Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #74 *ARREST*

[MissTilly]

If LE could answer one question related to the case evidence, what would you most want to know?

Who organised the girls’ camping trip and when?
Just sneaking in a question and a bit …

 

[Kemug]

If a tranquilliser cap had not been found in the dryer, I wonder where we would be at now?

 

[Tortoise]

It's interesting that so far the only information to come out of the PH concerning Barry's phone records that Mothers Day and his eldest daughter, are that he called her at 12:06pm. Not that she called him. That in and of itself reveals his meddling in the instigation of the search.

 

[Deleted member 222031]

I can't say I agree with the happily ever after scenario. I see Suzanne getting out of the marriage as likely if not murdered...but, this guy made it quite clear that he didn't want to lose his job or his family. Those were his words. I think the affair would have continued for a time...but after Suzanne's independence....it would have ended at some point. Likely when Suzanne met someone who was readily and regularly available minus the complications and constant secrecy. That would have gotten old to a free woman, imo. This guy may have been trapped with his "gang"...but it was his gang....and he didn't want to lose it. Suzanne had managed to live in a marriage up until about the last two. She was both vulnerable and desperate....and JL benefitted from both..

Very well said. Your final sentence leaves me sad. I wonder if he ever contacted Andy? Or was the woman he carried a torch for just an escape from reality? Think of the hours spent texting and talking to SM that he could have invested in his 6 children. Lots of preventable collateral damage in his life.

 

[OldCop]

So the location where the bike was found was along the route that Barry said she biked, “up US 50 and then to Fooses”? But MH said she would not bike there because it was a “crazy climb”, and she would take her car to get to the trails she used?

Yes, @DizzyB , if I am reading that correctly.

 

[OldCop]

Deputy Brown found the bicycle shortly after getting notified of Suzanne Missing. He immediately put on his body warn camera when he got to Highway 50 and County Road 225. Noted no blood, skidmarks, brake marks, no struggle, no damage to the bicycle.
https://twitter.com/laurenscharftv/status/1424739624082153474?s=21

The bike is navy with light blue pedals. "Something is up with the front tire," the deputy said. The deputy brought the tire back up to the county road without gloves.
https://twitter.com/laurenscharftv/status/1424742841163685897?s=21

ETA. Around 4:00 LS describes watching video from body worn camera about the brake being on.

Thanks, @Cindizzi.

 

[MyJoey]

When did SM get the inheritance? I’ve seen a lot of people say BM was married to the money or it was all about the money to him. However it seems to me BM had a good thing going business wise at least at one point and earned a great living. Another words he earned most of the money in their assets. I understand after the move money was tight but that was a temporary situation, once the house sold and he picked up more jobs the money would flow again. Plus if they owned rental properties, that would be monthly income also. Plus BM didn’t like paying interest from all I’ve read so I imagine they didn’t have many outstanding loads.
I can see that BM would be upset that SM has all this money to herself, knowing she wanted out. On the flip side if I was the bread winner all those years it would be upsetting if SM was like it’s all mine. I’ve been reading for days so forgive me it I’ve missed something.
**** Biggest mistake made was moving, that was the beginning of the end will kind of…..

 

[Momofthreeboys]

If a tranquilliser cap had not been found in the dryer, I wonder where we would be at now?

That is a good question. I think we would be at the same place still. LE has a theory, but it is still prosecution's responsibility to prove that theory ultimately. We don't know how long that cap has been in the lint trap. Prosecution would need to convince a jury that it has only been there since a certain date and that it was used to harm Suzanne to make it relevant. I'm pretty good at cleaning the trap every time I dry a load, but is everyone?

 

[A2FMNST]

My question would be - What, if anything, did they recover of evidentiary value regarding BM's trash dumps?

I hope they found the tranquilizer syringe that matches the cap. Now if only her DNA was on the needle end and Barry’s DNA on the cap.

I know it’s unrealistic but dang that would be fantastic for the case.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

When did SM get the inheritance? I’ve seen a lot of people say BM was married to the money or it was all about the money to him. However it seems to me BM had a good thing going business wise at least at one point and earned a great living. Another words he earned most of the money in their assets. I understand after the move money was tight but that was a temporary situation, once the house sold and he picked up more jobs the money would flow again. Plus if they owned rental properties, that would be monthly income also. Plus BM didn’t like paying interest from all I’ve read so I imagine they didn’t have many outstanding loads.
I can see that BM would be upset that SM has all this money to herself, knowing she wanted out. On the flip side if I was the bread winner all those years it would be upsetting if SM was like it’s all mine. I’ve been reading for days so forgive me it I’ve missed something.
**** Biggest mistake made was moving, that was the beginning of the end will kind of…..

There is some truth to this. Everyone had the impression Suzanne was the "money bag" but they did quite well for 23 years of marriage with their businesses before the inheritance. I can see where Barry would be upset if Suzanne wanted $500,000 and out of the marriage, but he's smart enough to know the courts take all things into consideration when it comes to joint marital assets in a divorce...which it is now because they sunk it into the house in Colorado together in my opinion and the house was clearly was worth alot more than $500,000. If all this was was the house and all Suzanne wanted was $500,000 was she really going to walk away from $1.6 million in that single asset? Suzanne most likely would have gotten more than $500,000 in a divorce in equity from the marriage. I think there is too much focus on Suzanne's "inheritance" and not the big picture of their joint assets.

 

[Tortoise]

So I was listening to the video of Barry speaking to Tyson Draper and I think I can fill in a few of the blanks that are difficult to hear.

The transcript provided in thread 10 is (partially) :-

B: Well it was Mother's Day so we had two daughters that were coming home from the trip and I had that job in Denver that I wanted to get started on on Sunday set it up for my workers because my workers were coming in Sunday night. Normally I don't work Sunday night, I work Monday, but I being the owner I wanted to get everything lined up so that I didn't have to worry about Monday morning, just get busy working. So I told my wife, I said, "Listen, the girls' gonna be home, and they want to spend Mother's Day with you. Mind if I go get started?" She said, "That's fine." Girls...that's what we thought was gonna happen.




This is what I can hear with my headphones on :-

B: Well it was Mother's Day, so um, we um, we had two daughters that were coming home from a trip and I had got a job in Denver that I wanted to get started on on Sunday set it up for my workers, my workers were coming in Sunday night. Normally I work Sunday night, I work Monday, but I being the owner I wanted to get everything lined up so that they didn't have to stay in the room on the Monday morning, just get busy working. So I told my wife, I said, "Listen, the girls' are gonna be home, they want to spend Mother's Day with you. Mind if I go get set up [business?]", set up the bikes and stuff, then when the girls came home they'd be together, that's what we thought was gonna happen.

The relevant part starts at 6 mins 31 secs :

 

[Scootie98]

That is a good question. I think we would be at the same place still. LE has a theory, but it is still prosecution's responsibility to prove that theory ultimately. We don't know how long that cap has been in the lint trap. Prosecution would need to convince a jury that it has only been there since a certain date and that it was used to harm Suzanne to make it relevant. I'm pretty good at cleaning the trap every time I dry a load, but is everyone?

Barry, Suzanne and the gun are placed together at the same time and place, in Barry's own words. And this was just minutes prior to Suzanne's last known communication with the outside world, permanently. Gonna be difficult to escape that straight jacket....imo.

 

[Scootie98]

There is some truth to this. Everyone had the impression Suzanne was the "money bag" but they did quite well for 23 years of marriage with their businesses before the inheritance. I can see where Barry would be upset if Suzanne wanted $500,000 and out of the marriage, but he's smart enough to know the courts take all things into consideration when it comes to joint marital assets in a divorce...which it is now because they sunk it into the house in Colorado together in my opinion and the house was clearly was worth alot more than $500,000. If all this was was the house and all Suzanne wanted was $500,000 was she really going to walk away from $1.6 million in that single asset? Suzanne most likely would have gotten more than $500,000 in a divorce in equity from the marriage. I think there is too much focus on Suzanne's "inheritance" and not the big picture of their joint assets.

We really don't know the true condition of their financial picture just yet. What we do know, is that they borrowed from GM over the years...their arguments, according to SM, was about money 80% of the time....and, according to MM....they had financial pressures, living beyond their means, etc. That doesn't sound entirely "successful" to me. And this is separate from any shady, questionable matters, such as possibly the COVID loan. We don't know yet just what their situation really was. But it will eventually come out.

 

[OldCop]

Thank you @oviedo and @OldCop for doing this! Is it possible to have this put at the beginning of each thread? I'm not sure how that works but it would be very helpful for a reference point.

@NWLady, we hope we will be able to tighten the timeline even more and fill in some gaps after the final 2 days of the prelim next week. Right now it is fluid and we are trying to tweak it to make it as accurate as we can based on what official data has come out. Obviously, we won’t know everything until the AA is released so we probably shouldn’t park it there just yet. Hopefully, that will be in the next couple of weeks. It will likely go into the Media, Maps, and Timeline thread.
@oviedo, what are your thoughts?

 

[genuineusa77]

There is some truth to this. Everyone had the impression Suzanne was the "money bag" but they did quite well for 23 years of marriage with their businesses before the inheritance. I can see where Barry would be upset if Suzanne wanted $500,000 and out of the marriage, but he's smart enough to know the courts take all things into consideration when it comes to joint marital assets in a divorce...which it is now because they sunk it into the house in Colorado together in my opinion and the house was clearly was worth alot more than $500,000. If all this was was the house and all Suzanne wanted was $500,000 was she really going to walk away from $1.6 million in that single asset? Suzanne most likely would have gotten more than $500,000 in a divorce in equity from the marriage. I think there is too much focus on Suzanne's "inheritance" and not the big picture of their joint assets.

They did very well. Their spread in Indiana was magnificent. I believe
mortgage free too!

 

[genuineusa77]

We really don't know the true condition of their financial picture just yet. What we do know, is that they borrowed from GM over the years...their arguments, according to SM, was about money 80% of the time....and, according to MM....they had financial pressures, living beyond their means, etc. That doesn't sound entirely "successful" to me. And this is separate from any shady, questionable matters, such as possibly the COVID loan. We don't know yet just what their situation really was. But it will eventually come out.

BBM: According to Melinda, I think they only borrowed from him once, $100K, when they were waiting for the sale of the Indiana home to go through.

 

[DeDee]

I can't say I agree with the happily ever after scenario. I see Suzanne getting out of the marriage as likely if not murdered...but, this guy made it quite clear that he didn't want to lose his job or his family. Those were his words. I think the affair would have continued for a time...but after Suzanne's independence....it would have ended at some point. Likely when Suzanne met someone who was readily and regularly available minus the complications and constant secrecy. That would have gotten old to a free woman, imo. This guy may have been trapped with his "gang"...but it was his gang....and he didn't want to lose it. Suzanne had managed to live in a marriage up until about the last two. She was both vulnerable and desperate....and JL benefitted from both..

Ever the romantic, my personal hopes would be that Suzanne was happy. You could be right about them never cohabitating and joining as man and wife.

We don't know how JL would have responded, if Suzanne had not gone missing with her husband now facing Murder 1 charges. Barry rather had see her dead and gone. He'd have his white teeth, his tan, his BobCat, his calendar photos and her money.

Jeff would be facing the love of his life, if she were, and her $.5 Million. Both had college degrees and were bright; whereas, BM was simple. Imagine JLs children were adults similar in age to MM1 and MM2 or, most likely, older because SM waited until 1999 for her first born child.

Ms L could keep the home and any available savings, real estate holdings, unless its a considerable amount, etal. There may be an inheritance. Otherwise, he could walk away with zilch, except for his skills, his retirement check would go to Ms L because Suzanne said she could live in a shack.

This is a mythical take on their situation.

 

[genuineusa77]

Somebody did the wash in that house and I presume it was Suzanne! So that cap found in the lint trap came from the time she did the wash. She was alive then. Someone explain to me otherwise.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

BBM: According to Melinda, I think they only borrowed from him once, $100K, when they were waiting for the sale of the Indiana home to go through.

That was my understanding....but people are trying to build a narrative around their finances to get to a motive. There is an expression: asset rich, cash poor and if they were disinclined to borrow they could be asset rich, cash poor which CAN put financial stress on a marriage because assets aren't cash until they are sold or converted or borrowed against as equity. We just don't know and we have no idea if prosecutors can spin it into a narrative that is beyond doubt ultimately in a trial situation.

 

[FlyerFan28]

^^bbm

I don't think SM would have missed her maintenance appointment. Six months post-chemotherapy is such a milestone for patients and SM seemed to have a brilliant new vision for herself and her future. BM should have just let her go!

Understanding Maintenance Therapy

During cancer remission
Maintenance therapy may be used to lower the chance of the cancer coming back. For example, it may be considered after treatment for some types of leukemia and lymphoma. Talk with your doctor about if or how maintenance therapy is used for the type of cancer you have.

How long does maintenance therapy last?
It may last weeks, months, or years, depending on:

• The type of cancer
  
  
• The drugs used
  
  
• How well it works
  
  
• How long you can tolerate any side effects

Benefits and drawbacks
Maintenance therapy may keep cancer from coming back or slow down its growth. But it can also come with disadvantages, including:

• More side effects
  
  
• Higher treatment cost
  
  
• More doctor visits

If maintenance therapy is an option for you, talk with your doctor about benefits and drawbacks.

Maintenance therapy as a cancer survivor
Some people feel safer taking maintenance therapy. But others feel they are not a cancer survivor if they are still getting treatment. Either way, maintenance therapy is an important part of many people's treatment and recovery plans. Learn more about survivorship.

Maintenance Therapy is also called Neoadjuvant. A drug that targets specific types of cancer. In my case it was Herceptin for my Her+ positive inflammatory breast cancer. I was on it for 6 months post radiation. Very common treatment plan. You don't skip these treatments. They may save your life.