Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #36

[Dalgliesh]

Deleted. (Duplicate)

 

[Dave F.]

<modsnip: Quoted post was modsnipped>

The next judge for Chaffee county has been appointed. Her name is Diana C. Bull.
New Chaffee County Judge Named – Heart of the Rockies Radio
https://www.bulllawoffice.org/

 

[lamlawindy]

I just knew you would disagree! And, I disagree too! Regardless, of whether or not this was premeditated or heat of the moment, his actions prior to her murder will speak volumes regarding his character and motive. BM has shown himself to be a “controller” of things. When BM doesn’t get what BM wants, look out! Whether he premeditated 3 hours, 3 days or 3 months matters not. Whether he finally lost it because he had lost control of SM, his pattern of behaviour towards her and others in the past WILL matter to a jury. JMO

Again, prior bad acts are covered by Rule 404(b). Some may get in. Allowing all of them in creates the danger of causing reversible error.

 

[Megnut]

ITA. I have wondered the same thing. I guess it’s possible that when he ran into JP in Salida on Saturday he might have asked him if he (JP) would be available to work in Broomfield on Sunday/Monday. When BM called MG on Sunday to get a crew together for the job, he might have told her JP was available.
I’m not totally sold on this theory yet. If he knew he wanted to work in Broomfield on Sunday by Saturday afternoon, what changed between when he saw MG on Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon when he saw JP?

Good question, @OldCop.

What changed that Saturday between talking to MG and JP? One thing changed.

And that changed everything.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

They found no evidence related to SM's disappearance at the job site, though.

RSBM

They found nothing they could connect to Suzanne or the case at that time.

In the months since, aided by forensic study, they may, at this time, have something they can connect to Suzanne and the case.

That takes time.

I remain curious to learn what if anything they may have found....

JMO

 

[Boxer]

Again, prior bad acts are covered by Rule 404(b). Some may get in. Allowing all of them in creates the danger of causing reversible error.

MOO the 404(b) rule allows the use of character evidence as pertains to motive. So it is limited by that.

 

[EggSalad]

Yes, that's true. However, AM said he got the word from some of his friends (males, IIRC). He wasn't sitting at their computer. I don't know your world, but in mine, people confuse friend suggestions with friend requests. But let's say that AM's friends were accurate.

There is still that other information about the women friends getting "suggestions" popping up that day. Now personally, I think they had probably gotten the suggestions over the months or maybe every week - a lot of us just ignore them and you can put them on hold for a month (I do). Since the women friends (of the BFF) saw "suggestions" (not requests) at around the same time, I don't think it's much of a limb to go out on...to at least question whether AM's friends actually saw friend requests or merely suggestions.

If someone sent out friend requests to AM's friends late on Saturday, that's very strange. If we posit that BM did it, then it's really ham-handed, but in keeping with his odd behavior that weekend (sudden job in Broomsfield, a job he failed to tell MG about the day before it started, a job he told JP about first, a job where he had no proper tools or supplies and on which he spent "30 minutes" out of a whole day on Sunday - when he supposedly was getting to Broomsfield by 8 am so that he could spend the day setting up the job).

Where did we learn that AM saw his sister's page? Did he? I must have missed that. How could he see his own high school friends while on his sister's page? FB has never done that to me. I can see my friends' friends if they allow it, that's all. I can't see any suggestions made to them nor can I see my own friends when I'm visiting a friend's page. That would make most people get off FB immediately.

Suzanne's FB is fairly locked down. Is the idea that if someone's page was completely public, FB would treat it differently?

For Suzanne to make actual friend requests of people who were her brother's friends, she'd simply go to his page (not the other way around) and click on them, hit the request button.

OK, here comes my Facebook hypothesis. I’ve posted it before and it’s MOO but is supported by Facebook’s information.

So, is it possible that BM made one off requests to people he knew late Saturday night as a way to show SM was still alive? Yes, absolutely it is.

But, if 4-5+ facebooks users all got friend recommendations for SM around Midnight on Saturday, wouldn’t that almost be so much of a coincidence that it is more likely a batch recess happening with the Facebook platform? My thoughts are yes, if would be way too coincidental and why would all of these friend recommendations be happening at once?

Let’s start with a basic understanding that Facebook’s business model is to get more people on their platform, get more of their data, and get them engaged in content; that is what drives Facebook revenue through advertising.

So what mechanisms does Facebook have to get more people on their platform?

Facebooks’s own info: Help Center

What Facebook is doing is that anytime a user logs in to their profile on a device (ie - new device) the Facebook app is gathering all of the contacts from that device (phone, email address book, other apps) to then sync those new contacts with existing contacts to find who the profile is not connected with and then make suggestions.

Why does Facebook do this? It grows their network and engagement which in turn helps them sell more advertising.

And with those net new contacts identified, Facebook, in their own words sends new friend recommendations: Help Center

So how does this apply to BM & SM?

If BM logs on to SM’s Facebook profile on BM’s device, Facebook will collect all of BM’s contacts from that device and recommend that SM’s profile friend those new contacts.

That is kind of interesting because all of the people in IN that received those requests were connected with BM already but not SM.

Hypothesis: BM logged in as SM on Facebook on his phone to keep up the facade that she was still alive. Facebook found all of BM’s contacts that SM was not connected to and sent a request at Midnight, which is the start of a new day and when many batch processes in technology run.


I think when the affidavit is released, we will find out this is exactly what happened. Facebook under sub Poena will also show that SM’s profile logged into a new device as indicated by a different IP address than she historically used.

 

[Dalgliesh]

In addition to the baseline risk of 70% of murdered women being murdered by their intimate partner, she had some additional risk factors: 1) empty nesters, more or less; 2) serious illness/cancer; 3) isolation from family and friends from hometown/Indiana.

I tend to agree with the general proposition that statistically, an intimate partner is more likely involved in MS's disappearance than an acquaintance or stranger.

But with respect, your 70 percent figure is far above that of the CDC's comprehensive study of femicide in the U.S. Your figure makes it seem much more likely than not a given murderer is the intimate partner, when it's more like flipping a coin.

For an article on this with link to the study, see

CDC: Half Of All Female Homicide Victims Are Killed By Intimate Partners

If there is scientific support for the additional risk factors you cite, I'd love to see it. They are similar to the PE guys' "victim profile" but I haven't seen studies supporting their risk factors, either. I am not saying any of these "additional factors" don't make sense, only that I haven't seen the studies and would appreciate a link.

 

[Boxer]

They found no evidence related to SM's disappearance at the job site, though.

This is a cautionary tale: the fact that they showed a judge probable cause to believe evidence of a crime was present at the Salida job site does not mean there was, in fact, evidence of a crime at the site. Same with the other warrants, the results of which we don't know. Maybe they'll produce evidence, maybe not. We won't know until charges are filed, most likely.

The point is, evidence leading to reasonable suspicion/probable cause is not sufficient to prove a crime.

If you ask me, "Are the warrants evidence that LE is interested in BS and his activities in relation to SM's disappearance?" ITA. Proof of guilt? Not so much.

Yes. The purpose of warrants, to have the court constrain suspicion with a demand showing specific relevant and lawful evidence to grant a warrant.

This also why (learned in the Jennifer Dulos case) most states have most away from grand jury granted warrants for major crimes.

It turns out practice that grand juries are much more likely to grant warrants (rubber stamp the DA) than judges who are a tougher on DA and police standards.

 

[lamlawindy]

MOO the 404(b) rule allows the use of character evidence as pertains to motive. So it is limited by that.

Exactly. Prior bad acts to show motive can be admitted. Besides a general belief that Barry may be a jackass, I haven't seen any prior bad acts that point to a motive.

 

[Goldenseal]

Exactly. Prior bad acts to show motive can be admitted. Besides a general belief that Barry may be a jackass, I haven't seen any prior bad acts that point to a motive.

To be fair, we can't find out anything about financial motives because we can't sleuth the Ms' financials and business records. However, I can't be the only one who cringed at the news that the half a million dollars of SM's inheritance went straight into their Colorado residence. Even if my husband was Husband of the Year for 5 straight years, I would not do such a thing with that much inherited money, because once you 'mingle' and inheritance with the spouse's and household money, it's half theirs. An inheritance put into a separate account with only SM's name on it would be hers ONLY. If she died, only the designee in her will would get that money.

 

[Dalgliesh]

Hello All, sorry I haven’t contributed lately. Have been off the grid on a long planned road trip. Due to COVID, most accommodations are backwoods cabins with no cell service or internet. When I do manage to get online, it’s mostly to check mail, messages, and to pay bills. Then, if I am lucky, I try to catch up with this case. I can’t believe how much new info has come out in the last couple of weeks. I dared not make any comments until I read all the threads. To keep myself occupied, I fiddled with the timeline of just Saturday and Sunday, May 9th and 10th. I did this based on the facts that we have as of now from LE and MSM. Because my background is in Intelligence and analysis, it is always easier for me to “see” a timeline in black and white so I can visualize how things happen chronologically and to also see where there are holes that need to be plugged. When I started out, we used to draw these out by hand. Now you just have to plug in the data and the computer draws it for you.

Saturday 5/9/20

A.M.:
BM & MG at Salida Dig Site (see below) working on the beach area

11:00 a.m.:
BM tells MG to go home. He tells her he has to go home to make wife “happy” and take her hiking or biking. It is not known how long BM stayed at the site after MG left.

12:30 p.m. :
SM is talking with BFF on a message app or FB when suddenly she stops replying.

Afternoon, exact time unknown:
BM contacts JP and hires him for a Bloomfield job on Sunday. According to JP, this was an in person meeting.
MG states that BM was seen shopping around town. Unverified

11:30 p.m.:
A neighbor of a home being built in Salida hears heavy machinery running for about a half hour. BM has been hired to do prep work for a foundation pour at this site. According to MG, he is also prepping the “beach area”. This is where BM and MG were working on Saturday morning.

Sunday 5/10/20

5:00 a.m.:
BM allegedly leaves SM sleeping and heads to a job in Bloomfield, CO approximately 3 hours from his home in Maysville. The job allegedly consists of a repair to a wall that BM had completed the previous September and that had structural problems.

A.M. Exact time unknown:
BM checks into the HIE in Bloomfield.
According to MG, BM contacts her and asks her to get a crew together to head to Broomfield for the job. MG stated that BM sounded like he had the worst night of his life. ?

5:46 p.m.:
SM is reported missing by a neighbor. SM’s daughters allegedly contacted her and said they were worried because they hadn’t been able to reach their mother. Exact details are unclear, but neighbor checked the house and did not find SM but noted her car was there. According to BM in his TD interview, the neighbor then contacted him and he asked her to go back and check if her bike was there. The neighbor checked, returned home, and called BM on her landline and told him the bike was gone. BM asked her to call LE.

Approximately 6:00 p.m.:
BM started home to Maysville.

After 6:00 exact time unknown:
JP, MG, and a third worker arrived at the HIE in Broomfield. It is not clear if all 3 travelled together. JP and MG both report that there was an intense smell of chlorine in the room and several wet towels on the floor. JP stated that it looked like someone had laid down on the bed, on top of the bedspread. MG stated that the bed looked like it had been slept in and remade.

BM let workers know that he had left for a family emergency and that they were on their own. Workers allegedly found some of BM’s tools in a “hotel cart”. MG stated they looked like a bunch of tools from the back of BM’s truck. Both JP and MG indicated they had neither the correct tools nor the materials to do the job.

Approximately 6:00 p.m.:
LE arrives at the Morphew home where they are met by the neighbor who reportedly told them that SM had not returned from a bike ride.

LE begins a search.

Sometime before 9:00 p.m. :
LE allegedly finds SM’s bike down a hill about a quarter of a mile from her home. (Never verified by LE). There is no sign of SM. The Morphew home is allegedly sealed off.

Approximately 9:00 p.m.:
BM arrives home.

Would be interested in seeing if anyone has any corrections or additions they’d like to add.

I am bumping this up, because it is a great start on an essential tool for our discussions: a common set of facts. I didn't want it forgotten. I hope everyone will help @OldCop edit this and add links to MSM sources.

 

[MassGuy]

To be fair, we can't find out anything about financial motives because we can't sleuth the Ms' financials and business records. However, I can't be the only one who cringed at the news that the half a million dollars of SM's inheritance went straight into their Colorado residence. Even if my husband was Husband of the Year for 5 straight years, I would not do such a thing with that much money.

Money, money, money.

I think Barry had a hell of a lot to lose in the event of a divorce. Couldn’t have that.

 

[GordianKnot]

Money, money, money.

I think Barry had a hell of a lot to lose in the event of a divorce. Couldn’t have that.

This can't be hammered home enough.
I'm going to keep chanting this mantra with you right up until we hear the word, "Guilty" in the courtroom:

M$ney.
M$ney.
M$ney.
M$ney.

The whiff of money has permeated this case from the very beginning.
It's all about the money.
The motive for SM's murder is greed.

Selfish, insatiable greed.

JMO.

 

[Hoosierfan72]

OK, here comes my Facebook hypothesis. I’ve posted it before and it’s MOO but is supported by Facebook’s information.

So, is it possible that BM made one off requests to people he knew late Saturday night as a way to show SM was still alive? Yes, absolutely it is.

But, if 4-5+ facebooks users all got friend recommendations for SM around Midnight on Saturday, wouldn’t that almost be so much of a coincidence that it is more likely a batch recess happening with the Facebook platform? My thoughts are yes, if would be way too coincidental and why would all of these friend recommendations be happening at once?

Let’s start with a basic understanding that Facebook’s business model is to get more people on their platform, get more of their data, and get them engaged in content; that is what drives Facebook revenue through advertising.

So what mechanisms does Facebook have to get more people on their platform?

Facebooks’s own info: Help Center

What Facebook is doing is that anytime a user logs in to their profile on a device (ie - new device) the Facebook app is gathering all of the contacts from that device (phone, email address book, other apps) to then sync those new contacts with existing contacts to find who the profile is not connected with and then make suggestions.

Why does Facebook do this? It grows their network and engagement which in turn helps them sell more advertising.

And with those net new contacts identified, Facebook, in their own words sends new friend recommendations: Help Center

So how does this apply to BM & SM?

If BM logs on to SM’s Facebook profile on BM’s device, Facebook will collect all of BM’s contacts from that device and recommend that SM’s profile friend those new contacts.

That is kind of interesting because all of the people in IN that received those requests were connected with BM already but not SM.

Hypothesis: BM logged in as SM on Facebook on his phone to keep up the facade that she was still alive. Facebook found all of BM’s contacts that SM was not connected to and sent a request at Midnight, which is the start of a new day and when many batch processes in technology run.


I think when the affidavit is released, we will find out this is exactly what happened. Facebook under sub Poena will also show that SM’s profile logged into a new device as indicated by a different IP address than she historically used.

You explained this very well and I think it's the most likely reason for the odd PYMK and friend suggestions that popped up that weekend. I'm curious about AM's statement about his friends getting "friend requests" (I wonder also if these were actually PYMK or friend suggestions?) - that is just odd.

 

[EggSalad]

They found no evidence related to SM's disappearance at the job site, though.

This is a cautionary tale: the fact that they showed a judge probable cause to believe evidence of a crime was present at the Salida job site does not mean there was, in fact, evidence of a crime at the site. Same with the other warrants, the results of which we don't know. Maybe they'll produce evidence, maybe not. We won't know until charges are filed, most likely.

The point is, evidence leading to reasonable suspicion/probable cause is not sufficient to prove a crime.

If you ask me, "Are the warrants evidence that LE is interested in BS and his activities in relation to SM's disappearance?" ITA. Proof of guilt? Not so much.

AT THAT TIME

important words to remember.

 

[Barry]

OK, here comes my Facebook hypothesis. I’ve posted it before and it’s MOO but is supported by Facebook’s information.

So, is it possible that BM made one off requests to people he knew late Saturday night as a way to show SM was still alive? Yes, absolutely it is.

But, if 4-5+ facebooks users all got friend recommendations for SM around Midnight on Saturday, wouldn’t that almost be so much of a coincidence that it is more likely a batch recess happening with the Facebook platform? My thoughts are yes, if would be way too coincidental and why would all of these friend recommendations be happening at once?

Let’s start with a basic understanding that Facebook’s business model is to get more people on their platform, get more of their data, and get them engaged in content; that is what drives Facebook revenue through advertising.

So what mechanisms does Facebook have to get more people on their platform?

Facebooks’s own info: Help Center

What Facebook is doing is that anytime a user logs in to their profile on a device (ie - new device) the Facebook app is gathering all of the contacts from that device (phone, email address book, other apps) to then sync those new contacts with existing contacts to find who the profile is not connected with and then make suggestions.

Why does Facebook do this? It grows their network and engagement which in turn helps them sell more advertising.

And with those net new contacts identified, Facebook, in their own words sends new friend recommendations: Help Center

So how does this apply to BM & SM?

If BM logs on to SM’s Facebook profile on BM’s device, Facebook will collect all of BM’s contacts from that device and recommend that SM’s profile friend those new contacts.

That is kind of interesting because all of the people in IN that received those requests were connected with BM already but not SM.

Hypothesis: BM logged in as SM on Facebook on his phone to keep up the facade that she was still alive. Facebook found all of BM’s contacts that SM was not connected to and sent a request at Midnight, which is the start of a new day and when many batch processes in technology run.


I think when the affidavit is released, we will find out this is exactly what happened. Facebook under sub Poena will also show that SM’s profile logged into a new device as indicated by a different IP address than she historically used.

I agree with this hypothesis, it makes the most sense. It’s’ what Facebook does with a login of an existing account on a new device. MOO.

 

[EggSalad]

You explained this very well and I think it's the most likely reason for the odd PYMK and friend suggestions that popped up that weekend. I'm curious about AM's statement about his friends getting "friend requests" (I wonder also if these were actually PYMK or friend suggestions?) - that is just odd.

I’m pretty sure their is a user setting that allows a friend request to be sent as opposed to a recommendation. So if SM’s profile was set to send new requests when new contacts were identified, that would explains the request vs suggestion.

 

[mom2chloe]

To be fair, we can't find out anything about financial motives because we can't sleuth the Ms' financials and business records. However, I can't be the only one who cringed at the news that the half a million dollars of SM's inheritance went straight into their Colorado residence. Even if my husband was Husband of the Year for 5 straight years, I would not do such a thing with that much inherited money, because once you 'mingle' and inheritance with the spouse's and household money, it's half theirs. An inheritance put into a separate account with only SM's name on it would be hers ONLY. If she died, only the designee in her will would get that money.

I am still left wondering why Suzanne needed to put half a million into a property they owned outright. Did she discover Barry wasn’t being truthful? Did the money go elsewhere? If so where does $500,000 disappear?
AM stated that he didn’t believe SM knew her father was ill let alone terminally. Small town talk may have led SM’s best friend to learn of her dad’s dire circumstances. Perhaps she in turn shared this info with SM requiring SM to return to Indiana/Michigan asap. If she had another inheritance coming to her was she ready to leave Barry or would she have refused to turn over any additional inheritance? If she learned of her father’s death sentence would she have told BM?
Wth does half a million go when the house is payed for? MOO

 

[EggSalad]

You explained this very well and I think it's the most likely reason for the odd PYMK and friend suggestions that popped up that weekend. I'm curious about AM's statement about his friends getting "friend requests" (I wonder also if these were actually PYMK or friend suggestions?) - that is just odd.

Can you give us an idea of the number of people you know who received these friend requests that weekend?

A. 1-2 contacts
B. 3-5 contacts
C: 5 - 9 contacts
D. 10+ contacts

??