Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #9

[Hoosierfan72]

It comes down to the lack of a body. Things moved quickly in the Kelsey Berreth case, as there was a cooperating witness.

In the Gannon Stauch case, the suspect was an evidence manufacturing machine.

Unless there is a cooperating witness, or Suzanne’s body is found, I don’t have a great deal of hope that things will move as quickly as those cases.

Of course we don’t know the evidence, but even if it is very strong there won’t be a rush. The bar is higher when there is no body.

I'm curious - there probably isn't a "norm" on a case like this - but what is a reasonable expectation on a no body case, even with strong evidence (let's say likely murder weapon found, DNA evidence, other circumstantial evidence revealing motive and opportunity) - it makes sense that a prosecutor would give it some time - hoping a body is found, for a confession - or, at a minimum, enough time has passed to weaken an argument that the victim could be alive somewhere sipping margaritas on a beach. Weeks? Months? Year(s)? I hope SM is found, but I am concerned that this is a possibility....

 

[Kimmer]

I would like to thank the Mods who keep us on the straight and narrow and nudge us back in line when we drift over it.

 

[Melrose]

Because bicycle geeks like to examine every micro detail of every bike out there. It's what we do.
BUT.... color is only a micro aspect of this tendency, so feel thankful we haven't been discussing derailleurs or comparing the forks of different brands and models on the basis of relative flex resistance.

Eeeeek. I'm thankful already.

 

[10ofRods]

Where is it reported that the Morphews took a 200k loss? Upthread posters noted that only 3 acres of undeveloped backlands of the IN property had been sold.

They eventually sold the house in Indiana, as well as the 3 acre parcel, IIRC. It's been posted here several times. According to Zillow, it sold for $750,000. In late May, 2019 (so after they bought the house in Colorado). I don't recall how much they owed on it, I'm guessing that's a matter of public record somewhere.

Both of the Morphews are associated with other properties and transactions besides their residences.

 

[EggSalad]

Is anyone familiar with a case (not this one) where the perp/suspect was someone that the FBI was watching for a different reason and once the murder happened, the FBI was brought into the murder investigation?

 

[Lilypad13]

My mind keeps wandering back to something I've read and something I feel when I personalize questions like yours. What would I do.... what would you do to hide a body in order to feel "safe" about doing something so risky?

Where have killers hidden bodies and what do many who are trained in such things have to say about that subject? One possible answer is: The disposal place is known to the killer as a result of their own personal history and current knowledge of the place they choose. They've been there before and the place holds some meaning for them.

And, they wouldn't have to transport a poor victim out into the woods or worry about evidence left behind in houses or in vehicles, etc. They could simply suggest a day trip where the poor, unsuspecting victim might be happy to get out of the house for a day and go do something adventurous. ...Maybe even go someplace where they've enjoyed themselves in the past, too.

When hunters, hikers, bikers and adventurers go to wilderness spots, they don't always follow the beaten paths.

This comment is not meant to point at any specific person. It's a generalization and could easily be incorrect.

JMO and speculation

Yes! That’s a good scenario we haven’t thought about. Like taking her for a scenic hike for a picnic with a view but taking a trail with a steep drop off...gives me chills. There would be two ways to go about the “day trip” method. Fake accident - spouse slips and falls off a cliff, drowns, hunting accident, etc. where you call 911 and pretend to be all distraught etc. Or a day trip murder in a remote location where you dispose of the body in a place so remote it would never be found and then don’t tell anyone you went on that day trip and report your spouse missing and make a fake alibi and “plea” for safe return. What would be harder faking being distraught from spouse dying in an accident or faking being worried if spouse is missing? And what about lie detector test?? Do we know if he was asked to take one and declined? I know, I know...we don’t know anything! But if he took a lie detector and passed I bet BM would be making that known somehow.

Speculating if BM did something himself and did not hire a hit man then I doubt there was a bike ride at all and maybe it was not premeditated but SM found out something (mistress? financial crime?) or maybe she just wasn’t happy and asked for a divorce and he got angry and killed her in a snapped like rage fit and then had to dispose of her body and come up with alibi in a hurry thus the sloppiness of it all and leaving evidence in house and whatever led FBI to dig site etc. and also possibly texting on her phone about going on a bike ride. Gosh that was a run on sentence!

There is a case near where I live about a woman who drowned while out on a boat with her husband. He said she was swimming and got caught up in a current. He jumped in but couldn’t get to her and he supposedly almost drowned himself. Now it’s coming out she might have had affair etc and family is suspicious. Not giving names but it’s very interesting. There is a Facebook crime series about it.

Someone posted something a few threads back that stuck with me about how Colorado is so big and full of remote wilderness that someone could throw a body off a mountain down into thick forest and it might never be found.

Ok well I’m going to do real life now but I’ll check back later. I keep hoping something will break today!

 

[MassGuy]

I'm curious - there probably isn't a "norm" on a case like this - but what is a reasonable expectation on a no body case, even with strong evidence (let's say likely murder weapon found, DNA evidence, other circumstantial evidence revealing motive and opportunity) - it makes sense that a prosecutor would give it some time - hoping a body is found, for a confession - or, at a minimum, enough time has passed to weaken an argument that the victim could be alive somewhere sipping margaritas on a beach. Weeks? Months? Year(s)? I hope SM is found, but I am concerned that this is a possibility....

It’s really impossible to say, as we don’t know what exactly they have for evidence.

I’ve seen no-body cases that are never prosecuted, even though it’s obvious who the perpetrator is (Tyler Mook, Josh Powell).

So that’s why I’m looking at those recent Colorado cases (I’m including Gannon Stauch because they didn’t have his body at the time of arrest). They had a lot of evidence in those cases.

The bar is high:

Prove that a suspect killed a victim.

Prove that the victim is dead in the first place.

Even though it’s in another state (Connecticut), Fotis Dulos is a good example. There was a great deal of blood evidence found, he was caught red handed dumping bloody items, and it still took about 7 months for murder charges.

So using the Dulos case as an example, and assuming they do have the evidence in your hypothetical, I think we’re talking about months.

 

[Observer33]

They eventually sold the house in Indiana, as well as the 3 acre parcel, IIRC. It's been posted here several times. According to Zillow, it sold for $750,000. In late May, 2019 (so after they bought the house in Colorado). I don't recall how much they owed on it, I'm guessing that's a matter of public record somewhere.

Both of the Morphews are associated with other properties and transactions besides their residences.

According to Indiana property tax records, they still own the home in Indiana.

<modsnip: Image removed due to no link>

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I share your speculation, although I don't think the decor is exactly low key. I think the leather chairs and sofa are super expensive (by my middle class standards). I have friends with fairly nice houses, but nothing near as well decorated as the Morphew home. Of course, I'm probably swayed by the architectural details of the home. At $1.5M, it certainly should look great without anything in it.

Re the furnishings in the Zillow photos, I think it's about 99% probable we are seeing professionally staged photos, so the decor and furniture doesn't reflect at all on the Morphews. IMO MOO

 

[Lilypad13]

Re the furnishings in the Zillow photos, I think it's about 99% probable we are seeing professionally staged photos, so the decor and furniture doesn't reflect at all on the Morphews. IMO MOO

That’s a good point. It might have been staged by real estate agent. I was thinking if the photo was on the wall of them it was their home furnishings and decorations. I like it so much better than the Co house decor. It looks much brighter and open with feminine touches etc but the Colorado house decor is more the style there as others have pointed out. Ok I’m more chatty than fire chief today. I’m going. Ha ha

 

[10ofRods]

I agree, and I don't have an issue with speculation (I've done plenty of it myself). My original point was that I'm surprised by how it can quickly escalate from a quote from one family member that BM "has been in charge for a long time" to really strong opinions about his "control issues". To your point, a lot of assumptions/perceptions have to be present to get there.
Funny that you mention you can more easily accept BM as responsible - I think I lean the opposite way - for my mind it's easier to accept a random sicko out there than the man who was married to her for 20-plus years, raised two kids together and by all appearances is a normally functioning member of society. I hope SM is somehow, someway alive and well - but if not, I hope it's not BM (if for no other reason than how the kids become double victims in that scenario).

Even before we heard from the unnamed family member about BM's "control issues," I had speculated that his 27 second youtube shows knowledge of and unusual attention to "control." By this, I mean, BM chose a setup that exerted more control over his own situation than what we usually see. Just means he's unusual.

First, he chose a camera set-up that shows no signs of being hand-held or having any other person present. I believe the very first part of the video is edited out (and perhaps there was more at the end, also edited out). Perhaps this was why he was "not ready yet" earlier in Suzanne's case, because he needed to think about how to contact us (the public) with an appeal for Suzanne's safe return.

He made several interesting decisions about what to say, all of them keeping information close to his vest (control). Why not at least say where her bike was found (if it was found), what color it was (in case anyone saw anything) and hold up a recent picture of her? He decided not to do those things and not to appear in a context where anyone could ask him anything.

In addition to not focusing on Suzanne and information that would aid the youtube audience to find her, he addressed her directly, then switched to addressing the people who made her disappear. If he had included information about exactly when Suzanne was last seen, then people in the public could search their memories for events of that time period. But that would have revealed something about his own life, and about Suzanne's life.

Which he did not want to do, and has not done. It will be interesting to see how he handles the next phase (the "life goes on without Suzanne" phase that he's now entering. While we may not learn much about it, I'm sure LE will be paying attention. No one but BM seems to think there was an abduction. That still leaves "runaway wife," or a disappearance near home that was not abduction, but another crime. Will he put some of his funds to use in drone searches? What will his life be like in small-town Salida, after this has happened? Will whatever he's doing for a living still be a possibility?

What next, I do wonder.

 

[10ofRods]

According to Indiana property tax records, they still own the home in Indiana.

<modsnip: Image removed due to no link>

It's my understanding that they subdivided it. The tax record calls it a general farm. Can you find a record for the house itself? Zillow reports that the house itself sold for $750,000 per public records in March, 2019.

The subdivision of the property was discussed in the first couple of threads - I could be misremembering, but that tax record doesn't look like a record for a house. It's a parcel without a lot number, no mention of valuation of buildings- maybe Indiana doesn't record that for tax purposes, but most places do.

Anyone know? It has been deeded as a grain farm, not a residence according to that record. At any rate, it seems to me from the list of real estate transactions associated with Suzanne that they once had more than 10 acres, got a separate deed for the house, put it on the market, got a division of the remainder so as to leave 10 acres of farm in their own name - and then sold 3 acres, not including the house parcel.

Perhaps they merely refinanced the house:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/26040-Cal-Carson-Rd-Arcadia,-IN_rb/138946377_zpid/

But usually the multiple listings and real estate transaction on Zillow (from public records) are accurate, to the point that I'm unwilling to pay the fee to get them separately.

 

[RickshawFan]

Is anyone familiar with a case (not this one) where the perp/suspect was someone that the FBI was watching for a different reason and once the murder happened, the FBI was brought into the murder investigation?

Well, yeah, but we'd best not go there lest we get knee-capped by a moderator.

 

[EggSalad]

Well, yeah, but we'd best not go there lest we get knee-capped by a moderator.

Oh, thanks for mentioning that. I didn’t realize that was an issue as I’ve seen other cases referenced on this thread. My bad mods.

 

[branmuffin]

The tragedy of Suzanne being missing and likely deceased is magnified by what she went through in her successful fights for survival in beating cancer. Many of us have first hand experience of our own fight, or one of our loved one's fight, and we know what hell on earth she went through to live. She was a warrior.

I am trying not be so shocked anymore by so called "normal" people who are capable of perpetrating heinous crimes that embody the epitome of evilness. But in a case like this, and others, like Laci Peterson who was 8 months pregnant, there is a special place in hell awaiting the people who are responsible for snuffing out their lives. Whomever is responsible in Suzanne's case, I hope for swift justice.

And just in case there is no hell, we are obligated to create one for them here on earth. MOO

 

[10ofRods]

Re the furnishings in the Zillow photos, I think it's about 99% probable we are seeing professionally staged photos, so the decor and furniture doesn't reflect at all on the Morphews. IMO MOO

I'm speaking of their Christmas picture, with three of. the family members in the house, with the Christmas tree reflected in the TV set and the game trophies said to belong to Barry clearly on display. I'm not talking about the Zillow photos. .

I've priced out similar couches and chairs. It's possible they have friends in the business (or got a good deal from the previous owner - although the stuff is perfectly coordinated, and looks brand new). Of interest, though, is that there is no rug (other than what looks like either an actual dead bear on the floor or a fake bear rug - which isn't doing a lot to dampen sound or insulate, which I'd want for sure). It's the wing-back suede and leather chairs with brass accents that would be out of my budget - but they are definitely suitable in a house like that one.

Also, taxidermy isn't all that inexpensive, either. Google tells me those shoulder mounted game animals are about $1400 on average to stuff. The open mouth bobcat is easily $600, so there's a few thousand dollars hanging on one wall. That's what I mean by having stuff that would be unusual in a county like Salida - especially to people who might be living nearby in campgrounds. If these things can be seen from outside the house, they are interesting to look at, it invites passersby along the river - very close by - to look inside.

But the house itself, with its castle-like turret, obviously shouts "we have money!"

Interestingly, the blankets in use in that photo do not look designer-ish, but more like treasured parts of family life.

I do not know for sure how much of that particular area is visible from the outside (the window that faces the back of the house is also visible in the TV reflection, but I can't really tell what that situation is). But everything Suzanne ever posted speaks to a rather posh life, and that poshness would be visible in several ways to locals.

Just saying. No reason to focus on just one theory at this time, right?

 

[riolove77]

I for some reason believe this will move much faster than we think...I don't know why. Just a feeling.

 

[Whiteorchids]

Re the furnishings in the Zillow photos, I think it's about 99% probable we are seeing professionally staged photos, so the decor and furniture doesn't reflect at all on the Morphews. IMO MOO

In the Indiana house their is a photo of them together framed on the bedroom wall. They liked to decorate with antlers.

Does anyone know if a landscaper has access to medical insurance benefits? Cancer bills are VERY EXPENSIVE depending on the coverage. Would they have qualified for Obamacare

 

[DizzyB]

I wonder if the BM video could have been affected by Covid. Let’s suppose that TN offered to do the clip but due to social distancing clip/clips were sent to TN for him to edit or post. Maybe in the interim LE asked that certain details not be included, and rather than reshoot, they ended up with a short odd appeal. Maybe BM is now not appreciative of TN’s work. Who knows.

 

[Shiloh28]

A realtor's video from October 2018 shows the IN house empty. I don't know if I'm allowed to link the video but it's easy to find.