Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #56 *ARREST*

[SouthAussie]

Reminds me of the Karen Ristevski case here in Australia.

In oh so many ways. I can't tell you how many posts I have seen here where I have wanted to say "just like in the Ristevski case".

Which makes me think that if Suzanne is ever stumbled upon, it could be by an innocent walker and in a place not near the home but one that is somewhat familiar to the husband.

Beautiful smiling wife who did whatever she could do for her family.
She had inherited some money.
Expensive property.
They'd had a little tiff.
She went for a walk/bike ride.
Clean house.
Vehicle moving around the next day.
Child/ren buying whatever dad has sold her/them.
"We were not having financial difficulties" (constant debt)

 

[genuineusa77]

Where are these pictures if I might ask. I'm having a hard time with my posts one here. I meant to put this under the last quote I made.

 

[DeDee]

During cruel and inhumane treatment in a marriage, the narcisstic mean-mistreater cannot maintain relationships with the spouse and the children at the same time.

It's obvious who Inmate Morphew favored in the family. The others were likely treated far differently. Surely this behavior caused chaos and confusion in Suzanne's psyche. For years.

It's the classic double bind of abuse then apologize created by the manipulator.

Barry probably had Suzanne worried because of his subtle malvolent mistreatment. A reaction would be to become more pleasing to him in hopes things would change. If she could just be kind enough, sweet enough, good enough. But, it's never enough for the Barry's of the world.

It would frighten me if I was on a trip with girlfriends and my husband suddenly appeared in order to assure himself that only females were present. There was a lack of trust due to his own insecurities. He wanted to catch her betraying him.

 

[Error505]

I know we can’t wait to read the AA. I’m curious what my fellow sleuthers think is the “proof” LE has which points to Suzanne no longer being alive. They can’t charge 1st degree murder just because she hasn’t been heard from for a year. What physical evidence have they uncovered proving her demise? Thoughts?

 

[SouthAussie]

I know we can’t wait to read the AA. I’m curious what my fellow sleuthers think is the “proof” LE has which points to Suzanne no longer being alive. They can’t charge 1st degree murder just because she hasn’t been heard from for a year. What physical evidence have they uncovered proving her demise? Thoughts?

They can prove that the husband was the last person to see Suzanne alive.

As well as other circumstantial evidence ...
Suzanne told someone she was going to leave her husband.
Suzanne told someone they had a large fight about money.
Suzanne told someone her husband had threatened her/assaulted her.
They were in a mountain of debt - debt that could likely resolve if Suzanne was no longer around.

 

[steeltowngirl]

I know we can’t wait to read the AA. I’m curious what my fellow sleuthers think is the “proof” LE has which points to Suzanne no longer being alive. They can’t charge 1st degree murder just because she hasn’t been heard from for a year. What physical evidence have they uncovered proving her demise? Thoughts?

If they have proof she’s not alive, I think they have evidence of her blood loss that is substantial enough to be incompatible with life.

I think most of the evidence will be based on technology and will center around digital records - cell, text, and GPS.

Suzanne’s phone not being found will play a role in proving the alleged bike ride was staged. Had she been biking, she would have likely had her phone with her. (If not, then it would have been found at the house.) If it was not at the house, then why was it not found at the scene of the “mountain lion attack”?

If she were abducted, the phone would have pinged beyond the point of the bike scene, unless it were immediately turned off, which again - would have shown a last ping at the scene. If she had been abducted and forced into a vehicle, her phone records would indicate that her rate of movement would have increased in speed rapidly, as if she went from running to traveling in a car.

jmo

 

[EggSalad]

I know we can’t wait to read the AA. I’m curious what my fellow sleuthers think is the “proof” LE has which points to Suzanne no longer being alive. They can’t charge 1st degree murder just because she hasn’t been heard from for a year. What physical evidence have they uncovered proving her demise? Thoughts?

I’m pretty confident that the 2 searches of the PP home will be major drivers of the evidence.

It seems like blood or DNA evidence found in the home will be very important.

I have a feeling that troves of digital evidence will also come into play. Messages sent prior and during that weekend, data, locations, on/off network, gps, social media, devices used and by whom, etc...

And I think there could be a wild card; something like evidence found at that Salida job site dig the FBI did or maybe a search we do not know about such as an of the M’s vehicles.

 

[IronyDetective]

I think he was all set to say he was at firefighter training when someone tipped him off and told him there wasn't any training. I think it was due to the pandemic? That's when he came up with his half-baked-repair-the-wall scheme in which he didn't have permits, supplies or tools. He was desperate because he needed to be far away from home when Suzanne went missing. JMO

Exactly. I spent Mother’s Day Sunday with my sister. We were not interrupted once by her children - her daughter was planning to visit that evening to cook dinner and her son was at home studying. It made me think about Suzanne's Mothers day and the hours that would have been passing while the girls were driving home to Colorado. Hours in which the girls phones too would have been in and out of range, I imagine? There was just no need to call the neighbour. People our age are not glued to their phones. Suzanne wasn’t well she could have been napping. Her phone could have been charging in the bedroom while she was binging Netflix downstairs. So many scenarios that make not answering a phone plausible and Barry had to call the neighbour within just a few hours. I wonder what would have happened if the neighbour had never taken Barry’s call...
Looking forward to tomorrow to see if the AA will be unsealed and keeping Suzannne’s Family in my prayers, constantly.

 

[EggSalad]

Exactly. I spent Mother’s Day Sunday with my sister. We were not interrupted once by her children - her daughter was planning to visit that evening to cook dinner and her son was at home studying. It made me think about Suzanne's Mothers day and the hours that would have been passing while the girls were driving home to Colorado. Hours in which the girls phones too would have been in and out of range, I imagine? There was just no need to call the neighbour. People our age are not glued to their phones. Suzanne wasn’t well she could have been napping. Her phone could have been charging in the bedroom while she was binging Netflix downstairs. So many scenarios that make not answering a phone plausible and Barry had to call the neighbour within just a few hours. I wonder what would have happened if the neighbour had never taken Barry’s call...
Looking forward to tomorrow to see if the AA will be unsealed and keeping Suzannne’s Family in my prayers, constantly.

I could also see a scenario where BM is gaslighting his daughters about calling/texting their mom on Mother’s Day in hopes that he doesn’t even have to play a role in her disappearance.

Girls, don’t forget that today is Mother’s Day. I had to work on a project, don’t forget to call your mom.

Girls, have a safe trip home and don’t forget to call your mom and wish her happy Mother’s Day.

Dad, she hasn’t been answering all day.

Just keep trying, she might be out. If you can’t get her in the next hour, give our neighbor a call as I’m pretty tied up.

 

[Orgona]

I could also see a scenario where BM is gaslighting his daughters about calling/texting their mom on Mother’s Day in hopes that he doesn’t even have to play a role in her disappearance.

Girls, don’t forget that today is Mother’s Day. I had to work on a project, don’t forget to call your mom.

Girls, have a safe trip home and don’t forget to call your mom and wish her happy Mother’s Day.

Dad, she hasn’t been answering all day.

Just keep trying, she might be out. If you can’t get her in the next hour, give our neighbor a call as I’m pretty tied up.

I suspect this will indeed turn out to be the case.

 

[SteelCity91]

I know we can’t wait to read the AA. I’m curious what my fellow sleuthers think is the “proof” LE has which points to Suzanne no longer being alive. They can’t charge 1st degree murder just because she hasn’t been heard from for a year. What physical evidence have they uncovered proving her demise? Thoughts?

I think there was a good amount of blood somewhere in the Morphew home and Barry cleaned it up with bleach or some other cleaning product. The FBI then used luminol to find any traces of blood and I think they found a lot of it.

I do think the Morphew home is where the crime was committed. When the FBI was doing search warrants on the home, Barry was seen acting crazy and observing on the hill above their house. I personally don’t think no innocent person would be acting like that. And the fact that he sold the house so quickly. I bet he was having nightmares that was eating him alive. Suzanne was haunting him

All MOO

 

[Niner]

FYI @whitelilac - I too reported the rude post.... no one talks like that to our members!!

 

[IronyDetective]

I could also see a scenario where BM is gaslighting his daughters about calling/texting their mom on Mother’s Day in hopes that he doesn’t even have to play a role in her disappearance.

Girls, don’t forget that today is Mother’s Day. I had to work on a project, don’t forget to call your mom.

Girls, have a safe trip home and don’t forget to call your mom and wish her happy Mother’s Day.

Dad, she hasn’t been answering all day.

Just keep trying, she might be out. If you can’t get her in the next hour, give our neighbor a call as I’m pretty tied up.

Absolutely @EggSalad I think that’s EXACTLY what would have happened! Thank you. My post was a bit all over the place it’s been a long day but I had to get my thoughts out before bed . Goodnight Everyone!

 

[Ontario Mom]

They can prove that the husband was the last person to see Suzanne alive.

As well as other circumstantial evidence ...
Suzanne told someone she was going to leave her husband.
Suzanne told someone they had a large fight about money.
Suzanne told someone her husband had threatened her/assaulted her.
They were in a mountain of debt - debt that could likely resolve if Suzanne was no longer around.

I've wondered about Suzanne's medical bills. From all reports she was in remission and was supposed to be at her last oncology follow-up appointment on the day after she went missing. Cancer treatment isn't cheap (I'm a former cancer widow, so I know a thing or two about the size of those bills), and I'm curious how much was covered by insurance. I will guess the bills themselves were in her name only, but Barry was the only one with an income so... this might point to motive.

 

[MsBetsy]

I know we can’t wait to read the AA. I’m curious what my fellow sleuthers think is the “proof” LE has which points to Suzanne no longer being alive. They can’t charge 1st degree murder just because she hasn’t been heard from for a year. What physical evidence have they uncovered proving her demise? Thoughts?

Generally in a no body case they need to find enough blood, tissue, bone fragments, etc to indicate the person could not have survived. I don't think LE found enough physical evidence in the house or they would have charged him sooner.

I do think they have an abundance of circumstantial evidence but I'm not sure what the physical evidence could be.

Another thing that can prove a no body case is a confession to another person. It's possible that Barry could have said something incriminating to someone close to him. Imo

 

[EggSalad]

Generally in a no body case they need to find enough blood, tissue, bone fragments, etc to indicate the person could not have survived. I don't think LE found enough physical evidence in the house or they would have charged him sooner.

I do think they have an abundance of circumstantial evidence but I'm not sure what the physical evidence could be.

Another thing that can prove a no body case is a confession to another person. It's possible that Barry could have said something incriminating to someone close to him. Imo

I would think it would have been possible to find enough blood evidence in the home during the two searches but perhaps these factors played a role in the delay:

-Slow testing and lab results due to covid
-With no body found, LE wanted to continue to build a better case and collect more evidence
-With an outgoing and incoming DA, perhaps the old DA wanted to let the new DA make the decision on charges and then the new DA needed time to come up to speed once she took office

 

[SeattleStew]

New article up in the DM:

Suzanne Morphew's brother says he suspected 'foul play' within hours of sister's disappearance | Daily Mail Online

 

[DizzyB]

I would think it would have been possible to find enough blood evidence in the home during the two searches but perhaps these factors played a role in the delay:

-Slow testing and lab results due to covid
-With no body found, LE wanted to continue to build a better case and collect more evidence
-With an outgoing and incoming DA, perhaps the old DA wanted to let the new DA make the decision on charges and then the new DA needed time to come up to speed once she took office

Murder one is a pretty high threshold for a no body case, right? I started down the no body murder conviction road to see and stumbled upon the below article, which cites something I remember Chris discussing on PE-the three legs of the stool. I am thinking technology is going to be the first leg. Another leg will be family/friends testimony, but it’s that third leg I am thinking about-did Barry confess to someone? No Corpse? No Problem. Notable Murder Convictions Without a Body

 

[Error505]

Inmate Morphew has definitely had plastic surgery, specifically blepharoplasty (eye surgery) looking at a comparison of photos. Vain little *******! MOO

 

[OldCop]

Generally in a no body case they need to find enough blood, tissue, bone fragments, etc to indicate the person could not have survived. I don't think LE found enough physical evidence in the house or they would have charged him sooner.

I do think they have an abundance of circumstantial evidence but I'm not sure what the physical evidence could be.

Another thing that can prove a no body case is a confession to another person. It's possible that Barry could have said something incriminating to someone close to him. Imo

I think they did likely find some blood/tissue evidence at the house, @MsBetsy. The problem was, BM had created an alibi and if the evidence was fresh, it may not have been possible to prove right away if it had been left before or after 5:00 am on Mother’s Day when BM said he had left SM sleeping. Labs for both forensic and digital testing were experiencing months long delays due to COVID-19.
LE got a second search warrant for the home on July 9th, almost two months to the day that SM went missing. I think they finally got some lab results from the first search which gave them enough probable cause to get a second warrant. A simple example might be that they found a stain which could be blood but it was not confirmed until 2 months later. This coupled with some digital evidence that was starting to trickle back in and evidence that BM had lied to LE could have been enough to get them the second search warrant.
The digital analysis can take many months. You have phones, tablets, computers, certain watches like Fitbit, vehicle gps, security footage, etc. once you see what is on those devices, you have to track that information back. For instance, if BM made a call at 4:00 am on 5/10, who did he call? Where did he call from? Was he in his vehicle? The person he called has to be interviewed. They may need to get a warrant for that person’s phone records and they have to wait again. Or SM’s phone shows a text to a friend in IN at such and such a time on Saturday. That person has to be interviewed. It is one thing to get the records back, it is another thing to analyze those records to decipher what they are telling you. Then you have to go to conduct interviews in several states.
If LE got a call to the home and BM was standing there with a smoking gun and SM was dead on the floor, you could probably make a quick arrest. However, with crafty alibis, planted evidence, lies and deceit, it does take a good deal longer.
Remember, LE has one shot at this and they want to get it right.
MOO