Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, did not return from bike ride, Chaffee County, 10 May 2020 #34

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I wonder if she was paid cash and doesn't want to say so.
The two men story coming up to her talking about hush money I'm having a hard time believing.
jmo

Perhaps there was an offer to pay MG for her time in Broomfield, but mention was made of keeping silent about any doings in Broomfield. <modsnip>
 
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I admit to getting lost in phone ping conversations. I would be curious if that last ping was from the cell provider and really the last ping on her phone based on where SHE was OR was that a forced ping from LE and the phone was at home, sitting on her coffee table, as an example.
Maybe this doesn’t even make sense.

Is the phone missing or not?

IMO
 
I just saw your post. IMO, I don’t know anyone that has recovered a victim under these circumstances (body in a cooler, weighed down). Most are drowning victims.

IMO, thinking this through, the water temps do play a role in the decomp process & the ability for the creepy crawlies to really take over. I believe you & I had this concern several threads back about the cold water temps in CO, especially in May. Some bodies of water will be warmed by the sun on the water surface and several feet below but still be 32 degrees at the bottom, as an example.

IMO, putting water temps aside, I still believe gases & skin particles would eventually release from the body & rise, even through a cooler. It’s not a scientific designed capsule. Many of these dog teams train with remains in some type of canister/container (I’ve even heard of autopsy rags being used).

IMO, the dog really needs to get its nose to the water surface. Jon boats are preferred by many handlers, if it’s safe for the body water being searched. Same if the dog is searching from the shore, nose at water level.

IMO, because of winds & water currents, a HRD probably won’t be able to alert at the exact location. Sometimes the conditions allow that to happen. When they do alert, a dive team is usually sent in to search the area, sonar used. Again, LE when utilizing these teams they usually have a general location of interest that they want searched. Then you have the brains that advise search areas based on many variables.

In this case, IMO, a body in a cooler might temporarily cause an issue but over time will only conceal a body for so long. Will a dog team be there when the stars align? Probably not. Some boater will see something unusual and call it in. At the same time, if LE has a area of interest and really think it’s possible for a cooler to be used in the concealment of a body, under water sonar imaging might be able to spot that easier than a body wrapped in a tarp, weighted down by an anchor, as an example.

Probably took your question on a hay ride but that’s my opinion. lol

You raise a good question about recovering a victim weighed down in a cooler. When the cooler was mentioned last thread, I looked for a murder case that involved one.

Anna Fahey was murdered, rolled into a carpet, and thrown out to sea in a cooler. I don’t know if it was weighed down. The cooler was recovered, but her body was not.

No body, no weapon, still led to the conviction of Thomas Capano.

20 years after Tom Capano arrest, juror breaks silence on Anne Marie Fahey murder
 
You raise a good question about recovering a victim weighed down in a cooler. When the cooler was mentioned last thread, I looked for a murder case that involved one.

Anna Fahey was murdered, rolled into a carpet, and thrown out to sea in a cooler. I don’t know if it was weighed down. The cooler was recovered, but her body was not.

No body, no weapon, still led to the conviction of Thomas Capano.

20 years after Tom Capano arrest, juror breaks silence on Anne Marie Fahey murder

Thank you for finding a case. Yeah, I really don’t think a cooler would hold the body for long. Just the movement alone of the water would open it eventually. There’s probably more reasons it wouldn’t hold up over time either. IMO
 
Thank you for your reply.... I found some other answers for the questions.

“Barry said that he had been up there all day, like getting the job ready for us,” Gentile said. And, he also told Gentile, he was leaving. There’d been a family emergency, he said. He left some tools behind, at the hotel.

“But we didn’t have the tools that we needed,” she said. “It looked like Barry had emptied out his truck… all kinds of stuff that we didn’t need to do a retaining wall.”

But Barry had asked the crew to finish the job. So, they waited at the hotel for further instruction. Gentile said Barry called, distraught, on Monday morning around 8 a.m.

“He said like, Suzanne has gotten gotten attacked, or a mountain lion has got her,” Gentile said. He told Gentile they were going up the mountain to find his wife. He asked the crew to wait for a delivery of bricks, so they could finish the job they had traveled to Broomfield to do.

Gentile said they waited until Tuesday, but the material never arrived.

“I wasn’t gonna bother Barry with these phone calls because, you know, his wife is missing and I feel like this is a little problem compared to his problem,” she said.

Gentile said she and Puckett packed up and drove back to Salida, where the investigation into Suzanne’s disappearance was well underway. She said, back in town, she was approached by two men, both linked to Barry, who told her, “We would give you your paycheck, but we don’t want it to look like hush-hush money. You have rights, but you don’t have to give CBI your phone.”
“I’m not the other woman”: Second contractor speaks out about Suzanne Morphew investigation | FOX21 News Colorado

So she was not necessarily threatened and he did contact them.....
I was a little confused.
I have questions regarding this job...

Barry leaves useless tools at the hotel. Was this part of his plan or did he screw up because he was in a hurry to get home?

The workers are told to wait around on Monday for a delivery of bricks that never arrive. Did he deliberately keep his workers away from town? Was he afraid they might disclose damaging info?

Having the 2 men approach MG and advise her about not giving CBI her phone reeks of guilt. Why would an innocent person ask an employee to withhold information from LE? Was he afraid texts would show his hasty attempt to set up an alibi? Did these 2 men or anyone representing Barry approach his other workers with similar advice?
 
I just saw your post. IMO, I don’t know anyone that has recovered a victim under these circumstances (body in a cooler, weighed down). Most are drowning victims.

IMO, thinking this through, the water temps do play a role in the decomp process & the ability for the creepy crawlies to really take over. I believe you & I had this concern several threads back about the cold water temps in CO, especially in May. Some bodies of water will be warmed by the sun on the water surface and several feet below but still be 32 degrees at the bottom, as an example.

IMO, putting water temps aside, I still believe gases & skin particles would eventually release from the body & rise, even through a cooler. It’s not a scientific designed capsule. Many of these dog teams train with remains in some type of canister/container (I’ve even heard of autopsy rags being used).

IMO, the dog really needs to get its nose to the water surface. Jon boats are preferred by many handlers, if it’s safe for the body water being searched. Same if the dog is searching from the shore, nose at water level.

IMO, because of winds & water currents, a HRD probably won’t be able to alert at the exact location. Sometimes the conditions allow that to happen. When they do alert, a dive team is usually sent in to search the area, sonar used. Again, LE when utilizing these teams they usually have a general location of interest that they want searched. Then you have the brains that advise search areas based on many variables.

In this case, IMO, a body in a cooler might temporarily cause an issue but over time will only conceal a body for so long. Will a dog team be there when the stars align? Probably not. Some boater will see something unusual and call it in. At the same time, if LE has a area of interest and really think it’s possible for a cooler to be used in the concealment of a body, under water sonar imaging might be able to spot that easier than a body wrapped in a tarp, weighted down by an anchor, as an example.

Probably took your question on a hay ride but that’s my opinion. lol

That was great! I was thinking along the same lines. I worry that the dogs used in the first week were used too soon and even a week later, it might have been too soon.

So if they have HRD's at the next search, maybe now they will be able to detect something. It's a tiny ray of hope. For some reason, BM's mucking about in the creek makes me think there's some kind of evidence in water - although that particular part of the creek would be an odd place to store a container (or a body without a container) and surely it would have to be a different body of water.

Still, if Suzanne was in the South Arkansas River (I think Fosse Creek flows into it), perhaps evidence was planted in the creek (easier to plant and with the idea that it would be found), so that it would seem that "Suzanne got herself in the water" somehow.

That one phrase of BM's keeps coming back to me. Plus, it's just such a common way of body disposal - BM knows about HRD's and he may have upped his chances of not being caught immediately by using a body disposal method that included water.
 
I don't think he took the Bobcat to Broomfield. I think it would have been more cost effective to rent one for just a 4 day job. Towing it through the mountains would have slowed him down. He drives a F-250, those pickups are not good on fuel. He went strait to the LE "bike discovery" site no mention or photos of a pickup towing a bobcat. There is also no mention of him dropping the trailer at the Puma Path house. MOO. Also if the wall was just a distraction job for an alibi, would he have even thought about getting the bobcat? ALL MOO
One reason I say this is, when we owned our plumbing co. If the job wasn't a big job we just rented machinery. Especially if the machinery was going to be towed for more than 2 hrs and through high traffic volume.
 
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That was great! I was thinking along the same lines. I worry that the dogs used in the first week were used too soon and even a week later, it might have been too soon.

So if they have HRD's at the next search, maybe now they will be able to detect something. It's a tiny ray of hope. For some reason, BM's mucking about in the creek makes me think there's some kind of evidence in water - although that particular part of the creek would be an odd place to store a container (or a body without a container) and surely it would have to be a different body of water.

Still, if Suzanne was in the South Arkansas River (I think Fosse Creek flows into it), perhaps evidence was planted in the creek (easier to plant and with the idea that it would be found), so that it would seem that "Suzanne got herself in the water" somehow.

That one phrase of BM's keeps coming back to me. Plus, it's just such a common way of body disposal - BM knows about HRD's and he may have upped his chances of not being caught immediately by using a body disposal method that included water.
Interesting that you picked up on that phrase he used.
If a body is found wouldn't the ME be able to detect that she didn't drown on her own?
Unless decomp was too far gone.
Could he have taken an unconscious body there and drowned her? And left her?
But she must have trauma injuries, if chlorine was used. ??
I do like your thinking about his comment.
 
I have questions regarding this job...

Barry leaves useless tools at the hotel. Was this part of his plan or did he screw up because he was in a hurry to get home?

The workers are told to wait around on Monday for a delivery of bricks that never arrive. Did he deliberately keep his workers away from town? Was he afraid they might disclose damaging info?

Having the 2 men approach MG and advise her about not giving CBI her phone reeks of guilt. Why would an innocent person ask an employee to withhold information from LE? Was he afraid texts would show his hasty attempt to set up an alibi? Did these 2 men or anyone representing Barry approach his other workers with similar advice?
and why would these two un-named men get involved now in a coverup?
Were they ALREADY involved in helping BM?
Were they already invested somehow in the crime so what's a little bit more?
 
So far Friday is unaccounted for to my knowledge -All CO time -
8am - met MG at the Salida river site?
11am ? - had to go home and make the wife happy?
12:30 - abrupt end to messaging (possible FaceTime? Or just messenger?) With IN friend

no information on Saturday afternoon/evening except he may have met with JP at some point ?

11:30pm “noise” heard by neighbor (dig site?)

—- when was the room checked into in Broomfield?—-
Sunday
Sunday 5am by his own word Ledt her sleeping in bed and drove to “wall” site ?

called JP with family emergency - JP arrives at hotel room to find chlorine smell and wet towels
—-
When did MG arrive to same chlorine smell ?


trying to get these details straight for the timeline
JMO
ETA- 11:30 pm sat night noise

This timeline sure makes us go hmmm..

Per MG, BM was at the beach job site on Friday.

“And, she said, Barry’s behavior that weekend had seemed strange.

“Barry had worked on the beach site Friday evening,” Gentile said.

“I’m not the other woman”: Second contractor speaks out about Suzanne Morphew investigation | FOX21 News Colorado
 
You raise a good question about recovering a victim weighed down in a cooler. When the cooler was mentioned last thread, I looked for a murder case that involved one.

Anna Fahey was murdered, rolled into a carpet, and thrown out to sea in a cooler. I don’t know if it was weighed down. The cooler was recovered, but her body was not.

No body, no weapon, still led to the conviction of Thomas Capano.

20 years after Tom Capano arrest, juror breaks silence on Anne Marie Fahey murder
Tom Capano’s brother, who helped with the disposal, ratted him out. They used a styrofoam cooler and when it wouldn’t sink, they shot holes in it, which were of course extra evidence when the cooler was recovered. I seem to recall they wrapped chains around Anne Marie herself.

(Tom was also seeing another woman (Anne Marie was his secret) and this woman also came forward with incriminating testimony. Anne Rule’s book on this case is riveting.)

I hope there are some parallel players here in SM’s case.
 
While the cyclist may have appeared to be independent, it occurred to me at the time that they may have been manipulated by Barry.

Hey man, you cycle round here on a Sunday, don’t ya? Did you see a suspicious-looking car parked right here where I left it?

ETA ... or.... right here where I told my employee to leave their car...
Ita.

That would fit in with the mountain lion attack or the random bushy haired kidnapper.
:rolleyes:
Imo.

Eta: All of these theories seem to originate from the same source every time --BM.
I'm hoping some of his employees he is trashing will become angry and start speaking up.
 
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There have been references to small town 'secrets'.

I am still very curious why LE seemed to focus on BM so quickly. IIRC, didn't LE seal the house and deny him entry when he came back from Broomfield? The Sheriff dismissed BM's suggestions of both a mountain lion attack and an abduction almost immediately. I can understand him dismissing the mountain lion attack - but why was he so certain it wasn't an abduction?

I don't recall Heidi Broussard's partner and child being kicked out of their apartment while the investigation went on. This case is still technically a 'missing person' case, right? The Berreth apartment wasn't sealed after LE did their initial search for KB and found no incriminating evidence.

Question for those who know more about bobcats than I do: can one person switch attachments (rake for bucket)? Or would BM have needed a second person to do that - possibly late at night?
 
There have been references to small town 'secrets'.

I am still very curious why LE seemed to focus on BM so quickly. IIRC, didn't LE seal the house and deny him entry when he came back from Broomfield? The Sheriff dismissed BM's suggestions of both a mountain lion attack and an abduction almost immediately. I can understand him dismissing the mountain lion attack - but why was he so certain it wasn't an abduction?

I don't recall Heidi Broussard's partner and child being kicked out of their apartment while the investigation went on. This case is still technically a 'missing person' case, right? The Berreth apartment wasn't sealed after LE did their initial search for KB and found no incriminating evidence.

Question for those who know more about bobcats than I do: can one person switch attachments (rake for bucket)? Or would BM have needed a second person to do that - possibly late at night?

From beginning the CCSO said it was a criminal investigation.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/13/colorado-woman-missing-after-going-on-mothers-day-bike-ride/
 
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I admit to getting lost in phone ping conversations. I would be curious if that last ping was from the cell provider and really the last ping on her phone based on where SHE was OR was that a forced ping from LE and the phone was at home, sitting on her coffee table, as an example.
Maybe this doesn’t even make sense.

Is the phone missing or not?

IMO
We don't know if LE found the phone. LE could get details of what was on the phone from the carrier, with a warrant, so they can read her texts, etc. LE has all that, obviously, but we don't know whether LE got it from the actual phone or the carrier.
 
Curious if the order of bricks were EVER delivered to Broomfield site?
If BM told the crew there waiting to figure it out, how come no one there checked on the brick order and/or figured out how to get the job done. Was it only because they had no tools?
 
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