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

[Ontario Mom]

What if BM had originally disposed of the bike helmet in that dumpster, then retrieved it Tuesday night, and planted it where it would be found near HWY 50 that Thursday.

Maybe he really was looking for the bike helmet and clothing.

It wasn't the dumpster he was rummaging through, it was the trash can right by the front door.
I thought we settled this ages ago?

 

[LaineyJ]

@Error505 i don’t know when you changed your new.. profile pic? Avatar? But I’m just noticing and this picture is very nice and much clearer than the last one. A nice gesture and visual reminder of why we are here.

 

[branmuffin]

DV seemed to be a housekeeping issue on the doc. I feel like it was left off in error, and quickly amended.
I wonder if Suzanne had any input into their finances. Did she know their position? Was she a SAHM because she thought she could be, and Barry liked it that way? Did she help him with the books, or did he have an accountant? I know many wives who do the day to day invoicing and bookkeeping for their spouses that have their own businesses. Was this too complicated? Multi-states, government contracts, tree farms, the Cat had a lot going on.

I've wondered about the casual nature BM employed to get people to work for him. It appeared to me pretty old school where you rounded up able bodied individuals to do physical labour on an ad hoc basis without going through the hoops of a payroll, statutory deductions, etc. He got a federal PPP loan to pay for salaries but who did he pay it to? Somehow I don't think BM disposed of SM to make some quick cash but rather acted out in anger and/or desperation when she may have found out that it was all a house of cards ready to fall. How did he pay the medical insurance for her treatment? The costs must have been astronomical.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Then why did he knock on the window, which is what LS reported that the store owner said?

It's getting harder all the time to find specific links as the case updates, but IIRC, he was first observed by either the manager or the younger person working there that night, going through the trash. Only after he saw them through the window, did he knock, and have that brief convo with the manager that's been interviewed.

Because it was after hours, I think it's a reasonable expectation that BM didn't actually expect anyone to be there, but offered up the stupid little note when he was observed digging through the trash.

jmo

 

[Error505]

@Error505 i don’t know when you changed your new.. profile pic? Avatar? But I’m just noticing and this picture is very nice and much clearer than the last one. A nice gesture and visual reminder of why we are here.

I changed it early this morning. Thank you. Yes, this one is much clearer. I couldn’t get the other one reduced in size & clear at the same time. I’m a rookie at those things. Very sweet of you!

 

[DizzyB]

I've wondered about the casual nature BM employed to get people to work for him. It appeared to me pretty old school where you rounded up able bodied individuals to do physical labour on an ad hoc basis without going through the hoops of a payroll, statutory deductions, etc. He got a federal PPP loan to pay for salaries but who did he pay it to? Somehow I don't think BM disposed of SM to make some quick cash but rather acted out in anger and/or desperation when she may have found out that it was all a house of cards ready to fall. How did he pay the medical insurance for her treatment? The costs must have been astronomical.

That would be a thing if he didn’t pay the health insurance premiums. He is self employed so it’s not as if things are deducted automatically from his paycheck. Who was filling out the docs for the PPP loans? Who did the day to day accounting for his business, not to mention his real estate portfolio? His stuff sounded pretty complicated. He/they still owned property in two states, Barry seemed to have independent contractors who would be require 1099s, he was involved in state projects that would have required proof of insurance and performance bonds. Even if he was not listed on the state jobs he would have had to provide docs as a sub. I hope LE has untangled Barry’s very messy web. I’m sticking with money as a motive.

 

[Skigh]

That would be a thing if he didn’t pay the health insurance premiums. He is self employed so it’s not as if things are deducted automatically from his paycheck. Who was filling out the docs for the PPP loans? Who did the day to day accounting for his business, not to mention his real estate portfolio? His stuff sounded pretty complicated. He/they still owned property in two states, Barry seemed to have independent contractors who would be require 1099s, he was involved in state projects that would have required proof of insurance and performance bonds. Even if he was not listed on the state jobs he would have had to provide docs as a sub. I hope LE has untangled Barry’s very messy web. I’m sticking with money as a motive.

As Suzanne did not appear to go back to teaching I wonder if she did do any of his paperwork or did he not want her to know about his business dealings. She would have been more than capable of sorting it all out.

 

[swedeheart]

Expanded media coverage: Denied

Any recording or re-broadcast of virtual court proceedings is prohibited. Boo.

05/24/2021 Order RE: Expanded Media Requests and the Recording/Broadcasting of Hearings

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21CR78 Morphew Order Expanded Media.pdf

 

[Error505]

DBM already posted thx @swedeheart

 

[Momofthreeboys]

As Suzanne did not appear to go back to teaching I wonder if she did do any of his paperwork or did he not want her to know about his business dealings. She would have been more than capable of sorting it all out.

I know some non working spouses that work/help their contractor spouse but really he was college educated he probably just did his own paperwork. I like to think they both were not complicit in any gray financial dealings.

 

[LaineyJ]

Expanded media coverage: Denied

Any recording or re-broadcast of virtual court proceedings is prohibited. Boo.

05/24/2021 Order RE: Expanded Media Requests and the Recording/Broadcasting of Hearings

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21CR78 Morphew Order Expanded Media.pdf

I asked this before, but didn’t get an answer. I heard someone say CO meant a trial by Twitter. Is this true? No cameras for trials there? If the judge is denying this request for a matter much smaller than the trial, I’m assuming that also means no media streaming during the trial as well.?

Also, thank you for posting this.

 

[swedeheart]

https://twitter.com/LaurenScharfTV/status/1396931449136107520
Lauren Scharf
@LaurenScharfTV


An order filed by the judge today stated that the hearing on Thursday at 4 p.m. for #BarryMorphew will be virtual and any recording/re-broadcast of the virtual court proceeding is prohibited.
@FOX21News

Lauren Scharf
@LaurenScharfTV


"This Court will continue to utilize video conferencing (WebEx) for this case until the public is allowed into the courthouse with no significant restrictions on capacity. The Court believes this is the most appropriate way to ensure that the proceedings are both public & safe."

 

[DizzyB]

Expanded media coverage: Denied

Any recording or re-broadcast of virtual court proceedings is prohibited. Boo.

05/24/2021 Order RE: Expanded Media Requests and the Recording/Broadcasting of Hearings

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21CR78 Morphew Order Expanded Media.pdf

I’ve already watched the last proceeding via WebEx so I’m good to go. I had some techy issues with the sound so I dialed in too. Sorry for those in other countries re: rebroadcast

 

[10ofRods]

It's getting harder all the time to find specific links as the case updates, but IIRC, he was first observed by either the manager or the younger person working there that night, going through the trash. Only after he saw them through the window, did he knock, and have that brief convo with the manager that's been interviewed.

Because it was after hours, I think it's a reasonable expectation that BM didn't actually expect anyone to be there, but offered up the stupid little note when he was observed digging through the trash.

jmo

The owner says to Lauren, "And someone knocked on the window and it was Barry Morphew."

Suzanne Morphew case: Husband Barry Morphew charged with murder, arrested in Chaffee County

It's about 3/4ths of the way down that article page.

I know it's hard to keep the smaller details straight. But he went out of his way to alert them that he was there - after the rummaging? At any rate, he does have a receipt in his hand and writes on it.

But he knocked on their window, he wasn't skulking or anything (not that you said he was - but some people are beginning to think this was some big secret operation of digging through trash).

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Expanded media coverage: Denied

Any recording or re-broadcast of virtual court proceedings is prohibited. Boo.

05/24/2021 Order RE: Expanded Media Requests and the Recording/Broadcasting of Hearings

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21CR78 Morphew Order Expanded Media.pdf

But can't we get the WebEx call in/court directly feed as in other cases?

 

[OldCop]

Then why did he knock on the window, which is what LS reported that the store owner said?

He was first confronted by a young man who worked in the store who came out and asked what he was doing in the trash. The employee went back inside after BM gave some mumbled response. I think BM was startled by that employee, because he thought the store was closed. He realized he needed to come up with something plausible so he then knocked on the door and gave them the issuing wife story and wrote the note.

 

[10ofRods]

He was first confronted by a young man who worked in the store who came out and asked what he was doing in the trash. The employee went back inside after BM gave some mumbled response. I think BM was startled by that employee, because he thought the store was closed. He realized he needed to come up with something plausible so he then knocked on the door and gave them the issuing wife story and wrote the note.

Ah - it would be good if the many news articles about that night included that fact - young man's view seems to be lost in the mists of time.

But that's a good sign - it's possible that the young man could be called to the witness stand.

So if Barry first came, thinking the store was closed (not a very close observer of things, apparently - as two people were moving around inside, lights were still on, and surely at least one employee car still parked in back)...he goes through the trash. Is caught.

Thinks about it in his own Barry-way and comes up with, "I am here digging through the trash in order to tell them about my missing wife - I needed something to write on."

But he has no pen, so the lady gives him a pen and he writes what's uppermost on his mind (the items he used to stage the crime). At least. that's how I'm thinking about it now.

What a dope. True fact: research shows that people who are less competent at something are more likely to rate themselves higher on that task than "others." I'm sure it's because they need to think someone is worse than they are - but people who are truly good at the task usually say they frequently meet people who are higher on that task than they are.

Barry is no criminal mastermind and although I think he thought about killing Suzanne (and wanted to, maybe not 24/7 but often), he did not work out his alibi plan well at all. He focused all his energy on planning and carrying out the crime/body disposal as murderers so often, understandably, do.

But his alibi circle (going to a market he already knew, calling on the few people who he knew he could get to show up for a non-job, perhaps telling family members he was on training, etc) is very poor. I give him a D+. He didn't fail altogether - he did something that threw LE off (they've probably searched every place he stopped over a several day period and come up with nothing or not much). He also managed to convince key players in his own family of his alibi long enough to carry out his financial machinations.

And I think he spent an inordinate amount of time playing shell games with money and moving "assets" around and selling shell companies and paying people under the table while somehow getting approved to work for the State of CO, etc., etc.

 

[Ontario Mom]

As Suzanne did not appear to go back to teaching I wonder if she did do any of his paperwork or did he not want her to know about his business dealings. She would have been more than capable of sorting it all out.

Knowing what Suzanne's Christian faith meant to her as has been described by so many who knew her well, I have a hard time believing she'd ever tolerate anything at all like a fraudulant government loan, or any other illegal activity.

Who knows... maybe she discovered the PPP loan (or something else we haven't found out about yet - I bet there's lots of that) and spoke up and spoke against what he'd done? Maybe that was all the motive he needed.

 

[DizzyB]

But can't we get the WebEx call in/court directly feed as in other cases?

Yes, we can use the Webex feed ourselves-as in log in, watch and listen. It cannot be rebroadcast. If you’re watching it via a second source or watching it after the fact, you’re violating the order.

 

[Seattle1]

To be clear - any YT hosts choosing to rebroadcast BM's WebEx virtual court
hearing on 5/27 will be violating the court order entered today by Judge Murphy. In other words, please don't upload the youtube to WS.

@Sillybilly

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21CR78 Morphew Order Expanded Media.pdf