Still Missing CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *arrest* #98

[Cindizzi]

If he did actually dispose of tranq paraphernalia he left enough for LE to take pictures at the house so it makes me wonder why he just didn’t toss it all.

BM was not asked about disposing of tranquilizer “ paraphernalia” ( boxes of darts, needles or sheaths).
He was told that no “ tranquilizer material “ meaning chemicals was found in the home.
He says that he definitely used those chemicals in April and admits that they were “ probably “ among items he cleaned off his workbench and threw away in Broomfield on May 10.

Page 119
https://www.courts.state.co.us/user.../21CR78/21cr78 Morphew Redacted Affidavit.pdf

 

[MassGuy]

BM was not asked about disposing of tranquilizer “ paraphernalia” ( boxes of darts, needles or sheaths).
He was told that no “ tranquilizer material “ meaning chemicals was found in the home.
He says that he definitely used those chemicals in April and admits that they were “ probably “ among items he cleaned off his workbench and threw away in Broomfield on May 10.

Page 119
https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases of interest/21CR78/21cr78 Morphew Redacted Affidavit.pdf

What a remarkable coincidence...

 

[Kemug]

We don't know, and may never know, where Barry went and how he filled in his time on those occasions when he stormed off after an argument. But I am thinking that those times may have been similar to how he filled in Mothers Day - just hanging around a Holiday Inn somewhere, going back and forth, napping and watching TV, etc. Something which he was used to doing. We may find it odd, but Barry maybe didn't. So childish. JMO

 

[mrjitty]

Most likely true...none of it struck me as odd because I live with crazy on again off again cell service every day and texts and voicemails that sometimes don't come into my iphone for days. Although it might not be as bad in Fremont County....I'm not at all familiar with that area.

I also don't know if the "find my phone" on iphones "matches" the gps positioning data that comes off the phone when retrieved by law enforcement. Sometimes I can't find my husband and he's in the house but his phone shows location unknown even if I spot the phone and it's fully functional and he's left it lying on a table or it will show my H's phone 20 miles or more away when it's in the house where I'm standing...so I don't understand fully how phones function in areas where cell phone comes and goes and can bounce from 0 bars to 2 bars back and forth over time and how that impacts "gps positioning" - my question would be is the gps positioning more accurate than what you see in "find my phone" so will find that expert testimony interesting.

GPS has nothing to do with cellular signal. It's a satellite signal that your phone can receive passively.

The most accurate is a combination of both signals... so your phone positions itself from GPS but also from cellular radio. This is called Assisted GPS.

In any event, if SM's phone was on, then it was positioning itself via GPS.

What we don't know is how Law Enforcement were positioning the phone given they were not able to recover the phone.

Was locational data saved to the Apple iCloud? Is it only from tower records?

We'll have to wait for trial, but tldr, GPS could well position the phone accurately, without good cellular.

This is an android explainer but iphone is the same

How does GPS work on my phone?

What is Assisted GPS (A-GPS)? - Definition from Techopedia

 

[mrjitty]

What a remarkable coincidence...

A lack of an operable Tranq gun at his house would also be a significant issue given his claims about shooting the deer.

He admitted to binning the tranq material

I believe an inoperative tranq gun was recovered and we have the unresolved .22 issue.

So did he also bin a tranq gun?

 

[katydid23]

I just watched the bodycam video again.

Whelp.

LE says to Barry, "you left at 5am?"

To which Barry replies, "she was sound asleep."

Um. No one asked that.

But it gets worse. I can't believe I missed it.

They're talking about her biking, not avid, new to it.

And Barry mumbles, "she said she was [going to ride] soon's she gets up."

There it is.

Soon's she gets up.

He tried to close the gap.

Suzanne agreed to put down her phone on Saturday -- for the hike they didn't take, the steak and plate they shared and the sex-to-bedtime.

And here he attempts to close the window altogether -- she rolled out of bed right onto her bike.

Approx 9:48 in the video. Listen for it.

Sheriff's body cam video reveals first hours of Suzanne Morphew mystery

Wow--good catch.

"... Barry mumbles, "she said she was [going to ride] soon's she gets up."

So when did she tell him that? After she had her climax, which she had EVERY SINGLE TIME Barry had sex with her? She drifted off to sleep but had time to whisper ' I'm gonna ride soon as I get up' ---before she fell asleep.

 

[katydid23]

^^rsbm

I'm afraid that we are not going to see the type of cellular and location data forensics that we've become accustomed to based on geographic circumstances beyond anybody's control. Fortunately, the jurors of this district will be familiar with the lesser services that most of us take for granted.

Ugh, you are right. Not enough cell towers I am sure....well, darn.

 

[katydid23]

Bike was not home and he knew that from people calling him during the drive back from Broomfield. Suzanne was going to be watching a Zoom wedding in the afternoon so it's not inconceivable if she took daily rides that she might do that earlier than normal before the wedding. The mountain lion had been spotted in the area and in the affidavit it mentions the mountain lion again and that the original searchers Barry, George, Andy etc. tracked the lion over a period of time. (pg 56) The mountain lion theory was discarded pretty quickly within a week and confirmed by Sherriff Speeze that it had been eliminated during one of the first press conferences, but it does seem to fascinate people even though there is a small risk from mountain lions so until eliminated would have been a consideration given the area and the spotting of one....upwards of over 20 attacks in the last decade of people.

I didn't see where he told people he was going "with workers"...only that he was going up earlier than originally discussed and they were coming later. I agree it's "iffy" story....he said he didn't want to drive MG because he didn't want her smoking in his vehicle.

As to the bolded above, here I fixed if for ya:

Bike was not home and he knew that because he dumped it by the roadside earlier that day....

 

[mrjitty]

Ugh, you are right. Not enough cell towers I am sure....well, darn.

This may not be as big an issue as you think, due to the fact that we can compare to known baselines.

So when BM's phone starts jumping around all over the place when he gets home - he corroborates this with his own evidence (chasing chipmunks), whereas at other times it is presumably stationary indoors, or moving with him where we can corroborate with Truck telematics.

Ditto with SM's phone there are times when we know where the phone was (the last picture), and potentially other times (e.g. asleep in previous days) - so we have a baseline of "phone is inside/outside the house"

Then when SM is asleep, her phone is moving, at a time BM is moving and also has another activity (switching off).

So it would be a hell of a coincidence if the phone moved right before it turned off at a time BM was moving and SM was supposedly sleeping.

The defence will need to wildly speculate that it is a position error AND it ran out of battery (or SM woke up and turned it off) ... right at the time BM is mooching around in the driveway

 

[Seattle1]

GPS has nothing to do with cellular signal. It's a satellite signal that your phone can receive passively.

The most accurate is a combination of both signals... so your phone positions itself from GPS but also from cellular radio. This is called Assisted GPS.

^^rsbm
While GPS may not require a cellular signal, triangulation does require four satellite signals and a receiver chip where most in use on cell phones are in fact AGPS or assisted GPS with the receiver chip assisted by cellular towers. We learned about this when BM's GPS ankle monitor would not work properly from his Puma Path location and where he's required to travel within cell tower range daily. (I recall Mike King of PE had the best explanation on one of his PE episodes). MOO

 

[K9Enzo]

Wow--good catch.

"... Barry mumbles, "she said she was [going to ride] soon's she gets up."

So when did she tell him that? After she had her climax, which she had EVERY SINGLE TIME Barry had sex with her? She drifted off to sleep but had time to whisper ' I'm gonna ride soon as I get up' ---before she fell asleep.

Alright, this doesn't happen often on here, but you just made me belly laugh. I can't.... lol

 

[Megnut]

If Barry was the sole repository of Suzanne's last known imaginary plans -- gonna bike soon's I get up (which conveniently align with and are required for his false narrative and fake alibi) --

He should've, to keep up his farce, sounded the alarm much sooner.

Alas, I fear he exposed Part II of his design -- he wanted the daughters to get home first, discover the missing bike, report it....

Then Barry could swoop in, provide them "comfort".... and LE would move on...

So.... by his account, Suzanne went biking first thing in the morning... and was unreachable at all points after.... and he didn't try to inspire worry until just after noon, with his first call (if memory serves me). A call he made when his showering and dumpstering were completed.

But no feigned urgency until after 4pm, no mad rush home until after 6pm.

He can't even fake concern.

If she had been alive enough for a "bike ride" and had been alive enough to run into actual trouble on the bike ride she never went on, she might've needed imaginary rescuing -- and the only person who "knew" she was on an imaginery early morning "bike ride" didn't bother to fake like he cared about her safety.

Seems like he must've known she was beyond saving.

Thunk.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

He was maybe one Google search shy --

Cute girls in Salida, check
How to [censored], check
How to fake concern

JMO

 

[Momofthreeboys]

What a remarkable coincidence...

In the AA it is reported that he said he got rid of the solution in Broomfield. Splitting hairs here, but they had pictures of the darts that were still in the garage. Barry has admitted to: chasing a chipmunk with a gun around the house while Suzanne was outside sunbathing, shooting a deer with a tranquilizer dart to explain a dart or needle cap in the dryer, disposing of the tranquilizer solution during his trip to Broomfield, (pg 1) but after that there wasn't a ton of info about the tranquilizer set up. I also couldn't locate where they had captured Barry saying he shot a deer at a time that would have coincided with the needle sheath in the dryer except as the point in the AA where LE says he said that. He did talk about tanquilizing a deer in April at the end of shed season.....but nothing about May at the time of othe murder. So that might be one of the AA oopsies where the facts didn't exactly fit the actual story being told. Earlier shooting of the deer fits the dart gun investigation that showed it had not been recently used. I'm leary of the tranquilizer theory, but it is plausible and I think this must be expanded on by prosecution at trial if they stick with the theory minus the gun so now it sounds like the darts were left in the house, but Barry is saying the solution that injected into the darts is thrown away. collect a “pneu-dart box, empty,” one Pneu-dart book from safe in garage, one dart from box under bench in garage, among other items. One plastic hypodermic cover was located by evidence search teams in the dryer (pg 30) Someone asked about a missing 22 and I've not heard that and didn't locate that in the AA search. There was a 22 in the bedroom along with the unspent shell.

 

[Boxer]

This may not be as big an issue as you think, due to the fact that we can compare to known baselines.

So when BM's phone starts jumping around all over the place when he gets home - he corroborates this with his own evidence (chasing chipmunks), whereas at other times it is presumably stationary indoors, or moving with him where we can corroborate with Truck telematics.

Ditto with SM's phone there are times when we know where the phone was (the last picture), and potentially other times (e.g. asleep in previous days) - so we have a baseline of "phone is inside/outside the house"

Then when SM is asleep, her phone is moving, at a time BM is moving and also has another activity (switching off).

So it would be a hell of a coincidence if the phone moved right before it turned off at a time BM was moving and SM was supposedly sleeping.

The defence will need to wildly speculate that it is a position error AND it ran out of battery (or SM woke up and turned it off) ... right at the time BM is mooching around in the driveway

Yes!
"Then when SM is asleep, her phone is moving, at a time BM is moving and also has another activity (switching off)."

When they were BOTH asleep.

 

[Boxer]

^^rsbm
While GPS may not require a cellular signal, triangulation does require four satellite signals and a receiver chip where most in use on cell phones are in fact AGPS or assisted GPS with the receiver chip assisted by cellular towers. We learned about this when BM's GPS ankle monitor would not work properly from his Puma Path location and where he's required to travel within cell tower range daily. (I recall Mike King of PE had the best explanation on one of his PE episodes). MOO

There is another level of cell location analysis called CAST. Its an FBI team and they probably don't do it with ankle monitors unless there is a reason.
It only takes one tower using the time the signal takes to travel to the tower and back.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Barry has admitted to: chasing a chipmunk with a gun around the house while Suzanne was outside sunbathing, shooting a deer with a tranquilizer dart to explain a dart or needle cap in the dryer, disposing of the tranquilizer solution during his trip to Broomfield, (pg 1) but after that there wasn't a ton of info about the tranquilizer set up.

RSBM

I just snorted my tea through my nose! That brief summary reiterates to me how bonkers his stories are.

 

[Momofthreeboys]

RSBM

I just snorted my tea through my nose! That brief summary reiterates to me how bonkers his stories are.

I think that is why the entire recorded conversations are important...if prosecution is going to tie this together based on what Barry said then it seems very reasonable for defense to want the recording heard along with any LE that take the stand to back up what they heard verbatim or to hear the entire conversation. I think the hearing this week about the dogs must have to do with the judge telling the prosecution they had to elucidate on the tampering charge so I'm guessing they want to now use the dogs that alerted to the bobcat to back up their tampering charge...but that is one big guess for sure. So far in my opinion we really haven't been exposed to anything about tampering other than the suggestion that since they didn't find Suzanne her body had to have been moved... I'm also really curious about Grusing who I assume will testify as he was the one that suggested to Barry many things both about Suzanne and her plans and missing miles and all sorts of things. It will be very interesting to know how defense handles him in cross.

 

[Megnut]

Defemse wants Barry's interviews thrown out. (IMO) No way they're playing those for the jury!!

But saying they want to play them implies they tell a different story.

That's just pretrial maneuvering IMO.

JMO

 

[Bethlamb16]

So I have been following this case since day 1. I am not necessarily a Barry supporter but I do think you have to have evidence to convict someone and I do think there are things that put me on the fence. Anyway, the thing that I wanted to post about is Barry's lying. I personally detest liars and I am pretty much honest to a fault and pretty blunt personally. With me I will tell you exactly what I think. However, in my life I have known people that are liars no matter what. For example, my friend's husband would lie and say he went to McDonald's when he really went to Burger King. It drives me crazy but there are some people that lie all the time and believe their own lies or can't help themselves. I don't understand it because it is not something I do but I do know that people lie for all different kinds of reasons and I do think some people can't help themselves. I do think Barry is one of these people and has been this way his whole life so don't think it is unique to this situation. I am not saying he isn't lying to cover up what he did and he very well could be but I think he would lie even if he had nothing to do with it because he can't help himself and so for me, lying doesn't equal murderer and that is why I look forward to seeing the evidence laid out at trial.