I would like to share a little something with all of you. This really touched my heart when I read it yesterday.
A person came on Morgan’s Stalking facebook page and wrote, “Prayers for the parents and friends of Morgan. I hope your drive and determination shakes up the justice system in Colorado.”
“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” – bonhoeffer
Morgan and Tessi
There have been many questions in the last 24 hours about the suspects in Morgan’s stalking and murder so I thought a blog about just one particular instance could help sum up what I came to know after Morgan had been killed.
First is the accomplice to the stalker, one afternoon before “she” went on the Dr. Phil show, and can still be seen on that recording at this link – Dr. Phil Show . She was at a court hearing and the judge questioned her about her appearance on the show. She and her father explained to the judge that a criminal attorney would accompany her to the filming to protect her from criminal exposure. During the taping of the show her criminal attorney was a few feet off camera and only allowed to speak once on camera. He only was given the chance to get out a few vile, false and malicious sentences that he had apparently rehearsed, and they never made to the actual show.
Also her famous statement was the line “where is the proof” which as it turns out had some history to it. To us she answered all allegations with the line, “where is the proof” which indicated mostly quilt to the readers of the blog who wrote in to me after the show aired. But then something else happened. “She” apparently had had a few stints in a rehab facility in Utah, verified by some of her acquaintances in the valley. Another young women wrote in to me to say she had just watched the Dr. Phil show and was so upset when she saw “her” use the same line she had used many times before while in rehab. She said whenever “she” was involved or instigated some scandalous activity, “she” had the same expression she used on the Dr. Phil show and she would demand “where is the proof?”
Morgan’s actual stalker took the criminal lawyer thing even one step further – he was not even allowed to be on the show because he could not risk criminal exposure so his lawyer just called in to the show.
At the time I wondered what all this meant so at the hearing I asked and the answer I received was, “you haven’t done anything wrong so you have no risk of criminal exposure which means you don’t need a lawyer.” So if you are thinking the same thing I thought, which was, if they have done nothing wrong, as they claimed, then why did they need lawyers in order to be on the show? Maybe Morgan’s Garfield County sheriff’s felony stalking detective should have been at the hearing too.
Of course I am judging this all on my personal experiences and I would think that if I need a criminal lawyer to protect me from criminal exposure before I could talk I would think I had done something wrong. After all I was told that was why I did not need an attorney, because I had done nothing wrong and did not need one to be present – so why did they need one?
Morgan has never been able to speak for herself, that is now left to Steve and I. Victims need a voice. Victims should not be forgotten because that is what the criminal would love to have happen. We will always work to bring awareness to the crime of stalking and in fact that is the subject of one of my next blogs – some of the other stalking incidents in our neighborhood that came to light after Morgan’s death. And yes, the sheriffs knew about them, and yes, the detective immediately tried to cover it up. As I have said before the why is my real question now. Interesting that now that same detective has become the new Garfield County Coroner.
Covering up a crime just allows the criminals to go on violating other innocent people, and that is so very wrong. Covering up a crime is also called obstruction of justice and that in itself is a crime as well.
Morgan posing on one of her Dads projects.
I have just finished watching the Discovery Channel’s presentation of Morgan’s story for the first time. To Rhonda, our next door neighbor at the horrific time I apologize. Rhonda is cheery and engaging, the British idea of what she might be was not even close – sorry Rhonda. The rest of the depiction is a fairly accurate. While the true horror could never be recaptured I applaud the producers, directors and the writer as coming as close as they could. Stalking is a horrific and serious crime – and this show has brought awareness of the seriousness of stalking and the fear it creates.
A stranger lurking out in the dark and stealing from you all that you love is as difficult to capture as it is to live through. Morgan is brave beyond words, just ask her friends, over four years later and they will tell you how brave she was. But our trust was misplaced in the crime prevention of Garfield County. When it comes to victims of stalking there is no crime prevention there. I have been working trying to keep another young woman safe from her stalker in Garfield County – nothing has changed. If left up to them she could be dead right now just like Morgan. Today we rely on a strong sense of what is right in order to achieve some small measure of justice for Morgan.
Beyond Morgan’s stalking and murder lies the crimes against other victims that we continue to fight for today and will continue to fight for as long as we have have life in our limbs. Morgan’s voice was strong, she was articulate and very concise with her words and carrying on both her memory and her quest for justice for women will never end for Steve and myself.
I realized tonight how even an hour was far too little time to tell the story of Morgan as an hour is far too little time to tell the stories of the other victims I have been blessed to be able to help in my own little way. the arduous path we were forced into after discovering just a little of the truth behind Morgan’s death is not only a complete story on its own – this story is in its infancy.
Stalking victims live a nightmare every day, and at times, every minute of every day. Local law has not the resources or the inclination to deal with what the reality is. This only compounds what the victim is subjected to. Those that live are scarred for life and those that are killed by their tormentors leave an endless sea of broken spirits and broken hearts attempting to deal with their passing.
Still others are left to deal with the “mysterious disappearance” of their love one, which can be the most taxing of all. I truly wish I held the compassion, love and understanding to return all these upended lives to a small semblance of normalcy, but alas – I do not. Instead I do what I can with those who need immediate help and commiserate with complete understanding for the rest.
I feel blessed with new energy going forward and have many ideas going forward. I live anew in the knowledge that every victim I am able to help is a small consolation to the very painful and abrupt way that Morgan’s life was viscously stolen from her.
Thank all of you for your kind words and understanding on this very trying evening, together we will all fight the wrongs that face us and insure a more hopeful future for all.
In the memory of Morgan…
Back in March Steve & I were talking out on our back patio. Actually Steve was doing all the talking, and I was distracted by a little bird. The day before I had asked Morgan for a sign and now I was watching this little bird hop down from the fence onto the hillside, and all the time it seemed to be watching me. I smiled at it while Steve continued to talk. The little bird hopped closer and closer, I thought this was a sign that Morgan was sending to me, but I wasn’t expecting what happened next.
All of a sudden the little bird flew up into the air and over the fence. If I hadn’t been watching it the whole time while it as on the ground my eyes would not have followed it back up to the sky, and I would have missed the most amazing thing…now I could see 10 huge black colored birds circling in the sky, slowly getting closer and closer. They were black vultures, with wings that looked as though they were tipped in gold. They appeared in the sky above me soaring on the wind currents. I have never seen anything like it before. They floated in a large circular pattern coming closer and closer, never flapping their wings, and then minutes later they floated away. That was just the beginning of the things I was being shown. It was an amazing, and wonderful site. I am so happy that a little bird showed me where to look. This experience felt like it was a sign from Morgan – a graceful and wondrous performance in the sky. The number 10 has always been a number that Morgan has “shown” me since her passing. It has been so frustrating because I have never been able to understand exactly what it means. I believe it has many different meanings, as I have come to realize over the last three plus years. So for me this performance in the sky seemed to be in a form of a symbolic message.
I had never seen Black Vultures before. I was fascinated and wanted to be able to identify what type of birds these were. After seeing so many hawks and eagles in Colorado I assumed these were some type of hawk. After doing the research I discovered they were Black Vultures. My first thought was, “How could these beautiful, graceful birds be vultures?”
One of the first things you notice that is different about the Black Vulture is that they have white on the underside of their wings, but only at the wingtips. They also hold their wings level while soaring so you don’t see them tipping from side-to-side. And their tail is much stubbier than that of a turkey vulture.
When looking into the symbolic meaning of vultures I found that vultures are considered a promise that difficulty is temporary and essential for a greater purpose. This is very relevant to what Steve & I have been going through in regards to our quest for justice for Morgan. It has been an extremely hard road, both physically & emotionally, but so many positive things, things that ultimately are for the greater good of others, have come out of our quest, and to be honest, if things had been different and easier for us those positive things would never have taken place.
Vultures are highly resourceful and many cultures also believe the vulture symbolizes protection. Some would wear black vulture feathers for protection. The ancient culture of the native people of America used to interpret the flight patterns of the vulture to forecast the weather. They also related them to the dawn of the new day. I found this to be interesting because as I watched this beautiful arial show, an amazing blanket of love and the feeling of being safe, floated over me. So for now I will no longer try to analyze the meaning behind this wonderful event that I was obviously meant to see…for now I am just grateful that a little bird caught my eye and led me to this most wondrous sign.
May your day be full of miracles.
How could the sheriff’s never see the stalker?
Morgan’s stalking started with a clear pattern, the stalker would come, terrorize, and then leave, all unseen. We were never fast enough out the door to catch more than a glimpse, because he was outside hunting Morgan and then watching our response – provoking, then observing and measuring – predatory stalkers do this, it’s well documented. It was almost the same pattern almost every time and it became maddening, exhausting, and extremely upsetting for us all. There was no warning for Morgan that it was coming, then it would just happen.
The Sheriff’s also had a very similar pattern…
The typical Garfield County Sheriff response to a call about the stalker tapping or banging on her windows again.
This night it was a call to the sheriffs about how relentless the stalker was and the call was made almost an hour earlier, before this was caught on video camera. The deputy parked out front and sat in his truck for a few minutes, very common, then he came over to shine the flashlight under Morgan’s window. They all knew exactly which window because they had been there and seen it so many times before. This time he did not circle the house, he just walked to the corner and then came back to her window. He seemed to see something on the ground and kicked at it with his foot, but he never knelt down the the ground for a closer look, he did not take any pictures, and while Colorado law is very clear that the sheriff’s must:
respond as soon as reasonably possible to a report of stalking and to cooperate with the alleged victim in investigating the report. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-602(7)
The deputy, or anyone else for that matter, never followed up with Morgan to get all the details, and they never did anything else to investigate her stalking, this was not just common it was every single time. The deputy then went out to sit in his truck for a few minutes before leaving. There was no report by the sheriffs of what actually happened, and obviously absolutely no, “cooperation with the victim in investigating the report.” Well over a year after Morgan’s murder when we finally saw the sheriff’s reports for the first time, there was a reference to this incident that called it a, “trespass,” and that was it. It is no wonder that Morgan at times believed the sheriff’s were doing nothing to catch or stop her stalker. Morgan was killed two nights after this incident.
Now… does anyone really think there was any chance this deputy is going to see the stalker? The stalker comes, terrorizes, then he observes from the darkness before leaving. Steve always swore he could feel him out there in the darkness. Then, much later, long after the stalking incident was over, one or sometimes two deputies came, shined a light, talked, maybe walked around the house, then left. It was not even close to two ships passing in the night, it was two ships in opposite directions avoiding each other. This pattern of response had zero chance of ever seeing, much less catching the stalker. There needs to be education and training in order to help future victims of stalking.
If you are being stalked, you must know this – Most violent crime begins with some form of staking. If there is no investigation, they will never catch, or otherwise confront, the stalker, and until the stalker is confronted there is little chance the stalker will be stopped.
What is wrong with this picture?
The man in the middle is a detective on the morning Morgan’s death scene was being investigated. He is taking video of the exterior of the house. He’s the one front and center, standing 50 feet away, the two men behind him are deputies. To the left are Morgan’s bedroom windows, the same windows that the deputy was looking under with his flashlight 2 days earlier.
The problem is where he stands right now is the closest he will come to Morgan’s windows. I will say it again, THAT IS AS CLOSE AS THE INVESTIGATOR WILL GET TO THIS ENTIRE SIDE OF THE HOUSE WHEN TAKING VIDEO ON THE DAY HER BODY WAS DISCOVERED! Even the deputies who responded to a stalking incident would walk right up to the windows and wave their flashlights at the ground. It’s how they saw footprints in the dirt, scuff marks, they touched her windows and wondered aloud how the stalker would make the banging noise that startled Morgan every time. In front of that is right where Detective Glassmire knelt to the ground 4 days earlier and tossed rocks he picked up from the ground and threw them against that window, saying, “there is your stalker!” Right before he told me Morgan’s stalking was expected to escalate.
But four days later, after she was discovered dead, the investigator at her death scene was satisfied to take one quick flash of video from all the way back where he stands. Possible murder investigation or just going through the motions instead of investigating? Incompetence, or cover-up, call it whatever you want, but it was not an investigation. The back doors where we believe the stalker entered were not filmed either, nor were they fingerprinted, and the drapes were never touched from the inside, yet the sheriff’s can claim to be certain there was no sign of forced entry, when in reality that is just another false statement.
The night of Morgan’s murder everything went wrong…it was the perfect storm.
▪ It was one of the only two nights that week that Morgan wasn’t able to get a friend to sleep over on the couch. Our bedroom was on the back of the house, and her room was on the front – very far apart. She was scared to sleep alone and could no longer handle sleeping on the floor of my closet for protection as she did for the first month of her stalking. She was very much looking forward to being gone babysitting for the families of military veterans over the weekend.
▪ The sheriffs had increased their patrols and since their large trucks would set off our front door motion detector alarm and wake us up, Steve turned it off that night after Morgan returned home at 9:03 pm so we could all get some sleep. All 3 of us were way beyond exhausted.
▪ We always left our dog loose in the house to watch over things while we slept, except on the nights when Morgan had friends sleep over. That night we put her up in our bathroom, because earlier in the evening she had positioned herself by the front door to watch out the window, and we thought she would keep us and Morgan awake all night.
▪ We made all these mistakes -plus so many more that night. We had no idea what was about to happen. When you have a stalker you think that you have gone through all the motions before you go to sleep at night, but you never remember all of them, and as soon as there is a crack to squeeze through stalkers always manage to find that crack… it makes me physically ill to think about all the mistakes we made, especially since that very night my “intuition” was screaming at me, I was so worried, and yet I did not listen to myself. So now I always remind everyone to LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION!
▪ The night before Morgan was murdered she asked her father to buy her a knife, which he did. She had it in bed with her when we found her body. This is how scared she really was.
And really:
This is a picture of Morgan arriving home after trying to sleep at a friend’s Aunt’s house on their couch, and when that didn’t work out she went to ask another friend if he would sleep over our house, but that didn’t pan out either so she came home alone. She wasn’t trying to stay away from home because of her parents – that is one of the stupidest thing so far that I have heard…she had a predatory stalker and she was afraid to sleep alone and she had every reason to be afraid. The Colorado statutes spell out the terror of stalking, and Morgan was living it. Everyone failed her, and the sheriff’s would rather blame the victim then man up and admit they made a mistake. How brave they are. If people can’t understand why a victim of stalking would be afraid then I suggest they read the Colorado Legislative Decree on stalking, they understood it and they summed it up well. Morgan had every reason to be afraid that night, the stalker’s pattern had changed again – and then she was murdered.