Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #34

[citygirl]

That Richard Craft case just goes to show that there is always some perp willing to do almost anything to try to get away with murder. A link is below that summarizes that case.

Its so difficult with this case because BM did have lots of options with all his moving around and all his activities that weekend. The Salida work site activity late Saturday night seemed very fishy. And up until now I did not consider much that he had any help but now I am seriously considering he may have found someone that helped him with maybe the coverup part. If he had help then that would go a long ways to help understand how he managed to conceal her remains so far.

And I had not considered much about this being a planned thing because I always felt it may have just been a bad fight where he lost it. But now I am seriously considering there was planning involved before that weekend and if so, that also helps explain why she has not been found yet.


"Notorious murderer Richard Crafts, who used a chain saw to cut up his wife’s body and a wood chipper to dispose of it"

Richard Crafts, notorious wood chipper murderer, released from prison

I remember it well.
Henry Lee became famous.
Was it a thumbnail they found on the shore of Lake Zoar?
Helle Crafts. Airline attendant. And, he was a pilot.
MOO.

 

[Moonchime]

MG said that on Saturday, BM wanted her to work on the area sloping down toward the river at the east Salida worksite, bringing in and spreading sand so it was less mucky. Then, she claimed that BM declared they were done for the day at 11:00 and she was surprised because she thought they were ending work before the job they were there that day to do was actually complete.

So, what was that all about?

I wonder if the sand was delivered that same morning or the day before and if the entire load was delivered to the east Salida site or if some part of it was delivered to Puma Path.

If the entire load went to the east Salida site (or even if not), I wonder whether some of what was delivered to east Salida was later loaded into a truck bed (thus the sound of heavy machinery near midnight at the east Salida site) and then moved to Puma Path for a middle of the night hardscaping project.

So far, this case and the disclosures of the BM-related people involved produce as many questions as they do answers.

Hopefully, the new information gleaned is helping LE tie up any loose ends on this case.

 

[ajaylee]

Do we know how far it is from the Salida jobsite to BM/SM's house?

If he sent MG home at 1100, presumably she was offsite in 15-30 minutes tops? (It's not clear to me if she had to clean and stow any tools she had been using or if she left at 1100 sharp).

SM's conversation, via whatever media, stopped abruptly at 12:30. Unless he got home very quickly (I don't know the distance/time to drive), something must have happened almost as soon as he got home.

Someone asked before and I don't remember - do we actually know where SM was while she was communicating with her friend? Could she have been talking while outside? While biking?

ETA: no, she had to be home because that's where she was (or her phone was) the last time it pinged. I don't know when the last ping was.....

 

[MassGuy]

Maybe it is possible (he) someone managed to fake write some texts from her phone with her friend, pretending to be her. It could be possible if the previous texts were studied, one could pull off a short conversation without raising suspicion. It would be interesting to know the start and stop time of that conversation and how much depth it had....

Because the subject matter was a wedding, I don’t think BM could have pulled that off. Also, I would expect anyone pretending to be SM to bring the conversation to a conclusion, as opposed to raising the alarm by suddenly stopping.

 

[citygirl]

Based on what we (not LE) know now, I don't think finding SM's body will necessarily be enough to wrap up the case.

Depending on manner of death and state of the body, there may be no conclusive evidence of how she passed. LE will still need a very solid case (Kelsey Berreth solid) to go after BM.

What will happen if BM is arrested before the search?
Would her brother go forward?
My sense is he will as his mission is to find her?
Just opining.
MOO.

 

[Boxer]

So, would that put the texting between 10:30 am and 12:30 in Colorado, if that was the time quoted rather than mountain time. Right?

I believe it was confirmed friend was 2:30 pm ET in Indiana, and 12:30 pm MT in Colorado.

 

[Goldenseal]

So, would that put the texting between 10:30 am and 12:30 in Colorado, if that was the time quoted rather than mountain time. Right?

No -- at first the time was quoted as 2:30 PM, and was later clarified as 2:30 PM (Indiana time)/12:30 Colorado time).

 

[KLM6]

What will happen if BM is arrested before the search?
Would her brother go forward?
My sense is he will as his mission is to find her?
Just opining.
MOO.

An arrest will not affect the search unless Suzanne is found prior to the daye of the search.

 

[10ofRods]

I would normally agree, however, AM was saying it was odd to not have a landline as the cellphone reception is spotty and unpredictable. I can't count how many times my phone battery has gone dead (once it was just broken) but then I've run out of gas more than a couple of times too, haha.
If they'd had a landline, they could've called the home instead of relying on the neighbor - who's landline was working nicely.
IMO

Which is why they sound like "flatlanders" to those of us who have lived in CO or NM or similar. People have landlines in those areas for a reason. While people are neighborly, relying on one's neighbors for emergency phone service - well - most times, it's fine - but it can also be a burden for the neighbors, as in this case (no one wants to be in the chain of responsibility for a missing person).

Would Suzanne still be alive if she had had a land line? It's hard to know - but I cringe at the vulnerability of a person - particularly a woman in a rural, isolated house, with river sounds nearby...whose cell phone is taken away or otherwise made unavailable.

I also feel for the neighbor, who got pulled in due to her reliable and neighborly ways. She has to be going through a lot.

 

[Ericthered]

This bloody timeline. I'm confused.

MG stated in her LS interview that BM called her on Sunday, Mothers Day (so frustrated the time was not asked or not shared) and asked her to get a crew together and head to Boomfield and she picked up JP and headed that way to fix the retaining wall.

In JP's interview, didn't he state he saw BM on Saturday and he offered him the retaining wall repair job and he would report on Sunday?

This might not even matter at the end of the day.

IMO

Oh, I think it matters, very much.

 

[swedeheart]

There is absolutely zero chance that a wood chipper can be taken from the fire department without documentation.

what if it wasn't taken from the fire department, but she was taken there? there is a colorado fire camp in salida. they also have a pool there. they were also closed down that weekend. would they have something like that sitting around? *shiver* moo.

 

[citygirl]

I can’t tell you how much I dislike the wood chipper theory.

That sort of thing is incredibly rare on the whole, yet I’ve seen it brought up in countless cases now. Not once has it been true.

Barry had limited time, as he had a hell of a lot to accomplish in the hours following the murder. Not only that, but using a machine like that creates more evidence than it destroys.

That machine would have to be disappeared as well, as the forensic evidence inside would bury BM.

I tend to agree with you on this. Would he normally have a wood chipper at his disposal? Maybe, since he is a landscaper? But in my neck of the woods cranes and wood chippers belong to tree people.

The wood chipper case in CT took place in the dead of winter. Frozen snow on the ground (which actually contributed to his demise).
BM's situation was entirely different.
IMO, he planned everything after the fact.
His mind was racing trying to figure it out.
Not saying it wasn't premeditated.
Just not premeditated for along time.
MOO.

 

[nyvictoria]

I was so happy to read that LE is ok with AM’s search plans. I thought it unlikely that AM would have gone ahead with it if LE objected and I’m glad they’re being supportive of his efforts to find his sister. I haven’t watched Lauren’s interview with M yet but it looks like there’s a lot to unpack there.

I still feel BM planned for Suzanne to “go missing” all the way back to Indiana. The move to CO was the first step. He likely had things lined up for it to happen on MD weekend. Too many coincidences otherwise - daughters away camping, alibi job set up out of town, security system disabled, land line disconnected. IMO something happened that messed with his “perfect” timeline and planned alibi. Whether that was a confrontation with Suzanne that made him react and strike out in anger earlier than planned, Suzanne not dying fast enough, disposal (I hate typing that!) taking longer than expected or some other interference, it forced him to have to scramble around to make sure all angles were covered and he’s been scrambling ever since.
All JMO

 

[tmar]

Good thought about a possible boat or rubber raft launch.

The timing does seem too early though doesnt it. If the beach work that MG was asked to smooth out the sand occurred Saturday morning, then didnt we still have the friend talking with SM after that point?

Its really crazy all the things BM was trying to do that same weekend. We have beach work during the day Saturday, a late Saturday night appearance of workers that did something there late Saturday night, the Sunday check-in of crew in Denver with no actual work from what we know so far there and they end up leaving at some point to go back to Salida.
Both the Denver site and the Salida site had some issues that had to be fixed.

With all that chaos going on, SM goes missing and BM somehow makes it to Denver at some point and then returned home by Sunday night.

That is an awful lot of chaos on the same Mothers Day weekend. Something aint right about it.
JMO

On the many excuses of where and why, This is my take on B's mindset."If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, Baffle them with bullshyte". LE will be running around in circles trying to figure out what is fact or fiction.

Chingaling

This continual chaos, not only the MD weekend but ongoing, with stories changing, will all be sorted by LE, when we read the arrest warrant etc.
Can't wait, figuring what happened, when, why....

Wonder if theories stated here, are even close to 'what happened' or is there loads of cover ups, diversions, to get LE off the track, going down unrelated paths.

Perhaps stupid BM, has had a diversion plan, in action and continues to this day.
Guess, he doesn't sleep easily, as thinking 'what else can I think of. What's next.'
MOO.

 

[citygirl]

I’m not sure if it was ever reported that the Arkansas River (beside the Salida construction dig site) was ever searched by divers?

It was reported that Fooses Lake was searched and another May article reported “waterways”. BBM


May 21, 2020
Lauren Scharf
Chaffee County Sheriff: NO NEW UPDATE for #MissingPerson #SuzanneMorphew Dive teams searched Fooses Lake, a 6-minute bike ride from Morphew's home. I can see a bridge on @googlemaps
Is this the bridge @NancyGrace
is referring to? I'm not sure.

LISTEN HERE:
https://twitter.com/LaurenScharfTV/status/1263630643704938496?s=20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 17, 2010

‘Sheriff John Spezze made the request after a dive rescue team from Pueblo searched waterways‘
Suzanne Morphew search: Residents near Salida asked to save video cam recordings

JMO

Exactly. To me, it underscores that LE has been very busy and we have no clue.
MOO.

 

[marylamby]

Which is why they sound like "flatlanders" to those of us who have lived in CO or NM or similar. People have landlines in those areas for a reason. While people are neighborly, relying on one's neighbors for emergency phone service - well - most times, it's fine - but it can also be a burden for the neighbors, as in this case (no one wants to be in the chain of responsibility for a missing person).

Would Suzanne still be alive if she had had a land line? It's hard to know - but I cringe at the vulnerability of a person - particularly a woman in a rural, isolated house, with river sounds nearby...whose cell phone is taken away or otherwise made unavailable.

I also feel for the neighbor, who got pulled in due to her reliable and neighborly ways. She has to be going through a lot.

I don't think having a landline would've made an iota of difference, not in this case.
However, I can't imagine NOT having one when you're out in mountains with unreliable cellphone service.

 

[10ofRods]

That's not necessarily true. We already heard from a family member, from an approved source, that BM called the shots.
If he were in control of the bills, just as he was in control of the IN to CO move, then it's quite possible that she did not have the authority to have cameras repaired (or reinstated with service) or take it upon herself to have the landline hooked up.

It can be really subtle control. When people make decisions about who handles what, and when one spouse has medical problems, it can just happen that one spouse has all the account log-ins on their device. I know our phone log-in, my DH has no idea what it is (I'm pretty sure he knows what company - but he's never dialed 611 in his life, I think). We didn't intend for him not to know this, he does other things.

For someone who is opportunistic and/or desperate, if they decide to start conning their own spouse, it can get dicey for the unsuspecting spouse.

 

[nyvictoria]

That's not necessarily true. We already heard from a family member, from an approved source, that BM called the shots.
If he were in control of the bills, just as he was in control of the IN to CO move, then it's quite possible that she did not have the authority to have cameras repaired (or reinstated with service) or take it upon herself to have the landline hooked up.

Very true. I commented on this before. It’s difficult for women who don’t live under that type of rigid control to understand why a woman would tolerate it but it’s a sad fact that it happens all the time.

 

[Boxer]

what if it wasn't taken from the fire department, but she was taken there? there is a colorado fire camp in salida. they also have a pool there. they were also closed down that weekend. would they have something like that sitting around? *shiver* moo.

MOO A wood chipper would not be able to be cleaned of DNA. A hunter is going to know that buried off the path is as good as gone.

 

[10ofRods]

I don't think having a landline would've made an iota of difference, not in this case.
However, I can't imagine NOT having one when you're out in mountains with unreliable cellphone service.

We don't know that. It's possible that this was planned and that the planner was so expert that s/he could have worked around a landline.

Grabbing a cell phone as someone tries to use it, sticking it your pocket, is easy.

Grabbing a landline out of someone's hand is more likely to leave evidence of struggle. When I've been in domestic situations where I needed a phone, I didn't want to let the phone out of my grip - a cell phone can be grabbed, but with the landline, one hopes to hold onto the cord, making it impossible for the grabber to disconnect the call without leaving evidence of a struggle.

Cell phones are very easy to take away from someone and dispose of permanently. A woman who is trying to dial 911 or a friend on a landline has her hand on the receiver and the other on the cord, the strength with which a person grabs a cord leaves forensic evidence.

I figure that at some point during this crime, the perp was at least a little concerned about possible forensic evidence. Phone cords stretch and break, and in a life and death struggle, that at least leaves evidence that no handheld device can match.