Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #53

[JosieMae]

The PE guys speculate just like we do I believe.

They do. I don't mind the speculation, but the enigmatic statements from CM drive me nuts. NOT entertaining at all. This case is frustrating enough without silly riddles.

 

[al66pine]

No-Body Homicide Conviction?
From my post 14 on this thread: "...In a no-body case starting as a MisPers case, proving death is a big, Big, BIG obstacle for prosecutor. Not saying it can't be done, as obviously it has been...."

Kelsey Berreth case

@Spartygirl Not sure how to interp the post. If saying---
- some no-body homicides have been successfully prosecuted, then okay, agreeing, as my post said that too.
- Frazee was convicted, okay, agreeing. It's an example of a no-body homicide conviction w its own set of facts.

Maybe something else altogether? Forgive me for being dense in not understanding your post.

 

[Janeumayer]

The tree invoice was mentioned by Knox (thread 40, post #677) back on Sept. 28, 2020 after watching PE’s Day 4th Search Update with Andy Moorman YouTube Video. There are many posts discussing this from this post on:

CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #40

“@11:52 Andy says -

- I had a lady today that reached out with some paperwork on tree invoices, that was quite interesting.

- I handed that right over to CBI and I'm gonna tell you right now, he was just about to jump out of his seat over it.

- So you know, that's really important stuff and they couldn't get their hands on it quick enough.

Watch Chris's reaction to what Andy is saying ... somehow it seems this information is pointing to something LE may have suspected, but needed substantiation of. Maybe the location the trees went is going to be important?”

 

[Ontario Mom]

They do. I don't mind the speculation, but the enigmatic statements from CM drive me nuts. NOT entertaining at all. This case is frustrating enough without silly riddles.

I don't like riddles myself, but to be fair, it was MK that made the "5" statement.

Which still makes zero sense to me, even with the "trees" hint.
5 types of trees?
Who signed for the 5 trees?
Location the 5 trees were delivered?
Something else quite damning on the 5 trees invoice?

He (MK) specifically says to think about the old Bruce Lee films and think about the 5 fingers and how important they are. I guess that means something to someone, but it's over my head. I recall these conversations during/after AM's search and it never really went anywhere.

Then he says "five real strong reasons, to keep thinking about number five and hoping for number five". Hoping for number five?

Maybe we need @ProfilingEvil to pop in and clear this up, eh?

 

[Spartygirl]

No-Body Homicide Conviction?
From my post 14 on this thread: "...In a no-body case starting as a MisPers case, proving death is a big, Big, BIG obstacle for prosecutor. Not saying it can't be done, as obviously it has been...."
@Spartygirl Not sure how to interp the post. If saying---
- some no-body homicides have been successfully prosecuted, then okay, agreeing, as my post said that too.
- Frazee was convicted, okay, agreeing. It's an example of a no-body homicide conviction w its own set of facts.

Maybe something else altogether? Forgive me for being dense in not understanding your post.

Sorry-- I was answering your post about a NO-Body conviction and was reminded of Kelsey's case.
Of course, I answered too quickly, spur of the moment and then realized there was "She-Devils" testimony to help put Frazee away, so there's that.
That is all.

 

[Janeumayer]

If I recall correctly, didn’t BM also discard of one of the Bobcat’s attachments? I think they were asking around to see if he had brought it in for exchange or to discard it? Anyone remember this? MOO

 

[al66pine]

Sorry-- I was answering your post about a NO-Body conviction and was reminded of Kelsey's case.
That is all.

@Spartygirl Thanks for your response. I was scratching my head. Glad you clarified.

ETA:
just hypo: If Chaffee County has recovered unexplained evd of SM's blood & has interviewed an (ex?) GF of BM who gives them credible stmts about BM asking her, three times, over a period of months to kill SM, and GF also drove hundreds of miles to clean up bloody crime scene, and if LE's analysis of cell, GPS, emails, surv cam footage, other e-trail evd confirms the stmts, then seems LE is building a solid case against BM. Has LE got evd like that? IDK, but if so, I would not be surprised about both an arrest and ultimately a no-body homicide conviction.

Hoping Chaffee County has a ton of evd, this strong (Frazee case) or stronger to go to trial.

 

[Spartygirl]

I don't like riddles myself, but to be fair, it was MK that made the "5" statement.

Which still makes zero sense to me, even with the "trees" hint.
5 types of trees?
Who signed for the 5 trees?
Location the 5 trees were delivered?
Something else quite damning on the 5 trees invoice?

He (MK) specifically says to think about the old Bruce Lee films and think about the 5 fingers and how important they are. I guess that means something to someone, but it's over my head. I recall these conversations during/after AM's search and it never really went anywhere.

Then he says "five real strong reasons, to keep thinking about number five and hoping for number five". Hoping for number five?

Maybe we need @ProfilingEvil to pop in and clear this up, eh?

BBM
Yes, please !!! clear this up LOL
I have been all over looking at Bruce Lee Five fingers of death and 5 trees and have virtually scoped out the house and surrounding trees LOL
I am now
cross eyed and too tired to start on the receipt for trees and where they were planted.
Perhaps tomorrow.

 

[MsBetsy]

If I recall correctly, didn’t BM also discard of one of the Bobcat’s attachments? I think they were asking around to see if he had brought it in for exchange or to discard it? Anyone remember this? MOO

No, I don't remember LE being interested in the Bobcat or that they were looking for or took any attachments into evidence during any of the searches. I do remember yellow tape around part of the bobcat along with all the other tape outside.

There was one photo of them carrying out something small in an evidence bag during the first search. I guess it's possible the DM missed a few things when they weren't hiding in the bushes snapping pictures. Imo

 

[Spartygirl]

If I recall correctly, didn’t BM also discard of one of the Bobcat’s attachments? I think they were asking around to see if he had brought it in for exchange or to discard it? Anyone remember this? MOO

He didn't discard anything that we know of, but he did mention an inconsistency remark made about his bobcat.
"
During his interview with Fox 21, Barry did admit one inconsistency with a story he told investigators regarding a bobcat he used for landscaping.

'It was only because I didn't know the time that I did something, a mechanical thing, to my bobcat,' he stated.

'I was confused and I just found out my wife was missing, and I was a little bit not in my right mind when they were asking me these questions, but I did the best I could and I answered everything.
Brother of missing Suzanne Morphew pleads with her husband to take a lie detector test | Daily Mail Online

 

[Janeumayer]

He didn't discard anything that we know of, but he did mention an inconsistency remark made about his bobcat.
"
During his interview with Fox 21, Barry did admit one inconsistency with a story he told investigators regarding a bobcat he used for landscaping.

'It was only because I didn't know the time that I did something, a mechanical thing, to my bobcat,' he stated.

'I was confused and I just found out my wife was missing, and I was a little bit not in my right mind when they were asking me these questions, but I did the best I could and I answered everything.
Brother of missing Suzanne Morphew pleads with her husband to take a lie detector test | Daily Mail Online

I do know about that inconsistency. I think the PE guys mentioned BM discarding the Bobcat’s attachment?

PS Found it, they discussed him servicing the attachment:

CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #28

SeattleStew post:
“This is a copy paste of some of the transcript of the PE Choir Practice YT last night. I found it interesting, wanted to share:

51:25
the the part that on the bobcat that was
51:28
in question
51:29
was actually it's it's called the blade
51:31
or the lower section of the
51:33
if you think of the front of a bucket on
51:36
a bobcat which is just a small backhoe
51:39
there's a piece of metal that goes
51:41
across the front
51:42
that wears down because it's dragging on
51:44
the ground
51:45
that was one of the pieces in question
51:49
and you you know what we don't know it
51:51
could have been just an
51:52
entire uh fluke that that
51:56
happened at the same moment it could
51:58
have been involved in something
52:00
um we're like you waiting for that to
52:02
unfold
52:04
yeah and um yeah there's still a lot of
52:06
information i mean
52:07
are there two are there repair shops uh
52:10
in that area and if so
52:11
you know uh crime fighters kind of poke
52:13
around see if
52:15
anybody brought you know equipment in to
52:17
be sharpened or anything like that you
52:19
never know i mean it could be out there
52:22
but you know you guys are out and about
52:24
um”

Hatfield post:
“Yes I listened to PE last night and that is my understanding too. That they think it was the "front bucket scooper thing" that is attached to the front of it. Its shown (barely can see it) in the news video of it when we see it in their driveway. The front bucket portion is resting on the ground in that aerial video of their house so its hard to see it, but its there.

So lets suppose a person was using the bobcat for nefarious reasons and decided to put a body in the front bucket to use it to carry the person to another place. That person may have been worried about blood or DNA evidence that was on the scoop bucket and so they may have replaced the entire bucket scooper.

PE hinted that there may be records somewhere of someone either purchasing or renting a new or used front bucket attachment for it.
JMO

ETA-They have various attachments and the buckets, backhoe, and front end loader attachments can be seen in link below. “

Find Bobcat Attachments and Implements - Bobcat Company

 

[sk716]

My theory gets a little wilder the more I read. I am a big fan of "the simplest solution is the most likely" school of thought, but as Sherlock said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

She's in the Arkansas River and that's not even the crazy part. It looks to me like their property butts up to or very near the South Arkansas River. It is a tributary that meets the Arkansas at Salida. I don't know much about the Arkansas that far up, but I know it runs fast and gets faster and more dangerous the closer to the Mississippi you get, I'm a Little Rock native, the Arkansas is a well known killer. It's also virtually impossible to search and it's not terribly unusual for bodies and body parts to wash up in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Now we get to the crazy part. The neighbor heard the heavy equipment in the middle of the night, but a search has come up empty on that site except for a couple of unverified hits from a cadaver dog(?). What if he used the Bobcat to cut up the body? He could easily dig and regrade the top soil to hide any remaining blood. The parts go right into the tributary and float into the Arkansas and were probably already in Kansas before she was even reported missing.

There are a couple things that don't make any sense and it bothers me. The chlorine smell in the hotel room. It's specifically referred to as chlorine, not bleach. Chlorine wouldn't do anything to hide evidence. It's weird.
It was Mother's Day, as I understand she had high school and college aged girls that she was close to and they did girly stuff together. Now, to me it's odd that they aren't together at a spa or something on Mother's Day. I've read conflicting reports of where the girls were when their mother went missing. I don't think they had anything to do with it, but there is something bugging me about that.

 

[Spartygirl]

My theory gets a little wilder the more I read. I am a big fan of "the simplest solution is the most likely" school of thought, but as Sherlock said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

She's in the Arkansas River and that's not even the crazy part. It looks to me like their property butts up to or very near the South Arkansas River. It is a tributary that meets the Arkansas at Salida. I don't know much about the Arkansas that far up, but I know it runs fast and gets faster and more dangerous the closer to the Mississippi you get, I'm a Little Rock native, the Arkansas is a well known killer. It's also virtually impossible to search and it's not terribly unusual for bodies and body parts to wash up in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Now we get to the crazy part. The neighbor heard the heavy equipment in the middle of the night, but a search has come up empty on that site except for a couple of unverified hits from a cadaver dog(?). What if he used the Bobcat to cut up the body? He could easily dig and regrade the top soil to hide any remaining blood. The parts go right into the tributary and float into the Arkansas and were probably already in Kansas before she was even reported missing.

There are a couple things that don't make any sense and it bothers me. The chlorine smell in the hotel room. It's specifically referred to as chlorine, not bleach. Chlorine wouldn't do anything to hide evidence. It's weird.
It was Mother's Day, as I understand she had high school and college aged girls that she was close to and they did girly stuff together. Now, to me it's odd that they aren't together at a spa or something on Mother's Day. I've read conflicting reports of where the girls were when their mother went missing. I don't think they had anything to do with it, but there is something bugging me about that.

Hello and WELCOME TO WS !!!
I also have wondered about the creek/river in their back yard.
I mean, It is right there and it is also close to what he was working on at the work site.

 

[sk716]

Hello and WELOME TO WS !!!
I also have wondered about the creek/river in their back yard.
I mean, It is right there and it is also close to what he was working on at the work site.

Hello!

Wasn't her bike found on a bridge? Was it over the S. Arkansas or some other creek? If she washed up in Fort Smith, AR and her bike was found near a bridge he could have easily claimed she must have fallen in. The water washes away any forensic evidence and the fish and current make any kind of physical exam to determine cause of death impossible.

 

[al66pine]

Forensic Evidence; Cause of Death?

Hello! Wasn't her bike found on a bridge? Was it over the S. Arkansas or some other creek? If she washed up in Fort Smith, AR and her bike was found near a bridge he could have easily claimed she must have fallen in. The water washes away any forensic evidence and the fish and current make any kind of physical exam to determine cause of death impossible.

@sk716 Welcome to Websleuths.
Sure BM could make a claim like that. Iirc early on, BM listed several possible causes for SM's disappearance, including getting in the water.

If post is saying Med Examiner could not determine CoD for remains found washed down river sometime later, respectfully I doubt that situation would necessarily preclude ME's CoD & MoD rulings.

If remains were located & recovered in river, and toxicology test results indicated lethal levels of a substance (strychnine, arsenic, other poison, cocaine? I'm not sure which would remain in the system or how long), ME might be able to rule on CoD.
If SM's remains were recovered in Ft. Smith or anywhere w several bullet holes in skull, ME might be able to rule on CoD, and on MoD as homicide.
Of course, none of the above would necessarily implicate or exculpate BM as the perp.

If placing dead spouse into a small creek/river (like pix I've seen of it close to their home) and relying on remains never being found or significant decomposition before being found, seems person is counting on some luck: body not getting hung up on a log, rock, obstacle; hikers, bikers, fishermen not spotting the body, etc.

If killing was premeditated & if body was placed in the river, seems method of disposal was not well planned.
Personally not inclined to think SM's remains were placed in the river, could be wrong. my2ct.

 

[aust amateur slueth]

Sorry-- I was answering your post about a NO-Body conviction and was reminded of Kelsey's case.
Of course, I answered too quickly, spur of the moment and then realized there was "She-Devils" testimony to help put Frazee away, so there's that.
That is all.

another very one would be Kelsie Schellings case. do the Lucas was found guilty

 

[EggSalad]

The tree invoice was mentioned by Knox (thread 40, post #677) back on Sept. 28, 2020 after watching PE’s Day 4th Search Update with Andy Moorman YouTube Video. There are many posts discussing this from this post on:

CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #40

“@11:52 Andy says -

- I had a lady today that reached out with some paperwork on tree invoices, that was quite interesting.

- I handed that right over to CBI and I'm gonna tell you right now, he was just about to jump out of his seat over it.

- So you know, that's really important stuff and they couldn't get their hands on it quick enough.

Watch Chris's reaction to what Andy is saying ... somehow it seems this information is pointing to something LE may have suspected, but needed substantiation of. Maybe the location the trees went is going to be important?”

I was curious if BM had used a false business name to purchase those trees (instead of using Sunset Farms LLC). Perhaps LE knows of other purchases like bulk chlorine that was also purchased under a false business name and the tree invoices corroborates that.

 

[kshultz06082]

Twitter update: CM has "liked" all my follow up questions, but has not responded to them. Not sure if that means anything. Do you guys want me to try asking him to come visit us here?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Twitter update: CM has "liked" all my follow up questions, but has not responded to them. Not sure if that means anything. Do you guys want me to try asking him to come visit us here?

I sure would. I'm not sure if the PE profile here is his or MK's, but I guess it doesn't matter, since he's an approved source anyway.

 

[tiffkinsadder]

My theory gets a little wilder the more I read. I am a big fan of "the simplest solution is the most likely" school of thought, but as Sherlock said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

She's in the Arkansas River and that's not even the crazy part. It looks to me like their property butts up to or very near the South Arkansas River. It is a tributary that meets the Arkansas at Salida. I don't know much about the Arkansas that far up, but I know it runs fast and gets faster and more dangerous the closer to the Mississippi you get, I'm a Little Rock native, the Arkansas is a well known killer. It's also virtually impossible to search and it's not terribly unusual for bodies and body parts to wash up in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Now we get to the crazy part. The neighbor heard the heavy equipment in the middle of the night, but a search has come up empty on that site except for a couple of unverified hits from a cadaver dog(?). What if he used the Bobcat to cut up the body? He could easily dig and regrade the top soil to hide any remaining blood. The parts go right into the tributary and float into the Arkansas and were probably already in Kansas before she was even reported missing.

There are a couple things that don't make any sense and it bothers me. The chlorine smell in the hotel room. It's specifically referred to as chlorine, not bleach. Chlorine wouldn't do anything to hide evidence. It's weird.
It was Mother's Day, as I understand she had high school and college aged girls that she was close to and they did girly stuff together. Now, to me it's odd that they aren't together at a spa or something on Mother's Day. I've read conflicting reports of where the girls were when their mother went missing. I don't think they had anything to do with it, but there is something bugging me about that.

Hello, and welcome to Websleuths!
It's against TOS to discuss the daughters...I had a post deleted because of doing so. Just thought I'd share.