver Sturm Law School, where she was President of the Criminal Law Association. After law school, she spent several years as the Deputy District Attorney for the 10th Judicial District, then a year as the first Municipal Prosecutor for the City of Pueblo.

“I had a tattoo in Latin put on my left wrist. It says ‘seek peace and truth through justice for the greater glory of God’ "

Asked about the motto she lives by, Stanley said, “I was raised to do the right thing even when no one is watching…..and loving my country, got that from my Dad who served two years as a Marine. It’s about character and integrity.”

Linda Stanley, Candidate for 11th Judicial District DA - by Jan Wondra - Ark Valley Voice

 

[O.Incandenza]

Thanks very much for the correction. IMO, it is still probable the PD chose the E-N firm and the taxpayer is footing the bill. We'll see.

That seems quite unlikely to me. Assuming we're talking about the Alternate Defense Counsel provisions of the CRS, it looks like that would only happen if the state public defender had a conflict of interest. I don't know what that would be in this case. But even if they did, they would have to submit a motion to the court requesting to withdraw and providing a specific description of what the conflict of interest was. The court would then review the motion and see whether they agreed that there was a conflict. If so, they would then appoint the ADC, who would select the new counsel from their list of already approved attorneys. And that attorney would be paid based on a rate that's set by the Colorado Supreme Court.

I don't think we've seen any of sign of that happening in this case. The screenshots of the motion to replace the PD with new counsel didn't say anything about a conflict of interest, and we haven't seen any sign of a court order approving the appointment of an adc. Nor do I think those lawyers would be willing to take the relatively low rate they'd be paid if they were appointed in that manner.

 

[Error505]

Good video. Thank you.

Melinda makes it very clear that Suzanne was not scared for financial reasons or any other reason. It was BM's 'dominance and intimidation'.

So, it truly sounds as if something had happened, something was going on, that made Suzanne fearful of how BM would dominatingly and intimidatingly handle it.

Thank you. Glad you find the video helpful. I was stunned when I first listened to it. I saw snippets of MM w/her hair up during an interview and just looked until I found it. MM leaves zero doubt about the seriousness of SMs text the Friday before she was murdered. It’s too darn sad SM wasn’t in Indiana, where she would have had close friends she could have reached out to
since she was in fear of Barry! Of course, that’s part of the BM personality and abuse to isolate the victim, part of the process of gaining full control and dominance. I’m very sad to say SMs last moments alive were probably filled with terror. Justice for her death can’t come soon enough. MOO

 

[LaineyJ]

Great first post.
Welcome to Websleuths, @Derph !

IF Barry was himself a true crime aficionado , he'd know the results of a gunshot in the home.
Add to that his friend who says Barry's an avid hunter.

My theory leans more towards drowning in their hot tub or strangling.
I also think it's important who was living there at the time and if they were in the beginning stages of separation ?
This will be revealed in the AA, possibly.

Was Suzanne expecting to be home alone during that time ?
Had Barry stayed at the home the night before or not ?

If not, then his claim to have seen her sleeping at 5am would be false .
Not enough for the charges being brought, but a piece of evidence that adds to the mountain that LE would have to charge with first degree murder and not manslaughter as in accidental.
As in Barry cannot say he pushed her in a rage and she fell on the floor and hit her head and died.
If so, why hide her remains ?
Imo.

bbm

are we just getting the idea that BM was into true crime because a friend of his said that? This gets brought up many times so apologies if I have the source incorrect.

If he “liked” true crime or just put on podcasts sometimes, I don’t know, I just don’t see him with such a deep interest in it. Not just because I think he hasn’t learned enough from them. It’s just a personal feeling I have that he wasn’t deeply interested as it seems. Of course imo, and I could be wrong. I almost imagine him just knowing he’ll commit such a crime one day and then engaging his “interest” out of curiosity once in a while. Not with the same interest I’d say most of us have on here have

 

[genuineusa77]

Very good Skype/Zoom video Melinda Moorman interview I’ve not seen before.
SM was afraid of Barry, per Melinda. She says it outloud, no hesitation when asked!
Melinda Moorman “My sister had sent me a text Friday morning before Mother’s Day. It was very lengthy, very powerful, very revealing. She was ready to reveal some things she had been keeping close to her vest.” “Suzanne was scared of Barry”.
Short 2 minute video from Inside Addition

EBM

I disagree. According to her sister Suzanne was scared of their finances. Remember a week before Barry took out a loan. He was trying like h*ll to make the business work there like it did in Indiana and it was costing them lots of money which is scary!!

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Great first post.
Welcome to Websleuths, @Derph !

IF Barry was himself a true crime aficionado , he'd know the results of a gunshot in the home.
Add to that his friend who says Barry's an avid hunter.

My theory leans more towards drowning in their hot tub or strangling.
I also think it's important who was living there at the time and if they were in the beginning stages of separation ?
This will be revealed in the AA, possibly.

Was Suzanne expecting to be home alone during that time ?
Had Barry stayed at the home the night before or not ?

If not, then his claim to have seen her sleeping at 5am would be false .
Not enough for the charges being brought, but a piece of evidence that adds to the mountain that LE would have to charge with first degree murder and not manslaughter as in accidental.
As in Barry cannot say he pushed her in a rage and she fell on the floor and hit her head and died.
If so, why hide her remains ?
Imo.

So is the thinking that the prosecutors have evidence of how and where she died and are keeping it close to chest?