Tag Archives: Murder

A Question About Morgan’s Stalking and Murder – what about the Amitriptyline?

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Sun peaking through the rain clouds

Morgan captures the sun getting ready to dry up all the rain

There is question that I answer in just a few words quite often on private submissions. Today it was a comment to a post, and it went like this:

I just have a question about the elavil Morgan was taking two years ago… what was she taking it for? (Re: what medical condition)

 Was it for depression or something else?

Well, like a lot of things in this blog I had few minutes left before I had to move onto something else, and I took that time to answer a few comments. This was one of them, and for some reason, I went into far more detail than I usually do, and this is what I wrote:

Morgan NEVER took elavil for depression, as has been reported.  She took it specifically as a prophylaxis (preventative measure) for migraine headaches, and a sharp stomach pain.  No anatomical reasons were ever found for these symptoms so she was prescribed a low dose of elavil (10mg), which helped.  It was later increased to 25mg at the same time another medication was being discontinued.  Morgan never liked the fact that she was taking prescription medications continually with no end in sight, and about two years before her murder she stopped taking elavil completely, and never took it again.  Morgan had NOT had a prescription for years, and had not had a prescription filled by our pharmacy since the time she stopped taking it.  The first Forensic Pathologist honestly was on a phone call discussing how he could not change her manner of death from natural causes, and calmly said Morgan was taking Amitriptyline (elavil, WHICH SHE WAS NOT), for her porphyria (WHICH SHE DID NOT HAVE).  So how can a person so uninformed about Morgan Ingram be in any position to render an opinion about Morgan Ingram?  It was on this phone call that I was threatened by this Pathologist that if I continued fighting the natural causes he would have to look into suicide or accidental overdose, but he couldn’t because he did not find any pills or remnants in her stomach at the time of autopsy.  Now to BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, I have advised everyone involved that she did not take Amitriptyline, and I advised the Sheriffs Detectives in person that I was threatened by the doctor long before he actually carried through on his threat. But have no fear, I’ve been assured by experts I have great trust in, that tests exist, which can correct all of these errors for Morgan, but it will take time, and as everyone knows, time works against Morgan in the pursuit of justice.

Then I smiled to myself, and said – I’ve just realized I got a little carried away with this, sorry, but I wonder, would you mind if your question and my answer were to become a Blog Post? – And she graciously responded:

I would love for you to do an entire blog post on this!

And she added:

And thank you for your answer. This is what I figured as well. Do you think the stalker was able to snoop in your medicine cabinets when he or she broke into your house? Also, do you have any ideas on why, if the stalker wanted to kill Morgan, why he would do so with these medications? Something seems to be niggling at me… like he wanted to make her think she was going crazy and then killed her in the same sort of manner (to make it look like it was in her mind vs the stalker…his mistake was the flexril (Cyclobenzaprine). The MO is the same in her death as the stalking itself… That no one believes her… that it is “her” if you will… Sorry if that did not come out the way I intended it to.

ps, have you looked at the half lives of flexural and elavil? She would have to have been given this stuff between noon and nine pm-ish for that high of a level in my opinion.

And to answer the part two let me borrow another answer from the Blog, and expand on it a little:

We did look into the half lives and here is the thing, when she drove home around 9:00 pm that night and I saw her and then her dad had a long really nice talk with her she was her normal self – very articulate, happy, nothing weird, and if she had that level of those drugs in her body there would have been signs.  I’ve been told and have read that within a half hour of a dose this great being administered there would be visible effects – Steve observed none.  He described Morgan to the Sheriff’s Detective as being “very Morgan”  More specifically, her normal self, they talked about plans, such as when they would take another art class together, how she was worried about the children she would be babysitting the next day, as she thought she was coming down with a cold or something.  How excited she was about things that were happening in her life.  As for someone in her room that night, it took us a long time for our hearts and minds to believe someone was in her room, especially for Steve, he just could not believe that fact, for one thing …it hurt too much.  But as evidence and expert opinions mounted there were no other options.  Morgan’s second Forensic Pathologist believes the Amitriptyline (elavil) was in liquid form and either injected or poured down her throat.  No containers or syringes were recovered from the scene.  I requested of the Sheriff’s Detective that she be checked for possible injections and he assured me that this is always done.  I have since learned that hiding an injection point is a simple matter, an innocent observation of Morgan at her viewing revealed that if an inspection for injections points was even undertaken at all, it was very cursory at best.  So coupled with the fact the stalkers, by nature, invade you life, it is ridiculous for Steve and I to think that Morgan’s stalker was not in our house that night – or that he was in our house many times.

A ray of light at the end of what promises to be a very long tunnel…here is what you have all been waiting to see

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This morning I was getting ready for a meeting, today’s blog was written, but would not be posted until later.  A fax came in, it was what I expected, and as I promised, I will share it with you.  It is the truth, and you are free to make your own decision as to what is going on here in Garfield County.

First a word from Morgan –

Morgan thumbs up

Morgan may not be here in body, but her spirit wants us all to know the truth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the fax –

 

The second opinion in Morgan’s death, page 1

The 2nd opinion of Morgan’s death, page 2

If I feel as if our County Coroner Trey Holt ranks right down there with the stalker, perhaps I am overreacting – what do you think?

A lot of you are pulling for the County to re-open this investigation, and I appreciate that.  But I don’t agree.  For Steve and I the relationship with the Sheriff’s department turned very adversarial when we had other experts review Morgan’s manner of death, that Dr. Kurtzman said was natural causes, and then had the gall to share the opinions of other experts with them, to suggest they were mistaken perhaps.  It was the old, don’t confuse us with facts, our minds are already made up.  And the Coroner Trey Holt is another story, he has been out of touch since day one.  I was threatened  that Morgan’s manner of death would be changed to suicide if I did not back off of trying to have her death changed to a homicide.  And yes, I reported this verbal threat to the Sheriff’s department, just like I reported her missing jewelry.

Now, Morgan’s case needs a fresh set of eyes and ears – perhaps the CBI or the Attorney General’s office, we just don’t know at this point where to go.  We know we need officials we can trust, officials who don’t threaten us.  Officials who respect our rights as victims, and above all – the rights of Morgan Ingram, which is what Steve, and I fight for.  Oh, and not to be melodramatic, but if there is a murder / suicide with our names on it, don’t believe it.  Steve and I were high school sweet hearts and we celebrated 41 years of dating, and 36 years of marriage this summer.  And while this has easily been the biggest challenge we have ever faced, like everything else that has challenged us, we will do it together.

Love you all, and thank you so very much for all of your support during these difficult times, which has meant so much to Steve and I.

 

Hear our story tonight at 5:00 pm on CBS 4 Denver and again at 10:00 pm

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Toady we where interviewed by Jeff Todd from CBS 4 Denver who was interested to hear about Morgan’s story and the mistreatment from the coroner’s and sheriff’s department here in Garfield county.  The segment will be on the 5:00 PM News hour on CBS 4 (KCNC-TV) Denver.  The support has been pouring in from all over the country and we truly can’t thank you enough. Please tune in!

http://denver.cbslocal.com/

Thursday, August 25, 2011 – the 24th day of Morgan’s stalking

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We slept in little spurts last night, rocks on windows, detectors, alarms, I’m wondering how he does it, what keeps this stalker up all night – is it drugs? Surely he has a job and he has to function during the day. I gave up on sleep at around 4:30 am, Steve was already up, reading on his phone at the breakfast table in the dark. For some reason I sat on the end of the couch and thought about places we could get away to, even just for a long weekend, to not have to deal with this and finally get some actual uninterrupted sleep.

All our years in Colorado we were blessed with friends visiting us here, never had I wanted to go away like I did now.  I worried about Morgan.  My  intuition is screaming at me, and I feel like someone is out there, I never sit at the end of the couch and drink coffee. It’s as if just maybe if I sit still enough, and open up to all the sounds and movements in the dark then something will come to me, so that is what I do…I sit as still as possible.  The front porch light is on, and all three cars are in the driveway.

All of a sudden there was sudden motion, and I froze, my eyes locked on the front door.  Our front door has beveled glass in it (as you can see in the picture above), the porch light completely illuminates the porch, and a person was out there.  I focused my eyes and stared. What I saw was 100% clear, there was no doubt it was a person wearing a hoodie that just ran up to our front door.  They had run up along the garage door, past the laundry room window, and up onto our porch. It looked like he glanced through the beveled glass window and saw me, and in that instant he quickly turned and moved across the porch, never looking back in the window, his side to me now, and running off the porch, through the planter knocking a motion detector out of the aspen tree, setting off the alarm.  I quietly and urgently called out to Steve, “He’s here, I just saw him!”  It’s been 24 days of stalking now and we have never actually seen anyone until this moment.  If it were not for the footprints he had left around the house, we would have been seriously questioning our sanity.  Now I have a visual image that would be locked into my mind forever.

Steve is standing over me, asking where I saw him.  I pointed to the front door, telling him he was on the porch wearing a hoodie, and he ran to the left.  As Steve was running for the front door he was asking me if I thought the stalker knows that I saw him.  I said I wasn’t sure, then quickly corrected myself, and said that I thought he did see me – that’s why he turned so quickly, and ran off through the planter.  Steve was out the door and I was following, he tells me to go back though the house, to the back doors, and watch the rear yard as he locks and closes the front door behind me. I can see it all today like it just happened 5 minutes ago.  For the longest time I stood at the back sliding glass door, and stared at the backyard, it was still very dark outside and I could just make out the trail over the berm.  I’m wondering if the tall grass was moving because of a breeze, or because the stalker just ran by, brushing it with his legs.  Steve passes twice, out on the grass, and stops both times to look at me, holding his hands up as though he is asking, “Well do you see anything?”  I shrug and hold my hands out, mouthing the word nothing, and shaking my head no.

When Steve gave up searching the yards he took off driving around the neighborhood, again recording every little detail about our neighbors, I looked in the front yard, hoping to find something that maybe he had dropped, any clue that would lead us to him.  Steve drove up and seemed very edgy, he wanted me inside, I thought he had seen something on his rounds.  He had grabbed a legal pad and when we sat at the table he was asking questions rapid fire.  Could I tell if it was a male of female? How tall? Skinny or husky? He said, “You saw the stalker, we are getting closer.”  I cannot answer as fast as he wants, and we were quickly reduced to screaming at each other about the need to stay calm. The stress was unbearable.  Steve holds up one hand and says “Stop!”  He takes a very obvious deep breath and blows it out slowly, his way of restoring order.  He tells me that everything in the entire neighborhood was normal except there was a light on in the front room at Brooke Harris’ house.  He doesn’t know if it’s an office, bedroom or a dining room, so it could mean something, or it could mean nothing. I then told Steve to just follow me to the couch and sit down where I was sitting and I explained to him exactly where I was looking and exactly what I saw.

I go through it again, and again, concluding it was definitely a male, about 5 foot 11 inches (slightly shorter then Steve), definitely wearing a hoodie, hard to be sure about body build through the hoodie, it could have been loose. Steve stands on the front porch exactly where I saw the stalker, there is a column on the porch that was directly behind the stalker when he was standing up at the front door so that makes it easier to estimate height as I look at Steve standing in the same place as the stalker stood.  I was so frustrated, I wanted to scream. I had just seen him for the first time, had a good look, and it seemed like he had slipped right through our fingers and we were left with nothing.  Steve disagrees, he thought all of this was adding up, we just had to be as accurate as we could be about what happened, diligent, and we would get him. He also shares an eerie feeling he has, that this is like an alien movie where the unknown thing is, “testing the defenses.” The stalker is just standing across the yard tossing pebbles at the windows, and testing our defenses, he thinks that’s what is going on.

Out comes the suspect list again, we go over it at least once a day, this time Steve wants to do something different, and circle all the names it could have been and hopefully that will considerably shorten it.

I call the sheriff’s dispatch and meet with them later. The deputy also draws a few conclusions from the experience.

Later that day we are all trying to feel normal, and not under attack.  Steve was in Glenwood Springs and wanted to do something for Morgan, he knew she liked to baby herself with a good skin scrub so at 4:12 pm Steve sends Morgan a text, “Going to Walmart do you need an exfoliant that they might have??”  Morgan texts back, “Yeah!  If they have St. Ives Apricot that’d be preferable, but if not any exfoliant would work.  And if they have dog toothpaste?”  Steve answers her, “K.”  Morgan answers again, “Thank you!!”  At 6:46 pm Steve sends Morgan another text, “Morgan, got your stuff, sheriff’s deputy wants to show you a line up of possible suspects.”  Morgan texts back, “well I’ve never seen him…”  Steve sends her another text, “Mom thinks she saw him this morning, and he wants to talk to you too.  They did not have toothpaste so I got dental chew bones.” (For her puppy).  Morgan texted back, “Ooo thanks!!  Tomorrow they want to talk to us or?”  At 6:54 pm Steve texted her back and said, “Tonight if he can.  He said you might see someone you recognize for some other reason??”  Morgan wrote back, “Gah.  When does he want?”  Steve wrote back, “He is going to call when he is on his way here & we will call you & you can be here in 10 minutes, so that seems like it should work..”  Morgan answered, “Sweet.”  At 8:54 pm Steve sent another text to Morgan, “He is not coming over to talk till 7:00 pm tomorrow evening, but they will patrol this eve.”  Morgan answered, “Alrighty.  Thank you!”  Steve answered, “K.”

Then later on I sent Morgan a text, “Are you heading home yet?  Just really tired…”  Morgan said, “I’m waiting for someone and then I am.  I am so tired.”  I texted her back, “Poor baby – well just text me when you leave OK?”  Morgan said, “I will :)”  I texted back, “Thanks”  Then at 9:13 pm I sent Morgan a text, “Dad’s asleep & I am fading fast, coming home???”  Morgan said, “Yes, I’m so sorry.  I’m getting close to leaving.”  Then I sent her a text that said, “OK I’m hoping – my eyes are blurry.  How’s Wylah?”  Morgan said, “Asleep”  Then I texted her, “Oh she (Wylah is her puppy) needs your bed.  Can’t stay awake much longer – PLEASE come home”  Morgan said, “I am”  I said, “Now?”  Morgan said, “Yeah”  I said, “OK, I’ll be looking for you.”  I was so extremely tired, but I needed to meet her in the driveway, holding pepper spray – we can’t be too safe.

Now looking back on last summer it is so amazing to me that Morgan was so good about coming home early, instead of staying out late like most 20 year olds.  She knew none of us were getting very much sleep because of the stalker, and she was trying her best to have a life, but didn’t want to make it any harder on us.  Morgan knew my mother lion instincts were functioning at full tilt and she didn’t want it to get any worse.  Unfortunately since Morgan was coming home pretty much by a certain time every night, that only made her more predictable for the stalker – and that was not good.

Click here to read about the 25th day of Morgan’s stalking https://morgansstalking.com/?p=784

(Years later we see that on this day the sheriffs had put our case # on Keenan Vanginkel’s Global Subject Activity Report (report of crimes), and as you can see the sheriffs wrote ‘Criminal Trespass’ – which, in my opinion, is much too minimal a crime for what has been happening to our family for the last 24 + days!)