Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #73 *ARREST*

[10ofRods]

Yes, acquired it, stored it, and then thought he may as well take it with him to HIE, and throw it away.

It doesn't sound as if Suzanne thought cameras in the garage weren't working :

Lauren Scharf
@LaurenScharfTV
Agent Grusing spoke with Sheila about #SuzanneMorphew list. More examples of grievances: concerns about recovering from cancer with #BarryMorphew still in the picture. Concerns about cameras in the garage. Accusing Suzanne of Boyfriend. They spoke with Barry about this.

I'm guessing those were trail cams. Barry seems to have been fond of them. We have several, ourselves, to monitor outside our back fence, where someone keeps dumping trash. The card fills up, is motion activated, we have to take the card out to read it (and there are handheld card readers you can schlep out there if you just want to check the last few photos). It doesn't blink or otherwise show that it is recording.

People do use them a lot in garages or outdoor spaces, where wifi reception isn't good for wifi-based camera systems.

 

[sunshine4040]

Bobcat required per the contracted vendor who sub-contracted to BM.


-Bobcat required
-No Sunday work allowed.

And:
Just logistically on BMs part:
-No materials ordered

And , NO work on Holidays.
He knew these two facts, but they do matter. As I have tried to understand it,
You can get a special permit to work on a Sunday, but you have to apply and
be issued a permit. Where is your permit? accidently threw it away.
But I think it was no you can't work on any Holidays.
So something is not adding up or subtracting up or multiply up or dividing up.
??

 

[JosieMae]

It happens all the time, which is why I’ve been saying since the early days that the daughters will support him to the bitter end, and beyond (appeals).

We had a famous case in Massachusetts where a doctor murdered his wife of 30 years, while on a morning walk. The details were salacious (countless affairs), and the evidence overwhelming.

His children continue to support him to this day, despite also being incredibly intelligent people.

Facts and evidence are no match for love and emotion.

Sad.

OMG, @MassGuy! The Greineder case! (Followed that one on the original Court TV.)

I think about that case every time family inexplicably and aggressively supports the murderer. That case had OVERWHELMING evidence and all 3 adult, educated children refused to believe their disgusting father murdered their mother. Fortunately, the jury had no such trouble with the facts.

I also felt from the beginning the Morphew case would follow a similar maddening template.

 

[10ofRods]

I wonder if there were others around to attest to exactly when the bobcat was damaged. Or if the damage was sustained when Barry happened to be alone? Or if he gave any explanation about it when he changed the blades?

Blades are "damaged" each time they are used. After a while, all blades need to be changed - routinely. I suppose Barry was concerned that soil samples would immediately be taken from his used blade. Since he had a brand new blade on his Bobcat, when LE first showed up and looked at it, it would seem to them that it had likely not been used in the commission of a recent crime. Certainly, it would be pointless to try for a soil sample from the tiny grooves on the blade if it was brand new.

I hope they did go back and get soil samples from the undercarriage/tires of the Bobcat, but sadly, so far it sounds as if they left the Bobcat out of the picture. By the time they got to it, there would have been many layers of soil deposits on its underside and no way of analyzing it easily.

 

[Tortoise]

I used to think he'd pushed her over the side of a mountain but with the disposal of the tree tub I think he probably had pre-dug a hole and had a tree handy in case he was seen. Dug a hole, stood the tub with tree in the hole, until he was ready to come back to it.

 

[sunshine4040]

Thank you. I tried to spell the word "sketchy" for at least 10 minutes last night. IMO

I put in IMO. But it wasn't MO , It was 10 minutes. I never got it right. It was not Itchy or Scratchy or Daffy.
I settled with Sketch ie. IMO

 

[TexieLouWho21]

On the subject of the Bobcat. I wish I could see the machinery on the home job site better. The one the FBI sifted. The one where the lady said she heard a piece of equipment was running later in the night. If there's a Bobcat brand machine there, BM bobcat key could have cranked it. His Bobcat key could be used for different pieces of Bobcat brand machinery. Then again I think I read those keys to those machines were left on site. He could have used one of those machines to dig. If he parked his Bobcat in the driveway at home, his trailer was empty. There is a trackhoe at that jobsite. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws. Just thought I would throw that out there.
None of this may not even matter anymore, since he has already been arrested.
I hate to type or even think this. He could have tranquilized her and buried her alive. So no cadaver trace. If that's possible. I don't know how fast death would happen after being shot or stabbed with a tranquilizer dart. Pure cold chills with that line of thought.

 

[MyJoey]

I find the texting on 5/9 about going for a hike odd. Would SM really want to hike with him? It seems to me she really didn’t want to be around him.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Voir dire is one of the mechanisms the system uses to mitigate the influence of bias and prejudice. It also educates jurors about their role, the nature of the case, and the seriousness of their duty to remain impartial until all the evidence is heard.

No one gets to stack the jury with "beneficial" members. After both sides strike the jurors they think could be adverse, the result in theory is a jury of impartials.

Attorneys have all kinds of theories as to how best to conduct voir dire, mostly based on crude and superficial stereotypes - but there's zero evidence that any of them work, in the sense of picking a jury favorable to one side.

No matter what the attorneys can figure out by observing, listening, and studying the juror bios, they cannot possibly know in advance how a particular juror will react to the evidence offered in the case about to be tried, and they cannot know how one juror will influence, or be influenced by, others in the jury room. Even those who use "jury consultants" and employ "scientific" jury selection have little to show in terms of measurably better outcomes. (Lieberman & Sales, 2007; Posey & Wrightsman, 2005).

And now in 2021 in important cases they can garner info from people’s social media and info on the internet to get a more complete picture.

 

[Snow_In _June]

I find the texting on 5/9 about going for a hike odd. Would SM really want to hike with him? It seems to me she really didn’t want to be around him.

I must admit my train of thought wandered down that route. The last place I would want to be is hiking alone with someone I may not feel comfortable with. That whole texting incident was odd in my personal opinion only. But that's just me.

 

[MsBetsy]

I find the texting on 5/9 about going for a hike odd. Would SM really want to hike with him? It seems to me she really didn’t want to be around him.

She did say she wanted them to be civil so maybe she thought going for a hike would be a good time to have a conversation about their marriage?

 

[Boxer]

I find the texting on 5/9 about going for a hike odd. Would SM really want to hike with him? It seems to me she really didn’t want to be around him.

I believe even as late as 5/6 they were out walking and met the B&B property care lady by the dumpster.

Who saw Suzamme after that? I have lost track. Did she go Moonlight Pizza?

 

[CaseZero]

I still want to find out if LE found anything after searching at the late-night May 9th dig site.

 

[Tate123]

The unconscious bias, though, is clearly very strong. Reading comments here and around The Internets, it's clear that some people are going to find it hard to convict Barry of Murder 1, if he came home and found his wife texting a cute picture to another a man - a man he had already thought was too close to her, back when he found some of their texts. Hopefully, the mountain of evidence still to come will be overwhelming and the verdict will be reached quickly.
.

I agree with you. I'm actually shocked at the tone of some once they heard she had an affair. We are all human, we all make mistakes, hopefully those mistakes allow us to learn a lesson. Suzanne was human with human frailties in what seems like an devastatingly bad marriage. We are ALL looking to be loved and who knows what that feels like in the face of some serious bouts with cancer. I won’t judge.
On the other hand..Barry is a threatening bully who must have control and have it his way. He is a coward who snuffed out a beautiful life and ruined a family. I hope he is judged harshly in both the courtroom and by God.

 

[OldCop]

From @kshultz06082 on 2nd day of prelim hearing:

Lauren Scharf
@LaurenScharfTV
"At 2:45 p.m. #BarryMorphew did something terrible to his wife and then went to get his hot tub fixed?" Neilsen asked. Agent Grusing responded, "I don't think their timing is accurate." (referring to Salida Stove and Spa)
and
Jamie Leary
@JamieALeary
Defense trying to disprove investigator's theory, that erratic cell phone pings on May 9th from #BarryMorphew's home was him chasing Suzanne around the house before killing her. Defense says Barry went to get his hot tub fixed shortly after. Shop employee confirms.

As a defense his attorneys are claiming BM wouldn’t kill SM and then go get his hot tub fixed. Does she really think he carried it into SS&S under his arm?

 

[Auntie Cipation]

@TexieLouWho21 there was definitely a Bobcat at the home construction site. It was visible in some of the aerial video that appeared in news reports.

What I can't swear is whether it was BM's same machine or not. My impression was that it was a different machine.

That video should be findable in the media thread for this case.

MOO

 

[TIGER0822]

From the previous thread:

@BuckeyeGal said:
"I think the majority of people in the US go to Wal-Mart, at least occasionally, and most communities have a Wal-Mart. I would guess if someone needed items to quickly deal with a situation (ie: covering up a murder), that is where they would go."

I haven't been in a WalMart in 20 years, but I think people do erroneously feel more safely anonymous in Walmart, because of the size of the store and large number of customers etc. But that's a mistake -- they don't think about the degree of electronic security sure to be in place.

What gets me is -- who doesn't already have duct tape and trash bags and a shovel at home? And if your criminal plans require a tool you don't own, don't wait until the last weekend to buy it! [/QUOTE

 

[10ofRods]

@TexieLouWho21 there was definitely a Bobcat at the home construction site. It was visible in some of the aerial video that appeared in news reports.

What I can't swear is whether it was BM's same machine or not. My impression was that it was a different machine.

That video should be findable in the media thread for this case.

MOO

It was a different Bobcat. AFAIK, while LE went to that site and did some digging, they did not impound or inspect that Bobcat. It's possible the noise heard by the neighbor at that site (which is on the edge of Salida, miles from Puma Path) was something completely unrelated. And she wasn't sure if it was Friday or Saturday night.

I'm now wondering if LE thought it strange that Barry's own Bobcat had a brand new shiny blade on it, almost as if he was trying to make sure that the blade contained no evidence. Actually, I'm pretty sure that LE must have thought this. But I have always wondered why they didn't impound that Bobcat to take a look at where it had been recently, through soil and other analysis.

 

[Knox]

This article has things I hadn't see before, sorry if this is a repeat.

• One of those documents was a list Suzanne made on May 8, entitled “grievances.” It included notes like “wedding ring,” which Barry allegedly took and melted at some point.
• During questioning in November of 2020, Barry indicated he was shooting chipmunks. Grusing asked him if he was using a .22 caliber rifle, which he said was important because investigators found a tranquilizer dart cap in the Morphew’s dryer, and knew that a .22 caliber rifle would also fire that. Barry confirmed it was the .22 he was using to shoot chipmunks.
  
• “Do you still believe you have evidence that he is most likely chasing Suzanne?” Barry’s attorney, Dru Nielson asked. “Yes,” replied Grusing.
  “What?” She asked exasperated, “Due to the chipmunk statement?” “Yes,” replied Grusing.
• “In 10 interviews with Barry, the only thing we could get him to move on was his tranquilizer material from his garage… he couldn’t say which trash run they were disposed in,” said Grusing.
  
• Recently mines were searched as well as an Xcel water pipe.

Prosecutors Outline Barry And Suzanne Morphew's Movements On Days Around Her Disappearance

I wonder if LE tried to recreate Barry chasing Suzanne around the house, using an agent with a cell phone running around? If the ping pattern matched what they found with Barry's phone, good chance he really was chasing her. Could they use that in court at trial?

 

[OldCop]

I find the texting on 5/9 about going for a hike odd. Would SM really want to hike with him? It seems to me she really didn’t want to be around him.

I thought that, too, when I first read it. However, when BM first asked her, she said, “Where?”
From what I understand, the trails around the Salida/Maysville area are very popular and quite busy. Maybe she thought she’d be safe with a lot of people around. After he didn’t answer she said something about getting summer tires on the Range Rover. He still didn’t answer her.
At about 10:36 am, SM texts BM again and asks if he wants to meet to hike.
At 10:48 he replies, “No, coming home.”
At 10:48 SM immediately replies, “Get hot tub stuff.”
I think SM knew BM was mad when she didn’t agree to a hike right away. I think she asked him to pick up the hot tub stuff as a delay tactic so she could end her conversation with JL and prepare for BM’s arrival home. I think she was afraid. MOO