Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #24

[Warwick7]

We also must remember PE isn't getting all they can out of family members.

PE (former law enforcement men) were approached by SM's family.

Family wants to be heard.

Family also wants BM to come forward.

 

[Blue Amethyst]

Do we know for a fact that the daughters were coming home for Mother’s Day or is this a BM story? If they weren’t there by 5 or 6, perhaps he lied about that too.

MOO it could have been a cover up as he knew SM was not there. We can not sleuth this so we really don’t know what their plans were.

If they weren’t there yet, I am sure they did return quickly upon the news that their mother was missing.

 

[10ofRods]

I'm camping with you on this thought. I feel that BM has certain personality traits that were better kept in check when Suzanne was closer to her family, friends. As their marriage progressed, I feel he was able to gradually isolate her. The more he was able to control her life, unfortunately, the less he respected and valued her as a person.
He probably doesn't realize that was his intention, but his nature made any outside influence a threat to him. He wanted absolute control.
I think it was a perfect storm.
Her closest friends far away.
Girls were away.
Neighbors can't hear.
There was nothing to hold his worst inclinations in check on that Saturday evening. And he got angry...
Moo

I see the pattern of gradual isolation too.

I think that some abusers/eventually violent persons really have no conscious awareness of what they are doing, with the isolation thing. I agree that some people's nature is to be paranoid about any outside influence on their lives, their spouse, etc.

 

[Murphy1950]

I'm behind so not sure if anyone has answered this yet. I remember on a previous case, we looked deeply into this. Someone who worked for Apple helped us answer the question.

Basically, it depends upon the service provider. Some providers keep the text logs for a few weeks. Some just for a few days, and some don't keep them longer than 24 hours. So depending upon who her cell provider was, they may or may not have been able to retrieve all the texts. JMO

 

[24Brix]

...authorities have not been willing to verify or confirm anything about this investigation with the exception of locating a personal article believed to belong to SM.

RSBM
I think this is crucial and it still hasn’t received the in-depth attention it deserves by us, PE, LS, or anyone else. In an investigation that has been incredibly tight-lipped and unwilling to confirm or deny almost anything, LE chose to reveal the existence of a found “personal item”. Why? Clearly there is a purpose behind letting that one cat out of the bag.

Whatever it is, I’m not sure it’s part of any staging effort. Because the reveal seems more like a coded message to the perp. “You’ve made a mistake. We’re on to you.” What could that item be that it’s discovery might cause the perp to misstep? And how might it get to where it was found?

Thoughts? I’ll start... IMO, it’s a personal item that reveals foul play — a scarf or bandana, an article of clothing, a pillowcase, or something that contains blood evidence, blown out of the back of a truck or trailer by accident. MOO, but I think it may prove to be a key to this puzzle.

 

[OldCop]

Since the search was supposed to have involved so many volunteers (to cover 200 sq mi??), I would figure the entire town knows whether it really took place.




Why do you assume there was a job in Denver? LE hasn't said a word about what they found out about his alibi, but I'm betting that if it were solid, they wouldn't have gone for a third search warrant.

@10ofRods, I’m thinking there was some kind of job in Denver that BM tried to use for his alibi. Is he stupid enough to throw that out if it didn’t exist? I actually think he went to Denver after much running around to conceal evidence and plant false clues. I believe he did all that Saturday night and hot dogged it to Denver Sunday morning. Later in the day he introduced his false bike ride narrative after his daughters couldn’t reach their mother on Mother’s Day. I think for whatever reason LE smelled a rat very early. Just because BM might have been in Denver most of the day on Sunday it certainly didn't rule him out as a suspect because no one actually knows when SM disappeared.

 

[BeckyF]

True. You will also have no impact on his physical liberty if and when he does see the inside of a courtroom. I am glad, though, that the law presumes a defendant's innocence, even if you do not.

I don’t know of a single member of WS who is not glad that a defendant is presumed innocent in the eyes of the law.

 

[10ofRods]

We have debated how well a cell phone would work out there. After learning from the Profiling Evil segment that the family did not have a landline and used only cell phones, it would seem even stranger to me that SM would leave her cell phone behind.

And I’m REALLY curious what is meant by the comment on Profiling Evil that the Morphews moved due to Barry’s “work stressors.” I don’t really even know what such a term would mean under normal circumstances. Because if he was doing landscape in Indiana but then started doing construction type work in Colorado, well, sheesh, construction is going to be a lot more stressful.

I picture a man who went through an unpleasant and embarrassing episode involving an arrest at work. That's the "stressor."

Suzanne is a gentle, kind person who would have a hard time understanding or helping with an anger problem. She probably thinks that more gentleness and kindness will solve it (that's what I was taught, and I have seen it work).

The "stressors" are all the things that were "triggers" for Barry's anger problem - which is coming from somewhere.

My ex-husband changed jobs...a lot of times. There were always "stressors." It took me maybe 8-10 years to figure out that other people in the same job didn't react to stress quite the same way, and I did try prayer and faith as antidotes. It was very hard because things didn't get better.

The stories people tell themselves about their increasingly out-of-control behaviors are both amazing and unbelievable in retrospect.

Over my many years in teaching, I've seen people react at work in ways that got them fired. They aren't necessarily bad people, but they do have something going on in their heads that other teachers don't find normal. Same with landscape architects, businessmen, doctors and lawyers.

I think BM cracked up.

 

[OldCop]

Following your guess:
In the living room, there would be remnants of a 'blow on the head': blood, hair etc.
A clean up being evident.

If strangulation occurred, then perhaps evidence may not be found.
Let us hope, we hear soon.
MOO.

Yes, @tmar, good points. I have been thinking about that, too. If it was a clean up job, that might have been what made LE suspicious when they did their first walk through of the home. Perhaps the smell of bleach, or an odd stain on the floor, (or back of a chair).
Strangulation might leave less obvious evidence, but there would likely be a struggle even it was brief. There may be a broken fingernail, scratches or scuff marks on a chair. For all we know, BM may have arrived back at the scene with scratches on his arms or face that he attributed to work injuries; clearing brush, etc. As a matter of fact, BM was never seen in public until he made that weak FB plea a week after SM went missing. He was never even mentioned by name for several days.

 

[Warwick7]

Per PE guys, LE NEVER TOLD SM'S FAMILY NOT TO TALK TO THE MEDIA.

Her family is very concerned with protecting SM's children.

I want to bring this back up again.

It is very important to know.

 

[10ofRods]

Wait...the son of whose girlfriend?

Suzanne's best friend: referred to as "her girlfriend" in PE.

Her son was getting married.

 

[10ofRods]

I'd advise my client to remain silent, as I said before. Remember, we do not know (a) who the family member is that the hosts of Profiling Evil spoke with & (b) she wasn't telling them these things under oath. If she is a witness at any trial, there'll be plenty of time to depose her later & assess her credibility.

EDIT: Now that I know that the family member that spoke to the Profiling Evil hosts was not the person that was texting with Suzanne, my answer remains the same.

Would you advise client not to speak to any other person at all - about anything? Or just to LE?

Because obviously, almost no client is going to do that. So what then?

If the client is living with family, do you ever ask them if they're still remaining silent? I am assuming you advise them to remain silent if detained by LE, and that most clients go right ahead and speak to others in their circle - and sometimes to total strangers. Or, even, reporters.

I've always wanted to know if defense attorneys give advice on these matters or leave it up to the client to figure it out on their own. I think almost everyone now knows not to talk to police - but...potential defendants in criminal matters probably ought not to talk to friends and family too, right?

Do defense attorneys ever ask what their clients are saying to various people - or does that just come up when the prosecution gets wind of it?

Always wanted to know - no worries if these are off-the-wall or questions that can't be answered.

 

[Warwick7]

If they don’t have her phone can LE still get her text messages from the cellular provider?

Now that I think about it...
We don't have confermation it was texting through cell phone or texting through facebook.

(Texting through fb goes through so much better than cell phones when service is spotty.)

As someone posted easier, the (...) will bounce up and down on fb texting. We know then, someone is typing.

If the dots stop and there is never another reply, this too will give the thought of "ending abruptly."

That said, if it is fb texting. ALL of that will be or is already, at the fingertips of LE.

 

[10ofRods]

ETA - the affair/lover theory is JMO

I’m quoting myself here, as my suggestion basically contradicts what I said earlier about it being premeditated. If Barry’s (MOO) murder of Suzanne was premeditated, he wouldn’t have needed to lie and tell her he was going to a work site on the Sunday to cover up actually going to see his lover. If he planned for her to be dead, why would he have needed to make up that story?

This brings me back to being on the fence about premeditation. Maybe he didn’t tell Suzanne about a job site? He had no reason to if she wasn’t going to be alive. Maybe he only told friends and family about the job site after the event, as he was hardly going to tell them that he was with a lover that day?

I still think he made her disappear over the Indiana house sale/the fact she wanted to go back there/the fact he wanted a new life, whether it was premeditated or not, aaaahh!

IMO, he never told her that - that's what he told others. This is really typical of certain people.

You're assuming that Barry told the truth after the fact. That's a really big leap.

He may well be constructing stories as he goes along, hoping to confuse every issue.

He could have been living with his lover for a period of time, for all we know - because only Suzanne could speak to that. There's a lot that only Suzanne can speak to.

 

[Seattle1]

,,,the coldest "stone" being his "heart."
If BM is responsible for SM's, death (my opinion being that he is) he is as heartless as they come.
How could he NOT consider what this loss would do to his two daughters!!!!! Pure selfishness and evil.....
IMO

^^bbm

It's difficult for me to even let my head go to the fact this was Mother's Day weekend. I don't know what occurred here but when I look back at the 26+ year history and raising two lovely young women, I'm inclined to believe this was most likely a crime of passion.

SM is a petite woman, and everything I see about BM is brutish. He walks heavily on his feet and just appears clumsy to me.

As with so many cases before, like it's not bad enough when a partner dies at the hands of their mate, I think the cover-up has to be the greatest injury to the survivors. The not knowing where SM is, the unrest, and worry, it's too much. And to knowingly put somebody through that, it's unforgivable. For what? To save yourself? I don't think so.

I'm reminded of another 40 yr old wife and mother that was killed by her husband in 2017 on an Alaskan Cruise ship. Blunt force trauma to her head in their stateroom-- with their children and extended family members including the victim's parents nearby. When he was apprehended, he told the authorities his wife laughed at him and she wouldn't stop. He's still waiting to be sentenced --another court schedule the casualty of COVID19.

MOO

 

[10ofRods]

Now that I think about it...
We don't have confermation it was texting through cell phone or texting through facebook.

(Texting through fb goes through so much better than cell phones when service is spotty.)

As someone posted easier, the (...) will bounce up and down on fb texting. We know then, someone is typing.

If the dots stop and there is never another reply, this too will give the thought of "ending abruptly."

That said, if it is fb texting. ALL of that will be or is already, at the fingertips of LE.

Agreed!!! FB works so much better when we're in the mountains, when we're at home (blocked by nearby mountains, etc). So do some other services.

It takes a bit longer, I'm told, for LE to get FB messages from FB (compared to phone companies), but I'd guess that even with CoVid, those messages were in LE (CCSO, CSI, FBI) hands by June 15-25. Would love to know. Am doubting that anyone except LE and courts will ever know - which is troubling to me. Still, I have some faith in our system and believe the FB data was available.

 

[TKG]

Did anyone catch in the PE interview if they broached the topic of BM hiring an attorney?

 

[Knox]

I believe PE stated the family told them: BM organized the camping trip-
His sister was with them-
Daughters were coming home on Sunday-

Why does this not surprise me?

I'm expecting to hear about the other woman any day now.

 

[Charlot123]

Many YouTube people do the same thing. As best I can tell they get paid more for the long drawn out version so economically it makes "cents" for them to drag it out if they don't actually have enough content to fill the time. MOO.

What happens if a writer’s contract stipulates payment per line, is obvious from the books by Victor Hugo. I assume YouTubers utilize the same principle, but, alas, without Hugo’s talent.
I have a stack of important, but boring, books, to read while listening to podcasts or watching YouTube.

 

[marylamby]

We learned about the Denver landscape project directly from BM during his conversation with YT blogger TD.

BM did not confirm if he was alone setting up the job, only that he had to work on Sunday because he was the owner (which in itself is so contrary)!

I recall he said his crew was coming in that night to begin work on Monday.
BM did not say where the crew was coming from.

If BM was truly working to set up a project on Sunday, it would be very unusual to be working alone. The industry typically refers to "setting up" a project as mobilization. During this process, job equipment is transported to the site, and possibly a job shack. Materials are delivered and stored, and porta-toilet also delivered.

I've been highly suspicious of BM setting up any job on Sunday -- let alone during a global pandemic when only essential work was allowed.

IMO, BM was probably alone because I think, even if he had a project, he advanced the work due to his circumstances.

Setting up a job alone on Sunday would be another red flag for authorities.

MOO

I believe he said that his workers were expected Monday morning. I'll go back to to the video and see in the am. I'm fading fast.
Otherwise, I completely agree with everything you said.