Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 #81 *arrest*

Status
Not open for further replies.
Does the judge make his/her ruling based solely on what is presented verbally/visually at the preliminary hearing or does the entire arrest affadavit (including any and all details not discussed) factor into the decision?

It is what is presented and the exhibits. So if the AA was entered as Exhibit A, it would be considered.
 
Maybe they've got some snappy footage of him at the hotel vending machine. Didn't he say his truck was full of wrappers? Couple'a Ding Dongs maybe.

I'm still stuck on the steak.

He really sat down with maybe some steak sauce and downed a steak? That's mind-blowing to me.

But then, PF headed to his Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner.

A guy's gotta eat, I suppose.

JMO


I vividly pictured this. And I snorted at "Couple'a Ding Dongs."
 
Did y'all know if you download Google Earth Pro you can look at past satellite images?

For a few days now, I've been trying to trace an ATV path up Pahlone Peak and tonight, I remembered past images.

Two historic images bore out the ATV path he could have used to get up the mountain.
View attachment 312603

If I had a drone, I know where I'd look.
Nice work, @sk716. This is exactly the area where @Trackergd and I have suspected from very early on. I don’t how far south off the back road, (towards Pahlone), between PP and the RV Park that searchers ventured. I know they searched that dammed lake to the east of the RV park.
It’s interesting because on 5/9, cell info has him 1) walking by river at the back of his house, and/or walking near the RV park. If he walked along the river, he would eventually intersect with the dirt road that leads to the RV park.
Was that afternoon jaunt a scouting trip?
 
I believe a "crime of passion" falls under M2 in Colorado, making it akin to voluntary manslaughter:
CO § 18-3-103. Murder in the second degree:
(1) A person commits the crime of murder in the second degree if the person knowingly causes the death of a person.
. . .
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3), murder in the second degree is a class 3 felony where the act causing the death was performed upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a serious and highly provoking act of the intended victim, affecting the defendant sufficiently to excite an irresistible passion in a reasonable person;  but, if between the provocation and the killing there is an interval sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, the killing is a class 2 felony.
(BBM)

I do agree that manslaughter at CO § 18-3-104 is involuntary manslaughter.

I realize that it's still Murder 2 - but it is murder 2 in the 3rd degree, not Murder 2 in the second degree.

So, if there was an interval sufficient for reason to occur, it's Murder 2, degree 2.

I think they are going for Murder 2, Degree 3, so for brevity's sake, it's the third degree of murder (in terms of severity) in CO.

Presumably, they also have voluntary and involuntary manslaughter (which may be the same as negligent homicide - it is in some states, don't know about CO).
 
It is what is presented and the exhibits. So if the AA was entered as Exhibit A, it would be considered.

Before the PH, we heard that there were 18 witnesses, each with exhibits. Due to time constraints, only 4 prosecution and 1 defense witness got to testify.

Would the exhibits for the other 13 witnesses still be part of the decision-making?
 
Does the judge make his/her ruling based solely on what is presented verbally/visually at the preliminary hearing or does the entire arrest affadavit (including any and all details not discussed) factor into the decision?
Great great question. I'd love for an attorney to answer it...if one doesn't I'm gonna phone a friend as they say. The arrest affidavit is to establish probability that the accused committed the crime. The preliminary hearing is to screen cases to verify the facts with the tip going to the prosecution. It's pretty muddy in this case because the arrest affidavit was extremely lengthy as as the judge says there was a fair amount that is probably not admissible so it feels like he cannot rely on what he may have read in that arrest affidavit. My gut is the judge will rely on what was presented in the preliminary...but legally I don't know. Technically a preliminary will weed out weaknesses...and in my opinion there was weaknesses in the preliminary so really, really interesting question. edited to add I just saw a response to this and I cross posted. Do we know if the affidavit was entered as evidence at the preliminary?
 
It is what is presented and the exhibits. So if the AA was entered as Exhibit A, it would be considered.

Alethea already weighed in on this, just above.

Thanks, Alethea - a lot of us have been assuming the Court could use any of the evidence that's been submitted, but it makes sense that there would have to be labelled exhibits.

I wish we knew how many exhibits were prepared and submitted...
 
Alethea already weighed in on this, just above.

Thanks, Alethea - a lot of us have been assuming the Court could use any of the evidence that's been submitted, but it makes sense that there would have to be labelled exhibits.

I wish we knew how many exhibits were prepared and submitted...
On day 2, they were up to at least exhibit DDD (per Court Transcript videos linked here). That would make more than 60 at that point, wouldn't it?
MOO
 
Nice work, @sk716. This is exactly the area where @Trackergd and I have suspected from very early on. I don’t how far south off the back road, (towards Pahlone), between PP and the RV Park that searchers ventured. I know they searched that dammed lake to the east of the RV park.
It’s interesting because on 5/9, cell info has him 1) walking by river at the back of his house, and/or walking near the RV park. If he walked along the river, he would eventually intersect with the dirt road that leads to the RV park.
Was that afternoon jaunt a scouting trip?

This is so plausible. So many things line up. Explains why he walked over to the RV park.

And Sk716 - those images are chilling. It's what I've been picturing (ATV used in body disposal). Wouldn't have taken him that long. I wonder if he drove up that way earlier on the same day (trying to understand why he messed with truck GPS at 5:30 pm).
 
On day 2, they were up to at least exhibit DDD (per Court Transcript videos linked here). That would make more than 60 at that point, wouldn't it?
MOO

Yes - so...maybe over 100 in total? I guess most of these exhibits were of text messages, then.

No pictures of the cracked door frame? No ping data? I mean, I believe them to have lots of GPS and cellular data...I assume that's what they wanted to present with their remaining 14 witnesses - but...judge didn't see fit to do it that way.

And surprising to me, not a single word about financial motivations, other than the spy pen arguments. I'd have thought that the sale of the Indiana house and the purported need for the sale to fund the rest of the PP house...would have been in evidence.
 
Before the PH, we heard that there were 18 witnesses, each with exhibits. Due to time constraints, only 4 prosecution and 1 defense witness got to testify.

Would the exhibits for the other 13 witnesses still be part of the decision-making?

No, only the evidence that was introduced. You have to err on the side of inclusion. So every witness you'd possibly want to call has to be on that list even if you are not sure you will actually call them. This is to give everyone a chance to prepare. Only in extenuating circumstances and with the permission of the Court would you be allowed to call a witness you did not disclose (and you better have a good reason)
 
I think he's staying in jail and will be bound over but I am not sure about 1st degree. If they get 1st degree, I think jury selection will be critical for the state. There's a lot of information after the crime but not much before it which jurors will expect for 1st degree whether that's a correct interpretation of the law or not.
So if he got way with 1st degree murder and prosecution had to accept 2nd degree, does that make him smarter than we all gave him credit for? Seems that way to me. And for someone that smart, who of course would have it all planned, he sure made a ton of mistakes after the crime.

I think the preliminary hearing threw us all off, which is what the defense attorney wanted to accomplish.

I am hoping there is a so much more to the AA then we could ever hope for. I do believe he is guilty of murder one.
 
Last edited:
I hate to send everyone scrambling for the Swan-Dive pic again, but I'm looking at the wider shot without AM or BM in the shot and I can't tell if it's high tension power lines or maybe a ski-lift in the back ground to the mid upper left. Once you see it in the brighter wider shot, you can see it in the pic with Barry lying on the ground. If we can figure out what's back there, we should be able to pin down that spot.

Found it in the case Photobucket *tips hat to @AmandaReckonwith *

Photobucket
ea58fd6d-14c9-424e-a3da-02f16c45c4e8


05.to.09.barrys.spot.JPG
Shoelaces??? Would love to find recent photographs of BM wearing his boots...cannot tell much about the state of boots from these pics..
 
Last edited:
Nice work, @sk716. This is exactly the area where @Trackergd and I have suspected from very early on. I don’t how far south off the back road, (towards Pahlone), between PP and the RV Park that searchers ventured. I know they searched that dammed lake to the east of the RV park.
It’s interesting because on 5/9, cell info has him 1) walking by river at the back of his house, and/or walking near the RV park. If he walked along the river, he would eventually intersect with the dirt road that leads to the RV park.
Was that afternoon jaunt a scouting trip?

That is some nice work. It's not a spot that would see a high degree of foot or ATV traffic. The potential for accidental discovery would be too low to calculate.
 
So if he got way with 1st degree murder and prosecution had to accept 2nd degree, does that make him smarter than we all gave him credit for? Seems that way to me. And for someone that smart, who of course would have it all planned, he sure made a ton of mistakes after the crime.

I think the preliminary hearing threw us all off, which is what the defense attorney wanted to accomplish.

I am hoping there is a so much more to the AA then we could ever hope for. I do believe he is guilty of murder one.
I doubt that Barry's plan is to be convicted of M2. At his age...he would be quite elderly upon release. A conviction for M2 under the circumstances we are aware of is no defeat. However, we don't know what is in the AA and what additional evidence which supports M1 will be presented to a jury. I think alot of our opinions and speculations will change when we see the AA.
 
Yes - so...maybe over 100 in total? I guess most of these exhibits were of text messages, then.

No pictures of the cracked door frame? No ping data? I mean, I believe them to have lots of GPS and cellular data...I assume that's what they wanted to present with their remaining 14 witnesses - but...judge didn't see fit to do it that way.

And surprising to me, not a single word about financial motivations, other than the spy pen arguments. I'd have thought that the sale of the Indiana house and the purported need for the sale to fund the rest of the PP house...would have been in evidence.

I felt like they covered it from texts. Suzanne was wanting to recoup money from the closing of the Indiana house to fund herself after a divorce...it seemed to me that came out in various pieces of text messages. I'm not sure what more they would need. I'm assuming the door frame crack was covered from what we've seen in tweets and perhaps they didn't use an image because it wasn't apparent that it was "fresh" and they wanted to plant the seed that it had happened within the time frame prosecution is suggesting by making the point they had talked to the previous owners...which also tells me it didn't look "fresh" perhaps or to be charitable they were just doing diligence. It "could" be used later I suppose if they can prove it is a new crack in the frame.
 
I doubt that Barry's plan is to be convicted of M2. At his age...he would be quite elderly upon release. A conviction for M2 under the circumstances we are aware of is no defeat. However, we don't know what is in the AA and what additional evidence which supports M1 will be presented to a jury. I think alot of our opinions and speculations will change when we see the AA.
It's not what is in the AA so much as what is admissible. The AA might flesh out what we know but I expect it to be heavily redacted due to admissability issues...then will come the evidentiary suppression motions :-(
 
I doubt that Barry's plan is to be convicted of M2. At his age...he would be quite elderly upon release. A conviction for M2 under the circumstances we are aware of is no defeat. However, we don't know what is in the AA and what additional evidence which supports M1 will be presented to a jury. I think alot of our opinions and speculations will change when we see the AA.
Yes I know Barry wants to walk free.

My post was a satire of his intelligence. I don’t believe the AA will change my opinion of him or my speculation that he committed the murder of Suzanne. An M2 conviction isn’t really the justice Suzanne deserves.

I know I sound really harsh but I am sick of the Peterson’s, Watts’s, and Frazee’s of the world. And many others, men and women.

When you can’t have what you want in the relationship, you walk away.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
112
Guests online
775
Total visitors
887

Forum statistics

Threads
589,927
Messages
17,927,767
Members
228,002
Latest member
zipperoni
Back
Top