Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #62 *ARREST*

[Error505]

I also wonder if communications with the daughters (Friday/Saturday) come into the picture. One might think that one or both of the parents might have had some kind of daily contact with them while they were away.

At the moment we don't know all other communications that may have happened in the relevant time period(s).

I feel certain search warrants were issued on all Morphew cell phones, daughters included, to retrieve all digital/ data evidence during the timeframe of around May 8 and forward. IIRC LE usually makes a complete copy of a phone (for instance BM’s phone). If I’m mis-remembering, please step in and correct me, TIA.
I would expect LE also obtained court permission to continue to monitor BM’s phone after it was returned to him. By Tuesday FBI & CBI had been notified, and they were on the investigation by Wednesday. Puma Path was still sealed off, BM pickup was being examined. I think there is a ton of digital evidence on BM. It’s definitely hard to explain away digital tracking, especially when you don’t know what information LE has on you…..until you’ve already lied to them. Poor caged guy! MOO

 

[Error505]

Yes, I was incredibly skeptical of Andy’s sourcing of that information. I don’t exactly remember why, but I remember thinking “I definitely don’t believe that’s true.”

I agree, and I don’t think SM was ever in Salida on Friday or Saturday. It never has been confirmed by anyone. If BM could have proven someone saw him & SM, he would have brought them forward. I’m of the opinion in AM’s desperate time of preparing for the big search party to find SM, I think he reached out to as many as he could looking for clues and answers, even a psychic. MOO

 

[JosieMae]

State doesn't need to - even for pre-meditation. A classic example of pre-meditation is strangulation. It takes about 10 minutes to kill a human with this method - and many a jury (or judge) has characterized this as plenty of time to realize what one is doing and cease doing it (as opposed to throwing something at someone in fury when you see them doing something awful or provocative). Going to get a gun, as opposed to already having one on one's person when the passion-inducing event occurs, is pre-meditation.

Going to buy bleach or some other needed component of a cover-up = pre-meditation. Motive is not the key factor in pre-meditation/deliberation.

Going to do a "mechanical thingie" to a Bobcat that is about to be used as part of a murder/cover up = pre-meditation.

I think there's a lot more, as well. As to jury's perceptions, well, if the DA loads the "premeditation bucket" with a bunch of stuff that only Barry could counter (that Barry created an opportunity for murder by sending the girls away, that Barry bought bleach ahead of time, that Barry set elements of his fake alibi in motion on Friday and Saturday morning...pretty bleak for Barry). If in addition, it turns out to be true that security cameras were turned off or that an extra bike was purchased for the staging...wow...jurors are going to look at that pile of stuff and I wouldn't be surprised if they conclude it's enough. If it turns out that Barry was mostly not living at home until that fateful weekend, that's bad too. There's so much that could come out - I'm confident in the DA's assessment of pre-meditation and think they have more than enough.

It's reassuring to hear you think there may be enough. More than enough is even better!

I always appreciate your thoughtful posts.

 

[10ofRods]

I feel certain search warrants were issued on all Morphew cell phones, daughters included, to retrieve all digital/ data evidence during the timeframe of around May 8 and forward. IIRC LE usually makes a complete copy of a phone (for instance BM’s phone). If I’m mis-remembering, please step in and correct me, TIA.
I would expect LE also obtained court permission to continue to monitor BM’s phone after it was returned to him. By Tuesday FBI & CBI had been notified, and they were on the investigation by Wednesday. Puma Path was still sealed off, BM pickup was being examined. I think there is a ton of digital evidence on BM. It’s definitely hard to explain away digital tracking, especially when you don’t know what information LE has on you…..until you’ve already lied to them. Poor caged guy! MOO

I agree with you completely, and I think that's why the AA was 129 (not even remotely a record length in modern times, but apparently a record length for a small county in CO).

The AA was probably overwhelming, in terms of phone data (including actual texts).

There's a ton of digital evidence on BM.

 

[10ofRods]

This may well be the case....however, no one saw SM on Friday or Saturday, outside of BM. There were texts, that is true. But, no verbal phone calls? No snapchatting, live? Only texts from SM to friend and sister...which must be authenticated....and that includes checking the location of the phone, and likewise location of BM, during the texting. Can it be verified that BM, and his cell phone, were elsewhere, while SM was texting sister and friend?

Well, we don't know that. AM says that someone saw her in Salida, with Barry, buying sandwiches.

We also do not know the text exchanges (and their cessation) between Suzanne and her daughters. Simply not known. Very important to know it.

Your last question is far beyond what anyone knows right now - except the people who compiled the A.A. They know.

 

[MassGuy]

I agree with you completely, and I think that's why the AA was 129 (not even remotely a record length in modern times, but apparently a record length for a small county in CO).

The AA was probably overwhelming, in terms of phone data (including actual texts).

There's a ton of digital evidence on BM.

I expected it to be a hell of a lot shorter, but then I remembered a couple things:

This case went on for a year, while the other Colorado cases I followed went on for about a month.

None of those suspects gave extensive interviews, while Barry talked for hours.

I can’t fathom the amount of digital evidence they gathered, and I fully expect that they gathered even more after his arrest (which won’t be in the AA).

 

[TIGER0822]

Some of the things you’re bringing up are great points that have been brought up by many of us and discussed at length in previous threads, which is fine by me as I think it’s good to revisit things while we wait. Yes, BM had the neighbor call 911 to distance himself, and because he didn’t want his voice recorded and subsequently analyzed. Hard to fake concern. And yes, you would think a husband who was ‘supposedly’3 hours away from home at the time he finds out his wife and partner of over three decades goes missing, would be “blowing up” her phone trying to find/reach her. At least that’s what most panicked, clueless, innocent spouses would be doing imo. If cell phone records don’t show multiple calls from BM to SM from the moment he got the ‘family emergency’ call until he arrived back in Maysville, well that’s highly suspicious imo.
I have opined many times, in addition to his lies and inconsistent statements, cell phone records ultimately sink BM.

Sometimes it’s the little things like this that perpetrators forget to do that trip them up down the road, like forgetting to act concerned etc., which in addition to their arrogance, contributes to their downfall in the end. If BM was a good planner, he’d have remembered to make sure to call SM phone several times on his way home from Broomfield trying desperately to locate her.

IMO, based on a bunch of other things not least of which his sloppy, last minute, thrown together “alibi”, something tells me BM wasn’t such a good planner and didn’t remember to “blow up” SM’s phone after he found out she went “missing”.
If cell records show BM did try to call SM many times after getting the ‘emergency’ call, that just means he remembered to do it, not that he actually cared, because, well you know….

IMHOO

#FindSuzanne
#BringSuzanneHome
#JusticeForSuzanne

great post! If my husband was missing. I would be calling, texting, emailing, begging and praying for a response.I would call anyone and everyone to see if they had seen him.

 

[Hatch]

I have not figured out where Andy guessed the 3.5 hours. I know that is his opinion but I think given the points in time that are known I think the gap is larger than 3.5 hrs.

IMO he was taking in every supposedly sighting including the sandwich shop( I don’t think anyone saw her Saturday), all AM had to go by was the bombardment of info that was coming from BM and his associates. As a brother, AM was hanging on to everything he heard trying to piece a timeline together.IMHO

 

[TIGER0822]

I expected it to be a hell of a lot shorter, but then I remembered a couple things:

This case went on for a year, while the other Colorado cases I followed went on for about a month.

None of those suspects gave extensive interviews, while Barry talked for hours.

I can’t fathom the amount of digital evidence they gathered, and I fully expect that they gathered even more after his arrest (which won’t be in the AA).

The length of the AA bothers me a bit. An experienced legal team would not include excessive information, which in this case appeared to have irritated the judge.

 

[Error505]

The length of the AA bothers me a bit. An experienced legal team would not include excessive information, which in this case appeared to have irritated the judge.

Answering your post with a great post by @OldCop of a few days ago, which btw is worth rereading anyway.
CO - CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #62 *ARREST*
And it goes like this
“RSBM
Because LE had been very patient up until the surprising arrest, I do believe they have a strong case. However, I also believe it was their intent to tighten a few more loose strings before proceeding. I’m sure they were also hoping to find SM’s remains.

I believe that they felt BM was getting ready to leave town, (perhaps the country), and so hurried their AA. Usually in a complex case, LE will keep an outline of facts and evidence in a bullet point type of list when they have developed a suspect and begin to plan out their arrest affidavit. They will refer to it and use it to fill in gaps, develop more information, and lay out evidence. In a normal course of investigation they will then use this outline to fine tune the final AA. I think that they may have used this preliminary list because time was of the essence. It probably did contain more information than they would normally submit, but they wanted to make sure there was enough there to obtain the arrest warrant before BM skipped town. MOO”


My 2 cents - That is great info from an experienced LE.
Spezze and the DA were afraid BM was getting ready to leave the area, maybe the country. They hurriedly got the AA together before he skipped out on them. It may have more info than needed, it may contain some interviews that won’t be admissible, but they got their guy behind bars! I remember CM saying there was an LE moved in next door or across from BM watching him. Time was of the essence. I’m not worried about the AA or the length of it. The purpose was to issue a warrant and get him locked down. The prelim will get to the good info. MOO

 

[Scootie98]

great post! If my husband was missing. I would be calling, texting, emailing, begging and praying for a response.I would call anyone and everyone to see if they had seen him.

so much here to chew on.....BM was a 'first responder"...in the event of an emergency....the first to respond are "first responders"....but not in this case....here, the first to respond are daughters and neighbors...not the police, not firefighter buddies...not "first responders". And that does not pass the eyeball test. If BM did not immediately contact LE after he received a phone call about his missing wife...that too doesn't ring true.

 

[girlhasnoname]

<modsnip Quoted post was removed>

We were all so anxiously awaiting the release of the AA for Patrick Frazee, and when it was...holy hell. I will never forget the moment I read it, it was unthinkable. We were devastated for poor Kelsey <Berreth>.

I think we'll see something similar here too.

Barry has been a very bad boy for a long time IMO.

 

[EggSalad]

If you look at counts 1 and 2, which are the murder and tampering with a body charges, the dates are Saturday and Sunday.

Andy believed that Suzanne was still alive into early Saturday afternoon, and personally, I think that’s going to be the case.

I think Barry was acting strange at the job site because he knew what he was about to do. If true, that means he went home and murdered Suzanne, and then perhaps had to run out and buy cleaning supplies, and begin assembling his alibi.

It’s all going to come down to when she last definitively communicated with that friend of hers.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21CR78 Morphew Amended Complaint 051821.pdf

So in order for the dates of “between May 9 and May 10” to be on that document, I wonder what evidence the state has for May 10?

They just have some gps data and hopefully video of BM driving around Saturday night into Sunday AM. If AM’s comments about no coolers being at the home, I wonder if we’ll see video of BM driving around with a cooler(s) in his truck Saturday night, then that cooler is gone of video of him driving to Broomfield that morning. MOO.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

There's been alot of commentary on "life insurance"...and I would like to help clear up some of the misconceptions that may be out there. First, after 5 to 7 years following the first episode of cancer...a clear medical exam and certification from the doctor that SM is "cancer free"....then she would have been eligible for life insurance by many carriers. Some would have "rated" her...i.e. added premium surcharge...others would have limited the benefit amount available...and others would have underwritten her as fully insurable....as long as other underlying medical conditions did not apply. Secondly, the "named insured" and the "policy owner" do not have to be the same person. My guess is that SM was an insured, and BM owned the policy. Only the policy owner can name or change beneficiaries, and make any other policy changes for that matter. The insured has no rights to the policy unless he or she were also the owner of the policy. There can be "co-owners", where both BM and SM own the policy, but both would have to sign off on changes. Third, privately owned life insurance policies are "non-cancellable, and guaranteed-renewable" as long as the premium is paid, subject to the terms and conditions of the contract. The insurance company cannot arbitrarily change the terms of the policy; and changes must be made by the policy owner. Finally, a return of cancer would have again adversely affected SMs insurability...and she would not have acquired life insurance after a cancer diagnosis unless and until that 5 to 7 year window of "cancer free" life followed. Note: a policy in force after a first bout of cancer cannot be affected by a new bout of cancer. They are mutually exclusive. The only exception to the information above is that there are "guaranteed issue life insurance policies" out there but the limitations, and costs render them marginally useful...so I won't dwell on them. I have no idea about the Morphew's life insurance assets...I can only speculate that Barry would be the driving force in acquiring it, how much, who is insured, beneficiary designations, etc...It would fit his profile, otherwise. As an insured, but not a policy owner...it is also possible that SM was insured, and unaware of how much coverage on her life was in force. That is a possibility.

Interesting.

Also, to point, I saw just yesterday watching an ID channel show on demand.... that someone did a policy on someone for $1.7 million. They then realized they were at risk and wanted to cancel the policy as they were afraid for their life. The insurance company said we cannot cancel, premiums are being paid.

And yep, y'all know the Paul Harvey.... he was murdered........ by the beneficiary.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Is it 'post covid' now in the US? I would have thought that streaming is still the way to go for quite a while yet.
Has trial streaming in CO now ceased?

I stated such due to "expectation" that this trial will be a loooooooooooooooong time from this date.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It’s not quite at that point yet, but I think there’s a very good chance that will be the case come trial. Who the hell knows though?

We don’t ever get to see the preliminary hearing live in Colorado, as it is not covered by the Expanded Media Coverage rules.

I can’t imagine they are going to allow a full gallery by August though, so that will likely be remedied by WebEx.

I’d be surprised if we didn’t get to see this one.

I really wish there was a groundswell that changed the laws in many states to have live feeds available now post COVID. But there has to be a groundswell to change such laws... and perhaps one case in a state could have a champion to do such.

MOO

 

[Error505]

great post! If my husband was missing. I would be calling, texting, emailing, begging and praying for a response.I would call anyone and everyone to see if they had seen him.

If the daughters had trouble reaching SM for several hours in the middle of the day on MD, I would think their first concerned “phone call” would be to their dad, not a neighbor. If I was unreachable by phone for several hours, I don’t think my family would be so alarmed they would be calling 911.

SM lived on 7+ beautiful acres in the mountains; she could have been hiking, looking at wild flowers, just exploring. A few hours of being unreachable by phone wouldn’t set off those alarm bells at my house. I wonder if the girls tried reaching their mom on Saturday, as well as Sunday? Now, if my girls tried reaching me for 2 days, yes, they would be very concerned and ready to call 911, but would still be contacting their dad first to see if he knew where I was. So, I’m curious when the girls first tried reaching their mom, and what made them so worried when not reaching her for several hours. And did they try reaching their dad first, if not why? We probably have gone over this previously, don’t mean to ramble. MOO

 

[MsBetsy]

So in order for the dates of “between May 9 and May 10” to be on that document, I wonder what evidence the state has for May 10?

They just have some gps data and hopefully video of BM driving around Saturday night into Sunday AM. If AM’s comments about no coolers being at the home, I wonder if we’ll see video of BM driving around with a cooler(s) in his truck Saturday night, then that cooler is gone of video of him driving to Broomfield that morning. MOO.

They must have a significant amount of GPS and cell phone data, beginning from the time he left the house Sunday morning, where he travelled, and how long he was in those areas, compared to his own account of his movements. Also any footage of his truck (traffic and store cams) and surveillance from the hotel. Hopefully they do have clear images of what was in the back of the truck. Maybe they found traces of blood as well.

There are probably witness statements by the three employees who went to Broomfield, the calls to Suzanne's phone, the daughters, the neighbor, and whoever else he spoke to on his way home.

But yes, to support the tampering charge, there has to be solid evidence that points to when, where and how he disposed of the body. We can only guess what that may be. I wonder if LE has a good idea of the general location of the body, but just haven't been able to find it yet.

 

[FNG]

We were all so anxiously awaiting the release of the AA for Patrick Frazee, and when it was...holy hell. I will never forget the moment I read it, it was unthinkable. We were devastated for poor Kelsey <Berreth>.

I think we'll see something similar here too.

Barry has been a very bad boy for a long time IMO.

I followed that case as well and it seemed to take forever for an arrest and then for details to be released. The entire time with this case, I've compared it in my mind to the Berreth case. Law enforcement's timely process seems very similar.

 

[Scootie98]

I agree, and I don’t think SM was ever in Salida on Friday or Saturday. It never has been confirmed by anyone. If BM could have proven someone saw him & SM, he would have brought them forward. I’m of the opinion in AM’s desperate time of preparing for the big search party to find SM, I think he reached out to as many as he could looking for clues and answers, even a psychic. MOO

this is why I am not so sure SM was offed on Saturday evening. BM has already proven he can pose as his wife... he did it on Facebook...and voted for her. The back and forth texting with the friend on Saturday is key. Were the texts brief during the day or lengthy and detailed before they stopped? If brief, Barry could easily have been posing as SM while developing his alibi timeline. If SM was already deceased when the texts started coming in...BM could have been surprised, then started responding to them to buy himself some time. So it depends on what the content of the texting was. I am sure those texts were reviewed...IOW, as I mentioned before...the deed could have been done Saturday am before BM went to the worksite. That would still fit the DA's timeline of "Saturday". I realize it is likely Saturday evening, but I still have my doubts that BM bought the chlorine before offing his wife. I think buying it was a reactionary move...not a planned one. Time will tell.