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

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BM is going to need court issued authorization or a death certificate to sign the PSA (Purchase and Sale Agreement) and the deed to convey title. The title company won't issue a commitment of title insurance to a buyer or lender or close the sale without it.

MOO
 
True and I agree.

What I'm torn over is premeditation. Andy stated Barry arranged for the girls to go on the trip because they were housebound due to CV19 (paraphrasing). I can't ignore the obvious possibility he arranged for them to be gone so he could disappear Suzanne.

How may of you think this was planned vs. unplanned?

I've gone back on forth on pre-planning. On one hand, you have the girls out of town on a camping trip. You have some interesting financial/guardianship behavior from BM shortly after the disappearance. There's some behavior on Friday/Saturday that could be suspicious as well (MG's statements about his state of mind Sat am, raking out the beach, etc.). He obviously did hide the body well.

On the other hand, you have a really crappy alibi that was clearly thrown together at the last minute. You have a changing narrative (mountain lion to "got in the river" to abducted) and odd FB activity that doesn't seem to be well thought out at all. Plus, LE almost immediately discounted the bike ride (which was the centerpiece of the alibi), which means that had to have been sloppy, too.

Oh, and it happened on Mother's Day. Which, if planned, is a whole new level of evil knowing what that means for his girls.

All that to say, I lean toward splitting the baby on this one and calling it "hastily planned". I think he knew it might come to this, had been considering it for some time (and had likely given most of his thought to what to do with a body), but something happened that sped up a timeline. MOO, JMO.
 
BM is going to need court issued authorization or a death certificate to sign the PSA (Purchase and Sale Agreement) and the deed to convey title. The title company won't issue a commitment of title insurance to a buyer or lender or close the sale without it.

MOO
In my state, we would accept certified Letters of Guardianship to write the title policy and convey the Deed. I don't know what CO will require. It appears there will need to be an action to transfer the guardianship to CO - I think I will check out the IN docket and see if there is anything new in Chaffee County.

JMO
 
In my state, we would accept certified Letters of Guardianship to write the title policy and convey the Deed. I don't know what CO will require. It appears there will need to be an action to transfer the guardianship to CO - I think I will check out the IN docket and see if there is anything new in Chaffee County.

JMO
Thanks @oviedo! And thank you for all that you do and contribute to so many threads, much appreciated. :)
 
Why is there no alternative for "the girls planned the trip themselves, paid for it with their own funds, and didn't need a chaperone" ?
A college student and a minor typically don't have those kind of resources? As for a chaperone, the trip was out of State, safe guarding two very young girls from danger is simply good parenting.
 
The article you state is specifically about Valley county........which has less than 7,000 population. It has two visitor attractions.......Payette Lake at McCall, which is known for it's summer trout fishing (still a long way off in early May), and the Brundage Ski Resort, which people claim has the best spring powder skiing in the country (but was unfortunately closed completely due to COVID19). IMO

https://brundage.com/content/uploads/2020/06/COVID-Operational-Plan-Overall-3.0-6.17.2020-v2.pdf

Thanks Dave. Doesn’t seem travel was generally encouraged. This article from May 15 indicates quarantine had been advised prior to that date.

Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) announced looser travel restrictions starting Saturday. Travelers will no longer be required to go into quarantine when headed to the Gem State. But self-quarantine is strongly recommended.

Southeastern Idaho Public Health District Director Maggie Mann hopes people will reschedule their vacations for later in the year. She says this will help stop the spread of COVID-19. She also recommends self-quarantine when it’s possible.”

Idaho, Wyoming loosen COVID-19 travel restrictions
 
I've gone back on forth on pre-planning. On one hand, you have the girls out of town on a camping trip. You have some interesting financial/guardianship behavior from BM shortly after the disappearance. There's some behavior on Friday/Saturday that could be suspicious as well (MG's statements about his state of mind Sat am, raking out the beach, etc.). He obviously did hide the body well.

On the other hand, you have a really crappy alibi that was clearly thrown together at the last minute. You have a changing narrative (mountain lion to "got in the river" to abducted) and odd FB activity that doesn't seem to be well thought out at all. Plus, LE almost immediately discounted the bike ride (which was the centerpiece of the alibi), which means that had to have been sloppy, too.

Oh, and it happened on Mother's Day. Which, if planned, is a whole new level of evil knowing what that means for his girls.

All that to say, I lean toward splitting the baby on this one and calling it "hastily planned". I think he knew it might come to this, had been considering it for some time (and had likely given most of his thought to what to do with a body), but something happened that sped up a timeline. MOO, JMO.
You nicely laid out the conflicting indicators for both. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what's revealed through LE on this aspect. IMO, it could go either way.
 
LE has much more evidence available to them than we do.

Personally, I think LE's gathered a lot more evidence of the latter being true than the former.

I'm wondering whether FBI forensic accountants have discovered anything interesting over the course of the investigation so far.

It will be interesting to learn someday what a deep dive into the financial records revealed.

I strongly suspect the whole "successful businessman" house of cards is going to come crashing down as a result.

JMO.

I know several “successful businessmen” (corporate execs, in this case) pulling down high six-figure incomes who live paycheck to paycheck. Perhaps BM was a successful businessman. The alpha-types often are, by virtue of confidence, intimidation, and force of will, if nothing else. But his taste for the finer things — or something — could still leave him in a precarious financial situation no matter how much bacon he brought home. If one lives beyond one’s means, eventually a bill will come due that can’t be paid.

The higher one climbs, the further one falls. And the more likely one might be to do something extreme to avoid that fall. I see a bill coming due in this case. A big one. Sooner rather than later, I hope.

MOO.
 
I know several “successful businessmen” (corporate execs, in this case) pulling down high six-figure incomes who live paycheck to paycheck. Perhaps BM was a successful businessman. The alpha-types often are, by virtue of confidence, intimidation, and force of will, if nothing else. But his taste for the finer things — or something — could still leave him in a precarious financial situation no matter how much bacon he brought home. If one lives beyond one’s means, eventually a bill will come due that can’t be paid.

The higher one climbs, the further one falls. And the more likely one might be to do something extreme to avoid that fall. I see a bill coming due in this case. A big one. Sooner rather than later, I hope.

MOO.
The problem with this is earlier posters searched county records and they had no mortgages on either the Indiana or Colorado homes. That's around $2.5 million in real estate with no mortgage. Sure, there could still be cash flow issues but it seems unlikely.
 
I've gone back on forth on pre-planning. On one hand, you have the girls out of town on a camping trip. You have some interesting financial/guardianship behavior from BM shortly after the disappearance. There's some behavior on Friday/Saturday that could be suspicious as well (MG's statements about his state of mind Sat am, raking out the beach, etc.). He obviously did hide the body well.

On the other hand, you have a really crappy alibi that was clearly thrown together at the last minute. You have a changing narrative (mountain lion to "got in the river" to abducted) and odd FB activity that doesn't seem to be well thought out at all. Plus, LE almost immediately discounted the bike ride (which was the centerpiece of the alibi), which means that had to have been sloppy, too.

Oh, and it happened on Mother's Day. Which, if planned, is a whole new level of evil knowing what that means for his girls.

All that to say, I lean toward splitting the baby on this one and calling it "hastily planned". I think he knew it might come to this, had been considering it for some time (and had likely given most of his thought to what to do with a body), but something happened that sped up a timeline. MOO, JMO.
I wonder if he had this option in the back of his mind BUT fully expected her not to survive cancer a 2nd time.
 
This is neither here nor there, but wanted to share a pic of a shirt my DW made for me. I'm wearing it loud and proud (well, at least in my house) today hoping for the best. JMO.
OMG that's awesome!
OT - what are those fried pork sandwiches in Indiana called? I remember getting them at the drive in - breaded pork something?
 
I wonder if he had this option in the back of his mind BUT fully expected her not to survive cancer a 2nd time.
I think the cancer recovery plays a part in this. It's possible he had psychologically moved on and when she survived, felt "stuck". I also think she maybe had a mid-life awakening, something akin to "life is too short to live this way" and wanted out (and he wouldn't allow for that). I certainly think the way he has talked about her since the disappearance (especially on the TD video) clearly shows distancing on his part - whether that's related to guilt for what he's done or evidence that he had already moved on emotionally from her, it's hard to know without more evidence/context. MOO.
 
I think the cancer recovery plays a part in this. It's possible he had psychologically moved on and when she survived, felt "stuck". I also think she maybe had a mid-life awakening, something akin to "life is too short to live this way" and wanted out (and he wouldn't allow for that). I certainly think the way he has talked about her since the disappearance (especially on the TD video) clearly shows distancing on his part - whether that's related to guilt for what he's done or evidence that he had already moved on emotionally from her, it's hard to know without more evidence/context. MOO.

I may have mentioned this before but..
My neighbor and his wife were trying for a 3rd child, his wife once again found out she was not pregnant, that same day the husband was not feeling well and went to a minute clinic here. They told him to go directly to Er.
Turns out he had lymphoma.
They began treatment immediately (13 rounds of chemotherapy) etc.
6-8 months later - remission.
She tells him she wants a divorce. She said she fully expected him to die.
Totally blindsided him.
 
But, If the trip was initiated by BM, then I would be convinced, in my own mind, (I think a jury would agree), that this was a murder with pre-planning and massive premeditation.

Just as BM initiating the bike narrative, equals staging.
Moo

{SBM for space}

Pre-planning a crime is not an element that has to be proved to a jury, although if the state happens to have such evidence it's icing on the cake, just like motive doesn't have to be proved but juries certainly want to know the 'why.'

Premeditation, intent, can be formed in a matter of seconds, without prior planning, and it's premeditation that is the requisite burden for the state to prove a First Degree Murder charge.

To suggest BM created this camping trip means that BM arranged to get everyone else who went on this trip to go. I doubt that will be the case, it will likely be the opportunity existed and he might have encouraged them to go. And perhaps SM also thought it was fine for them to go and encouraged them if they wanted to go.

IMO
 
I may have mentioned this before but..
My neighbor and his wife were trying for a 3rd child, his wife once again found out she was not pregnant, that same day the husband was not feeling well and went to a minute clinic here. They told him to go directly to Er.
Turns out he had lymphoma.
They began treatment immediately (13 rounds of chemotherapy) etc.
6-8 months later - remission.
She tells him she wants a divorce. She said she fully expected him to die.
Totally blindsided him.
This is just so awful!
 
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