Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #38

[MsBetsy]

Here is a screenshot from the Channel 9 News broadcast of May 22, 2020 which clearly shows the beach area., and a current screenshot from PE's Chris's Twitter feed. For accuracy, merely compare the three trees against the skyline. Today, there is clearly a sandy beach, but back on the eleventh day of SM's disappearance that entire sandy area was under high water. I thought I understood MG to say that she finished that underwater area off the day before SM' disappeared. When MG said BM told her to rake it out so the muck wouldn't show, just what could she possibly have meant?
It's bizarre, I think. IMO

Investigators search Salida property for missing Colorado mom | 9news.com

It looks to me like the wall was moved back further, maybe to create a bigger beach area. It looks wider and lower in the second picture. So maybe the area that had been underwater had to be raked out and blended with the rest of the sand?

 

[Knox]

Here is a screenshot from the Channel 9 News broadcast of May 22, 2020 which clearly shows the beach area., and a current screenshot from PE's Chris's Twitter feed. For accuracy, merely compare the three trees against the skyline. Today, there is clearly a sandy beach, but back on the eleventh day of SM's disappearance that entire sandy area was under high water. I thought I understood MG to say that she finished that underwater area off the day before SM' disappeared. When MG said BM told her to rake it out so the muck wouldn't show, just what could she possibly have meant?
It's bizarre, I think. IMO

Investigators search Salida property for missing Colorado mom | 9news.com

I guess BM could have wanted her to rake the area on the back side of the wall to smooth it out? Maybe there was disturbed activity there? I also think he could have not wanted her to see something else he was working on in another area, so the raking was busy work to keep her away.

There is a good shot of that area at 002 in the video, hit pause to view.
Investigators search Salida property for missing Colorado mom | 9news.com

 

[Dave F.]

It looks to me like the wall was moved back further, maybe to create a bigger beach area. It looks wider and lower in the second picture. So maybe the area that had been underwater had to be raked out and blended with the rest of the sand?

Sure, but MG said she finished that beach project for BM by "raking it out" at 11:00 am on May 9, 2020. That's a huge anomaly, to me. In fact, for me it's a red flag. IMO

 

[Knox]

Dead Horse Gulch - خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

 

[Dave F.]

I guess BM could have wanted her to rake the area on the back side of the wall to smooth it out? Maybe there was disturbed activity there? I also think he could have not wanted her to see something else he was working on in another area, so the raking was busy work to keep her away.

There is a good shot of that area at 002 in the video, hit pause to view.
Investigators search Salida property for missing Colorado mom | 9news.com

Ordering her to rake underwater doesn't seem to me like a great way to distract her, to me; but it sure is possible. IMO

 

[TIGER0822]

Trial strategy is left to counsel's discretion. One of the most important decisions that the defense will make is what their overall strategy will be to create reasonable doubt. This decision is molded by the facts and circumstances of the alleged crime. Those will dictate what evidence in any particular case will create reasonable doubt and which theories may just plainly be viewed as unreasonable.

Here, the defense can, if it wishes to do so, try to present witnesses who testify about the traffic on CR 225 and may even introduce police reports showing prior accidents near Puma Path, if any exist. The defense may even hire an accident reconstruction expert to testify that it's possible that the bike's location was a product of some sort of collision. The problem is that the state will likely have its own accident reconstruction expert who will testify that it is highly unlikely that the bike would end up where it did as a result of a crash.

I brought up AM's mountain lion statement (mentioned by @TxGidget) because it would be much more difficult for the State to rebut this account. First -- assuming the witness can be located and subpoenaed -- it will be a sworn officer who would be testifying as to
having seen the mountain lion. Second, if the officer attempts to deny the mountain lion statement, then AM himself could be called to rebut the officer's denial (or -- if stipulated -- the video of the interview could be played for this purpose). Finally -- from a strategic viewpoint -- a jury would essentially be given an out: allowing jurors to "hang their hats" on a non-human cause of harm means that they do not have to assign blame to another human being, something which some people are very uncomfortable with doing.

Now, all this is not to say that the mountain lion theory -- even if buttressed by the testimony of an officer on the scene -- is infallible. I don't no much about mountain lions (here in indiana, there have been only two confirmed sightings within the last 10 years, and DNR believes it may be the same animal), but I would assume they would leave tracks or droppings; it is possible that the state could rebut the theory by having a witness testify that neither tracks nor droppings were found near the Morphew home.

All this is speculative, of course, but the revelation of the fact that an officer saw a mountain lion near the morphe home did appear to me to be a game changer in terms of a possible defense.

IMO the mountain lion theory will be easily debunked as no lion could possibly carry her cleanly away outside the 200 mile search area without a trace. The prosecutor would have a hay day with that!

 

[swedeheart]

monarch pass

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

 

[155etta]

Ok. So it now sounds like Suzanne’s last phone activity was around 8am on Saturday morning. This begs the question, was it definitely her?

That seems like a strange time to have a major argument, or even commit a premeditated murder.

This of course would explain Barry’s alleged strange behavior at the construction site, as he knew he had a body to dispose of and an alibi to build.

I don’t know though.

Their girls were out of town. Maybe Barry didn't come home Friday night? Maybe Suzanne was up half the night in a conversation with her friend about him being out, about a fight they had Friday night, about him not coming home? If he returned early on Saturday morning, they could have continued the fight and he could have killed her then. If the conversation with the friend ended after that it would set off alarm bells. Maybe the last thing she messaged was, "He's home now." MOO.

 

[MsBetsy]

Sure, but MG said she finished that beach project for BM by "raking it out" at 11:00 am on May 9, 2020. That's a huge anomaly, to me. In fact, for me it's a red flag. IMO

She also said she expected to be working for most of the day. Maybe she finished the raking but they never finished the wall? It's a small area so it probably wouldn't take long to get rid of the unsightly muck. We also don't know when the rest of the work was completed.

I wonder what time he picked her up in the morning. I don't think she ever said how many hours they were there. He would have had to have left after 8:00 am if that's when the texting ended abruptly.

 

[MadTing]

Last phone activity around 8am on Saturday morning is a huge spanner in the works! Are you telling me she didn't use her phone for an entire day prior to Barry leaving her at 5am in the morning on the Sunday? NO CHANCE, That is a Ginormous red flag right there.

I want to know what time the girls tried to contact her on mothers day and did her phone ring or was it off? I wish we had clarification to whether her last phone activity was activity as in, messages sent, social media used, or whether that last activity was the last time it pinged and was actually on.

 

[Spartygirl]

I was thinking online too. And I haven't looked elsewhere. If the wedding was Sat. that would move the timeline to Fri. and imo account for BM looking like he had the worst night of his life Sat morning. Just thinking....

IIRC, the co-worker was referring to the "worst night of his life" based on the phone call on Sunday, Mothers Day, when he called her to ask her to go to Broomfield.
So Saturday night would have been the "worst night of his life"
Not Saturday morning.
I just found article from MG interview--she does say it was sunday morning when he called her.
“I’m not the other woman”: Second contractor speaks out about Suzanne Morphew investigation | FOX21 News Colorado

 

[PaulaDC]

This is a residential wall...presumably an erosion mitigation and landscape feature.

The neighbor heard heavy equipment there on Friday or Saturday night.

MG places BM there Friday night.

I think Saturday morning, BM used MG to level that beach area to further disguise the work he'd done Friday night.

Dig it up.

JMO

If SM ends up on the rivers edge it would have had to have been done Friday night as that fresh sand was used to cover it up on Saturday morning. I don't think BM would want to worry if there was enough fresh sand left to redo it Saturday night unless of course there was a large pile to redo what MG had done Sat. morning. Of course if it was dug up and re sanded he had a alibi from MG that she had done the finished raking on that job or so she thought. This could swing more than one way. moo

 

[MadTing]

I am praying the searchers find something, i really am, it will be so disappointing if after all this effort they come up short, I can just imagine Barry being smug at that scenario and coming out with some more ridiculous comments about how the search was a publicity stunt and criticizing it further etc, that would be such a huge kick in the teeth.

 

[Barry]

BBM:

My solution to that problem is easy: hang up the phone.

We need to leave SM's purported phone activity completely off of the timeline.

The info isn't verifiable, and at this point, it's not trustworthy.

Scrub it.

JMO.

Agree. Not a fact, or maybe not a fact at all. MOO.

 

[PaulaDC]

19057 Puma Path disappeared completely off Google maps, MOO thats possible since its a private assocation land address. Someone then added the SM foundation address about a week later.

Possibly some type of paperwork completed on the home title? moo

 

[Knox]

Ordering her to rake underwater doesn't seem to me like a great way to distract her, to me; but it sure is possible. IMO

Back side of the wall is facing the house, not under water.

 

[SeattleStew]

Dang it. Lauren Scharf isn't able to go to the search site. Don't know why. Courtney Fromm from the same station Fox21News is out with the search teams. Follow her at:

https://twitter.com/courtney_fromm/status/1309134365016887296

She has lots of photos she is posting.

 

[EggSalad]

BBM
I hadn't caught that before.
"...and her phone being destroyed after her conversation was interrupted at 8 am..."

So this would make me think LE has found pieces of the destroyed phone....

Sure, but MG said she finished that beach project for BM by "raking it out" at 11:00 am on May 9, 2020. That's a huge anomaly, to me. In fact, for me it's a red flag. IMO

Your pics have me a whole new perspective on the leveling and raking. I’m wondering if BM didn’t have MG level and rake the area above the rock retaining wall.

To me that strikes me as a ‘clean up’ job for whatever BM was doing Friday night.

 

[PaulaDC]

At least one thing MG and JP have in common is that they both worked at the Salida jobsite. Interesting that they were both selected by BM to beat feet to the Broomfield site. Was it because BM was afraid they might notice anomalies at the Salida jobsite?

MOO

Look this way not that way.

 

[DizzyB]

Dang it. Lauren Scharf isn't able to go to the search site. Don't know why. Courtney Fromm from the same station Fox21News is out with the search teams. Follow her at:

https://twitter.com/courtney_fromm/status/1309134365016887296

She has lots of photos she is posting.

I quickly went through some of the posted pics and did an audible awww-a woman giving permission for the crew to search her 300 acres of private property. Bless the citizens of Colorado.