Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #47

[ethereal*22]

I think you mean assault-style rifles, I hope.

Colorado's law on menacing requires that the weapon-toting person have intent to menace - not that the other party feels menaced. Difficult to enforce and really beside the point in a case like this one.

However, we are perfectly at liberty to hypothesize about what BM was thinking that day.

I have lived with guns around all my life (dad and uncles are from Colorado - many stories). I am perfectly okay with a holstered sidearm, or a shouldered long gun. Neither seems unusual to me. However, there are things about BM that appear off to me and I sure would like to know what the heck he was thinking that day. Did he form the intention to intimidate? Like several others here, I'm interested in BM's psychological states.

If BM was worried for his own safety, maybe one day he'll do more explaining. He seems to like to explain. I find it hard to believe that he just coincidentally showed up at the house (which he no longer occupied on the daily) just to walk around with his rifle. I think he intended to keep searchers off his property and instead of merely using words and gestures, he brought a rifle.

But did he intend to scare people? Did he see the rifle as adding punctuation to a message? I do not for a minute buy that this was just his daily pattern of checking his property. He clearly wanted to keep people off his property - but did he want to scare them off?

We may never know, although at the rate BM keeps talking to various persons, perhaps we will learn more.

No, assault rifles.

And yes, I feel we are all free to hypothesize about anything, all thoughts about BM and this case here or any case on WS. All comments are worth 2 cents.

Many things about BM appear off. I too would love to know what he’s thinking any day since about April.

Why is he acting the way he is when he knows his every move is being scrutinized and he’s about the only person not looking for SM is being hypothesized here from wood chippers to meth heads to bobcats. It’s mind boggling the way this thread can move and zigzag.

I cannot understand why anyone would go out of their way to seemingly appear to act guilty. Not showing up for searches, meeting searchers with a gun, not being recorded for interviews- has anyone compiled a list of every single action he’s gone out of his way to take to put himself in a negative, suspicious and seemingly guilty of murder light to the public, those involved and if not LE?

 

[OldCop]

@OldCop Thanks for locating transcript of BM's version so quickly. And BM's is one of several iterations of the events.
As my post said, some convoluted thinking. Maybe just mine?

Not yours, for sure! I always wondered about when he said “so we..went to..” and then quickly changed it to “they called my neighbors”. I sometimes believe he was with someone in Broomfield or wherever he was that afternoon.
He has a habit of doing the pause, uh, er, um, thing when he thinks he slipped up. (Like when he talked about which way the bike was facing.)
MOO

 

[nyvictoria]

What was the purpose of Barry’s gun? Was he hunting? Did he have it in case he encountered a wild animal? Was it to appear threatening?

If Barry carried a gun when he went on walks such as the one where he was spotted by a cleaning lady at the dumpster with Suzanne, then I would say he was not “threatening”. If he did not normally carry a gun while roaming around their acreage, then I think he used it as a perceived threat.

I agree he was carrying the gun as threat. I also think he may have had it for protection. I think he’s afraid of someone settling the score for Suzanne. I don’t mean Andy or anyone in particular, just someone bent on revenge. A person who uses violence to solve a problem might expect to be met with violence. I’m sure that, in his mind, he was very threatened by the search even if Suzanne was nowhere near any of the search areas. And in case it’s not clear, I’m not condoning violence as a solution for anyone.

JMO

 

[Sillybilly]

Posts speculating on any political motives by the DA have been removed.

Discussing politics is not allowed, and speculation about political motivation is not based on any known fact.

 

[JosieMae]

Regarding the question of LE ruling out suicide early on; there could be an infinite number of reasons for this. Here are a few off the top. (I'm sure some of you razor-sharp sleuths can come up with more.)

Perhaps one of those "if anything ever happens to me ..." statements made to a confidant? Did LE find SM's journal? Did SM have plans she was excited about? Or maybe it's simply that a woman who is 1 day away from a hard-won cancer-free diagnosis is probably not preparing to end her life.

 

[kshultz06082]

Women go missing every day.
Why the fascination with this case?
In my opinion, BM’s bizarre behavior is a bigger factor, than Suzanne herself, in explaining why people such as myself are intrigued with this case.

BM’s odd behaviour, along with some other weird happenings have kept me glued.

By weird happenings I’m referring to...

1) TN going silent
2) the TD secret or not so secret recording of BM
3) the baby blue helmet note
4) the organized search 5 months after the fact
5) And the mysterious disappearance of LS

All crazy stuff.

IMO

I agree with everything you have written! I have a question that may have already been answered but I haven't seen.
Does anyone else find it odd that the helmet is referred to as "baby blue"? All the pics I have seen are of a teal helmet. Maybe its a female thing, but I feel like it's an important distinction. I get that there probably aren't a ton of different colored helmets just laying around in the forest, but if you truly wanted someone to help you find something, wouldn't you want to be especially accurate? I would have accepted this easier if he had just said a blue or green helmet, but baby blue is very specific and very different from the actual color of her helmet. Buyout maybe BM is colorblind... or not terribly interested in certain things being found... but what do I know? *shrug*

Jmo

 

[ethereal*22]

This was also on Crime Online and I believe I heard it on PE as well.

Suzanne Morphew’s brother believes she was a victim of domestic abuse, says Barry Morphew threatened volunteer searchers with a gun on his shoulders | News Break

“Yesterday we ran into him as we cross that mountain top of where we found the evidence and he was out hanging trail cams and he had a shotgun on his shoulder and warned us not to go any further because we were about to enter private property,” he told the news station.

AM says he was not alone. It would really destroy his credibility if he made that story up.

I see no reason to think AM is lying or that the reporters who printed it are lying, either.

Nothing I've said is related to the headline - I read the article at another source.

All of my comments are about BM, Colorado law, the difficulty of enforcing or citing for that law, and how I would really like to know what was going on in BM's head.

@10ofRods - you had replied to the post that included that headline, that is all. And as I believed you were referring to that article, I responded with my thoughts about the lying you mentioned, the lying which I believe is within the headline. Again, that is all. I feel the headline is misleading and poor journalism, a lie. I wanted that to be brought into conversation. This was that opportunity, nothing personal.

 

[kshultz06082]

I like how you said that! . I’m not sure I like your name though.

Best comment in the thread! Thank you for that giggle!

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I agree with everything you have written! I have a question that may have already been answered but I haven't seen.
Does anyone else find it odd that the helmet is referred to as "baby blue"? All the pics I have seen are of a teal helmet. Maybe its a female thing, but I feel like it's an important distinction. I get that there probably aren't a ton of different colored helmets just laying around in the forest, but if you truly wanted someone to help you find something, wouldn't you want to be especially accurate? I would have accepted this easier if he had just said a blue or green helmet, but baby blue is very specific and very different from the actual color of her helmet. Buyout maybe BM is colorblind... or not terribly interested in certain things being found... but what do I know? *shrug*

Jmo

I find the "baby blue" description quite odd but because I'm English thought maybe it was just something you guys might say more often.

I cannot imagine my husband (or me, actually) describing a colour as baby blue. I mean, I know that exists as a descriptive. But my husband would def say light blue.

Or, as you say in your post, just blue!

 

[Gigi3]

No, assault rifles.

And yes, I feel we are all free to hypothesize about anything, all thoughts about BM and this case here or any case on WS. All comments are worth 2 cents.

Many things about BM appear off. I too would love to know what he’s thinking any day since about April.

Why is he acting the way he is when he knows his every move is being scrutinized and he’s about the only person not looking for SM is being hypothesized here from wood chippers to meth heads to bobcats. It’s mind boggling the way this thread can move and zigzag.

I cannot understand why anyone would go out of their way to seemingly appear to act guilty. Not showing up for searches, meeting searchers with a gun, not being recorded for interviews- has anyone compiled a list of every single action he’s gone out of his way to take to put himself in a negative, suspicious and seemingly guilty of murder light to the public, those involved and if not LE?

Regarding your last paragraph.

I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve thought the same thing about why BM would go out of his way to appear guilty. It completely baffles the mind.

However, maybe that’s exactly what he’s hoping people will think- “Surely someone guilty wouldn’t behave in this manner”

Or- He’s such a narcissist that he is totally unaware as to how he is perceived.

As @MassGuy has said many times, BM is either the worst husband ever or he’s something else...

JMO

 

[ivegotthemic]

Regarding your last paragraph.

I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve thought the same thing about why BM would go out of his way to appear guilty. It completely baffles the mind.

However, maybe that’s exactly what he’s hoping people will think- “Surely someone guilty wouldn’t behave in this manner”

Or- He’s such a narcissist that he is totally unaware as to how he is perceived.

As @MassGuy has said many times, BM is either the worst husband ever or he’s something else...

JMO

I dont think he goes out of the way to look guilty, I think he just has a total lack of self awareness about his behavior, because to him its perfectly logical to do things like lie to your missing wives family about passing a polygraph or netflix/get some me time in while a 6 day search is going on for her. BM doesnt understand socially appropriate behavior nor does he care how he comes off because hes never given a second thought to anyone but himself

 

[Lilypad13]

BM Asking about Bike?
Snipped from post (about 20? posts back) by @oviedo w timeline:
"... The neighbor then allegedly contacted BM and he asked her to go back and check if her bike was there. The neighbor checked, returned home, and called BM on her landline and told him the bike was gone. BM asked her to call LE..."
@missingm sbm
Yes, if bike was not in garage, many ppl would conclude/presume SM was on bike ride and not in danger, no need for anyone (neighbor, or dau's or BM) to call 911/LE. But learning bike was missing, in conjunction w BM (or dau's or whoever) purportedly trying to reach SM on her cell but being unsuccessful multiple times, led BM to state he wanted (neighbor?) to summon 911/LE, because he purportedly believed SM was in danger (whether he did or did not explicitly state in his phone call w neighbor that he feared she became ill, had bike accident, was abducted, etc).

And, as you said, if BM was worried, then agreeing, no need to ask whether bike was in garage.

But if BM has some culpability in SM's disappearance, and
if bike was staged,
then BM's inquiry to neighbor about bike bolsters his suggestion/hint ---
- S&R/911 should look for bike and
- bike's location, when found, would be important clue for LE in eventually solving her disappearance.

Whether or not involved in SM's disappearance, BM may have been doing some convoluted thinking.
And either way, I've been doing some convoluted thinking about his convoluted thinking. jm2cts.
ETA: I am not sure who called who or when, and for ^ does not matter, but am focusing ^ on BM's possible thought process.

Speculation re BM’s thought process if he is guilty...I wonder if he asked the neighbor to look and see if Suzanne left her cell phone at home after she told him her bike was gone? Because if Suzanne was supposedly out on a bike ride and the reason they were getting worried was because he or their daughters couldn’t reach her, how would he know it wasn’t because she didn’t have her phone with her? It would seem a little premature to call LE and report her missing. Does that make sense? So, in other words, as soon as the neighbor said her bike wasn’t there then the next logical question should have been is her cell phone in the house? Even if BM already knew the bike was in the ravine and how & where he had disposed of Suzanne’s phone...he had to go through the motions with the neighbor and act like any innocent worried husband would. Did BM forget to ask about Suzanne’s cell phone? Maybe he did bring up her phone but the neighbor couldn’t get in the house because it was locked. BM could still have asked GD or another local buddy to go look for Suzanne before getting LE involved. But he did want LE to be called because it was getting late and he needed that bike found before dark. IMO

 

[Gigi3]

Speculation re BM’s thought process if he is guilty...I wonder if he asked the neighbor to look and see if Suzanne left her cell phone at home after she told him her bike was gone? Because if Suzanne was supposedly out on a bike ride and the reason they were getting worried was because he or their daughters couldn’t reach her, how would he know it wasn’t because she didn’t have her phone with her? It would seem a little premature to call LE and report her missing. Does that make sense? So, in other words, as soon as the neighbor said her bike wasn’t there then the next logical question should have been is her cell phone in the house? Even if BM already knew the bike was in the ravine and how & where he had disposed of Suzanne’s phone...he had to go through the motions with the neighbor and act like any innocent worried husband would. Did BM forget to ask about Suzanne’s cell phone? Maybe he did bring up her phone but the neighbor couldn’t get in the house because it was locked. BM could still have asked GD or another local buddy to go look for Suzanne before getting LE involved. But he did want LE to be called because it was getting late and he needed that bike found before dark. IMO

Totally agree.
I think it’s likely that LE probably had these same questions the very night SM was reported missing, and when BM couldn’t or wouldn’t give plausible answers to these simple questions, LE became very suspicious.
JMO.

 

[Saved69]

No, assault rifles.

And yes, I feel we are all free to hypothesize about anything, all thoughts about BM and this case here or any case on WS. All comments are worth 2 cents.

Many things about BM appear off. I too would love to know what he’s thinking any day since about April.

Why is he acting the way he is when he knows his every move is being scrutinized and he’s about the only person not looking for SM is being hypothesized here from wood chippers to meth heads to bobcats. It’s mind boggling the way this thread can move and zigzag.

I cannot understand why anyone would go out of their way to seemingly appear to act guilty. Not showing up for searches, meeting searchers with a gun, not being recorded for interviews- has anyone compiled a list of every single action he’s gone out of his way to take to put himself in a negative, suspicious and seemingly guilty of murder light to the public, those involved and if not LE?

Great post! Let's take it from the very beginning of the case....
1. BM's 27 second Facebook video
pleading for help in finding SM
2. Not talking to the media...BM said
It's too soon
3. No posters, flyers in search for. SM
4. Only speaking to media when it
was to defend himself
5. Not participating in the searches
for SM
6. Patrolling his property, armed
while others searched for SM
7. Filing for guardianship over SM
8. Financial moves...house up for sale
9. Saying that the search that AM
organized was a publicity stunt,
anybody credible as a witness were
jailbirds or methheads.
And there are so many more. Anyone else?

 

[Gigi3]

Great post! Let's take it from the very beginning of the case....
1. BM's 27 second Facebook video
pleading for help in finding SM
2. Not talking to the media...BM said
It's too soon
3. No posters, flyers in search for. SM
4. Only speaking to media when it
was to defend himself
5. Not participating in the searches
for SM
6. Patrolling his property, armed
while others searched for SM
7. Filing for guardianship over SM
8. Financial moves...house up for sale
9. Saying that the search that AM
organized was a publicity stunt,
anybody credible as a witness were
jailbirds or methheads.
And there are so many more. Anyone else?

Good job! Let’s not forget Broomfield and the chlorine!

 

[Saved69]

Good job! Let’s not forget Broomfield and the chlorine!

Also refusing a polygraph

 

[ethereal*22]

Great post! Let's take it from the very beginning of the case....
1. BM's 27 second Facebook video
pleading for help in finding SM
2. Not talking to the media...BM said
It's too soon
3. No posters, flyers in search for. SM
4. Only speaking to media when it
was to defend himself
5. Not participating in the searches
for SM
6. Patrolling his property, armed
while others searched for SM
7. Filing for guardianship over SM
8. Financial moves...house up for sale
9. Saying that the search that AM
organized was a publicity stunt,
anybody credible as a witness were
jailbirds or methheads.
And there are so many more. Anyone else?

Not present at vigil
<modsnip>
New truck

 

[Fireflize]

Not present at vigil
Gym visits (push up contest)
New truck

Now let's make a list of everything that he did that makes us think he is innocent.
1.

 

[LietKynes]

I agree with everything you have written! I have a question that may have already been answered but I haven't seen.
Does anyone else find it odd that the helmet is referred to as "baby blue"? All the pics I have seen are of a teal helmet. Maybe its a female thing, but I feel like it's an important distinction. I get that there probably aren't a ton of different colored helmets just laying around in the forest, but if you truly wanted someone to help you find something, wouldn't you want to be especially accurate? I would have accepted this easier if he had just said a blue or green helmet, but baby blue is very specific and very different from the actual color of her helmet. Buyout maybe BM is colorblind... or not terribly interested in certain things being found... but what do I know? *shrug*

Jmo

*Teal* bolded by me.
Good point.
A description made up by a (particular) man ??

 

[LietKynes]

Also refusing a polygraph

Despite telling certain friends/family that he'd not only taken one but passed it.
Maybe he added, 'and with flying colors, too' ?
B/c he's all that.