Those who really knew Morgan knew that she loved to read, do her own research, and learn…she never stopped learning. Steve found these 3 cards the other day, while looking through a box we had packed up after her murder…we both sobbed. The pain of losing Morgan is still indescribable.
Morgan was such a kind, loving young woman – and so much more. She had a passion for learning. My throat constricts, and my heart feels like it is being crushed, when I think of not only what we lost, when Morgan’s life was cut short, but also what the world lost. How could a person or persons be so soulless, so lacking in human feelings, as to want to end another’s life? I don’t think I will ever be able to understand it. I know murderers live among us. I know they look like ordinary people like us – but they are so very different…they lack feeling, they lack human compassion, and they still walk our streets.
In Morgan’s short 20 years she had helped so many, and brought happiness to many more…I know she would have continued to do so throughout her life…but that life was taken from her. Morgan was murdered during an active investigation into her felony stalking. I know some people don’t like to hear that – it’s upsetting and scary. But no amount of candy-coating, from people that do not want her death to be investigated, can change that fact. Morgan still needs and can receive justice for what was done to her.
If I had been the one killed, instead of Morgan, I guarantee you Morgan would have done all the research a lot faster, and a lot more thoroughly than I have. She would have become a great women’s rights lawyer, fighting for justice, like she had planned. All those dreams are now gone, but her fight for justice continues…through all of us.
I will also never ever understand how a victim of stalking, a stalking where the victim identified her stalker, and law enforcement knew who the suspect was (they have his name in the police reports listed as SUSPECT), a victim who is found dead, and her death deemed to be “suspicious” on the very morning her body is found – then no evidence is collected, no fingerprints taken, no rape kit done, suspicious “spots” on her chest are not tested – instead, that very morning, the detective tells us her death is a “mystery” until the forensic pathologist tells them what the cause and manner of death is. THEN…the pathologist comes back with a determination of “Natural Causes,” so law enforcement says there is no need for an investigation…convenient for them – right?
And just so you know, Colorado law, at that time, clearly states that the contracted forensic pathologist, Dr. Robert Kurtzman, was completely responsible for the investigation – but he was never at the crime scene – he disregarded what her parents, Morgan’s doctors, and the physical and the scientific evidence and medical certainty, which is what he is supposed to listen to…instead he made his own decision, irresponsible based on pure speculation and then listed the false information all on his own.
In a different case out of Colorado, a case where Dr. Kurtzman (same forensic pathologist that did Morgan’s autopsy) ruled two little boys’ deaths as accidental, the case of the Jensen brothers, the Colorado Supreme Court would not allow Dr. Kurtzman’s PER, or his opinion to be heard by the jurors stating that, “It would only confuse the jurors.” A doctor is supposed to state scientific certainty, not make up what he wants it to be, or is being told to say…facts are facts, the truth is the truth and sure, people in positions of trust, like a forensic pathologist, are given the benefit of the doubt because we are supposed to trust them, but some are not what they seem, and do not do the right thing.
THEN…8 months later, after the forensic pathologist, going against all the physical and scientific evidence that Morgan died at the hands of another, changed her Manner of Death to a “Suicide,” with absolutely no evidence. This is such nonsense and yet it gets scarier every time I speak with an expert involved in these type of determinations. The very educated top forensic toxicologists that run the toxicology tests and produce the documentation are frustrated as well…they say that some of these forensic pathologists misread the results and go off what they believe and NOT the scientific findings! This is ludicrous – and yet it happens, and yes, it happened in Morgan’s case. The coroner would NEVER speak with us about Morgan’s death – not once. The forensic pathologist, Dr. Robert Kurtzman (now working for the Medical Examiner in Montana) threatened me that he could change her manner of death if I didn’t stop having Morgan’s doctors and other experts contact him…and 8 months later he made good on his promise.
How can Garfield County get away with this? I have asked myself that many, many times now. So far they have gotten away with it. But I don’t plan on it staying like that forever – the truth will come out. Our family is not about to give up. Morgan is worth all of our efforts to right this wrong, as are all the other victims of stalking that need our help. #JusticeForMorgan