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February 1 – 14 , 2012, Day 61 – 74 of Morgan’s Investigation – Why do I not get it!
Wednesday, February 1st
At 5:00 pm I go to Aspen for my appointment to see someone who is helping me cope with the loss of Morgan, but on the way there I make a slight detour to drive behind City Market and see if K’s car is there. I see an angry-looking older man, driving a red small Subaru type station wagon or SUV and a younger man sitting next to him in the passenger seat driving in to park in one of the employee spots. The younger man quickly and obviously holds up a piece of paper or something big and white to cover his face from the eyes down and then looks away from me as I drive by in my car (the same car Morgan always shared with me, but honestly she drove it more than me). I think it looked like K and he was trying to not be seen, but then again I have never really gotten to see him fully before this. Is K’s Dad driving him to work, and that is why we haven’t seen his car parked there? Steve saw K a couple of weeks ago working at City Market (K gave him a cocky smile), but he didn’t see his green car in the employee lot when he left.
Thursday, February 2nd
I drove by the City Market parking lot and saw the little green car there finally, I stopped my car, got out and walked over to the car and took pictures of it front, back and on the side to email to the Felony Stalking Detective, because now the car has a license plate on it finally. Steve and I went to our niece’s basketball game in Basalt tonight, and had dinner at Steve’s brother’s family’s house
Friday, February 3rd
Tonight is First Friday in Carbondale, so we went with our son, and his family. We ran into so many people, and it was extremely hard to keep on a happy face, everyone knew Morgan had died, and wanted to give their condolences, which was so nice, but extremely hard on us.
Saturday, February 4th
9:00 am I meet up at the Midland Bakery with my sister-in-law and nephew and S (our old next door neighbor’s daughter). S works at —— ——– and is the person I believe the pet communicator was referring to when she said Morgan’s soul sister works at —— ——–. I couldn’t believe she is so much like our daughter Morgan, same size 1, same blue eyes, same color hair, she is a photographer, and an artist, loves to bake, and she was born right next door to the ranch that we built in Old Snowmass. She was born when Morgan was about 2 years old and we moved from that house when Morgan turned 3, so I had only seen her as a baby, but I remembered her name when I heard it. I couldn’t believe it was her and I have no idea what a soul sister is – I know about soul mates, but not soul sisters. Anyway, it was really nice to meet her and she is staying in touch, which is great.
I was very concerned that S might be the next girl who the stalker was after, so I warned her about what happened to Morgan, but then I found out from S that her Mom had a stalker six months ago, and it ended just before Morgan’s stalking started. Stalking is either an epidemic that hardly ever gets reported, or I just happen to meet every single stalking victim. Her mother followed him, found where he lived (in Basalt) and proceeded to tell everyone who he was. The Pitkin County Sheriff’s couldn’t seem to do anything about it, so between her Mom, and her Dad and her Mom’s friends in Basalt – they managed to threatened the man enough so he stopped stalking her. Wow, was this why I needed to connect with this girl I had not seen since she was two? This story seems similar to another story I just heard about a woman in Basalt (same town as the story above) that happened a year before Morgan’s stalking, she was a runner and every morning she went out running until one day she had that creepy feeling (you know “intuition”) that someone was watching and following her. It turns out she had a stalker. He knew where she ran, where she lived, everything. She knew this because once she realized she was being watched she was hyper aware and watched for him. She called the Basalt Police, but they were never able to see him, so she took self-defense classes to empower herself, got a gun and a concealed carry permit and stalked him back to where he lived. She then called the police and had them confront him – they told him that she knew who he was, and they now know who he is, and this is a serious crime, and if he continued to stalk her they would arrest him. She said her stalking stopped. Which of course is always great, but two things:
- One is that law enforcement seems to be having a difficultly “seeing” the stalker, and it is not just the Garfield Sheriffs Department, it happens across agencies in our valley, which is why I always bring up protocol, we need a common and effective protocol adopted. Our Sheriff’s confronted Morgan’s stalker at a few different times and were “stood up” at his front door even more times, but he didn’t stop – there is a difference in stalkers, many different typologies have been identified and eventually there will need to be a protocol for each one if we are to stop this crime.
- Second is a simple question. Why did they not arrest him right there? I mean a woman goes out takes self-defense classes gets a pistol, gets certified for concealed carry, gets the permit and while I applaud her I also say there is a failing here. To do what she did took many months, and stalking victims do have a mortality rate that nobody likes to talk about. Remember they said Morgan was not killed by a stalker, statistically speaking she was probably not even a victim of stalking and “officially” she committed suicide, and even if there was a shred of possibility, or evidence, to the suicide theory, then wonderful, I’m sure you have heard about the prosecutions of those that drove their victims to suicide around this country, it’s a certified harsh way for a person to get justice, being stamped a suicide, but at least they do. Does Colorado not believe in holding these perps responsible for their crimes? When Morgan’s death was “changed” to a suicide the possibility of the stalker being responsible was not even open for discussion. There is something seriously wrong with this scenario.
That evening we went over our son’s house for dinner – his partner tells us that she has now seen the green car again, driving slowly past her house twice, and her brother has also seen it again on a separate occasion once. Her brother BW seems to think the person driving the car lives at the trailer park close to their house. I pass this all along to the Detectives.
Sunday, February 5th
11:00 am Detective Glassmire is coming over. – Couldn’t bring our DVR back as they are having difficulty copying the memory.
An email I wrote to my good friend: “I have to tell you that I just had the most amazing weekend…we have moved into the new house, and that is helping us a lot. We just met the neighbors on one side of us, and they are a young couple with their first baby, a little 6 month old baby girl named Morgan, with big blue eyes just like our Morgan. She was so very cute, and smiled and giggled the whole time I was talking to her. It was really nice.”
Life is full of surprises, so I am trying to stay open to all of them. Another thing I will credit Morgan with teaching me.
Monday, February 6th
Steve crashed his truck – he can’t seem to stop coughing and crying and he had a coughing fit right before he hit the truck that had stopped on Hwy 133 to turn left into the Coop. He doesn’t seem like he is coming out of this, and maybe he won’t. We are still seeing our grief counselor every week, and she is really helping, but how does life go on after your youngest child is stalked/terrorized for 4 months and then murdered and everyone in law enforcement and the Coroner’s office just seems like they want it all to go away? I think I need to start a discussion with Steve as to how we should proceed with our lives…the truck looks totaled.
Tuesday, February 7th
Steve goes to see his doctor today – hopefully he can get a handle on this coughing as well as the pain in his heart. I think he has broken heart syndrome, but I am not a doctor.
Wednesday, February 8th
We had our son and his family over for breakfast – it’s hard for us, but we know we need family even more than ever now.
Thursday, February 9th
Not much happened today – Steve rested in bed.
Friday, February 10th
This is the 10th week since Morgan died and the 10th day of February. Drove down Corral Drive, but only saw C (B’s mom) walking from J’s house to her house. But nothing out of the ordinary happened.
4:00 pm I had an appointment with ____ ______ again in Aspen
Saturday, February 11th
Steve and I watched a video tape of Morgan’s memorial service for the first time since that day and cried all night long. A really sweet young man who I didn’t even know made the video for us. It is so amazing how many wonderful people there are in this world, and how horrible a handful of bad people can make it so awful for all of us. I can’t even explain how during the service I felt like I was in a dream state, and couldn’t really comprehend who was there, and what was going on – I just kept telling myself…keep it together, and I did. Anyway, seeing it now on the TV and seeing who was there, and what they said about Morgan, and what she had done for them over the years made me realize – our daughter has done more to help people in her 20 short years than I have done in all of my years, and I thought I was really doing things, volunteering now and then for charitable work, etc., but it never even came close to what she has done in her life, quietly, never asking for anyone to give her credit for it…just doing it because she loved helping people, and she loved life. But why isn’t she here now? I keep asking myself that question over and over. She didn’t want to go – this I know for a fact!
Sunday, February 12th
Detective Glassmire is coming over with the DVR today? D (Morgan’s friend) came over for dinner tonight. He was the last person with her on Thursday, December 1st until she stopped by A and K’s to say hello to N and CM for just 10 minutes, while on her way home. D said Morgan was with him from around 3:00 pm until 8:30 pm or so. She never ate anything, but was drinking water, and drove him to Aspen to help him apply for a job. She asked his Aunt if she could sleep over, but his Aunt said no (Morgan was obviously feeling vulnerable at our house without a friend there with her since we were all the way on the other side of the house). I spoke with his Aunt recently and she has been holding the pain inside of her this whole time – she wishes now she had said yes, and Morgan wouldn’t have been home that night. I told her it wasn’t her fault, if this horrible murderer wanted to kill Morgan he would have done it some other night. Morgan and D made plans to see each other in the morning, before she was supposed to leave for Frisco to babysit, and she sent him a text at around 9:00 pm when she got home, but by the next morning Morgan was dead, and unable to get back to anyone. Toni finds out from D that Detective Glassmire did interview him about Morgan sometime later on.
Monday, February 13th
Toni calls her friend.
Tuesday, February 14th
Valentine’s Day – Steve and Toni went to see the Grief Counselor again.
At this point in my life during February 2012 I just don’t get what is happening, and what is not happening in regards to our daughter Morgan, and the investigation – we have now joined an exclusive club, Steve and I, a club that no parent ever wants to become part of, and that club is the one that parents that have had children murdered belong too – at this time we don’t know she has been murdered…the forensic pathologist has put her manner of death as natural, and we are still living with that conclusion, but off and on, every cell in my body is screaming at me that something is very wrong with this picture. In all reality it hurts too much to think about it so for the most part I try not to think about her death, I force myself to focus on her life instead, because there was so much life inside that young woman.
Morgan lived her life for something so big, so important, that we didn’t even know until now…there will be change and people will be helped!
words to live by
January 17 – 31, 2011, Day 36 – 60 of Morgan’s investigation – a lot of strange occurances
The evolution of the fairy Morgan was creating – she had multiple projects going at all times
Tuesday, January 17th
I am still trying to figure out what the #10 is that I keep hearing Morgan say in my dreams. JH, and BH have the number 10 in their address, the address of the house they are renting 3 houses down from us. Tonight our friend brought homemade soup over for us – we haven’t really felt like eating much since Morgan died. My brain still can not put all the pieces together in order to figure out how she could possibly be gone. We want her to walk through the front door and say, “Hi guys”, and then look at Tessi and say, “Hello beautiful”, just like she always has before, and trying to realize that we won’t ever see her walk through the door again is just killing us both. We miss her, we want her back, we want a re-do so we can send her far, far away before December 2nd 2011 happens. We know we can’t turn back the clock, but we want to so badly!
Wednesday, January 18th
Around 3:00 pm, I am looking out my office window and BH walks from her house towards Equestrian Way, she glances at our house, but not much of anything else.
Thursday, January 19th
Steve drives to City Market in El Jebel in the early evening to pick up prescriptions, and something for dinner – I still can’t bring myself to go to the store. I know it sound silly, but when I shop for food I keep seeing Morgan’s favorites, like pomegranates, greek yogurt, blackberries, and on and on, and I start to cry and I just don’t want to shop anymore, so Steve goes for me. He sees KVG working at a register. Scopes him out again, and tells me later that he is the exact body structure of all our pictures of the stalker – KVG looks uncertain when he first looks at Steve, and then a little “cocky” in Steve’s estimation. When I share this story with the Detectives they don’t think they could have refrained from rushing him right there at his check out stand, they were really pissed.
Up until the day we found Morgan’s body on December 2, 2011 we were not 100% sure it was KVG, even though Morgan had seen him and said it was him, and the pictures of the stalker looked like him, and Detective Glassmire had said it was him, Steve and I were only 90% sure (we knew he was involved, but Steve and I always wanted to be 100% sure, if it was some kind of gang stalking, we thought he could have been one of many) and then when I found out that JH had told his client the morning Morgan was found dead, that the police now know it is KVG, and not him (which is weird, because I never heard the Sheriff’s say they thought it was JH). Now on that day (12.2.2011) my belief went from 90% all the way to 100%. During Morgan’s stalking – after Morgan’s stalking, and all the way up to today, we have found out more and more things. I am telling this story truthfully from the beginning until whenever I decide to stop blogging about it, but it will always change a little, because every day new evidence comes in so please bear with me – Steve and I are not investigators, but we have been blessed with so many experts, as well as people in this valley coming forward with information.
Friday, January 20th
I have had 2 separate dreams again where Morgan came to me, and said the number 10.
Saturday, January 21st
We are packing up the last of the moving van today. Steve sees the Postal Delivery person putting mail in the back of the cluster mail boxes for the subdivision – he stops and looks in the back of the boxes and sees #10 is CH & JH & BH’s mailbox (on the house they own that CH is living in 3 houses down from the rental house that JH & BH are now living in) with the JH crossed off. They are going through a separation or a supposed divorce at the time. But KVG lived with JH & BH during the beginning of the stalking from August 2011 – till October 2011 (October is when KVG moved out of the house JH was renting). When Steve gets home he tells me, “Maybe that is what the number 10 means”
Sunday, January 22nd
We are moving out of the house today to the new house. We slept in the new house for the first time tonight. Our friends helped us all day today. I have such a hollow feeling without Morgan’s happy demeanor around the house, but I do feel her spirit with me and it always has a calming effect.
Monday, January 23rd
Our son’s partner calls me, she says she thought she saw KVG drive by her house in his green car, she is worried because she knows that stalker’s sometimes watch the families of the deceased victim so she goes on Facebook, his privacy settings are now down, she sees a reference to being arrested, and goes online to the Post Independent newspaper to see if she can find something. She finds the following article.
Theft by receiving: Officers received a report on Dec. 23 of theft from a home. At 5 p.m. that day in the 1400 block of Grand Avenue, officers stopped a car driven by Keenan James Vanginkel, 19, of Carbondale and arrested him on a $1,000 warrant for theft by receiving. He was also found to be in possession of less than 6 ounces of marijuana, and was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and intent to sell marijuana. Felony distributing
I emailed Detective Alstatt – Detective Glassmire is out of town and Detective Alstatt says they have not heard about this. (this is kind of unbelievable to me!) In the year of 2011 how can law enforcement agencies not have a database that will pull up and flag a name if it pops up in a different jurisdiction? – but they don’t!!! Detective Glassmire says he told the Glenwood Police (Glenwood is only a 20 minute drive from our house and right where the stalking suspect supposedly lives) about the name, and description of our suspect, and they should have informed him. Now we can all see why these criminals can work a certain area without ever getting caught…all they have to do is go between the different city and county law agency areas, even if they are all within a half hour driving radius and (wallah!) you probably will never get caught for the same crime. Detective Glassmire emails me back later to let me know what he has found out about KVG’s court date. It is February 16th. Detective Glassmire says he will meet us with our camera on February 5th.
We slept in the new house tonight- so happy to be out of that neighborhood.
Tuesday, January 24th – 28th not much happened we just unpacked
Sunday, January 29th
This morning we got out of the house, Steve and I and had breakfast at the Village Smithy, and went shopping with our granddaughter. We talked about what to do next. How were the detectives going to catch this stalker – they didn’t even know he had been arrested. I had told the detectives about the missing jewelry, I had told them about our son’s partner being worried, even her brother said he saw the car drive be a few times.
Monday, January 30th
Our son’s partner tells me that J got kicked off BH’s Facebook, she found out he is related to us, and yells at him that we are spreading lies about her – what lies? We have not said anything to anyone about BH. Steve looks at the scratches on hood of LR3, it had been parked in front of our son’s house while we were out of town for a few days and our son and his family had been gone as well at that time.
Tuesday, January 31st
Spoke with Pat (assistant registrar at CMC) and asked for Morgan’s list of classes she took over the years (either completed or dropped), and she asked me to fax her a letter stating I am the executor of her estate and that I need this information faxed back to me. I signed it and put her CMC # on it and fax it back to her.
So in conclusion, even though the biggest thing during this time was finding out about KVG being arrested and the detectives not knowing about it; I keep wondering about the dreams I keep having where I see Morgan’s face and very clearly she says to me 10, and in my mind I question 10? – and then I hear her say (in a little more excited voice) one, zero, the number 10. What does this mean I keep asking myself – just because Steve saw the number 10 on the back of the inside of the H’s mailbox doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what the 10 stands for. This is so strange, because this is the only time Morgan has come to me in a dream, and I feel so inadequate to not be able to know for sure what it means.
Can we just correct a few errors in the memory of Morgan Jennifer?
Morgan deserves justice
Morgan was such a happy young woman, full of conviction, articulate, a very avid reader and very accomplished photographer, all before age twenty. And in the year plus since her death could Morgan possibly be any more of a victim in this? She was stalked and then murdered, never had her day in court for either crime, as she rests, is it in peace? She is judged every minute of every day. Judged by people that didn’t even know her, as to how she died, what kind of person she was, and all of her medical history that has been leaked or irresponsibly released by many of the same people who failed to protect her or process her crime scene with the slightest bit of professionalism, all in violation of her rights, and to top it off her medical information being tossed around over the Internet is wrong. And Morgan is not even here to defend herself.
A small group has taken up the task, very gladly. Some have children of their own, and want see an end to this insanity that is called stalking. Others have been stalked or are being stalked themselves at this very time. And still others have such a sense of justice burning within them that must cause them to follow their beliefs and try to help right the obvious wrongs Morgan has suffered.
Let us not forget a few facts – there actually was an investigation, it was only into Morgan’s stalking, not of her death. And after less than two months, two Garfield County Detectives were convinced 100% who was the person that was the stalker, and the person(s) who were supporting his actions. Aiding and abetting I believe it is called.
Morgan also knew who her stalker was, and identified him many times to many people. She discussed him with her friends and fellow students, instructors, doctors, even Detectives and Deputies. She sent emails about him, and wrote short letters confirming what she had seen. She was killed 5 days before her official interview about him. Don’t we have a law against killing a witness in this state? If we don’t, I think there should be one.
The Detectives sent to me, and received from me numerous emails, videos, pictures, text messages, copies of logs and phone calls in addition to face to face discussions about the top two perps. They were well known and discussed often. How often? Just writing this makes me want to go back through every scrap and see how many times it actually was and see if the number of times he was referred to as the stalker exceeds the estimate of fifty times out at the house looking for him, after he left. Have I ever told you that from the hiding spot on the roof you can see at least five miles in every direction. As in, oh look, here comes a Sheriff’s pick-up truck, plenty of time to retreat and avoid detection, wouldn’t you think?
The connection from stalker to murderer was never pursued, and remains, an open end in a closed case that never ended in an arrest. This is the investigation we push to become a reality. I firmly believe it is a Really Big Stretch to think that right in the midst of her stalking, right when the detectives thought it would start to escalate, and patrols were ramped up, that right in the middle of all this, someone else just happened by and killed Morgan. It’s Garfield County remember, no murders here! Not one in the five years before Morgan’s death.
I also firmly believe that all of the many opinions of experts as to what happened to our daughter that night have to be fully explored. She deserves the truth and if we continue to ignore the overwhelming consensus that she does not have the truth now, is that really fair to Morgan? Why don’t we do this? If the misguided and misinformed conclusions can be aired and if the Code of Ethics says you have to do it, then why not do it? Is Morgan not worthy of justice? I would certainly hope that is not the case.
Since her death many more pieces of that night have come to light. Depending on the expertise of the person interpreting test results, far more facts about her death can be established. The Coroner’s code of ethics promises, “I will readily seek consultation and use the talents and knowledge of others.” The talents and knowledge of others are readily available here, they were given most graciously, and the door was slammed in their face.
Why this is I do not know, an answer to Steve or I of any question that we have continually asked of the Coroner has never been forthcoming with an answer, as in not at all, whether we sent our letters certified, return receipt or whether we called, it didn’t matter, we were completely ignored. Morgan deserves better than that. Everyone living in this county deserves better than that.
So to say now that I am accusing without basis is untrue. Very few of you were here to see the Detectives dismiss where all the other Deputies had gotten on this case to, when it became a felony stalking case, as far as suspects, the detectives like starting from scratch and seeing where the evidence leads them, and it led them to 100% sure as to who the stalker was. Between this and the admissions J.H. made the day Morgan’s body was found, I too reached the same 100% certainty, and nothing has happened to dampen that. In fact only things that increased my conviction. I believe my statements are well founded in fact. Facts I have shared, and those I have not.
I just wish to remember Morgan for the young woman she was, see that she has her day in court to air evidence against her perpetrators, and let the decision stand. I want the chance to help others and improve the shortcomings of a system that failed her so badly, which is why I point them out with as much detail as I can, so we can all seek better ways to fight this heinous crime. That is not too much for a mother to ask.
I wish I could see Morgan in the kitchen now making her favorite shortbread cookies – here is a picture of her last batch.
Shortbread cookies