Morgan captures the sun getting ready to dry up all the rain
There is question that I answer in just a few words quite often on private submissions. Today it was a comment to a post, and it went like this:
I just have a question about the elavil Morgan was taking two years ago… what was she taking it for? (Re: what medical condition)
Was it for depression or something else?
Well, like a lot of things in this blog I had few minutes left before I had to move onto something else, and I took that time to answer a few comments. This was one of them, and for some reason, I went into far more detail than I usually do, and this is what I wrote:
Morgan NEVER took elavil for depression, as has been reported. She took it specifically as a prophylaxis (preventative measure) for migraine headaches, and a sharp stomach pain. No anatomical reasons were ever found for these symptoms so she was prescribed a low dose of elavil (10mg), which helped. It was later increased to 25mg at the same time another medication was being discontinued. Morgan never liked the fact that she was taking prescription medications continually with no end in sight, and about two years before her murder she stopped taking elavil completely, and never took it again. Morgan had NOT had a prescription for years, and had not had a prescription filled by our pharmacy since the time she stopped taking it. The first Forensic Pathologist honestly was on a phone call discussing how he could not change her manner of death from natural causes, and calmly said Morgan was taking Amitriptyline (elavil, WHICH SHE WAS NOT), for her porphyria (WHICH SHE DID NOT HAVE). So how can a person so uninformed about Morgan Ingram be in any position to render an opinion about Morgan Ingram? It was on this phone call that I was threatened by this Pathologist that if I continued fighting the natural causes he would have to look into suicide or accidental overdose, but he couldn’t because he did not find any pills or remnants in her stomach at the time of autopsy. Now to BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, I have advised everyone involved that she did not take Amitriptyline, and I advised the Sheriffs Detectives in person that I was threatened by the doctor long before he actually carried through on his threat. But have no fear, I’ve been assured by experts I have great trust in, that tests exist, which can correct all of these errors for Morgan, but it will take time, and as everyone knows, time works against Morgan in the pursuit of justice.
Then I smiled to myself, and said – I’ve just realized I got a little carried away with this, sorry, but I wonder, would you mind if your question and my answer were to become a Blog Post? – And she graciously responded:
I would love for you to do an entire blog post on this!
And she added:
And thank you for your answer. This is what I figured as well. Do you think the stalker was able to snoop in your medicine cabinets when he or she broke into your house? Also, do you have any ideas on why, if the stalker wanted to kill Morgan, why he would do so with these medications? Something seems to be niggling at me… like he wanted to make her think she was going crazy and then killed her in the same sort of manner (to make it look like it was in her mind vs the stalker…his mistake was the flexril (Cyclobenzaprine). The MO is the same in her death as the stalking itself… That no one believes her… that it is “her” if you will… Sorry if that did not come out the way I intended it to.
ps, have you looked at the half lives of flexural and elavil? She would have to have been given this stuff between noon and nine pm-ish for that high of a level in my opinion.
And to answer the part two let me borrow another answer from the Blog, and expand on it a little:
We did look into the half lives and here is the thing, when she drove home around 9:00 pm that night and I saw her and then her dad had a long really nice talk with her she was her normal self – very articulate, happy, nothing weird, and if she had that level of those drugs in her body there would have been signs. I’ve been told and have read that within a half hour of a dose this great being administered there would be visible effects – Steve observed none. He described Morgan to the Sheriff’s Detective as being “very Morgan” More specifically, her normal self, they talked about plans, such as when they would take another art class together, how she was worried about the children she would be babysitting the next day, as she thought she was coming down with a cold or something. How excited she was about things that were happening in her life. As for someone in her room that night, it took us a long time for our hearts and minds to believe someone was in her room, especially for Steve, he just could not believe that fact, for one thing …it hurt too much. But as evidence and expert opinions mounted there were no other options. Morgan’s second Forensic Pathologist believes the Amitriptyline (elavil) was in liquid form and either injected or poured down her throat. No containers or syringes were recovered from the scene. I requested of the Sheriff’s Detective that she be checked for possible injections and he assured me that this is always done. I have since learned that hiding an injection point is a simple matter, an innocent observation of Morgan at her viewing revealed that if an inspection for injections points was even undertaken at all, it was very cursory at best. So coupled with the fact the stalkers, by nature, invade you life, it is ridiculous for Steve and I to think that Morgan’s stalker was not in our house that night – or that he was in our house many times.
Thank you for sharing this Toni. I truly hope someone in law enforcement is reading this blog daily!! I do not understand how anyone with any kind of sense (let alone education in criminal behavior/acts) does not see the big picture here! It’s sickening to know the (police/coroner) belief is that the case was investigated and handled appropriately. The threat that the coroner made to you just makes me so upset every time it’s brought up!! How dare he? He has your child, your baby, in his care….you are depending on his to take yak every measure to get the RIGHT answers as to why she passed. To check and recheck every test, to consider and analize any and every possibility. He is in a position where he should welcome any information and/or challenge to his theories, and that should make him want to be thorough and objective and instead he threatens you? His behavior is an disgusting and it is an outrage that Morgan paid for his ego getting in the way of her truth!
As for the flexeril, I’ve shared with you my experience in taking a low dose tablet after my car accident….there is no way Steve could have had any sort of coherent conversation with her had the drugs been in her system!
If law enforcement IS reading this, I would say to them…..
Investigate this case. You have become one of the “villains” in this….but it is NEVER too late to make this right. Morgan’s murderer is out there, and you have the authority to bring him to justice. Why would you sit idly by as people (from all over the world) see that justice has not been done? Are you so blind?
You are very welcome – I really feel strongly about sharing all the truths about what we have all experienced on this blog, so others are aware of what really happened to Morgan on a daily basis, and what others did afterwards to her. I really do not believe that Morgan is the only one that this has happened to, but I pray that is not the case.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the flexeril, as a lot of people probably do not know anything about it, just like I didn’t until we found out it was in her system, along with the amitriptyline – for the pathologist to not run tests to see what kind of amitriptyline when I asked if he could find out if it was animal amitriptyline was completely irresponsible in my opinion – couldn’t they have tested to see if it had been compounded with something else for animals? Why didn’t he even mention that it was suspicious that flexeril showed up as well? Why weren’t other things like Ketamine or chloroform tested for, since she died under suspicious circumstances? He knew that Morgan had been home for over a 1/2 hour before Steve said goodnight to her after their approximately 15 minute father/daughter talk where she was completely articulate and normal. All these things make me feel sick to my stomach that I was so trusting in the beginning with the Sheriff’s office, and the Coroner’s office – I want others to know to question everything, and don’t be as trusting as I was. I believed in the beginning that what I was hearing from them was the truth…only it was anything but the truth!
I hope, and pray that someone at the State or Federal level gets involved, and does a real investigation. I hope and pray that the stalker/murderer is found and prosecuted so it doesn’t happen to another victim. No more victims, only safe communities. Thanks.
This may have been explored/discussed already, and I know we will get to the details of the day of Morgan’s death in a few months, but do you think it’s possible that the killer was hiding in Morgan’s room before she got home that night? Was there an opportunity that day for someone to sneak in while the house was empty?
Yes
If the level they found in her system was 7500… and her prescription was 25mg….Wouldn’t that mean she would have had to take AND digest 300 pills if she committed suicide with her own medication? That is 10 months worth of medication!
That doesn’t make sense that if a person took 300 pills there would be no trace of the pills in her stomach! I have no medical training but I would think that would not be possible. How could the Medical Examiner justify “Natural Causes” with such a lethal dose when he first put out his report? Obviously once he found out you were going to get a 2nd opinion… he changed it to cover his own butt. I do not believe it was a suicide.
It was actually 7,900 and I agree with you and that’s why at the end of January I asked that very question of Dr. Kurtzman and he explained to me, Steve and Detective Rob that because of Postmortem redistribution it was not the cause of her death. I later found out from Dr. Dobersen that it was most certainly the cause of her death along with the flexeril, so after 9 months Dr. Kurtzman rewrites his report, and puts down suicide from amitriptyline, with no concern for the flexeril and such glaring and obvious suggestion of a murder not a suicide. So I totally agree with you that he was covering his butt and unfortunately for him anyone that looks at his first report and his second report and Dr. Dobersen’s report will see the obvious and know it was not a suicide. They will also see how sad it is that because of Dr. Kurtzman and the Garfield County Coroner Trey Holt that a murder investigation was never opened and Morgan’s stalker/murderer runs free.
Tina,
The first dog you had that use to be a good watch dog. (forgot the breed) How long before the stalking began did your dog die? Is it possible he was a threat to the stalker and he killed your dog before the stalking began.
Just before we left on vacation and the stalking was first noticed by Morgan 2 days after we arrived home from vacation. Our dog was almost 18 years old, and I do believe she was a threat to the stalker because (even though she was small) she would jump in the air and bite a person if she thought the person in the house was dangerous, and she always alerted by barking even if it was just someone outside, but no she wasn’t killed.
I can’t help but think he sat there and made her drink this stuff and she was helpless.
I know – it is so horrible to think about, but very possible. That’s why I wanted to know what happened to the clothes she was wearing so they can be tested
Please ignore my above post (re: nanograms v. mg). I have been able to confirm it was nanograms…sorry. Thanks.
Was the 7900 ng/mL in the blood or in the gastric contents? It makes a difference in the interpretation.
It was found in her first blood samples that were tested on the original autopsy
You mentioned above that during Morgan’s father daughter talk one of the things she told her dad was that she thought she was coming down with a cold. She might not have had the fatal dose in her system at that time, but could it be a sign that she had been slowly given the amitriptyline or some other drug? I do not know the symptoms that come with poisoning but this is a thought that occurred to me. Do you know what she meant by a cold and what symptoms she was having?
I’ve taken Flexeril before for muscle relaxation purposes/hurt back. Within 30 minutes of taking it, your speech is slower, reactions slower, the muscles in your face can sag. I usually took it somewhat close to bed time so I could fall asleep and not be awaken by pain. During the night, you can’t feel your arms nor really wake yourself fully to move even if your brain is awake. Often I would have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night but have no muscle control to make it to the bathroom. My friends would tell me that they had talked to me in the night (10PM) by phone call, but that I didnt really form words just slurred a lot. It always took another day to have the slowing “hangover” effects of the drug wear off. I was a zombie for most of the two weeks I took Flexeril.
I always took my prescribed dose, which I believe to be 25mg. Flexeril is a very powerful muscle relaxer even in a normal dose.
This was found in her blood? Had she ever been prescribed Flexeril?
I just started reading today and can not put it down. I feel so bad for wat you are going through. I have 4 daughters and am terrified of what life may put them through.
I also have a thought on the overdose. What if the stalker only meant to incapacitate Morgan? Mybe he thought the combination of drugs was a good date rape combo but over did them. From what I’m seeing, the liquid form is much more potent than pills and if he was using vet grade meds he may have just overdosed her. When he found that she was no longer breathing, he just took off?
I agree he is a sociopath and the sob needs to be caught. I am a Christian, however when it comes to violent crimes, rapes, and the like I am a firm believer in the harshest punishment allowed. The guy needs to be handed over to the fathers of the young women he has terrorized and the law enforcement should just turn their backs on what happens just like they have been to your family through this tragic event. Your family deserves justice!
Praying for you in Louisiana.