Tag Archives: Stalking

How could PJ’s just disappear?

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morganseye

There are the choices you have, and the choices that are made for you.  When Steve and I need a room painted, or some gardening done we do it ourselves. But what about all the others who hire someone for the task?  It is always nice to have at least one glowing recommendation before you hand over the job.  And what about a babysitter?  Someone trustworthy, and competent enough to watch your most precious youngster in your absence.  That requires far more looking into than the painter or gardener, doesn’t it?  Can’t be too safe with a decision like that.

Then comes a decision you would have never thought you would have to make, and you quietly find out it is not your decision at all, it is made for you, with no discussion or input from you at all.  Our daughter was dead, and people I had never met were streaming in to our home, I could have assumed whatever I wanted about these people, but in reality I knew nothing, nothing at all about their qualifications to do what they were about to do – this at a time when their actions will easily have a profound effect on the rest of our life.

A long time law enforcement investigator in this valley explained his feelings, and knowledge of Morgan’s death scene investigation.  He felt that when limited to just the local talent in this County there was no way Morgan would have a “microscopic” investigation.  Which basically means things would have been missed.  Perhaps a tiny piece of evidence that could have set the wheels in motion to apprehend Morgan’s killer, as I see so often on crime TV, that would not happen and that evidence would go uncollected, and forever lost.

The obvious becomes that I never had the choice, the decision was made for me, as well as Steve, Morgan’s brother and sister, and of course Morgan, that she did not need to have microscopic evidence collected.  OK, so they do not have the expertise, or capability to collect really tiny pieces of evidence, but what about the larger, more obvious pieces of evidence?  Or what about things that should be there, but are missing, and don’t even require collection at all, just a report on the missing item(s), what about those?

Steve talked to Morgan before she went to sleep, and she was dressed in PJ’s as she always was, to sleep in.  He remembers the PJ’s and we have talked about them with investigators many times, just never an investigator from Garfield County.  We might have told them about this problem, but an effort was never made to determine exactly what she was wearing when she went to sleep.

In the importance of little things that don’t add up Morgan was wearing PJ’s when Steve last saw her, and street clothes in the morning after she was dead.  Now she could have changed at some time on her own, so the real unexplained problem is what happened to her PJ’s?  They were not to be found when we packed up the room.  It is a big item to be missing, and to be completely overlooked.  This goes way beyond the microscopic aspect.  I’m not sure what exactly to call it, but if there were PJ’s the night before that she was wearing, and after her death there were none, how did they get out of her room?  And who took them?  And why?  Three questions that could be answered, should be answered, but never were answered.

There was a period of time that Steve thought, just because it made sense to him in the context of an investigation, that her PJ’s were collected as evidence, and the contracted pathologist or the Coroner had them.  It was something I didn’t question, that is how our minds worked in the shock, and grief of what had just happened.  We are parents – not investigators and the “investigators” should have asked.

I was however, very strong in my conviction that Morgan looked staged, and I told the officers at the time, she was posed in a position I would never have found her in.  If I place myself into the position I found her in – it is uncomfortable, it is not a position I would ever sleep in.  Plus she was on the opposite side of the bed from which she always slept.  All little things that should be in the Sheriff’s reports (like her PJ’s) are not in any of the Sheriffs reports, and I have not been able to find them yet in any reports.  No evidence collection required, not microscopic or otherwise, just notes.

Steve’s memory of her position seems a little less razor-sharp than mine is.  But he remembers vividly being focused on signs of life, a twitch, an eyelid flutter, he was administering CPR from the instant he could not get a response from her, and felt she was not breathing.  So it’s natural that I feel that his memory focus would be different from mine, because he was focusing on different things than I was.

At the time we did not really want to focus on anything, we just wanted to get through this somehow, someway, with little discussion Steve and I assured each other that certainly the Sheriffs were focusing on all these little things that came to nag at us.  I would never have imagined that where we assumed there was something there was nothing.  No focusing at all.  How is that possible in a “suspicious death?”  A death that was also labeled, “a mystery,“ on the day Morgan was found, a death that required an autopsy, and after four months of stalking that was conjectured to become, “more intense,” just two days before her death by the stalking case detective, with no reason given.  And no, I did not ask, because at that second in time I was quite taken aback to hear this, and wondering what it meant for the investigation now that the Detectives were 100% sure it was Keenan VanGinkel who was responsible for the stalking of Morgan.

All this still leaves missing PJ’s, and we all know they can’t just disappear, not without help from someone.  They were never spoken of after that morning, officially that is.  When you have a “suspicious death,” and then articles of clothing worn, when the victim was last seen, are now completely gone – I believe you have a big problem, a big clue, that has to be explained.

Because then the issue of how did she get into street clothes goes from a possibility that Morgan changed at night in response to sounds outside, to possibilities far more sinister.  And the actions of the death scene detectives become far more important.

Over time, as the evidence was looked at again by other professionals, some perhaps for the first time, it becomes all so important that way back on day one when they had the chance to collect all the evidence they wanted to, that they chose to collect none.  I believe they absolutely had a duty to collect evidence, or stand aside and let someone capable of doing it to take over, but they did not. If they were not capable they should have called in the very capable State agency, the CBI that morning – it was an option they did not choose.

This morning on my drive I was passed by a Colorado State Trooper.  On the back of his patrol car were two brief sayings, one on each side – “Honor to Serve,” and, “Duty to Protect.”  As chance would have it I also was passed by a Garfield Sheriffs SUV a bit later – it had no saying printed on the back, nothing.

I know it’s just words printed on the back of a car, but to me it makes a difference that two little promises are printed on the back of the State Troopers, they see them, they know what it says back there, and oh how I wish Morgan had been blessed with a little more “Honor to Serve,” and “Duty to Protect.”

And if anyone is wondering about yesterday – my Mother’s Day was beautiful, thanks to my family, friends, and my children – all of my children…

 

Investigating your Stalker

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mtnsky

Morgan had a stranger stalker, Keenan was a person not known to her, rather his identity was deduced over months.  He was also very likely a serial stalker as well.  This I added after discovering many stalking and peeping tom incidents within a few mile radius dating back for years.

As I research solutions to these types of terrorizing some of it is very straightforward, such as the findings that stalkers are often socially maladjusted, emotionally immature, insecure and jealous by nature.  Like perpetrators of domestic violence, who often stalk their partners, they seek to exert power and control over the victim.  According to James Harris, his daughter Brooke complained of Keenan being possessive, and she ended their relationship because of it.  An objective look at mannerisms is a good tool to ID your stalker.

At the beginning we had few if any tools to deduce who the stalker was and were limited for a while into seeing which cars were home, and which weren’t, of which lights were on in which houses as ours…only tools.  If we could have included a read of mannerisms of the suspects, no matter how crude it might have been.  That would have been an improvement in identifying him earlier.

Other advice i read is downright frightening to me.  Such as the majority of stalkers are not mentally ill; however a minority, usually stranger stalkers, suffer from mental health disorders (such as paranoid schizophrenia or manic depression) and exhibit delusional thought patterns or behaviors.  I would think if this little bit of observation were in the material the Deputies and Detectives had about stalkers they would have been better able to deal effectively with Keenan than they did.  Actually they had no material on stalkers of stalking so, anything would have been an improvement really.

There is advice suggesting you should approach the stranger stalker (just once), and tell them firmly to stop, then attempt to involve family members to assist.  I question both of these thoughts, as I have been told that his father Wade was quick to bring him to the Sheriff’s office to answer questions, but also quick to opine that he had not done anything wrong.  I wonder how he could be so sure and I doubt he would have been receptive to talking his son out of his stalking obsession.

His mother, Jennifer Johnson, to this day will not even admit he was pretty much the schoolyard bully back in grade school, when that fact is well known up and down the valley.  So I really don’t see how an attempt to involve the parents would have really been very productive.  Most likely the opposite.

His parents and friends are pretty intent on protecting him by whatever means they can, and don’t seem ready to admit Keenan could ever do anything wrong.  This I am sad to say is something that has played out many times in cases of stalkers – many, many times they have family members, friends, even people that don’t really know them that well make up excuses, alibis and lies for them.  Sometimes I would assume because they want to keep them out of trouble, other times possibly because they themselves don’t want to believe something like this could really happen, and then there are always friends that have been warned not to be “snitches”, or else,  as in this case.

Which brings up the third piece of advice which I have found to be a very informative, and a useful tool – that is to get the criminal records of the stalker, especially a stranger stalker.  As the claims that he has never been in trouble in his life grow ever louder from all of his family, the list of charges, for a twenty-one year old seem very, very, long.  And most all of the charges he has been found guilty of portend to a serious problem if connected with a stranger stalker, as they are in Morgan’s case.

In fact after having had a chance to look over criminal records for all the immediate family and friends, I can see why this is suggested in a stranger stalking situation.  I don’t know if the Sheriffs are at liberty to run these records and share them with victims, but I believe it would be a big help.

I think it would be safe to say that successful criminals research their victims first, just as hunters research, and stalk their prey before a successful kill.  So in the victims interest – why would you not want to arm yourself with research and facts on those that are threatening to do you harm, as stalkers obviously do.

In all of the people claiming to be friends of the families that have contacted me, I found one to be very telling.  He claimed to be a good friend of James Harris, and wished to vouch for his integrity.  And then in the next sentence he admitted that Brooke was probably not one to be trusted.  Very telling indeed when even Jim’s friends know a thing or two about Brooke and her checkered past.

Selective Evidence? – Part 1 on Morgan’s stalking and death scene investigation

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pillbottle

The morning of 12/2/2011 was ruled by emotion.  Steve and I look back on that morning, and know there was nothing that was right.  No place to sit, nothing to say, no advice to hear that made any sense.  We were guided, and led by others far more than making any cognizant decision.

For law enforcement, the Sheriff’s department, and whoever else was there I would have to say chaos was the defining word.  There was surprise, shock, emotions to the state of tears, but the overwhelming feeling I remember is that they were acting as if they just really did not know what to do.

Questions to me of any consequence were very few.  Both Steve and I fully expected there would be an investigation in the coming weeks and months, which would include detailed questioning about all the important things surrounding Morgan’s death…but it never came, never happened.

The two Detectives who were assigned to her stalking case, Megan Alstatt, and Rob Glassmire kept up with the stalking case, they gave us time to adjust, and heal.  But as for an investigation into her death, it became a grey area.  No real person in charge, no one sure who we should talk to, how we should react to a Postmortem Examination Report that had more mistakes than truth.  An answer later on to us was, “Why would there be an investigation into her death, the Pathologist called it natural causes?”  It would be easy to call it surreal, but it was our daughter, and we wanted the truth about her death, and it seemed that was not much of a priority in this system.

Even in the smallest detail, like medications Morgan may have been taking, caused chaos.  It sounds so simple, parents know the prescriptions of their daughter, at least Steve and I certainly do.  If not us, there is her doctor, Steve had this theory that no matter how many different doctors you see over time, if there were any prescriptions they should always come from one doctor, it really is a safety measure, and something he’s always insisted on.  Morgan did the same, so any current medications would be at a single source, not hard at all to find out.

Then if we as her parents, and the doctor chosen to monitor all of her medications as part of his responsibilities, didn’t qualify for that kind of information, there was always the pharmacy, same one we had used for many years (of importance yet to be determined – it was the same pharmacy located in the City Market that Keenan worked in).  But none of these seemingly obvious means to determine if Morgan was taking medications was used.  Instead a rather arbitrary, actually almost unbelievable method was used.  It seems that Garco Sheriffs department personnel searched Morgan’s room, and if a prescription bottle was found, no matter what the date on that bottle was it then became a medication that Morgan was using in their opinion.  Not only were they wrong, but these medications did not show up in Morgan’s tox results, only one…go figure, probably because she wasn’t taking them and hadn’t for a really long time.

Little details such as if it had been filled for the last time over two years ago, the bottle was empty, the prescription was expired, and never renewed, did not seem to matter in this search for Morgan’s correct, if any medications.  All of the bottles I found in her room after her death, and after the chaos were empty.  Some officers report they were full (the actual count not given, just full), while other officers report they were empty.

Here is a really important clue that may have helped them.  In the midst of this chaos, an officer walked up to me with Morgan’s pill holder from the car, and wanted to know if I knew what was in it.  I explained to him the pills that were in it, the reason they were there, even the doctor who could verify it all, if needed.  I was assured that was not necessary and right along with everything else they were compiling on their own, the information I gave that officer was twisted, misconstrued, and incorrectly reported.  How hard can it be?  I would have written it all down for him if that is what it took to get it correct.

Fighting to have the mistakes of that morning corrected has taken exponentially more time then it took them all to make the mistakes, and it really is a fight that continues to this day, maybe they are not really interested in the truth, at some point I have to really wonder.

The very amazing fact is that I told that officer that inquired about the pill holder from the car that Morgan was not really taking any medications, not on a regular basis, the few pills in that pill minder were put in the car just in case of emergency.  Think of it like a bottle of Tylenol you keep in your glove compartment in case you are away from your house and you get a horrible headache…that is the same nature of keeping that pill holder in the car. She wasn’t using it, but I wanted it there just in case.

He did not question me about the fact she was not taking any medications.  He did not ask to speak with her doctor, who would have also known.  He did not ask to see a copy of pharmacy records.  Yet I read now in the reports from that morning, the morning of her death, all sorts of medications they say she was taking, for reasons that I have to assume they just made up, because there is no truth to any of them.  Morgan had a tox screen and none of these medications they list as ones she was talking were found in her system.  Except one.

Also mixed in were five other drugs in the date rape cocktail found in her stomach was amitriptyline.  In her blood was found none of the prescription medications the GarCo Sheriff’s department reported she was taking, I’ll mention again the medications they assumed she was taking that were not in her blood were supposedly taken by Morgan for reasons absolutely unknown to me, because they are all wrong, and would have known that if they had asked us instead of playing doctor.  Could you possibly screw it up any more than this?  The contracted forensic pathologist looked it all over, and had a simple solution.  List the amitriptyline, and ignore everything else, and he’ll call it insignificant.

None of this seemed to bother anyone.  Is it any wonder that a year later the DA said the Sheriff’s department had so thoroughly botched Morgan’s death scene investigation.  And all this was just on Morgan’s medications!  On the list I had printed out by the pharmacy, none had been filled since May of 2009, which would be 2 and a 1/2 years before her death.  Meaning any medication they found was over 2 1/2 years old – at least 2 1/2 years old, bottle empty, and from that they construct a list of medications, and erroneous reasons for Morgan to take those medications.

I will share something with you that I have been told many times since Morgan’s death by doctors reviewing her records.  It’s been unanimous that all these doctors felt this case would only get better from here, always saying, “don’t worry”, “they can’t change to that” or “they can’t say this”, while adding that the proof is all here in black and white.  And I don’t blame their optimism that sanity would prevail one bit, because it was obvious to us too, but unfortunately my “gut” was warning me again that there just was something wrong here.

Well they did just that, the actual thing I was concerned about, they came to all the wrong conclusions, GarCo’s finest, it is deflating, hurtful, and disgusting to see so little effort be put forth in any suspicious death.  If it is you daughter, you have to make sure the correct doctor is on hand to correct ridiculous mistakes, because it only gets worse.

If I had to explain any part of this to Morgan, I truly do not know what I would say.  I taught her to trust, and try to see the best in all.  To be calm, and let justice takes its path, let the truth shine – and now she has lost her life, because in this case it wasn’t the best advice.

For the investigation into something so pathetically simple as Morgan’s medications to end up so completely upside down, and backwards is without excuse.  To refuse any attempt to correct egregious errors that have risen to a point that you’d think they had been chiseled into stone.  Of course, this is without adding the fact that Morgan’s blood level, perhaps 12 hours after death, of amitriptyline was 7,909 ng/ml.  I asked, and I asked, and I  asked again, and that was one of the highest levels ever seen at the large national crime laboratory that tested her samples.  The contracted pathologist had a simple solution for that too, he just called it insignificant.  The highest level they had ever seen was listed and represented as insignificant.  Am I the only one who sees a problem with that?

The answers are all right here for Morgan’s case.  That the crime scene was so thoroughly botched by the Sheriff’s department can be overcome by other evidence that has presented itself.  Isn’t solving the crime still important at some point?

Justice for Morgan has to still be in play, she really hasn’t been treated with fairness, respect, and dignity – has she?  Nobody charged with the responsibility is really standing up for her right to due process – are they?

The FBI reminds me that there is no law against incompetence, but I still believe a failure to protect, under color of law was present here, along with the requirement for officers to act in compliance with the law.

Does it seem that Morgan’s civil rights, were vaporized by a stalker and sexual pervert, aided by the Sheriffs department, the Coroner and of course his contracted forensic pathologist?  What are we all willing to do for the next victim suffering a similar fate?  At this point I can’t see how it will go any better for the next victim unless GarCo changes how they do things.  We have to remember after all, this stalker/murderer still runs free…

Checks and Balances…

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dontletthebastards

Starting at the top, the highest law in the land, the American constitutional system includes a notion known as the Separation of Powers.  Three Branches of government – each one having powers to rein in the other, keeping everything in balance.  In the stalking case and death of Morgan Ingram what did it take in Garfield County for her right to due process to be stripped away, and her tormentors – the stalker(s), the peeping tom(s), the intruders, and the jewelry thieves to all go free – sadly for us all, not very much at all.

A meeting was held behind closed doors, which should always be a tip-off that some right is about to be stripped from someone.  Steve and I knew about this meeting only because we knew the legal team that had set it up.  They had high hopes that this meeting would bring the start of justice for Morgan.

It would have been nice if Steve and I had been made aware of the meeting through the promise of the Colorado Constitution to treat Victims with fairness, respect and dignity.  But we were not, the premise sounds good, but in Garfield County the notion is to be avoided at all costs, even by the representative of Victims Rights.  Trust me I stood and endured her wrath, at an earlier time, as I tried to introduce a medical fact into the investigation.

As we were not present at the meeting to decide the fate for our daughter and the criminals who attacked her, I do not know exactly what was said.  I was given a synopsis of how it ended though.

As the County Coroner has never spoken with us or granted a meeting I seriously doubt he was even there.  Perhaps one of the Deputy Coroners whom I am told are not real Deputy Coroners due to the way they choose to conduct official state business, including following Colorado Revised Statutes for Deputy Coroners, was at the meeting, but I do not know one way or the other.  I do know that they know how to ignore conflict of interest laws and unabashedly promote the Mortuary they all work for.  Checks and Balances?  For the President, Congress, The Senate, and the Supreme Court – definitely.  For Coroners in Garfield County – not so much.

I am told the FBI was represented, and I do not know if someone was there to protect Morgan’s or our interests.  The contracted Forensic Pathologist was there, in person or over the telephone, I am not sure, but his voice to give weighty evidence was there.  The contracted Forensic Pathologist has this way of completely disregarding the opinions of others in the medical field, no matter what their credentials.  I know this from past events.

A team of doctors, not one doctor, but a team of doctors at the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA in Los Angeles saw Morgan to evaluate a situation.  At the conclusion of their evaluation they were satisfied with their findings.  After Morgan’s death one of the doctors on this team shared the findings with the contracted Forensic Pathologist Garfield County had hired for Morgan’s autopsy.  This doctor told the pathologist that Morgan did not suffer from Porphyria, which of course created a problem because the pathologist had already listed Porphyria as her cause of death, perhaps he should have asked someone who knew first.

The pathologist had told Steve and I on the phone once that he did not have much experience with Porphyria, and he would welcome input from a large respected University Hospital out on the coast.  Out of concern at the time we did ask him if he had seen something during the autopsy or perhaps ran a test on Morgan that led him to conclude Porphyria was Morgan’s cause of death, and he told us he had not and did not.

Evidently this welcoming of input from a source such as staff from the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA in Los Angeles was only good until they gave him input which was in conflict with his findings, and it caused a real problem for a case he had already given his professional, “with a great deal of medical certainty ???”, opinion on.  The pathologist none – the – less had a simple solution for his apparent snafu.  It was not, change the mistake he had made, if that is what you thought.  He instead took the position that he suddenly knew more about Porphyria than they did.  Most everyone else in the world for that matter.  Now really, if you were told by your doctor you possibly could have Porphyria – would you:

  1. Schedule an appointment with your local Forensic Pathologist, and see if he could see you between autopsies?  OR…
  2. Schedule appointments with a team of doctors at UCLA MEDICAL CENTER, including specialists in this kind of thing to determine what was really wrong with you and what to do about it?

It just boggles my mind is that I can write this, and it is absolutely the truth.  But this is not the absolute gem that the contracted forensic pathologist said at the closed-door meeting that really crossed the line, really defies credulity.

The issue was raised by someone at this closed-door meeting that the “Ingram’s” seemed to believe there could be more to Morgan’s death than just simple natural causes, and it could actually be a homicide instead.  That such a question could actually be asked is once again beyond me, when Morgan was in the midst of a horrific felony stalking, at her house, out on the streets, she had lived in fear everywhere for four months and then was found dead, days before she was to be officially interviewed about her stalker.  But the contracted forensic pathologist had a whole different opinion about Morgan’s death, and he handled it in quite a surprising way for a professional in a room of professionals.

The contracted forensic pathologist is reported to have simply written the whole matter off to, “Bad Blood”, between him and the Medical Examiner who had given the second opinion.  Was he accusing him of lying or misrepresenting facts due to a personal disagreement?  Beyond shocking! Yet in that room of Law Enforcement, on that day, it was enough.  Never mind that among the many opinions the Medical Examiner gave in his second opinion was the fact that he did not see how the contracted forensic pathologist could overlook a blood level of amitriptyline of 7,909, in fact calling it insignificant in determining the cause of death.  This statement had gotten the Ingram’s all riled up and that was the problem.  This blame of “Bad Blood” from the Forensic Pathologist is all it took to have the past DA and the Sheriff to decide Morgan’s case did not rise to the need for justice.  Checks and Balances – Stalker, Murderer, Thief, Intruder, Peeping Tom VS “bad blood” – all even in Garfield County.

I have said it many times now, but I will say it again.  It is the professional opinions of doctors, forensic experts, investigative specialists that I base my opinion as to what happened to Morgan on.  I am only restating what I am told, not voicing my own, nor Steve’s opinions, and certainly not stooping to blame “Bad Blood”.  We are not doctors, forensic experts, or investigative specialists.

Is that really all it took to end Morgan’s right to due process?  Bad Blood?  Are professionals not able to talk and work out glaring differences?  If the lab that tested Morgan’s blood regularly tests blood samples from all over the county every day and says 7,909 is the highest level they have ever seen – how does it get swept away due to bad blood?  A level of 7,909 being the highest they remember is a fact, that could very justifiably get the parents of a daughter they had been told died from natural causes all whipped up!

Are we all honestly so busy bickering here in Colorado that nobody can get justice?  Or does this “bad blood” defense only work in closed-door meetings in Garfield County?

That brings me back to a basic premise that binds the county – Checks and Balances.  The United States has them, but Garfield County finds it easier to conduct business without them, no worries if justice gets lost in the process.

Morgan only wanted to help people, and she did.  She also did not want to go, not at the age she was taken, and certainly not in the way she has been taken from us – of this I am absolutely certain.

“Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building, it is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society.  It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists…it is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.”  – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr

Equal justice should stand for all – victims included, and why am I not seeing this day after day, email after email, call after call from other victims?  We are all citizens, and should be able to receive equal justice, but we are far from it in this case, and things need to be rectified!

Victims of Stalking need your Compassion – it means a lot!!!

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leaves

Far – far too often in a country where stalking is usually a felony, and victims suffer untold physical, and emotional injustice, I read some variation of a stalking story that is disturbingly like the following I just received today:

“Almost everyone I have told about my Stalker / Harasser in hopes of some advise or help, seems to not believe me…& they end up turning against me instead of helping me…I just don’t understand what has happened to this world?  Because that just doesn’t make any sense to me…so now I not only have the Stalker Harassing me & doing his best to keep me in fear, but I now have others doing it as well. Great!!! :'(“

She told her friends and coworkers, she did the right thing.  A basic first step in protecting yourself is to try to tell all others around you so there are more eyes and ears and bodies watching out for you, but in her case this didn’t help.  And while I ask why, I am also reminded of a slogan – raising awareness.  And this means raising all kinds of awareness.  If you have never been stalked as the majority have not, then it is hard to know what it is like.  If you are being stalked it is hard to know the right things to do to stop it, really stop it.  And as you involve others they will most likely need to learn what stalking really is.  Of course as the Law Enforcement becomes involved, while one incident usually does not make for a stalking case, they need to become involved ASAP and you need to have the particulars as to  just when your stalking becomes rises to the level that Law Enforcement becomes involved explained to you by Law Enforcement.

A big part of raising awareness is another slogan – “Take Stalking Seriously”

For example legislative declarations usually precede actual law, and here an excerpt from the Colorado legislative declaration on stalking

(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:

(a) Stalking is a serious problem in this state and nationwide;
(b) Although stalking often involves persons who have had an intimate
relationship with one another, it can also involve persons who have little or no past relationship;
(c) A stalker will often maintain strong, unshakable, and irrational emotional feelings for his or her victim and may likewise believe that the victim either returns these feelings of affection or will do so if the stalker is persistent enough. Further, the stalker often maintains this belief, despite a trivial or nonexistent basis for it and despite rejection, lack of reciprocation, efforts to restrict or avoid the stalker, and other facts that conflict with this belief.
(d) A stalker may also develop jealousy and animosity for persons who are in relationships with the victim, including family members, employers and coworkers, and friends, perceiving them as obstacles or as threats to the stalker’s own “relationship” with the victim;
(e) Because stalking involves highly inappropriate intensity, persistence, and possessiveness, it entails great unpredictability and creates great stress and fear for the victim;
(f) Stalking involves severe intrusions on the victim’s personal privacy and autonomy, with an immediate and long-lasting impact on quality of life as well as risks to security and safety of the victim and persons close to the victim, even in the absence of express threats of physical harm.

(2) The general assembly hereby recognizes the seriousness posed by
stalking and adopts the provisions of this part 6 with the goal of encouraging and authorizing effective intervention before stalking can escalate into behavior that has even more serious consequences.

The Colorado Legislature knows stalking is very real,  it is serious, it is dangerous, and it does happen to normal people, not just celebrities.  There is a growing awareness and it is largely under-reported, and ineffectively responded to by Law Enforcement.  This is why it is so important to educate yourself and then talk about it to raise awareness!

When dealing with Law Enforcement in almost all States you have victims rights to aid you, in the event that law enforcement is just ignoring you – please look up your particular States laws.

In the State of Colorado Victims Rights Act it states:

The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the full and voluntary cooperation of victims of and witnesses to crimes with state and local law enforcement agencies as to such crimes is imperative for the general effectiveness and well-being of the criminal justice system of this state. It is the intent of this part 3, therefore, to assure that all victims of and witnesses to crimes are honored and protected by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and judges in a manner no less vigorous than the protection afforded criminal defendants.

Now if the State of Colorado (and I assume most states in our Country) wants to assure that all victims of, and witnesses to crimes are honored and protected by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and judges then why does this not always happen with victims of stalking?  Why are people in our areas  like not believing and watching out for the victims?  I truly believe it is one of those things that people tell themselves that crime could never to happen to them, they are protected/isolated so if they turn a blind eye to it and pretend it’s not happening (the God forbid this ever happen to me theory), this person is just over reacting, this mentality helps them just go along with their everyday lives and PRETEND that everything in the world is how it should be – but THEY ARE SO WRONG!

One day we were a happy family, looking towards the future with our youngest daughter, talking about all the normal things in life (like should she stay in a dorm at CU Boulder for her last 2 years or an apartment with a roommate), and the next day we were wondering what was going on, starting to get that frightened feeling that we had to protect our daughter from some unknown evil. Then later that month our home became a dark fortress in an effort to keep out the evil that had invaded our family, and then the following month we were investing money (that should have been for Morgan’s last two years of college) purchasing things to try to catch her stalker so she would not have to continue her life in fear.  Some stalkers actually follow their victims from place to place, from state to state and Morgan did not want to always be looking over her shoulder, she did not want to live in fear.  But as we all know now after only 4 short months Morgan’s stalking ended in her murder.  I know this is not what always happens, but it DOES HAPPEN far more often than anyone would like to admit.  As parents we failed miserably to do the right things at the right times.  Not a sympathy call – just the real truth.  The Garfield Sheriff’s office failed miserably at protecting one of its citizens.  Once again just the sad truth.  And the Coroners office is up to its neck in inexcusable behavior that completely stripped Morgan of her rights to due process.

If that’s what the professionals did for Morgan then you need to learn patience with friends and coworkers, bosses and even parents.  They all need to come around and the best endings to stalking situations has come when friends and family are all helping and working together to end the stalking.

It is an honor in life to be able to help others – it is not something that should be on the bottom of anyone’s list.  Please share this one thought with everyone in your life that you come in contact with along your life’s journey…if we all help one another, evil will have a really hard time completing it’s journey.  Thank you all so very much!

And to the stalking victim that wrote in (the first paragraph of this blog) all I can say at this point is that I am so sorry that this is happening to you and I will make every effort for the rest of my life to try to educate people to not react like that to a victim…you deserve people to believe you, and try to help you for the simple reason, that is what they would want if they found themselves in your situation.

Steve and I were very uneducated about stalking when Morgan’s stalking began.  We received little or no help from the Sheriffs department. And the Coroner will still not even meet with us.

We all have to believe the outcome of Morgan’s stalking could have been turned for the better, instead of the tragedy it  became.  WE all have to believe that raising awareness and taking stalking seriously are much more that just catch phrases, they are part of the solution.