A year ago this week was a busy time.

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flowerrings

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 – I went down to the Glenwood Springs Police Station to ask for a copy of Keenan’s arrest warrant for 12/23/2012.  I ended up standing at the counter for the longest time and finally they could not find the report in the system, which they said was odd, and had no explanation for, so they gave me paperwork to fill out and sent me to the District Attorney’s office.

Oddly again the DA’s office could not find the paperwork, so I gave them the abbreviated version of Morgan’s story and asked them to have the arresting officer call me.  I also asked them to call me when they find the report so I can pick up a copy of the report.  I asked them if this meant that if an officer called in to find out if Keenan had been arrested on that day there would be nothing, he would show up as “clean”.  The person from the DA’s office just stared at me and said they did not know, it was just a simple clerical error.  I thought it was important, and it seemed to me as if criminals here in Colorado were being treated very loosely.

I want to point out that very recently here in Colorado an inmate was released about four years early on a clerical error.  He was then implicated in the murder of a pizza delivery person and soon after that, ironically dressed in the pizza persons delivery clothes, implicated in the murder of the Colorado Prison Chief.  So sad, such a horrible double murder, but there is an answer to this and I do not believe it involves shrugging your shoulders,

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 – A former FBI agent who was very involved in the successful prosecution of the Oklahoma Bombing tragedy called and said he will call the two possible referrals he had and have them call me.  He said either one would be the kind of investigator who digs deep for the answer.  His opinion was that so far we had only had surface scratchers, and that was not going to get the job done.

Today was the day Steve stopped by the old neighborhood to do a favor for our next door neighbor there, and noticed that all the grass on the berm behind all of the houses had been mowed down to the dirt, for the first time in over 6 years that we knew of – they never even mowed it the years following the big fire.  Steve said, “Gee, I wonder who’s idea it was to go through all that trouble, mowing down the wildflowers, all the wild grasses and everything?”  Who?  He also for some reason reviewed the pictures from the original wildlife camera and saw that the perp had tried to knock down the camera – now at least we knew it was broken.  A criminal lawyer who saw the sequence of pictures many months later looked at that one photo and said, “that one image right there takes the, oh I was just there on accident, completely out of the excuse”.

Thursday, April 12, 2012 – I called the Glenwood Springs DA’s office – now the story on Keenan’s arrest reports is that if there is any public record on Keenan’s arrest, I will need to get a copy at the courthouse room 104, then I spoke with the DA’s investigator Ed Picalo, and told him my story, and he said he would forward the information to Detective Rob Glassmire, I told him Rob already knew about the missing jewelry.  Oh well.

Friday, April 13, 2012 – Steve spoke with friends of his that have a cash for gold shop, and they told him the state requires them to take a picture of the person selling the gold to them, along with a picture of the gold jewelry, they put pictures on jump drives.  So they thought we should be able to check every place he could have gone with Morgan’s jewelry to see if we can identify any of the missing pieces.  There are pictures on their computers.  It sounded very encouraging at the time, but as you know it turned into another instance of people not following the laws.

I spoke with a Neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who had written articles on excitement-induced deaths.  He was quoted in an ABC News article on the subject a few years ago.

A few acquaintances of Brooke had heard about the incident that occurred with the LR3 Morgan had parked in Carbondale, when she went in to one of her college classes and the word “Bitch” was keyed in large letters on the driver’s door, and then scraped down to the metal all along one side.  The Carbondale police officer that took pictures of the car and wrote up the report said when a car is keyed down to the metal like that it takes a lot of anger or someone on drugs.  They had heard Brooke say about Morgan “that bitch is going to get it” behind her back just before that, and believed Brooke definitely could be the one that keyed the car.  Detective Rob Glassmire said that Keenan had told him the same thing about Brooke.

Saturday, April 14, 2013 – I spoke with records at Children’s Hospital in Denver to get some important old records of Morgan’s.  An earlier fax had been aborted and they said would try again.

Sunday, April 15, 2012 – Detective Rob Glassmire said he will call today to discuss in-depth what is going on.  He called and spoke with Steve and told him that he had spoken in person with the registered owner of a truck we had noticed in the neighborhood many times before Morgan’s murder.  The answers did not jive with what had happened and Steve wondered where we go from here.  Rob was going to think it over first before doing anything else.

Out of more frustration Rob told Steve the address of the Cash for Gold place in Glenwood and wondered if we could try to find out anything.  Rob asked Steve if he could find out from them the requirements that they have, Rob wasn’t sure if he was allowed to talk to them.  Steve got the revised statutes from his friend and sent them on to Rob.  I had verbally told Rob a couple of times about the most specific pieces that had disappeared out of Morgan’s room.  Steve asked Rob if it was OK if we just went by there as parents to see what we could find out.

Monday, April 16, 2012 – We went to the Glenwood Springs Cash for Gold with a recent picture of Keenan.  I know all too well how Keenan’s family and friends try to spin this one meeting into anything but the truth, so this only tells me there is something here they would really rather had not happened.  The woman there immediately recognized Keenan as a regular customer – A REGULAR CUSTOMER – at the – CASH FOR GOLD SHOP – all Morgan’s valuable jewelry is missing on the night she was killed – can Keenan, or I, make it any more obvious?  Pictures of any specific pieces were not available at the time.  What if he jewelry was brought in at another time other than the time referred to in Keenan’s arrest report?

At this particular cash for gold shop Keenan’s partner in crime admits to stealing the goods, then giving them to Keenan to sell.  This one time!!!  And they do not have an inventory or pictures so we don’t really know what he sold – do we?  And then what about all of the other times – he is a REGULAR CUSTOMER.  I have received very accusatory emails from individuals claiming to know Keenan, claiming to be family members, etc., etc. and claiming to know that Morgan’s jewelry was not in the “batch” (their word not mine) he sold that time.  I would like to know how it is that they know this, with such certainty, under oath preferably.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 – tonight right as I turned off the bedroom lights to go to sleep what sounds like a rock hits the master bedroom window.  I tell Detectives Glassmire and Alstatt about it, along with a lot of information from a day of meetings with people and walking around.  The term “flatfoot” to describe investigators really makes sense now because my feet feel like they have been mildly steamrolled from all the days events.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 – at 2:18 pm Detective Megan Alstatt responded back about my text from yesterday and said, “I did get this, and I spoke to Rob just FYI. Take care”  I texted back, “great appreciate it”.

Just after lunch Steve and I met with two investigators that would love to work Morgan’s case.  They know a lot of the “players” already.

In the early evening a very good friend who works in counter terrorism called and had a game plan for me.  In a suggestion that sounded almost innocent at the time he said I should really think about doing a website and a blog about Morgan.  Even though he warned me about many frustrating times to come I decided to take his advice on every point and he was ever so right about the advice he gave me that evening.  A few parts of it are yet to play out, and I’m anxious to see if he is going to be as right about those suggestions too.

Oh, and one more thing – he did not tell me anything about all the wonderful, supportive people I would meet along the way.  Just as life for Steve and I has been changed forever I also feel strongly that Morgan’s story, her memory, has forever changed other’s lives as well.

The professionalism on which victims depend – what happens when it fails?

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oldcar

In a statement that was about as condescending as could be the contracted pathologist
intimated that in order for Morgan to be killed
with Amitriptyline she would have had to be subdued by
her assailant. And there were no signs of her being subdued
so – it did not happen. Excuse me, but of all the boatloads
of crap floating around in the explanations of Morgan’s stalking,
and murder that never was – this has to take a prize. A few days
ago I wrote about the Jessica Ridgeway murder, and dismemberment,
and her accused/admitted assailant who now awaits his trial.
He also admitted to an attack on a female jogger. The
jogger reported that the attack began with an attempt to put a rag
that smelled of chemicals over her mouth. A rag that smelled
of chemicals, remember that because it’s an important clue. It is
now rumored / released information that the alleged assailant
admits to going on the internet and finding out how to make
chloroform and then attempting to use it to subdue the female
jogger before he did whatever vile acts he contemplated next. I
also seem to remember a quite notorious case in Florida recently in
which the accused killer, found not guilty, frequented a house
where a computer had been used to research chloroform, including –
allegedly – instructions on how to make it. I have never done
the same, but it does not seem to be all that hard and sort of
commonplace these days. If a seventeen year old youth in
Colorado was able to do it, then could Morgan’s nineteen year old
suspect have been able to? Or Brooke Harris, his girlfriend /
not girlfriend, could she have done it? I mean go on a
computer and research how to make Chloroform. So to complete this
loop I have a question, and an anger, and an observation, all at
the same time. How can the forensic pathologist
condescendingly imply that Morgan was not subdued when:

  1. She had a bruise on her forehead.
  2. Blood on the edge of her lips
  3. She was not given any test that would have indicated the presence of
    CHLOROFORM, which does seem to be popular these days.

If you were a professional, concerned with the truth,
concerned with apprehending criminals, wouldn’t this be ruled out
before you carried through on threats to the victim’s mother, a
victim herself, and changed Morgan’s manner of death from natural
to suicide?  Especially because she was a felony stalking
victim?  Is it just me or is there a very obvious
possibility being overlooked by those hired to look?  I really
just want people to do their jobs, assemble the facts and arrive at
the truth, not just for Morgan but for every other victim. When you
did not even test for chloroform at a time that it’s being sloshed
on rags and being used to subdue victims and attempt to subdue
victims across the country then, sorry, you did not do your
job. And to sit back and tell me that Morgan could not have
been subdued is a farce.  I believe my daughter deserved
better than. I believe in Colorado, the Victims Rights Act
demands more than that.  When the female jogger was attacked and an
attempt to put a rag that smelled of chemicals over her mouth was
made, I have to ask, do you think she was tested for the
presence of CHLOROFORM?  How many other reasons could there be
for an attacker to try to cover your mouth with a rag that smells
of chemicals?  My wild guess would be that none of them are
good and if Chloroform is not the only chemical, then that is just
my lack of expertise showing and if there are others then test for
those too. Because when a victim is successfully subdued by their
attacker the result is most likely going to be very bad.
Victims are taught at a young age to kick and scream, do
anything you can to get away. But what about caught in your
sleep, with a rag sloshed in chloroform placed over you mouth,
before you have a chance to react, perhaps a thumb placed on your
forehead to keep you still for that few seconds until you go under,
one bruise, that’s all.

What is Justice for Morgan?

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Morgan is wondering

Morgan is wondering

When law enforcement arrests Morgan’s stalker
and her murderer(s), is that justice? Steve and I believe
there were at least four co-conspirators involved in Morgan’s
Stalking and death, perhaps even five. If you were Morgan,
stalked and murdered, leaving out the complete indifference and
tyranny from the Sheriff and Coroner for the moment, if all five of
the really responsible parties were arrested and tried would you be
satisfied? It becomes a very difficult question for Steve and
I. Just what is justice? We know we will never be
able to bring Morgan back, ignored as her stalker is now the overwhelming
chances are he will just do it again. Look at the tragedy at the
end of the Boston Marathon. What will justice be for all of
those victims? One thing you can probably be sure of – the
person in charge of that investigation will never go on TV and tell
us all how many officers checked the finish line and they never saw
a bomber. Nor will they refuse to recognize that next time they have to
do a better job, or face the same result. They will examine
how this happened and employ a new protocol that prevents it in the
future, of that I am very confident. Just as confident as I
am that no person in charge is going to go on TV to say, “I am
never going to open an investigation”. There will be an
investigation that includes whatever it takes. And to know
that is going to happen is reassuring, not nearly enough to
sooth every heart that has been broken in this horrific crime, but
the knowledge that the full weight of justice is waiting for every
perpetrator of that crime is the first tiny step. For Steve and I
to sit with the Honorable District Attorney of Garfield County and be told a truth we
did not want to hear, but one that had unfortunately happened.
That the Sheriff’s department has so
thoroughly botched the investigation of Morgan’s death it
was uncertain what could be done now. While a very big ray of
light has come since that statement, it was quite painful to hear
at the time, and remains to be a concern for me. But that
instant of honesty has allowed me to focus on that which will
lead to convictions, instead of that which will never make it to
the courtroom. And then, in the murders at the Boston Marathon, if
there is a Coroner involved and victims find  a need to call him, I
bet the Coroner will answer the phone or return the call.
Doesn’t that even sound ridiculous to say? But it is
true. The Garfield County Coroner has never spoken with us,
never answered a letter, and never agreed to a meeting. At
some point I have to believe he could be hiding something and treat
him with distrust. I had to contact the Coroner of Mesa County in
Grand Junction in order to have Morgan’s samples preserved for
another year. There is one answer that I hope will come from
those remaining samples, the pathologist does not believe we will
get anything of use, what I have been told leads me to not
agree. The contracted pathologist who autopsied Morgan will
allow a test to be run on her remaining samples only if the results
go to him, definitely not to the forensic specialists who will be
ordering the tests. Or to Steve and I, who will paying for
the tests. The results have to go to him. What’s he
worried about? Someone seeking justice? Does any of that
sound like justice to you, or does it sound more like
arrogance? From where I sit today and from where I have been
forced to sit for the last 623 days, I would not call what has
happened to Morgan justice, no not justice. Tyranny – yes, abuse of
power – yes, failure to treat the victim of a crime with fairness,
dignity and respect – yes, but justice – no. Justice for
Morgan? Certainly not! It will give me absolutely no
satisfaction to now file all the complaints to cover all of the
rules broken or ignored that were meant to protect Morgan, and
Steve, and I. But I will file every last one, because the
next victim needs a better protocol to prevent the same outcome
from happening to them. Morgan was filled with love, and her love
for a person she never met is going to help save their life from
their stalker. I believe that just as certainly as I am
sitting at a keyboard typing these words right now. In fact,
it may have happened already and I just don’t know it. Does
anyone think that abuse of power, arrogance and ignoring laws is
the way to improve our world and protect the victims? I
don’t. Then why is it not only allowed to exist, but allowed
to continue on?

Boston you are in our prayers tonight…I have no words to express the sorrow and pain I feel tonight for all these innocent people killed or injured in this horrific act of terror by cowards

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Is distrust of Garfield County Authorities justified in Morgan’s case?

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noplacelikehome

I spent a morning last week with two very engaging, and luckily for me talented technicians.  Of course we talked about Morgan, her stalking, and her murder.  And in a moment that has been repeated far too many times since the beginning of Morgan’s stalking there were three truths they shared, just like so many other “locals” that I have spoken with.

They both had children of their own, they were saddened, shocked and angered to hear this could have happened in our little valley, and they had not heard a word about Morgan’s story from the news.  And before they left, they enlightened me with a few quotes about tyranny – AKA, oppressive power; especially; oppressive power exerted by government.

Tyranny? Could such a thing exist in Garfield County, Colorado, in the United States?  It’s been on my mind ever since.  I searched, and almost immediately came upon this quote by one of our founding fathers, James Madison:

“All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree”

And pertaining to my dealings with Garfield County since Morgan’s death James Madison could have easily been referring specifically to the County Coroner, and his contracted pathologist from Grand Junction, as well as the Sheriff.  None of these men has been a champion for Morgan’s rights, quite the opposite, that we are grieving parents left to fight on our own is a far more accurate description of what Steve and I have been treated to here by Garfield County.

James Madison had another quote I thought fit right in too:

“A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both”

If anyone in Garfield County Government really cared about Morgan, her rights, arresting her stalker, her death, or even using this tragedy to prevent it from happening again – they did a good job of hiding it.

The Coroner never spoke with any of Morgan’s doctor’s, how he came up with any pertinent information about Morgan’s medical history is a complete mystery to me.  All my attempts to direct him to the correct information, facts contained in records, was ignored.  And this complete lack of concern for the information became abundantly apparent in everything that has been written about Morgan’s death.  Very little is remotely accurate, but then if you don’t ask her doctors, or speak with her parents, or see her pharmacy records, how can you possibly know the prescription medications she did or did not take, medical conditions she did or did not have?  One of Morgan’s doctor’s grew tired of waiting for the call for information that never came from the Coroner’s office so she called herself, to offer the information, and was given the complete brush off.  Minds were made up and there was no need for information, any information.  If you wonder how is that any way to solve a crime, don’t – because it isn’t.

The investigation into her death began, proceeded, and ended with a complete lack of information, and as was so correctly predicted in the quote – stands today as a farce.

The tragedy for Morgan, meanwhile, remains everywhere, in her murder, in her stalking.  First, when nine months after she was killed, the Sheriff goes on TV and declares they were at our house over fifty times and never saw a stalker, should that information he shared be more for for him, in his governmental capacity as the duly elected protector of the citizens, and if so, might different tactics be in order?  I mean to really catch stalkers, stop stalkers, you need to take stalking seriously!  The information of stalking history is readily available and indicates clearly that a percentage of stalking victims will be killed by their stalker.

Just to go on a little rant for the victims of stalking, say the percentage is 10%, it is not, every number I have seen is 11% or much higher.  And of course speaking of statistics, and percentages remember that according to Garfield County statistics Morgan was not killed by her stalker, Garfield County says they never saw a stalker, and she killed herself, which I am told, is not medically possible.  So if it is 10%, one in ten.  Would you rest easy having a stalker and know you have a one in ten chance of being killed?  Even if you move, state to state, same statistics.  Would you be satisfied with anything that did not include your stalker being arrested and incarcerated?  Would you ever really feel safe?  Russian roulette, a game of death with a gun that has six shots with one containing a bullet, click, your turn, absolute insanity to actually do, right?  But have a stalker and one in ten you die, how is that even remotely OK?

Rant for victims over, Steve and I had no knowledge of this shocking information, and the Sheriff saw nothing wrong with going on TV and telling the world his men were at our house over fifty times, and never saw the stalker, and evidently he does not see a problem with that.  I guess that is too much to ask of Garfield County duly elected officials.

We gave the Sheriff a photograph of the stalker leaning against Steve’s truck, and watching his Deputies drive away, and if that was not a little wake up call, then what would it have taken for the duly elected protector of the County’s citizens to see that there was a problem with their approach to stalking?

It’s too late for our daughter, but if this story repeats itself, right here, that will be only a worse tragedy, a completely preventable tragic ending for someone else depending on the Sheriff’s department for protection, and the Coroner for truth.  Let’s not let another family suffer a farce and a tragedy when both can be prevented.

I completely believe James Madison would have seen problems here and also been able to offer solutions.  He was not only a founding father of the United States, the forth president, he is also credited with being the, “father of the constitution”.  Such wisdom and foresight is obviously rare.  I only wish he were here today to help send a wake up call to Garfield County, but I understand this task is up to Steve and I in the loving memory of our daughter.

And we have gotten quite a bit of help already.  An esteemed trio consisting of a Forensic Pathologist, a Forensic Toxicologist, and a Forensic Psychologist have been able, with a great degree of medical certainty, to recreate the tragic death of Morgan.  It was not natural causes; it was not a suicide, in fact every doctor not working for Garfield County who has reviewed Morgan’s case agrees on those two facts.  Garfield County’s contracted pathologist still believes she has Porphyria and took many medications.  Shockingly, this is not based on information from any of Morgan’s medical doctors, and it is a farce. a complete farce.

The Sheriff, he’s just fine with the information that his men never saw a stalker.  But, did he forget I gave him a picture!  If I give him a picture of the stalker seeing his men drive away, and he tries to spin it into his men never actually saw the stalker, in reality, is that just a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both?