Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #74 *ARREST*

[Momofthreeboys]

Somebody did the wash in that house and I presume it was Suzanne! So that cap found in the lint trap came from the time she did the wash. She was alive then. Someone explain to me otherwise.

Could be. <modsnip - no link> So totally conceivable she did wash on the 6th or 7th or 8th. It sounds like the tranquilizer cap is important to the prosecution for their narrative so far so we're bound to learn more

 

[steeltowngirl]

When did SM get the inheritance? I’ve seen a lot of people say BM was married to the money or it was all about the money to him. However it seems to me BM had a good thing going business wise at least at one point and earned a great living. Another words he earned most of the money in their assets. I understand after the move money was tight but that was a temporary situation, once the house sold and he picked up more jobs the money would flow again. Plus if they owned rental properties, that would be monthly income also. Plus BM didn’t like paying interest from all I’ve read so I imagine they didn’t have many outstanding loads.
I can see that BM would be upset that SM has all this money to herself, knowing she wanted out. On the flip side if I was the bread winner all those years it would be upsetting if SM was like it’s all mine. I’ve been reading for days so forgive me it I’ve missed something.
**** Biggest mistake made was moving, that was the beginning of the end will kind of…..

Suzanne’s mother passed away in 2013, so presumably any inheritance occurred after that date.

There is no indication that Suzanne wanted all the money to herself. She reportedly had invested her inheritance in the family home. She told her friend SO she’d be willing to live in a shack if she had to. She expressed concern about the marital issues damaging her relationship with her daughters, and that she could not remain healthy in the deteriorating marriage.

Suzanne wanted out the marriage. If Barry was upset about the money, he could have obtained a good lawyer to work on the best possible settlement. Instead, he murdered Suzanne, and had to hire lawyers to try to keep him from rotting in prison for the rest of his remaining life.

That was his biggest mistake.

 

[Tiff23fr]

Somebody did the wash in that house and I presume it was Suzanne! So that cap found in the lint trap came from the time she did the wash. She was alive then. Someone explain to me otherwise.

It is very possible IMO that BM decided to do a load of laundry. It could especially be true if he had dirty clothes associated with the events surrounding her death. He might not be the brightest from what we have learned, but it would seem highly possible that he would know how to operate a washer/dryer. JMO on why it is hard to assume it as fact that the cap came from a time when she did the wash.

 

[genuineusa77]

It is very possible IMO that BM decided to do a load of laundry. It could especially be true if he had dirty clothes associated with the events surrounding her death. He might not be the brightest from what we have learned, but it would seem highly possible that he would know how to operate a washer/dryer. JMO on why it is hard to assume it as fact that the cap came from a time when she did the wash.

When was this found, when they did their first search?

 

[Tiff23fr]

When was this found, when they did their first search?

Someone that has followed the details more closely may be able to answer your question.

 

[OldCop]

Somebody did the wash in that house and I presume it was Suzanne! So that cap found in the lint trap came from the time she did the wash. She was alive then. Someone explain to me otherwise.

Why would you “presume” she did the wash? I know plenty of men who do laundry, including myself.
Sounds a little sexist to me.
ETA I’ve also known men, who don’t normally do the laundry, run a wash in an attempt to remove evidence of a homicide.

 

[FlyerFan28]

From the Prelim info put together by @NoSI:
BM got reportedly “really upset” and asked the Ritters’ to call LE.
SM reportedly liked to ride her bike “up US50 and then to Fooses”.

I’ve attached 2 maps. The first shows, approximately, (I think), where they have described the location where SM’s helmet was discovered. This surprised me a bit. I always thought that it was found on the north side of Hwy 50. They have said it was west of 225 and that is where they searched when they closed the road the day after the helmet was found. At the prelim they said it was found on the south side of Hwy 50. This indicates it was likely between Hwy 50 and county rte 226. 226 parallels Hwy 50 and intersects with Rte 225.
This is easier to show than describe, but you could ride from the Morphew home to the location where the helmet was found without having to go up on the main highway at all. If it was late at night, probably no one would see you toss a helmet there.
The second map describes the route that BM gave to LE as SM’s usual bike route. This contradicts MH’s statement that SM would never bike up that way because it was too steep and that she always took her vehicle when she went for a bike ride. However, this route would have her go by the location where BM dumped her bike, er, I mean where her bike crashed.
Did anyone else see that one of the reports from the prelim noted that there was no damage to the bike, but that one of the tires was locked? Question for the WS bikers: could a tire lock accidentally during a fall or crash? Or does it have to be locked manually? Is this why LE knew right away that SM never went on a bike ride that day?

You can manually lock out the front brake by placing a disc spacer inside the caliper. To do so, the front wheel needs to come off. I only do this when I travel or work on mountain bike. Alternately, debris may have gotten in the caliber causing the brake to seize. I don't hear about this occurring a lot and I'm in a ton of mountain biking forums. Typically brake issues stem from worn pads or loss of fluid.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Who organised the girls’ camping trip and when?
Just sneaking in a question and a bit …

I think it was likely Suzanne. Although she said in the past she was fearful of being alone with BM, I believe she was also fed up with his control issues and his bullying. She had made up her mind to tell him she was filing for divorce while the girls were away. I believe her relationship with JL gave her the strength to stand up to BM.
I don’t believe she realized how deadly that would be.

 

[DizzyB]

I go back and forth between the money and the “nobody leaves Barry” reason. As unhappy as Suzanne was, who knows how long she would have stayed if there was no one telling her she was actually worthy, desirable, and could function as a single woman. I think the JL relationship may have hastened her decision. Not because she expected to be with him, but he may have given her much needed confidence. Covid, cancer, isolation, girls growing up, lots of factors.

I do think she wanted Barry to be the bad guy because she couldn’t bear the thought of it just being a decision she made. I think she needed Barry to be the reason she walked, so the girls would still respect her choice and she would not be looked at as the person who broke up the marriage. I think they both liked their fancy cars and properties. I don’t know if Suzanne would have been happy in a shack.

I think Barry thought of Suzanne as his possession, in a sort of Neanderthal way. She was his wife, and he truly thought that once he married her, that was it. His ideals relating to the church and marriage most likely came into play in his head. What was hers was his-except of course, when it did not benefit him. When he found out that he might lose her-the money, the prestige, the good Christian family, he wasn’t having it. I think he spent so many years ruling the roost that he was unwilling to live without her. He may have always had a screw loose, heck we know nothing about him, his sexual persuasion, if he did or did not have affairs.

We know one thing-Barry killed Suzanne. Now the state has to prove it.

 

[oviedo]

@NWLady, we hope we will be able to tighten the timeline even more and fill in some gaps after the final 2 days of the prelim next week. Right now it is fluid and we are trying to tweak it to make it as accurate as we can based on what official data has come out. Obviously, we won’t know everything until the AA is released so we probably shouldn’t park it there just yet. Hopefully, that will be in the next couple of weeks. It will likely go into the Media, Maps, and Timeline thread.
@oviedo, what are your thoughts?

Agreed @OldCop - once the prelim is finished we will finalize it - and then the mods may add it to the opening thread but the link to the media, maps and timeline thread is always there so the timeline itself may be redundant. So I try to be one of the first to post on a new thread to get it on page 1...

 

[OldCop]

You can manually lock out the front brake by placing a disc spacer inside the caliper. To do so, the front wheel needs to come off. I only do this when I travel or work on mountain bike. Alternately, debris may have gotten in the caliber causing the brake to seize. I don't hear about this occurring a lot and I'm in a ton of mountain biking forums. Typically brake issues stem from worn pads or loss of fluid.

Thank you, @FlyerFan28. So, it has been stated but not yet confirmed, that SM went to a bike shop in town on the Thursday before she disappeared. Could we surmise she might have locked that wheel to transport the bike to the repair shop and back? Or perhaps the bike repair guy locked it to work on it?
We don’t know what exactly she did on Friday, but from what we know of her activity, it seems unlikely that she rode on Saturday. Perhaps if someone were to dump her bike in the wee hours of Sunday morning, that person may not have even noticed that the tire was locked? I’m thinking lifting up the bike, placing it on the back of a vehicle, then lifting it off the truck to throw it down the hillside?

 

[Love Never Fails]

Ever the romantic, my personal hopes would be that Suzanne was happy. You could be right about them never cohabitating and joining as man and wife.

We don't know how JL would have responded, if Suzanne had not gone missing with her husband now facing Murder 1 charges. Barry rather had see her dead and gone. He'd have his white teeth, his tan, his BobCat, his calendar photos and her money.

Jeff would be facing the love of his life, if she were, and her $.5 Million. Both had college degrees and were bright; whereas, BM was simple. Imagine JLs children were adults similar in age to MM1 and MM2 or, most likely, older because SM waited until 1999 for her first born child.

Ms L could keep the home and any available savings, real estate holdings, unless its a considerable amount, etal. There may be an inheritance. Otherwise, he could walk away with zilch, except for his skills, his retirement check would go to Ms L because Suzanne said she could live in a shack.

This is a mythical take on their situation.

It is mythical believing a man would leave his wife and six children. Been known to happen maybe, but that would only lower his character to do so.

 

[Love Never Fails]

It is very possible IMO that BM decided to do a load of laundry. It could especially be true if he had dirty clothes associated with the events surrounding her death. He might not be the brightest from what we have learned, but it would seem highly possible that he would know how to operate a washer/dryer. JMO on why it is hard to assume it as fact that the cap came from a time when she did the wash.

If, after the girls left, Suzanne told him the marriage was over then I suspect she let him do his own laundry.

 

[steeltowngirl]

When was this found, when they did their first search?

The reporters at the PH did not clarify which search turned up the dart cap that was found in the dryer.

Keep in mind that Barry said that he threw away tranquilizer material during one of the trash runs. And a dart was missing from a four dart set.

We will learn much more when the AA is released.

 

[OldCop]

I think it was likely Suzanne. Although she said in the past she was fearful of being alone with BM, I believe she was also fed up with his control issues and his bullying. She had made up her mind to tell him she was filing for divorce while the girls were away. I believe her relationship with JL gave her the strength to stand up to BM.
I don’t believe she realized how deadly that would be.

You may be right, @Love Never Fails. I also believe that during the
Pandemic, a lot of of couples that normally got along just fine, were at each other’s throats when forced to spend 24 hours a day cooped up with each other.
I can just imagine how much worse it would be if you weren’t getting along to begin with.
MOO

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Thank you, @FlyerFan28. So, it has been stated, but not yet confirmed that SM went to a bike shop in town on the Thursday before she disappeared. Could we surmise she might have locked that wheel to transport the bike to the repair shop and back?
We don’t know what exactly she did on Friday, but it seems unlikely that she rode on Saturday. Perhaps if someone were to dump her bike in the wee hours of Sunday morning, that person may not have even noticed that the tire was locked. I’m thinking lifting up the bike, placing it on the back of a vehicle, then lifting it off the truck to throw it down the hillside?

Many SUVs can fit a bike in the back with seats down even if they don't have a bike rack on the exterior. I don't think we can rule out any other vehicles that were at the house between the time the kids left and the night they sealed the house.

 

[FlyerFan28]

Thank you, @FlyerFan28. So, it has been stated, but not yet confirmed that SM went to a bike shop in town on the Thursday before she disappeared. Could we surmise she might have locked that wheel to transport the bike to the repair shop and back?
We don’t know what exactly she did on Friday, but it seems unlikely that she rode on Saturday. Perhaps if someone were to dump her bike in the wee hours of Sunday morning, that person may not have even noticed that the tire was locked. I’m thinking lifting up the bike, placing it on the back of a vehicle, then lifting it off the truck to throw it down the hillside?

Maybe? It's more common to use a bike rack to transport. Popping the wheel and on/off is kind of a pain and you cannot ride a bike with a locked front wheel. I'm thinking something got inside the caliper if it was tossed to its resting place or the brake cable became loose/tight.

 

[OldCop]

Maybe? It's more common to use a bike rack to transport. Popping the wheel and on/off is kind of a pain and you cannot ride a bike with a locked front wheel. I'm thinking something got inside the caliper if it was tossed to its resting place or the brake cable became loose/tight.

RBBM. My point exactly.

 

[Cindizzi]

The reporters at the PH did not clarify which search turned up the dart cap that was found in the dryer.

Keep in mind that Barry said that he threw away tranquilizer material during one of the trash runs. And a dart was missing from a four dart set.

We will learn much more when the AA is released.

I don’t think any reporter said lint trap, either. One reporter said dryer vent.

Agent Grusing mentions a tranquilizer dart cap found in the dryer. He also asked #BarryMorphew about what gun he used. He said a 22. Barry's phone was turned into airplane mode. His truck doesn't move from 2:44 until 4:44 p.m. ON MAY 9
https://twitter.com/laurenscharftv/status/1425141140244869121?s=21

Agent Grusing says they found a tranquilizer dart cap in the dryer at the Morphew home. #BarryMorphew
https://twitter.com/russellhaythorn/status/1425140749625032704?s=21

Former FBI agent reveals they found a tranquilizer dart cap in the dryer of the Morphews house. #SuzanneMorphew #BarryMorphew @CBSDenver
https://twitter.com/jamiealeary/status/1425140621040226308?s=21

Yes. Grusing said they found a tranquilizer cap in the dryer vent when they searched the home. There was also mention of one dart missing from a 4-dart case.
https://twitter.com/carolamckinley/status/1425262959568248835?s=12

 

[FlyerFan28]

Many SUVs can fit a bike in the back with seats down even if they don't have a bike rack on the exterior. I don't think we can rule out any other vehicles that were at the house between the time the kids left and the night they sealed the house.

Right. However, my SUV can transport either of bikes fully upright. Many do not have clearance to fit the bars within the lift gate/hatch. Trust me, I research this one a lot. To transport inside a car/SUV that cannot be placed upright, you'd need to remove the front wheel and secure it upright or lay it down on its side.