Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #79 *ARREST*

[Lilypad13]

If BM did indeed remove the laces as he claimed, was he able to produce them?? That is the question!

Yes where are those laces? If he murdered Suzanne and/or disposed of her body with those boots on then why take the laces out? Wouldn’t he throw those away too to be safe? Were those laces used for something sinister? Surely he could find a rope or zip ties or something better to use than boot laces? If Suzanne was already dead why would he need to tie her up. Oh God what if she was knocked out by the tranquilizer dart and he tied her hands and waited for her to wake up before he killed her? But even if he was that diabolical and evil why USS his laces? That’s another little clue or puzzle piece that we don’t understand yet.

Maybe the laces got saturated with blood and he didn’t want them to drip so he put them in a bag? But why not put the whole boots in a bag? Or maybe he was using some tool or equipment involving the body disposal that his boot laces could get caught on? I don’t know but there has to be a reason the laces were missing. Other than the boots had holes but the laces were still good. I mean he might buy new trucks and property and go on expensive trips but just be cheap when it comes to trash pickup and shoelaces? But new boots come with laces in them so I don’t get it. Maybe laces wear out faster than boots when you do landscaping work? Maybe saving laces is a “thing” I’m not aware of. But in this particular situation saving boot laces would be the last thing Barry was worried about! Another mystery that I hope we get an explanation for one day…

 

[DizzyB]

The only thing, as far as we know, the defence can prove Suzanne lied about (and that only by omission) was not telling anyone about her relationship with JL. I have no doubt the prosecution can and will prove just how many times BM has lied during the last 16 months. I would be extremely surprised if the defence could produce even one witness to show that Suzanne was a habitual, prolific liar. That dubious honour is reserved for BM. MOO

I do believe that Suzanne lied about one thing-her affair. I believe that everything she told her friend about Barry was true. I tried to find an applicable statute in CO rules of evidence but I’m not that good. I have watched enough trials to see how attorneys can attempt to discredit or impeach witness testimony. If I were on this jury, I would want concrete evidence of Barry’s prior behavior, not just Suzanne’s say so. Some might say that Barry was controlling, but she went on 6 solo trips. Barry suspected Suzanne of cheating, and he was correct. She may have taken the money out of the safe. I don’t care if it was right or wrong or whose money it was or if Barry drove Suzanne into JL’s arms. I believe Barry killed Suzanne, and the facts support that. I don’t want the facts drowned by the noise of the things that the prosecution cannot prove. Get the bad stuff out of the way and move on to how Barry-and only Barry-could have made Suzanne disappear.

 

[marylamby]

BBM
BM claims he didn’t know about the affair, so how can people (potentially jurors) construe it as justifiable homicide? Secondly, BM claims he’s innocent, didn’t murder his wife, the CAT got her….or, she got in the river, or she was abducted, or……

They can attempt to paint Suzanne as a liar, but anyone with a functioning brain can see who the real liar is. As well, anyone who responds “I don’t recall,” 90 + times is definitely a prolific liar! All MOO.

Totally agree but you know how things can go. So much depends upon the judge NOT granting bail.
Can't pleas be changed? They already asked if the charge could be reduced to 2nd degree. Is that an admission of guilt?
He could give an interview between now and the trial saying how he lost his mind out of jealousy but didn't want to admit it before. He wanted to spare his wife from the humiliation! He found God, again. Lost his way. We all sin yada yada. Wishes he could take it back.
I wish I'd gone to law school!

 

[IceIce9]

I can’t see how laces could be splashed or sprinkled with blood or body fluids while the boots were not. So that leads me to think the laces were used for another purpose, like to tie something or someone.

Where are the laces?? Maybe where Suzanne’s body is……….

 

[justtrish]

And this brings up another thought:

JL’s text goes unanswered on the 11th. A friend makes him aware of Suzanne’s disappearance the next day. So JL never texts her again.

Is that because he assumed she was dead? If he said he didn’t think Barry had anything to do with her disappearance did he think she was kidnapped? Or the mountain lion theory? Could he have thought maybe she left Barry?

I would like to know what his demeanor was on the 12th. How did he respond to the friend who made him aware of Suzanne’s disappearance? What was he like at home? Did he experience guilt thinking that his texts or messages could have put her in a dangerous situation?

I have so many questions I would like to ask him.

I bet he looked for more articles and realized the police were all over this. It went big really quick! If he kept texting, maybe LE would know about him. If they were looking into her phone data I'm sure he figured they would find out about him so he didn't text.

 

[jondaba]

I wonder if JL knew Suzanne recorded their talks on her spy pen prior to being questioned by the FBI. Nov 10 CCSO requested anyone who may have communicated with Suzanne via various apps to please contact them. Nov is also when CCSO discovered the affair and questioned JL. Previously in May JL deleted everything on his phone, then that phone ends up destroyed. I guess at that point he thought LE would ever find out. Except for Suzanne's pen and Linkedin keeping his nude photos.

Suzanne Morphew case remains a priority to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office - Chaffee County Sheriff

"In one aspect of the case, the task force continues to focus on Suzanne Morphew’s social media presence as part of the investigation. Investigators say Suzanne kept in touch with friends she loved dearly. They also believe that sometimes in these types of cases that people don’t come forward with information for concern that they may get someone in trouble. To those who may be fearful to come forward, they can reach out anonymously. Once investigators know your concerns, they can address them."

Ashley Franco
@AshleyKKTV
·
Aug 9

Eytan says #SuzanneMorphew was creating secret accounts and says the secret spy pen lead to her secret affair. She says investigators called Jeff in Nov 2020. She says Jeff never came forward about Suzanne, claims his phone was destroyed that had conversations with her

Russell Haythorn
@RussellHaythorn
·
Aug 9

Defense: By April 2020, Suzanne Morphew and Jeff Libler were sending nude photographs to each other, telling each other they wanted to get married. One day before Suzanne disappeared she told Libler they needed to be husband and wife.[/QUOT
I am confused. Have any nude phots been actually put into evidence?

 

[Scootie98]

It was never reported as a dumpster. It was the trash can in front of the store. They had just closed up when the younger employee looked out the front window and saw someone rummaging in the trash right by the door (I can't remember which of the approved youtube sources show the store and the trash, but it should be on the media thread). I also can no longer recall if they recognized Barry right away, but they opened the doors and asked what was up and he said his wife was missing and wrote the infamous Baby Blue Helmet note (I believe he wrote it on a piece of paper from the trash, IIRC). Very early on, someone interviewed the store owner (I think it was Lauren).

The store manager is a woman, the young man saw him first (and I believe he said that the trash area was his duty, so he paid attention). Nothing about a dumpster.

that clears it up for me...thanks. So many details over an extended period of time...

I bet he looked for more articles and realized the police were all over this. It went big really quick! If he kept texting, maybe LE would know about him. If they were looking into her phone data I'm sure he figured they would find out about him so he didn't text.

JL comes across as one of the men who would have taken a seat on the life boats from the Titanic reserved for women and children. Obviously, the defense will need to vilify both he and Suzanne with equal enthusiasm. He made their job much easier than it should be.

 

[Deleted member 718]

I can’t see how laces could be splashed or sprinkled with blood or body fluids while the boots were not. So that leads me to think the laces were used for another purpose, like to tie something or someone.

Where are the laces?? Maybe where Suzanne’s body is……….

I think he has them at the hotel.

Lauren Scharf
@LaurenScharfTV

Replying to
@LaurenScharfTV
#BarryMorphew said that there were holes in the boots but the laces were good so he wanted to take them to the room and remove the laces and then trash the boots. Photos of this from the hotel surveillance video are being shown.

10:29 AM · Aug 10, 2021·Twitter Web App

 

[jondaba]

I am confused. Have any nude phots been actually put into evidence?

 

[Scootie98]

I think he has them at the hotel.

Lauren Scharf
@LaurenScharfTV

Replying to
@LaurenScharfTV
#BarryMorphew said that there were holes in the boots but the laces were good so he wanted to take them to the room and remove the laces and then trash the boots. Photos of this from the hotel surveillance video are being shown.

10:29 AM · Aug 10, 2021·Twitter Web App

Why would he need to take boots all the way to Broomfield from Maysville just to trash them? Who does that?

 

[marylamby]

I think Libler is a fool, frankly. Naïve, thinks he's living in a Netflix series about older people having romantic flings. He doesn't even know Barry that well, but wants to claim that Barry would come after him first (driving all the way to Michigan - yeah, that's believable...not).

JL seems not to be aware of Barry's caginess or intense need for control at all (but I think he's lying just to make himself look better).

I think it's safe to assume he didn't want his wife to find out and if she already did know being that family members did, he wanted to save his own skin (job etc) and humiliation directed toward his family.
I think you're right. He wanted to minimize the situation/affair/murder for every reason imaginable, even in his own mind.

 

[marylamby]

Or maybe that was trash dump #6, and he got caught.

Yep. He didn't retrieve an old receipt to write a note that DIDN'T include her age, height, hair color on because people who own stores don't have any paper handy.
'Find the carefully placed bike and helmet, damnit!'

 

[justtrish]

Thank you for this explanation. I think BM would absolutely use his shoe laces to hog tie her so he could easily move her because I think hog tying her would also be another way to humiliate her for him. I think that is why the laces were removed in the first place.

Knowing these things:

Shoelaces missing
Tranquilized cap found in the dryer
Cadaver dog didn't hit at the house or cars

I think he tranquilized her so he could tie her up then remove her from the house to another location. This prevents her from screaming, blood getting everywhere, and from cadaver dogs hitting at the house or on his cars. He listened to true crime stuff. He likely followed the recent Colorado cases where husbands killed their wives and how they got caught was killing her in the house, having a witness, doing video interviews, disposing of the bodies at work or in a location he would be known to go. I think he took all those cases and devised a plan that would not lead to his arrest based on things the others did wrong. Oh and the cell data on the Frazee case and the Watts case showed their movements. I think he tried to disguise all those things so he would be better than that and not get caught for things the others did wrong. That is the only thing I can think of for why he didn't want to do a video interview or plea for her, he used airplane mode, he set up his alibi and was careful with where his phone was.. ugh

 

[10ofRods]

Yeah, I think he strongly suspected. I also think he wasn’t sure who it was. That day they got into the argument when SM was going to go into town after BM cut his leg and he accused her of wanting to go into town so she could talk to someone. She also basically said something to the effect of, “So you can question me, but I can’t question you?”
All indications that this had come up before.

I agree. And I think she went into town for her "bike rides" because, for one thing, there was cell service there and she could message JL without fear of being caught. I don't know their phone plan, but the one we used to have showed every single call made by each phone (it was great for managing teenagers). Today, most plans have unlimited calling nationwide and don't do that...but...if BM was a skinflint, maybe he had a limited data plan (free calls still, if using a wireless based calling service like Skype).

She lived a life where she need a reason or excuse to leave the house, IMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Agree...when the prosecutors said they checked all the Morphew vehicles' tires against tire tracks near the helmet I wondered how they could possible determine where a vehicle might be when the helmet toss occurred.

Probably on the road itself, so no point in that exercise - but heck, it was a good field training exercise.

A guy who used to play semi-pro baseball can probably lob a helmet some distance.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

He definitely took them out for some reason while making numerous trash dumps. Do you believe he wanted to save them for a new pair of boots that come with new laces? What was wrong with the boots? I doubt they had holes in the soles, but even if they had why not use the dumpster by the pp home?
He did an awful lot of running around ditching 'garbage' when he was 'supposed' to be working to get the 'job' ready for his workers' impending arrival - which he didn't and didn't even supply the equipment/tools/bobcat for.
At that point, nothing was wrong at the Morphew home. He kissed Suzanne goodbye.
When something doesn't make sense, there's a reason. In a murder case, there's usually a very good reason even if it seems unimportant taken alone.

My husband and boys save their shoe laces when they toss work boots. He probably sticks them in a drawer or in his truck and grabs one if he breaks a lace...just like my boys and H do. Does he need a reason for saving boot shoelaces that meets public opinion approval? Salida is a small town and while Walmart probably has boot laces it's not terribly convenient to their home. Or it's just a habit that he's had for years and years. Maybe he dad always saved his bootlaces. Who knows. But my money is not on the idea that he hog-tied Suzanne with his boot laces.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Double post.

 

[MsBetsy]

Why would he need to take boots all the way to Broomfield from Maysville just to trash them? Who does that?

Maybe he was wearing them when he committed the crime and picked up another pair somewhere, then threw the old ones out to get rid of evidence. They may have had blood on them or dirt from wherever he went to hide the body.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Probably on the road itself, so no point in that exercise - but heck, it was a good field training exercise.

A guy who used to play semi-pro baseball can probably lob a helmet some distance.

Plus he was tossing it on a downhill slope, so it could have rolled even farther on its own. I even wonder if BM really wanted it to be found closer to the highway than it was, as it would (in his mind) support his claim she was abducted. But it may have rolled away and he realized it would be too risky to get out of the truck and move it.

 

[marylamby]

Knowing these things:

Shoelaces missing
Tranquilized cap found in the dryer
Cadaver dog didn't hit at the house or cars

I think he tranquilized her so he could tie her up then remove her from the house to another location. This prevents her from screaming, blood getting everywhere, and from cadaver dogs hitting at the house or on his cars. He listened to true crime stuff. He likely followed the recent Colorado cases where husbands killed their wives and how they got caught was killing her in the house, having a witness, doing video interviews, disposing of the bodies at work or in a location he would be known to go. I think he took all those cases and devised a plan that would not lead to his arrest based on things the others did wrong. Oh and the cell data on the Frazee case and the Watts case showed their movements. I think he tried to disguise all those things so he would be better than that and not get caught for things the others did wrong. That is the only thing I can think of for why he didn't want to do a video interview or plea for her, he used airplane mode, he set up his alibi and was careful with where his phone was.. ugh

He also didn't do any public plea earlier or attend a news brief because he had injuries and didn't want to answer any questions. "Too soon".