Donation Answers

I posted this in answer to the many people who have recently asked if there was somewhere they could donate in Morgan’s name.  Thank you so very much!

Here is the link if you would like to read the information provided for Morgan’s scholarships – http://cmcfoundation.org/ingram-morgan-memorial-scholarship-for-theatre/

To donate, the easiest way is to click the CMC Foundation website: http://cmcfoundation.org/ There is a donation button on the home page, or you can go directly to the donation page

We Could Use An Amazing Private Investigator…

I received this message recently from someone who had just read this blog.

“Toni… I have a Criminal Justice Degree with a focus in Juvenile Justice, and a minor in Psychology. I worked in a locked facility for felons under the age of 16 …rape, murder, armwd robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, etc… First thing I learned…the boogie man is not some large man in the bushes…it could be the 14 year old sitting next to you on the bus. An eye opener for a girl from the country…but a necessary one. I am fascinated by human behavior and I have gotten very good at catching odd behavior. When Dr. Phil asked the girl…what do you have to say about being acused of murdering Morgan? My brain immediately went to… -“What the hell is wrong with you…I would never…” -“You are crazy!!!!!” Not once did… “Where’s the evidence?” come to mind. Ask yourself…If someone were accusing you of murder…would you ask that question? …. or would you state tour innocense and be angry that she would even think that….? Same with OJ…you find out your estranged wife has been murdered…would you… go to the police, grieving, asking…who, what, how, where why, and when…. OR -Would you jump in a white Bronco…give the slowest police chase in police history threatening to kill yourself? People say everyone responds differently…maybe so….I feel your immediate reactions….or the first thing out of your mouth can be very telling. Did you pick up on that?  If you go back…look at her facial expression…especially her eye region and eyebrows…almost like a bit of “smugness” to it. Just my opinion of course. Kids are so dumb with cell phones…did they ever pull the records from the stalker’s phone records for the week before and after Morgan’s death? If she recieved an injection, that puncture wound should be noted on the autopsy report. Have you tried any pychics? Not crazy ones!!!!! But there is a show called Psychic Detectives…and it features Psychics that police departments use. Just a thought. Did the cops go over her room with a fine tooth comb? The best way to look for things is to lay a flashlight on the floor and rotate it while closing one eye at a time…I have found pills, earrings, staples, glass, and.other things this way…even on carpet. Be your own detective…there are PI’s…now that it is public that will help for the advertising. I know there was a place to donate…do you have a GoFundMe? We used one for our daughter’s service dog…we needed $2500…we had it within the first 18 hours. Anyhoo…email me if you have any questions! Mother to Mother…my heart breaks for you….but I would be doing the same thing!❤”

I thought this was such a kind person to share her thoughts, as well as  wanting to help us…I have considered many times about doing a GoFundMe in order to pay for the Investigative services in Morgan’s case – if I had we probably wouldn’t be in year six without an investigation, but I just never did it.  So I would like to ask everyone reading this blog – what do you think I should do?  Do you think I should start a GoFundMe to hire a wonderful PI firm?

At this time the only 2 places we have that people have been donating to is the reward fund set up by Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers and the college fund set up at Colorado Mountain College under Morgan’s name.

In answer to her questions:

No, they did not pull the stalker’s phone records – we requested that they do get those records, but were told it is extremely hard for them to get those records…I do not believe the detective was being truthful about that.  A puncture wound, clearly shown on her body in the crime scene photos, was not noted on the autopsy report because that alone, and much more was covered up by the pathologist – 2 years later we were able to see the crime scene photos and an injection mark, with a BITE mark over it was seen clear as day on the photo!  And yes, to the question about psychics…I have NEVER paid a psychic, and I was always very skeptical, but I have been blessed to have had one who is extremely ethical and has worked with police, sheriffs, FBI, and the DEA on many, many cases and she, along with others on her team, all work pro bono for co-victims, and have helped immensely on Morgan’s case.  Psychics, or as I like to call them Intuitive’s, who are ethical, trained and professional can give “leads” and “tips” to law enforcement that can be followed up on in order to find hard evidence when solving a case.  Psychics can not go into court to testify – they can only be used as a “tool” in order to know where to look.  So yes, we have been blessed to have the best of the best from that world, but without a sheriff who wants to actually investigate a murder, instead of covering it up, then those “leads” won’t help get her case open.  But with a good PI working with them amazing things could happen!

Drip Drip Drip Pattern of Escalation in Stalking

Do you know what that is like?  Have you ever experienced the slow terror of being the target of a stalker?

Laura Richards, BSc, MSc, Asc. IA-IP, MBPsS.  Laura is a renowned international expert on domestic violence, stalking, sexual violence and risk assessment. https://www.laurarichards.co.uk

Laura Richards said, “It is the ‘drip drip drip’ of direct and indirect stalking behaviours over time that makes it so insidious and damaging – psychologically and physically.” https://www.laurarichards.co.uk/news/stalking-murder-in-slow-motion/

She also said, “We know through research that one in two of domestic stalkers, if they make a threat will act on it.”

If your local police or law enforcement do not make stalking a priority, when it comes to their protocol or policing plan – they will continue to fail the victims of stalking.  There needs to be a National Protocol that is accepted and practiced in all agencies.  Law enforcement needs to have the proper education and tools to deal with stalking situations.  Victims need to be believed and assisted in any way possible.  Please use your voice to help raise awareness and make these changes.

 

Before Darkness Entered Our Neighborhood…

Here is a picture of our two beautiful babies, sitting on the lawn in front of our house.  This picture was taken a few years before the stalking started.  Back then our neighborhood was bright and peaceful – it felt safe.  We all spent as much time as we could outside.  Morgan used to walk down to the river, and ride her bike all the way into town to visit friends. Sometime she hung out by herself, under the trees, doing her oil paintings and playing with Tessi, our dog.  I was a quiet gentler time.  We all slept well, in the quiet neighborhood that we lived in.  We never had to look over our shoulder back then, and the sun always streamed in through the windows of our house…we didn’t need heavy window coverings to block out the predatory eyes of a stalker.

Then in August of 2011 all that changed…and for four months we lived in fear, first wondering who could be doing this, and then wondering how we could keep Morgan safe, until we could move, or arrests could be made.  Then Friday morning, December 2, 2011, we found Morgan, our 20-year-old daughter, dead in her bed.  We were too late, and our lives were forever changed from that moment on.

To see it the 4-part series that Crime Watch Daily filmed, first you could go to the Crime Watch Daily website. They have the story and links to all four videos here: Crime Watch Daily.com website

Why Didn’t Morgan Yell or Scream?

I have to address this one outrageous idea, that victim blamers keep repeating about Morgan’s murder, “Why didn’t Morgan’s parents hear her being attacked, if indeed she was attacked?”

Try to put yourself in Morgan’s shoes for just one moment – it won’t be easy if you have never been the target of a stalker.  But just try for a moment.  You are exhausted from four months of stalking, you are frightened and on-guard every moment of every day, just waiting for for the next attack to happen, you are hyper-vigilant, and all of a sudden you wake up and your stalker is in your room!  He is probably armed with a gun. And imagine, as we believe, he is not alone. You glance towards your panic button, but it’s not there! (the stalker has removed it), your brain races as you think of how you are going to escape.  You are looking at a weapon, more than one person, and process a verbal threat to be quiet or else… you freeze!

Victims DO report this happening to them, and that is just the ones that survive the attack.  Morgan did not survive, so we are forced to draw possibilities from the facts.  The sheriff’s investigators wrongly believed there was no intruder in her room, because we didn’t hear her scream, yet victims not resisting their attacker is a very well studied and documented FACT.  That very morning, within minutes of arriving, the sheriffs told us her death had NOTHING to do with her stalker.  They did this by ignoring the fact of a victim not resisting, and made matters worse by not treating the crime scene as a crime scene.  The same reason, for so many years, that law enforcement and the courts did not believe or pursue a rape case, if the victim of a rape did not scream or fight back at the time of an attack.  Now of course we know some victims suffered in silence for years before gathering the courage to tell of their attack.  In the case of rape and improper sexual advances, understanding and laws have changed.  Unfortunately in the case of a victim of stalking, who is found murdered in her own home, that type of archaic thinking has not changed at all.

In Morgan’s case, we don’t really know if she was even conscious at all – to not resist her attackers. There is ample evidence she never had a chance to scream out, just as there is ample evidence of intruders in her room that night.  Yet the sheriffs did not tell the pathologist to collect evidence in a rape kit, or test for chemicals that could have subdued her.  The pathologist told us that unless he is directed by the sheriffs to do these things he does not.  So NO simple blood test for any type of chloroform or substance that could have been put over her face, while she was sleeping, to subdue her, was ever made.  NO evidence was collected for a rape kit.  No fingernail scraping were taken to look for DNA, even though 3 nails were broken and there were abrasions on the top and bottom of that same hand.  None of this was done because the sheriffs told the pathologist that it was not necessary…how is that an investigation?

As a little side note to this – did we have a lead that a substance like this was used?  Yes, we did – when the first responders arrived and realized Morgan was already dead, they started to ask questions.  One of their questions was about Carbon Monoxide detectors in our home.  Steve showed them our detectors, and the one plugged into the the wall, above the counter, in the laundry room, had a one-time super high reading that night – Steve was shocked.  The sheriffs were not interested in this one-time super high reading, because it didn’t fit their “no intruder” theory, so they ignored it.  Months later, after other doctors looking at Morgan’s case were convinced it was a homicide, Steve looked up the data on our exact Carbon Monoxide detector and found, to his shock, that it is plausible for chloroform fumes to cause a one-time super high reading without triggering the alarm.  Based on that we surmise that an intruder could have poured chloroform over a cloth on the laundry room counter, before entering Morgan’s room.  We told the pathologist, as well as the sheriff of this discovery, as well as many more facts that absolutely establish the presence of at least one intruder that night, but our FACTS have always fallen on deaf ears – they did not care.  They proved this by there actions.  When too much evidence piled up showing there had to be at least one intruder, they closed her stalking case, claiming there were no more leads to follow up on. That shows they don’t care.

Now some scientific facts, showing why victims may not scream or fight back, by experts in the field…

Freezing in the context of an attack seems counterintuitive. However, tonic immobility may be the best option when the animal perceives little immediate chance of escaping or winning a fight (; ).

Why So Many Rape Victims Don’t Simply ‘Fight Back’

A new study shows it’s common for women to experience involuntary paralysis during sexual assault.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-involuntary-paralysis-freeze-rape-fight-back_us_5936f8e7e4b0099e7faff1dc

The following is a Washington Post article about, “Why Many Rape Victims Don’t Fight or Yell”

Quote from the article: “Countless victims of sexual assault describe just such responses. Too often police officers, college administrators, even friends and family think to themselves – and say out loud – “Why didn’t you run out of the room?” “Why didn’t you scream?”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/06/23/why-many-rape-victims-dont-fight-or-yell/?utm_term=.9b6570fd54b6