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

[Knox]

HELP FIND SUZANNE MORPHEW
SEPTEMBER 24-29 2020, SALIDA COLORADO

EVERYONE WILL MEET AT THE PONCHA SPRINGS
7010 US HWY 285, PONCHA SPRINGS, CO 81242
SEPTEMBER 24TH AT 8:00 AM FOR ASSIGNMENTS

INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIGIL IN SALIDA COLORADO
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25 , 7:00PM AT RIVERSIDE PARK
RV PARKING: KIM SHAFFER FROM KIMS GYM HAS PARKING FOR ANYONE COMING WITH AN RV THEY WILL HAVE PERMISSION TO USE THE LOT LOCATED AT ADDRESS: 144 OLD STAGE ROAD SUITE C SALIDA, CO 81201

FIND SUZANNE — Profiling Evil

 

[Warwick7]

If there was 'money trouble' I wouldn't expect his first option would be to disappear his wife. There'd have to be other background or current issues that would 'justify' that option. So far, such supporting elements have not be revealed.

BBM
This is because we can't sleuth BM. If we could I'm sure there would be plenty of background or current issues to solitify motive.

 

[MsBetsy]

If there was 'money trouble' I wouldn't expect his first option would be to disappear his wife. There'd have to be other background or current issues that would 'justify' that option. So far, such supporting elements have not be revealed.

AM said that he had recently learned that things were not so great in their marriage. I'm assuming he had been talking to friends of Suzanne's that she had confided in. Maybe he got specific information from the friend who was communicating with SM when the conversation suddenly ceased. He suspects that she had asked BM for a divorce recently, so that may be a contributing factor.

BM has been described as controlling and making all the financial decisions in the marriage. When they moved to Colorado the first thing they reportedly did was get rid of the landline. AM said the cellphone service was bad and they had no internet to speak of. He said that everytime he tried to contact them he wouldn't hear back for several days. When he left messages for BM to see how Suzanne was doing he never returned his calls.

That BM was against his wife taking medication for Depression or medical marijuana for Cancer also suggests that he was controlling. That she was browbeaten over it almost every single day suggests he was emotionally abusive.

If Suzanne did in fact tell BM she wanted a divorce, she may have been in a very dangerous situation.

IMO

 

[al66pine]

Whack-A-Mole or Crabgrass? Wonky Purchase Price of Puma Path Home, Again? Bogus sales? Again?

BBM
BAM!!
BINGO!!
I couldn't figure out why they would pay over the asking price. Wow!! These are more puzzle pieces coming together!!

@Warwick7 bbm Just jumping off your post, not directing it to you personally.
Posts about the Ms paying more than listing/asking price keep coming up, thread after thread after thread. Ditto conclusions about multiple bogus deals to jack up the prop. price.

Respectfully, imo those conclusions are simply misinterpretations of info from real est websites like realtor.com.
Can anyone quote "the info" showing Ms paid $ 475,000 more than listing price and link to source website, to support that? If someone did post this, I missed it and could be mistaken. Post #521 shows sales & initials of actual parties.
Pls see post #521 showing sales of that home. Just three shown online in county records office.
As always, welcoming any comment, clarification, correction to info in my post #521, esp'ly by our legal and r/e pro's.

 

[swedeheart]

from the ark valley voice, a chaffee county online news source:

Search for Suzanne Morphew Organized for Sept. 24 - by Ark Valley Voice Staff - Ark Valley Voice

Chaffee Sheriff John Spezze says that the Sheriff’s Office will be staffing their command post with liaison personnel to assist Moorman search members. “Our SAR units will be on hand to assist with Moorman search team accountability and other search team coordination issues. Our crime scene team will be available to document and collect any evidence if found. We will have both Chaffee County and CBI Case Agents on hand in this endeavor as well,” said Spezze.

(*more at link).

 

[Error505]

Has anyone determined a definitive motive for SM to have been disappeared by a particular family member?

@Seattle1 wrote “IMO, the $500,000 inheritance was part of the downpayment and this contribution is part of why they owned the house outright. The Colorado house was purchased in 2018 before SM/BM received the balloon payment 6/2020 for the sale of their Indiana residence”

MOTIVE - $$$$ - GREED
Speculation: SM put her inheritance towards purchase of Puma Path home under duress of BM hounding her bc he wanted to move to CO. He convinced her when the home in IN sold, she could take her inheritance out of the balloon payment which BM was appointed guardian through Indiana Courts to close the deal on Indiana home, just weeks after SM disappeared! (referenced by @Seattle1 above). BM changed his mind, didn’t want to let go of SM’s inheritance, she had enough of him, threatened to leave with her $$, he killed her! Half a million dollars is a lot of motivation to someone who had already written his relationship OFF with the love of his life! MOO.

Whether premeditated or not, not enough info to determine yet, MOO.

If premeditated, would account for his Saturday attitude MG referred to in her interview, BM had it planned for that Saturday afternoon or evening. if premed. he already had a hole dug to bury her.

If not premeditated, I think he laid her in the back of his truck along with the bike & helmet, maybe had her in trash can, garbage bag, ice cooler, wrapped in a rug. He probably through her off a ravine/cliff on the way to Broomfield early Sunday while still dark. Maybe he washed his tools laying under SM, and showered evidence off of himself with the bleach.

All MOO, my cheap 2cents EBM for clarity
Speculation, been following closely since first days of her missing. #JusticeForSuzanne

 

[susiQ]

Hmmn, ironic isn't it? I think his PR Person quit after a month or so ... poor BM seems like everything is working against him these days. LE is plotting against him, reporters are hiding in the bushes spying on him, employees are ratting him out, people on social media are lying about him and accusing him of things he never did.

I wonder where his head is right now? Is he looking forward to the search and the vigil this week?

BBM
I suspect between a “rock and a hard place.” Appropriate in my mind . But seriously, I can’t imagine he’s looking forward to this. What to do?? If he doesn’t go, that will look really, really bad now, wouldn’t it? If he does go, he has to know that a goodly number of those searchers suspect he is the one who disappeared beautiful Suzanne. And worse, what if, the areas they plan to search hold her remains?? What then?

I hope he’s on heart medication of some sort. I understand steroid use can affect the heart. Will his heart “fail him for fear” of what is about to take place??

All MOO, as usual!

 

[Knox]

I agree - while so much seems to point to money as a likely motive, we're definitely missing those supporting elements, as you described them, that would push someone to murder. While it appears there is some significant circumstantial evidence that may point to BM, I think the prosecution has to develop a narrative of what happened and why, and will certainly need more than what we currently know about to develop a motive. We can't sleuth BM, so we just have to wait and see what more comes out..... some of what I wish we knew:

Had divorce been discussed? Who was wanting it? Why? What was the other person's reaction to this? Were any threats made? (Really hoping that SM confided in her friend re: this)

What was their financial situation? Were they stable with a high net worth? Were they highly leveraged (ie, business loans taken out against equity in the home, etc.)? How was BMs business doing in CO (both pre and post COVID)? What would a divorce mean in terms of $$ and/or BMs livelihood?

Were there any secrets in the marriage? Specifically, were there any secrets that, if they came out in a divorce, could be especially damaging to BMs reputation, business, etc.

I assume that LE is doing their due diligence on these sorts of issues - talking to the people who knew both SM and BM, pouring over financial records, and digging deep enough to bring potential secrets to the surface. JMO, MOO.

I'm not an attorney but my understanding is, it's not necessary to prove motive. Only to present evidence that the defendant committed the crime "beyond a reasonable doubt". I hope I said that right, lol.

ETA-
Motive is the term used to explain why a person committed a crime. It isn’t the same as intent, which relates to whether an action was accidental or intentional.

Intent is an element of just about every crime, meaning that the prosecution must establish that the defendant intended to commit the criminal act. (Sometimes it’s enough to prove that the defendant didn’t act intentionally, but was reckless or criminally negligent.) But motive usually isn’t a criminal element—the prosecution doesn’t have to prove the defendant had it. Instead, prosecutors try to establish motive in order to convince the jury that the defendant is guilty.

Example: John and Sue have been happily married for 30 years. John is diagnosed with a terminal illness and is in constant pain. After living in agony for several months, he repeatedly asks Sue to kill him. After much deliberation, Sue shoots and kills John. Sue’s intent was to kill. Her motive was to stop her husband’s pain. She’s guilty of murder even though her motive may have been compassionate.
Is motive required for a criminal offense?

 

[10ofRods]

I agree - while so much seems to point to money as a likely motive, we're definitely missing those supporting elements, as you described them, that would push someone to murder. While it appears there is some significant circumstantial evidence that may point to BM, I think the prosecution has to develop a narrative of what happened and why, and will certainly need more than what we currently know about to develop a motive. We can't sleuth BM, so we just have to wait and see what more comes out..... some of what I wish we knew:

Had divorce been discussed? Who was wanting it? Why? What was the other person's reaction to this? Were any threats made? (Really hoping that SM confided in her friend re: this)

What was their financial situation? Were they stable with a high net worth? Were they highly leveraged (ie, business loans taken out against equity in the home, etc.)? How was BMs business doing in CO (both pre and post COVID)? What would a divorce mean in terms of $$ and/or BMs livelihood?

Were there any secrets in the marriage? Specifically, were there any secrets that, if they came out in a divorce, could be especially damaging to BMs reputation, business, etc.

I assume that LE is doing their due diligence on these sorts of issues - talking to the people who knew both SM and BM, pouring over financial records, and digging deep enough to bring potential secrets to the surface. JMO, MOO.

We can't know most of these things. We know that someone like Chris Watts was wanting to run off with a mistress - but lots of people run off with an affair partner without murdering their spouse. However, affairs blend with financial trouble in many cases (hard to promise a new woman all the things if one has another woman who currently owns half of one's property).

We know that AM said the BFF said the marriage wasn't exactly hunky dory.

I seriously doubt actual threats were made. What would a divorce mean? Typically that each partner gets half of the marital assets (which would include the Puma Path house, which is held in joint tenancy IIRC). Murder means the remaining partner gets all of it - if they aren't caught. BM is already well on the way to restructuring assets as he sees fit.

I bet there were secrets. I also bet there were other problems in the marriage. But we may never know. Suzanne is not alive to tell her side. IMO.

 

[Error505]

I'm not an attorney, but my understanding is, it's not necessary to prove motive. Only to present evidence that the defendant committed the crime "beyond a reasonable doubt". I hope I said that right, lol.

Agree, it’s not necessary for prosecution to prove motive, but the people always LIKE to HAVE a motive.
MOO

 

[10ofRods]

BBM
I suspect between a “rock and a hard place.” Appropriate in my mind . But seriously, I can’t imagine he’s looking forward to this. What to do?? If he doesn’t go, that will look really, really bad now, wouldn’t it? If he does go, he has to know that a goodly number of those searchers suspect he is the one who disappeared beautiful Suzanne. And worse, what if, the areas they plan to search hold her remains?? What then?

I hope he’s on heart medication of some sort. I understand steroid use can affect the heart. Will his heart “fail him for fear” of what is about to take place??

All MOO, as usual!

I think there's another issue for BM as well.

If he joins the search, he'll be asked to search his own property - if he's searching, why wouldn't he include his acreage? That's what a search party member would do. He can't do that, doesn't even want to go to the house, IMO.

Sadly, I doubt the search will be allowed on the piece of property I think has at least a medium probability (if not high) that Suzanne is buried there.

I really do wish they'd have taken the GPR out to the Puma Path residence (maybe they did, but we have heard nothing about it - it would be a large area, although only a small part of it would have topsoil disturbance to check out).

I'm just going on the probabilities here (that this was a DV murder, and therefore, the victim isn't too far away). There are of course lots of exceptions.

 

[Feistyomi]

'Cause ya just gotta wonder if there's not somethin' else goin' on here...

MOO

Oh, I’m quite sure there is a lot more going on than we can discuss here, everyone here thinks BM is guilty, I remain unconvinced...

 

[Knox]

Agree, it’s not necessary for prosecution to prove motive, but the people always LIKE to HAVE a motive.
MOO

True, we always want to know the "WHY".

 

[oviedo]

We can't know most of these things. We know that someone like Chris Watts was wanting to run off with a mistress - but lots of people run off with an affair partner without murdering their spouse. However, affairs blend with financial trouble in many cases (hard to promise a new woman all the things if one has another woman who currently owns half of one's property).

We know that AM said the BFF said the marriage wasn't exactly hunky dory.

I seriously doubt actual threats were made. What would a divorce mean? Typically that each partner gets half of the marital assets (which would include the Puma Path house, which is held in joint tenancy IIRC). Murder means the remaining partner gets all of it - if they aren't caught. BM is already well on the way to restructuring assets as he sees fit.

I bet there were secrets. I also bet there were other problems in the marriage. But we may never know. Suzanne is not alive to tell her side. IMO.

I've wondered if there wasn't a stipulation on the purchase of the CO house that if it's sold - she gets her $500K back and then it is split? would be interesting any agreements between them. we probably won't ever know though.

JMO

 

[Knox]

We can't know most of these things. We know that someone like Chris Watts was wanting to run off with a mistress - but lots of people run off with an affair partner without murdering their spouse. However, affairs blend with financial trouble in many cases (hard to promise a new woman all the things if one has another woman who currently owns half of one's property).

I bet there were secrets. I also bet there were other problems in the marriage. But we may never know. Suzanne is not alive to tell her side. IMO.

I'm really hoping she shared her secrets with someone who can be called as a witness at trial and can offer testimony outside the rules on hearsay.

 

[JosieMae]

What happened on Friday May 8th?

1. AM says we can start on Friday and work from there.
2. LE is interested in video from Friday on.
3. MG says BM was acting "weird" on Saturday morning.

What happened on Friday?

 

[303gmf]

from the ark valley voice, a chaffee county online news source:

Search for Suzanne Morphew Organized for Sept. 24 - by Ark Valley Voice Staff - Ark Valley Voice

Chaffee Sheriff John Spezze says that the Sheriff’s Office will be staffing their command post with liaison personnel to assist Moorman search members. “Our SAR units will be on hand to assist with Moorman search team accountability and other search team coordination issues. Our crime scene team will be available to document and collect any evidence if found. We will have both Chaffee County and CBI Case Agents on hand in this endeavor as well,” said Spezze.

(*more at link).

Finally! A small peep from the local press

 

[Hoosierfan72]

True, we always want to know the "WHY".

You're both right. Obviously you need to speak to motive if there's a charge of premeditation. Even that aside, JMO, I think establishing motive is especially important in a "no body" case. There's already a reluctance for many DAs to take a body-less case on given how much more difficult it is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and I believe they'll want to have a very good idea of what the motive was if they do make that leap. Let's hope and pray SM is found so it's a moot point. MOO.

 

[LietKynes]

BBM
This is because we can't sleuth BM. If we could I'm sure there would be plenty of background or current issues to solitify motive.

bbm
Yes, unless he's named as a poi or suspect; as is the correct choice for a true crime forum.
Glad we're allowed to speculate !

I am supremely grateful that LE aren't hampered by any such restrictions.
Admittedly I'd like to be a 'fly on their wall' right now.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

AM said that he had recently learned that things were not so great in their marriage. I'm assuming he had been talking to friends of Suzanne's that she had confided in. Maybe he got specific information from the friend who was communicating with SM when the conversation suddenly ceased. He suspects that she had asked BM for a divorce recently, so that may be a contributing factor.

BM has been described as controlling and making all the financial decisions in the marriage. When they moved to Colorado the first thing they reportedly did was get rid of the landline. AM said the cellphone service was bad and they had no internet to speak of. He said that everytime he tried to contact them he wouldn't hear back for several days. When he left messages for BM to see how Suzanne was doing he never returned his calls.

That BM was against his wife taking medication for Depression or medical marijuana for Cancer also suggests that he was controlling. That she was browbeaten over it almost every single day suggests he was emotionally abusive.

If Suzanne did in fact tell BM she wanted a divorce, she may have been in a very dangerous situation.

IMO

A 'first thing' in the list of what new home owners typically do is to have a landline installed, not removed... as there would be nothing to remove upon initial move-in.

If the M's did have their landline removed it would have had to have occurred after they had had it installed. It could have been they decided their mobile phones were all that was needed and they eventually dropped the landline.... an action that has been common place in the age of cellular communication. I don't expect they would have had it removed if their cellular service was unreliable or nil.

We have no idea of the frequency of communication the M's may have had with family and friends and whether or not "several days" was an unusual or typical time frame nor how often. Exaggeration is not unusual during times of stress and suspicion.

Has AM explained why his status ('how you doing' ) request messages were not sent directly to SM? Why go through BM? Did SM not have a mobile phone? I was under the impression she does have a phone.

We can not assume a controlling nature simply based on BM's disagreeing with SM 'taking medication for Depression or medical marijuana for Cancer'. It is well known that taking certain medications can cause adverse side effects that might not justify taking them, which may include mental and physical manifestations, i.e. libido, mental focus, etc. We have no verified information regarding how SM reacted to those medications, or even if she was indeed taking them.

The divorce element is a possibility, but we have no definitive indication. Speculation isn't enough. I wouldn't expect disappearance being a first and immediate choice if talk of divorce was only recent. I suspect it would have had to have been an issue for some time, weeks, maybe months at least? I can't see money being the only catalyst in a disappearance scheme in this case.

I do find it odd BM and their daughters were away from home for Mother's Day. Was that typical? You'd figure given SM's medical issues that everyone would want to 'be there' on Mother's Day. My focus is on this element of the case. WHY was no one there?