Barry’s patterns of behavior are going sink him. For instance he has continued patterns of irrational behavior such as getting on a plane and flying to FL to confront SM;however, when she goes missing and LE tells him about an affair he doesn’t go track down JL to even question him about his missing wife, really telling.
Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 #80 *arrest*
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Respectfully asking - is BM charged with both murder after deliberation and extreme indifference murder? Maybe he should be, but they seem to be separate and distinct charges under the statute. Given his statement that he had sexual intercourse with SM and all the surrounding circumstances, he might also be guilty of Felony Murder under section 18-3-102 (1) (b). What do you think?
Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-102. Murder in the first degree
(1) A person commits the crime of murder in the first degree if:
(a) After deliberation and with the intent to cause the death of a person other than himself, he causes the death of that person or of another person; or
(b) Acting either alone or with one or more persons, he or she commits or attempts to commit arson, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, sexual assault as prohibited by section 18-3-402 , sexual assault in the first or second degree as prohibited by section 18-3-402 or 18-3-403 as those sections existed prior to July 1, 2000, or a class 3 felony for sexual assault on a child as provided in section 18-3-405(2), or the crime of escape as provided in section 18-8-208, and, in the course of or in furtherance of the crime that he or she is committing or attempting to commit, or of immediate flight therefrom, the death of a person, other than one of the participants, is caused by anyone; or
(c) By perjury or subornation of perjury he procures the conviction and execution of any innocent person; or
(d) Under circumstances evidencing an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life generally, he knowingly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person, or persons, other than himself, and thereby causes the death of another; or
I would love to see a comparative analysis of BMs phone usage for the week prior to SM disappearance on Mothers day. It might be a benchmark for normal BM activity... (if he is even capable of normal.) Showing airplane mode, chipmunk shooting sessions, antler hunting, elk tracking, site preparation in middle of the night, trash dumping at various areas across the county, etc.
Puzzles8
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IMO, if a Mountain Lion had attacked SM while sunbathing outside, there would be blood everywhere.
But then again, I am quite protective of the oft maligned Mountain Lion...
JMO
I had a chance to observe several murder trials in person and I recall several impressive opening and closing statements (not verbatim). Trying to imagine how the prosecutors will present this case, I have been looking online for closing arguments dealing with the question of circumstantial evidence and reasonable doubt. Here's an excerpt from prosecutor Larry Mackey's masterful closing in the case of United States v. McVeigh.
"Let me take a moment and talk a little bit about the deliberative process. We'll talk a little bit about one rule you may not find in the Judge's instructions to you. The first rule, of course, as he will tell you, is that the critical question is whether we have convinced you beyond a reasonable doubt of the charges that face this defendant. It does not mean that all of you have to agree about the evidence. You have to agree about what that evidence means. And so each of you will take, perhaps, in different degrees of sufficiency the evidence of one witness or another, a document; and what it means may strike one of you very differently than somebody else. You don't have to agree on how you reason. You don't have to agree on the weight you want to give a particular document or particular witness. All that you have to agree on collectively is that the Government has met its burden and proved beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against this defendant.
And in this case, there is some likelihood that you may react differently, each of you, to the evidence in this case, partly because there is so much different evidence. There's eyewitness accounts, there's documentary proof, fingerprints, chemical analysis, physical evidence from the Nichols house, physical evidence from McVeigh's car, physical evidence from his arrest, from the Murrah Building, testimony from family members who received immunity, testimony from friends who received immunity, testimony from experts, lay handwriting opinions, summary testimony on phone records, testimony from a person with a plea agreement, stipulations, models, diagrams, photographs, all to illustrate that testimony.
In this case, the Government has presented both direct and circumstantial evidence; and I expect his Honor will tell you the law draws no distinction between the two. And so you can be as persuaded by circumstantial evidence as the next juror might be by direct evidence. It's entirely up to you to give whatever weight you think the evidence is entitled to.
The evidence in this case draws a parallel, to my mind. I think it can be compared to meals that are served across this country on family get-togethers, large meals, often prepared by very proud mothers who intend to serve up something for everybody, who know that not everybody's going to like the sweet potatoes in the same way. They know that everybody's not going to like every one of the desserts served. But their objective is when that meal is done, each and every person can push away from that table entirely satisfied and maybe even stuffed.
Well, the evidence in this case that the Government's presented is a smorgasbord of evidence, and you are entitled to pick and choose; and our prediction is once you do that, you can push away from that evidence entirely satisfied that we have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against this defendant."
"Let me take a moment and talk a little bit about the deliberative process. We'll talk a little bit about one rule you may not find in the Judge's instructions to you. The first rule, of course, as he will tell you, is that the critical question is whether we have convinced you beyond a reasonable doubt of the charges that face this defendant. It does not mean that all of you have to agree about the evidence. You have to agree about what that evidence means. And so each of you will take, perhaps, in different degrees of sufficiency the evidence of one witness or another, a document; and what it means may strike one of you very differently than somebody else. You don't have to agree on how you reason. You don't have to agree on the weight you want to give a particular document or particular witness. All that you have to agree on collectively is that the Government has met its burden and proved beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against this defendant.
And in this case, there is some likelihood that you may react differently, each of you, to the evidence in this case, partly because there is so much different evidence. There's eyewitness accounts, there's documentary proof, fingerprints, chemical analysis, physical evidence from the Nichols house, physical evidence from McVeigh's car, physical evidence from his arrest, from the Murrah Building, testimony from family members who received immunity, testimony from friends who received immunity, testimony from experts, lay handwriting opinions, summary testimony on phone records, testimony from a person with a plea agreement, stipulations, models, diagrams, photographs, all to illustrate that testimony.
In this case, the Government has presented both direct and circumstantial evidence; and I expect his Honor will tell you the law draws no distinction between the two. And so you can be as persuaded by circumstantial evidence as the next juror might be by direct evidence. It's entirely up to you to give whatever weight you think the evidence is entitled to.
The evidence in this case draws a parallel, to my mind. I think it can be compared to meals that are served across this country on family get-togethers, large meals, often prepared by very proud mothers who intend to serve up something for everybody, who know that not everybody's going to like the sweet potatoes in the same way. They know that everybody's not going to like every one of the desserts served. But their objective is when that meal is done, each and every person can push away from that table entirely satisfied and maybe even stuffed.
Well, the evidence in this case that the Government's presented is a smorgasbord of evidence, and you are entitled to pick and choose; and our prediction is once you do that, you can push away from that evidence entirely satisfied that we have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against this defendant."
A2FMNST
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Majestic creatures indeed!
I’m NOT saying he was smart enough to pull it off undetected. It may have been his thinking. I’m not sure.
My brain hurts every time I try to, “Think like Barry”!
dkryder
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i've followed crimes on websleuths prior to joining about 3 years ago so i'm not sure if my nightmare scenario for any case has happened before but i think this case has a better than 50% chance of it happening and that is BM is bound over for 1st degree and remains jailed however the AA remains sealed until trial, probably a year out, and the judge places a gag order on prosecution and defense. what fun for all of us, huh? of course there will be multiple FOIA lawsuits but all will fail. actually, this would be a great case to test this court behavior both in CO & nationally. hope it does not happen. MOO.
If the syringe can be used directly, and (I believe) it was the syringe cap rather than a dart cap that was found in the dryer, did the gun need to have played any role at all? If it did, why?
A possibility is that the hunting scenario, if it happened, could have been an especially nasty, cruel mind game where he acted as though he was going to shoot her but really was "teaching her a lesson" by "only sedating" her. Possibly with unintended death occurring?
(My quotes are purely fictitious thoughts attributed to BM and the last paragraph is purely supposition on my part on what could have happened.)
I just saw this. Sorry for similar post.
I also want to hear from Cassidy Cordova (was mentioned in the court notes here on the last thread). For some reason he was harassed and I believe a victim similar to MG. Was he also an employeed that went to the Broomfield job that day with MG? I am curious if Barry was threatening him or in some way intimidating him. I know LE interviewed him. I'll have to dig for news reports that mention it, but he was mentioned in the PH so somehow he comes into play as well and I think with MG and CC testifying to Barry's behavior or what was said /done it will be good for the prosecution.
From @NoSI 's notes:
12:43 pm – about 5 pm: BM not leaving room as per Prosecution, as per Cellebrite report and telematics, BM made calls at 11:18 am (to Morgan G.), 11:20 am (to SM), 12:06 PM (to MalM), 12:42 PM BM enters hotel.
1:45 PM & 2:19 PM – Calls to Cassidy C., went through BMs truck as per telematics.
So I'm wondering what those calls to CC were about that day from the hotel room?
12:43 pm – about 5 pm: BM not leaving room as per Prosecution, as per Cellebrite report and telematics, BM made calls at 11:18 am (to Morgan G.), 11:20 am (to SM), 12:06 PM (to MalM), 12:42 PM BM enters hotel.
1:45 PM & 2:19 PM – Calls to Cassidy C., went through BMs truck as per telematics.
So I'm wondering what those calls to CC were about that day from the hotel room?
Minordetails
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Me too! I know she is missing, that’s easy to prove. Now prove that she is dead. DNA in the trash cans? Blood somewhere? Coolers missing? Surveillance moving a body? Anything? I’ve been told for 16 months that this is one the dumbest and most arrogant men you could ever meet. If he’s presented as just another dumb jock to the jury, BM might just walk. A dumb jock would have left far more evidence.
JMO
10ofRods
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I'm guessing something like that - but at any rate, we know that Barry didn't go back and closely inspect the master bedroom.
He had a plan, a few things went awry (maybe Suzanne got to the bedroom before she lost consciousness?) He wouldn't have wanted to wrestle very much, so as to avoid scratches. But wrestling her down in the bedroom could definitely be the case.
It's so irritating to think that only Barry knows the answer to this.
Auntie Cipation
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Re FB and the "out of place" vehicle:
When this info first came out shortly after SM disappeared, I pictured FB having been out on some popular mountain bike trail and seeing a vehicle that was out of place in the sense that cars didn't usually go there, or a fancy low-clearance sports car on a 4wd rutted road, or something along those lines.
But now that we know SM's bike was found(planted) on the road into her subdivision, I have to wonder what FB thought was out of place? Did he live in the subdivision and thus know which vehicles were familiar or not? That seems unlikely. So maybe the vehicle seemed out of place due to what it was doing? Like was a person just sitting in the car watching something? Or was someone lifting a bike from the back? Etc.
I guess we have to wait to see if FB ends up on the witness stand to hear more details about why he thought something was suspicious about a vehicle being on what turned out to be a regular road into their neighborhood. MOO
When this info first came out shortly after SM disappeared, I pictured FB having been out on some popular mountain bike trail and seeing a vehicle that was out of place in the sense that cars didn't usually go there, or a fancy low-clearance sports car on a 4wd rutted road, or something along those lines.
But now that we know SM's bike was found(planted) on the road into her subdivision, I have to wonder what FB thought was out of place? Did he live in the subdivision and thus know which vehicles were familiar or not? That seems unlikely. So maybe the vehicle seemed out of place due to what it was doing? Like was a person just sitting in the car watching something? Or was someone lifting a bike from the back? Etc.
I guess we have to wait to see if FB ends up on the witness stand to hear more details about why he thought something was suspicious about a vehicle being on what turned out to be a regular road into their neighborhood. MOO
steeltowngirl
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Remember what the Agent said at the PH. “You don’t need to bleed to die.” He could have pulled a ‘jock’ move and darted her, or simply strangled her.
What Barry got really right was hiding her remains. And he had the skills, and the surrounding terrain, to do just that. Even his ‘friend’ vouched for that.
A friend of a man who is being charged with killing his wife has said that he doubts anybody would be able to find the body if he really did kill her.
The unnamed friend told The Sun on Monday that Barry Morphew, 53, 'knows the woods and Colorado better than anybody out there,' and 'there's no way in the world' police would find his wife, Suzanne's, body.
'If he is guilty, I doubt anybody would ever find the body,' said the friend, whom The Sun did not name. 'He knows those woods and Colorado better than anybody out there — he hunted and fished every day of his life.'
He added that police would not be able to 'cover that much ground,' and said he would be shocked if the police found Suzanne Morphew's body without someone coming forward and saying 'Hey, this is where it is.'
Friend says Barry Morphew 'would know where to hide a body in Colorado' | Daily Mail Online
10ofRods
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Maybe he threw it in the creek (the syringe part itself would be very small, but of a material to settle to the bottom and gradually move with the sands downstream).
Maybe Barry thought about that cap and began to hope that he had put it back on the syringe before tossing, thereby explaining his snorkeling in the creek. (I'm making up that he snorkeled, he just went into the creek per TD).
I've been thinking about how Barry had to have had an orderly (to him) ToDo list that day. "Find Suzanne unaware in convo with affair partner," "Eject live rounds, load syringe into blank cartridge," "Survey area to make sure no onlookers" etc. Did he even think about where he'd put the syringe needle after use? I think he did (probably in one of his trash drops rather than the creek - I'm just tossing out ideas).
I feel so badly for LE in this case, there are so many moving pieces and Barry so carefully isolated Suzanne (IMO).
I think he went somewhere with the body during that missing time (right before his GPS reset), when his phone shows him still at home - he had about 2 hours, but he had a lot to do besides drive and find a place - so yes, she's not too far away, but I think she's off somewhere in the direction of Monarch Pass, consistent with where he later threw the bike and helmet - consistent with an abduction scenario.
Minordetails
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Someday, somebody undercover needs to butter him up. Tell him how smart he is. Rub his ego. Pry a little bit. Work on him. Ask him how he did it, how he pulled it off. He’ll talk.
JMO
10ofRods
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Exactly! Thank you for clarifying this. If more evidence has emerged during the trial that could be useful on a retrial, the DA will organize a new trial. Obviously, if there are only 1-2 holdouts, and the rest think he's guilty, retrying him on Murder 2 would be appropriate. I bet he would be convicted fairly quickly. Once everyone in Chaffee County realizes how outrageous it is not to convict Barry Morphew of something in relation to his missing wife, the next panel of jurors will sit up straight in their chairs and list very closely to jury instructions. IMO.
So...my timeline is Barry stays in jail until trial (I hope, I hope). Trial is scheduled for early 2022. Here's where it gets tricky. Barry is going nutso in jail. He wants out. If he stays in, he will be very displeased if his defense attorneys can't get him a speedy trial - so we may not see the usual defense requests for delay. Maybe if they scare him with the prospect of going to prison, he may opt for them to delay the trial. The defense almost always prefers to delay a trial that they are worried they're going to lose. I guess they hope for miracles.
Anyway, his trial probably won't happen until late Spring, 2022. Any guesses on how long in weeks this trial will be? I think at least 6 weeks. Could be longer. If the defense drags out the trial, and the prosecution is swift and tidy, that will work against the defense (but make the defense attorneys lots of money).
He'd be immediately set for trial again and stay in jail if a mistrial is declared (unless DA refiles as Murder 2).
Barry will have spent 1 year in jail by the time that next trial is set or charges are refiled. I think that will be enough to get his attention - and to allow his family members to find some stability from which to move forward - all the available evidence will have been aired.
I don't think he'd be found not guilty of all the charges (the illegal gun for example) and I believe a jury will convict him of at least one felony. So he would lose his guns and never hunt (with a gun) again. He would also have parole restrictions as to where he could travel and how often he had to check in with Chaffee County.
MrX
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Yes, but I suspect most of us have been fascinated with these types of cases for years (I was in the gallery at Jodi's trial.) We've learned that, with rare exceptions, the truth is pretty much what the prosecution lays out from day one. I doubt that this case is any different. I'm just saying that the defense has to do something, and they will be dealing with a jury that may not follow this kind of stuff, at all.
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