Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #46

[rainbowshummingbird]

I've wondered about this as well. I can guess that he didn't think her injuries would match any story that he could spin that would free him from blame.

It's too late now. So now I am wondering what would be his best explanation of what happened, if he does confess. (I don't think he will.)
Can he convince anyone it was an accident at this late date?
Moo

I don’t think he can convince anyone of an accident now, but if he had reported at the time he might have appeared to be less guilty. And you’re right, we don’t know anything about Suzanne’s physical state when it happened.

 

[PaulaDC]

Police search and carry out evidence bags from the $1.5M home of missing Colorado mom | Daily Mail Online
MOO, I also don’t believe Ziploc makes evidence bags, and it looks like a Ziploc brand bag to me.

Evidence gets sealed into brown paper evidence bags there is a chain of custody with that. It's probably easier to tote it in a large ziplock. There could have been multiple evidence bags inside that ziplock. We don't know what we can't see. moo

 

[Momofthreeboys]

I don’t think he can convince anyone of an accident now, but if he had reported at the time he might have appeared to be less guilty. And you’re right, we don’t know anything about Suzanne’s physical state when it happened.

That is an option, accidental or crime of passion murder in the home, that rarely gets discussed. I think there are 4 possibilities on the table...did I forget any? 1) crime of passion murder by Barry, 2) planned murder or abduction by Barry or someone known to Suzanne, 3) abduction by stranger, 4) hit and run and panic abduction by stranger.

 

[Deleted member 102539]

That's a nice kitchen IMO. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Some families, where a wife goes missing and the husband doesn't care much, have nice kitchens. I'm thinking of r*stevski, Australia .......

 

[K9Enzo]

That is an option, accidental or crime of passion murder in the home, that rarely gets discussed. I think there are 4 possibilities on the table...did I forget any? 1) crime of passion murder by Barry, 2) planned murder or abduction by Barry or someone known to Suzanne, 3) abduction by stranger, 4) hit and run and panic abduction by stranger.

IMO, BM ranks the highest for me as to the cause of SM disappearance BUT I do often wonder about a known person to SM & possibly BM, that’s responsible. I have gone back to this from the beginning. For me, a stranger “anything” just doesn’t rate on my list in this case.

 

[Orgona]

That is an option, accidental or crime of passion murder in the home, that rarely gets discussed. I think there are 4 possibilities on the table...did I forget any? 1) crime of passion murder by Barry, 2) planned murder or abduction by Barry or someone known to Suzanne, 3) abduction by stranger, 4) hit and run and panic abduction by stranger.

Hit and run could be pretty much disregarded as that would leave obvious, visible damage on the bike and obvious signs on the road. IMO If that would be the case we would have heard LE giving out a much better, preciser description of Suzanne.
I vote for 1 or 2

 

[Goldenseal]

Would Barry’s chances of getting off free and clear been any better if he reported to law enforcement, at the time of the event, the details of what happened? For instance, Suzanne and I argued she hit me and I hit her back; or Suzanne had an accident, tripped and hit her head and died; as opposed to the convoluted coverups in regard to the bike ride and the Broomfield job and all the other of Barry’s nonsense.

I wonder if he seriously considered notifying police at the time, or if he never thought that was a viable option and instead immediately went into a coverup mode.

IMO

Way at the very beginning of this case, I suggested that if it had been an accident after an argument, his best bet would have been to call 911 and turn himself in. Now, I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say for sure, but in other cases people get 5-10 for those sorts of deaths. Once he started the coverup, 911 was not an option.

 

[JosieMae]

My pet theory is that he lost his temper and hit her, causing an injury that could not be covered up and she was not going to lie about it. So he strangled her.
Moo

Interesting. Is it possible she was injured badly on Saturday a.m. but BM was expected at the beach site? Or expected to pick MG up on the way to the site? Perhaps, rather than canceling work, this was an effort to appear "normal".

Hence his odd behavior that morning and his need to knock-off early. Then he returned home to finish killing her? No land line meant she couldn't call for help. (Ugh, it makes me ill just to type this.)

No, I'm answering my own question. She probably met her end before he went to work. The simpler scenario.

 

[tmar]

That’s a beautiful kitchen! Why not show it off in the photos? Notice the butcher block knife set on the counter? That was probably the previous owners but most people have something like that within reach for cooking...and self defense!

Perhaps, the plan is to show photos, when interested parties check out the home in person, they love the kitchen, and buy immediately, at a HIGHER price than quoted!!!!

 

[tmar]

Don’t forget the rocks!

Each to their own.
I collect lovely coloured pebbles and shells, BM collects large plain rocks.

BM thinks 'big', and perhaps now, with monies coming in, has another big plan.

 

[Boxer]

Evidence gets sealed into brown paper evidence bags there is a chain of custody with that. It's probably easier to tote it in a large ziplock. There could have been multiple evidence bags inside that ziplock. We don't know what we can't see. moo

Due to heat and humidity build up, DNA evidence is specifically prohibited from being transported or stored in plastic bags. Transporting a paper bag to the van maybe, but I would not take a chance putting a paper bag in a plastic bag if my job had part of the chain of custody of DNA evidence.

 

[Dalgliesh]

I think you're misunderstanding what pre-meditation is.

As posted not too far above, a strangulation is pre-meditated (even if the person never thought about it before) because it takes 3-4 minutes to accomplish the murder, and the murderer had time to think it over.

Getting in one's car, starting it and then driving it toward another person is premeditation (even if the murderer didn't think about it even once before letting their foot off the brake and putting it into drive - even if they only meant to scare the other person). That can be just a few seconds.

Beating someone to death is usually charged as first degree for the same reasons as strangulation is.

Going to get a gun, taking it off safety and aiming it at another person, even if the gun user never thought one time of killing that other person, and even if the murderer claims "my finger slipped," is still premeditated murder in most US jurisdictions (and indeed, around the world).

Attempts to cover up one's actions after the fact lead fairly often to first degree convictions.

It doesn't take much. Being a bungling bumbling foolio and messing with a crime scene or trying to hide evidence (but doing it poorly) doesn't remove the premeditation part from the above examples. Most murderers mess up in the aftermath, and if there's any staging or clean-up at all, it is going to be hard for them to say it wasn't premeditated.

Because, you know, if you accidentally strangle your wife or accidentally shoot your gun in the house and it strikes your wife (or whatever), the first thing you do when you realize your "accident" is to call 911. Hiding the body shows a guilty mind and a guilty mind can also be evidence of premeditation. "Gee, I wish she were dead and look, my hands are around her neck!" is the essence of premeditation for most DV cases.

Colorado has moved away from "premeditation" as a criterion for First Degree Murder. The statute speaks of murder "after deliberation," and the Colorado Supreme Court has issued a model jury instruction defining that term:

"The term “after deliberation” means not only intentionally but also
that the decision to commit the act has been made after the exercise of
reflection and judgment concerning the act. An act committed after
deliberation is never one which has been committed in a hasty or impulsive
manner."

 

[steeltowngirl]

That is an option, accidental or crime of passion murder in the home, that rarely gets discussed. I think there are 4 possibilities on the table...did I forget any? 1) crime of passion murder by Barry, 2) planned murder or abduction by Barry or someone known to Suzanne, 3) abduction by stranger, 4) hit and run and panic abduction by stranger.

Accidental but reckless death (i.e. cleaning gun with bullet in chamber)

 

[Lilypad13]

Perhaps, the plan is to show photos, when interested parties check out the home in person, they love the kitchen, and buy immediately, at a HIGHER price than quoted!!!!

Hmmm...could be a good strategy! But the potential buyers might also ask for a huge discount if the kitchen no longer looks like that...if the sink and cabinets are missing and the tile grout is torn up. Maybe that’s why BM priced it so high so he could later offer any interested buyers a murder house discount.

 

[Iwondertoo]

Re: 19057 Puma Path, Salida, CO 81201

This realty website reports the following items regarding the property. It requires submitting an email address to receive the info. I did not submit our email because I do not want to receive realty spam. If anyone's game, have at it.

19057 Puma Path, Salida, CO 81201 - 215517897 | RealtyTrac

• Environmental Hazards - 2 found
• Natural Disasters - 1 found

I bit.

The 2 Environmental Hazards are high potential risk of radon and high exposure risk of UV Index.

The Natural Disaster risk comes from a moderate incidence of landslide risk.

 

[K9Enzo]

Due to heat and humidity build up, DNA evidence is specifically prohibited from being transported or stored in plastic bags. Transporting a paper bag to the van maybe, but I would not take a chance putting a paper bag in a plastic bag if my job had part of the chain of custody of DNA evidence.

I agree. If it’s a requirement for certain collected evidence to go in paper, it’s not ever going in paper, then in plastic for transport. IMO

 

[EggSalad]

When I saw the pics of the home for sale, I found it interesting what pictures were missing compared to the 2018 sale. Considering it looks like a professional photographer took the most recent pics, their absence, imo, is very telling.

So a $1.75M home being sold “As Is” with no pics of the kitchen, garage or mud room? Apparently those rooms are not presentable.

IMO, this speaks to the murder scene. I was hoping the floor plans would be labeled (with the room names). The garage is pretty obvious. And the kitchen can probably be deduced from looking at pics. The mud/laundry room is the biggest question mark but given that most mud rooms are right off an entrance and it would be easy to hook up plumbing with a kitchen nearby, I think the flow goes from Kitchen through the mud room into the garage.

Pretty possible that the murder happened in the kitchen and then the body was dragged through the mud room into the garage to be taken in a car some place else.

I really can’t think of any other reason those rooms aren’t photographed unless they are an absolute wreck from LE. No way you list with 5 pics of a stream and 0 kitchen and garage pics.

 

[Deleted member 718]

Hit and run could be pretty much disregarded as that would leave obvious, visible damage on the bike and obvious signs on the road. IMO If that would be the case we would have heard LE giving out a much better, preciser description of Suzanne.
I vote for 1 or 2

Could you please point me to a statement from LE about the bike and it's condition? tia

 

[Midwestmom2019]

Some families, where a wife goes missing and the husband doesn't care much, have nice kitchens. I'm thinking of r*stevski, Australia .......

Jennifer Dulos, for another.

 

[Fireflize]

When I saw the pics of the home for sale, I found it interesting what pictures were missing compared to the 2018 sale. Considering it looks like a professional photographer took the most recent pics, their absence, imo, is very telling.

So a $1.75M home being sold “As Is” with no pics of the kitchen, garage or mud room? Apparently those rooms are not presentable.

IMO, this speaks to the murder scene. I was hoping the floor plans would be labeled (with the room names). The garage is pretty obvious. And the kitchen can probably be deduced from looking at pics. The mud/laundry room is the biggest question mark but given that most mud rooms are right off an entrance and it would be easy to hook up plumbing with a kitchen nearby, I think the flow goes from Kitchen through the mud room into the garage.

Pretty possible that the murder happened in the kitchen and then the body was dragged through the mud room into the garage to be taken in a car some place else.

I really can’t think of any other reason those rooms aren’t photographed unless they are an absolute wreck from LE. No way you list with 5 pics of a stream and 0 kitchen and garage pics.

ITA