Tag Archives: morgan killed

The Path Less Traveled

Posted on by
Happy Morgan

Hard to remember a time she wasn’t smiling!

In reality this is even more of a seldom traveled path.  On one fork of the trail is that which you know, solid concrete facts and feelings, the comfort that comes from the familiar and knowing where it is going, and what will be at the end.  The other fork is unknown, ever evolving, constantly changing, shocking realizations and the wish for it to come to an end, which, as I am reminded every day, will happen not on my timetable, but rather on its own.  That fork is where I find my life going now – between my job, which I love, and the time I carve out for my family, which I love even more – is this mythical path meant to gain closure for an event in life that should never have even happened.

Such is Morgan’s stalking.  We know she had a stalker, more than one – no doubt.  He was on our porch, in our driveway, left footprints in the planters surrounding the house, he was up on the roof, leaning out and bending steel gutters until one side was torn in two.  He left well traveled trails, worn into the berm 75 feet behind our house, a constant reminder of his presence, even when he was right there, ready to terrorize, and also showing just how often he was actually there.  Seldom seen, but all too often there – waiting for Morgan, waiting for his next chance.

He was not afraid at all, security cameras caught him leaning against Steve’s truck to watch the deputies drive away after yet another fruitless attempt to catch him.  Another deputy, weeks earlier, had demonstrated for me very graphically, that standing in the deep scuff marks he left in the ground outside Morgan’s window, how his face would have been right up against the glass.  His nose just a whisper away as he stared at a defenseless nineteen year old girl at that time.  My back still quivers at the thought.

That was real – far too real.

Along the path less traveled are the actions of the Sheriff.  What do they mean?  If all that was happening to Morgan, and our family, on an almost daily basis and it would be called only misdemeanor trespassing for the first 58 days, doesn’t that mean they don’t take it seriously?  Didn’t their actions scream that they were just waiting for him to give up, and move on – with no meaningful intervention from the Sheriff’s department?  As perhaps this very same tormentor had done to so many other neighbors over the past four years.  Because it certainly seemed like this was the same person that had been spotted peering and tapping on a window of one neighbor, then also spotted in the fenced yard of another, seen staring into a woman’s master bedroom as she changed to go to sleep, and on and on.  Only this time he did not stop, not after a few days, and not after winter came.  One of our Sheriff’s Deputies in the beginning of Morgan’s stalking suggested that he was a “seasonal stalker” and last time he stopped as soon as it became cold or the snow started to fall.  It was as if he knew him personally, a seasonal criminal who will stop soon as it gets cold.  Where does that coexist with meaningful intervention?

A woman tormented by a man of the same description only two weeks before Morgan’s stalking began insisted that the Sheriffs follow-up on her incident, but they did not.  Doesn’t this show they do not care. Never mind it is not a high priority – doesn’t it appear to be a no priority at all?

It also was not reported by the Sheriffs.  A journalist researching Morgan’s stalking and seeking records was first told by the Sheriff’s department that he needed the exact day and address or he could not get any records.  When I got permission to pass that information along and did, he was then told there was no record, ever.  No record of an incident that was reported (Sheriff’s Deputies were at her house) with peeping tom, harassment, and trespassing written all over it.  What does that say about the Sheriff’s department?  About their stand on violence against women?  Because all of these victims before Morgan were women too.

Invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, harassment, eavesdropping, and felony stalking which comes after it’s happened more that once, and it causes you to suffer serious emotional distress.  Serious crimes if you are the victim, the recipient of all this very horrific, uninvited, completely unwanted terror.  Morgan had all of these crimes committed against her during her stalking.  I’m feeling they were also committed against our family as well, and as I read and re-read through the official reports, I have yet to find any of it documented.  Not once!  I was told to document everything, and you can bet that I did.  But then why do the police reports document nothing?  Do they not consider it a crime?

If the paperwork AKA the reports are what convicts the criminal in the end, then what does it mean when there are no reports?  A very helpful FBI Special Agent told me that he could not get involved in Morgan’s investigation, but I had to realize that there was no law against incompetence.  Does that mean he thought the Sheriff’s department was incompetent?  What about when the Honorable DA said that the Sheriff’s Department had so thoroughly botched the investigation that she did not know if there could ever be a prosecution?  What exactly were they doing when the first two independent assessments of their actions as law enforcement professionals are so completely dismal?

When your attempt at intervention is not producing results, and the crime is continuing, escalating, shouldn’t someone step up and say, “this is not working, we have to do better.”  If you care about stopping crime, and protecting victims do you blindly do the same thing day in and day out with no tangible results, and somehow call it a job well done?

Steve and I constantly told each other, “this is not working, we have to do better!”

We bought wildlife cameras, motion detectors, installed more and more motion lights, surveillance video cameras, Steve sat out on the berm behind our house, dressed all in black, for hours at a time.  And none of it was enough for more than a glimpse of him.  The reality, when he lives three houses up the street, is that he can watch and wait and assess, then attack when the “coast is clear.”  He could sit up on our roof in a spot perfectly made to conceal a criminal, such as we had.  Or he could stand and see Sheriffs trucks approaching from far away.  Any thought the Sheriffs ever had concerning any element of surprise working for them was nothing more than a fleeting dream.

Then Morgan, the victim in every sense of the word, of all the continuing crimes, that did nothing but escalate – is murdered, horrifically murdered in her own bedroom, the murder scene complete with so many obvious signs of an intruder being present.  More promises of the how they had collected everything they needed.  There was talk of new detectives, just for her death – once again, all the promises of all the things that would never happen.  Was it because she was a woman?  I have to wonder aloud.  And we kept trusting the Sheriffs – we still believed they were telling us the truth.

While we are constantly reminded by those who have lent their help – Steve and I are not trained investigators, nor are we accomplished hunters, not a legal team, not doctors and not forensic pathologists.  We do understand as it is explained to us, and believe me – understanding what has been, and is being explained to us is not pleasant.

 Unfortunately, all the times we returned to Garfield County with new knowledge to share from a fact-finding trip, we would hear that everything explained to us meant nothing here in Garfield County.  Their mind was made up, no more Morgan, no more stalking.  How can a real Sheriff’s Department ever say that?  Then there was the Coroner, claiming her death is in no way connected to her stalking, it’s natural causes, from a blood disease she never had, and the condition of her lungs indicated strangulation before anything benign.

We wanted natural causes changed because we were told over and over by the best experts we are able to seek out that this is anything but natural causes.  Who wouldn’t?  Those pursuits resulted in threats that her death would be revisited, perhaps changed.  What forensic pathologist does that?  In this country is that even legal?  But the threats registered with us.  We documented them with the Sheriffs and with the Coroner, who was responsible for contracting this forensic pathologist.

I talked extensively with another forensic pathologist that was gracious enough to take time from his busy schedule to intervene and explain the mistakes to our Coroner, he also assured me the manner of death could never be changed to a suicide for many more reasons that I won’t go into right now.  Does this mean he thought the original forensic pathologist would never stoop so low?  Or be absolutely so cavalier with the facts?  Talking about the original forensic pathologist that was a doctor, not an M.D., but some sort of doctor.  It was crippling to me when Morgan was changed to a suicide, such an unbelievable insult for a young woman like Morgan.  The way the system works in Colorado means our legal avenues to have this horrific wrong righted will take many, many years.  Does this sound like justice to you?  When we were threatened, reported the threats, and a man contracted by the County Coroner then followed through on his threats, with never any concern for the truth – shocking!  Absolutely shocking!  Has he been placed in a position that he is completely above the law?  The path Steve and I will travel to right just the wrongs we are aware of now is the less traveled choice.  Morgan was such a bright light in our lives and such a loving daughter I don’t believe any parent put in our position would want to do any less than we shall.  That is our job, to tell the story, and how we believe it could have ended very differently.

I don’t want anyone in this world to ever have to sit where I sit and to ever have to look back on what I am seeing, and being forced to relive everyday.  It is simply impossible to react correctly as such crimes are coming at you, rapid fire, all happening in real-time, completely disrupting your life in an unyielding march to an end that hasn’t quite happened yet, so you have only your hopes, but no real idea what the ending will be, then as swiftly as it began it is over, and it ends up to be so horrifying that it is hard to believe, to process, to pick up the pieces and move again.  That was our reality – now how do we change it? That  is our future path – not just Steve, and I, and all of my loving family, but all of us who inhabit this world…

Catching a #Stalker – It’s not Impossible…

Posted on by

Fireandmorgan

Starting out with a stranger stalker, also called an unknown stalker, this is a stalker with no relationship history, it is one of the most dangerous – the kind of Stalker Morgan had.  It was a chance meeting at some very unfortunate moment in Morgan’s life.  He could have just seen her from a distance once, but that is not what we believe happened.

Just like the pool of suspects that Morgan, Steve and I started looking at during the stalking, I started with a list of possibilities of where he met her, suspected chance meetings where Keenan could have seen Morgan, tried to, or imagined he tried to talk to her, as that is all it takes to start a deadly spiral to the end such as this story is.

My possibilities go like this:

  • Morgan shopped at the City Market in El Jebel, Keenan worked at the City Market in El Jebel too.  His official title does not include cash register duty (I have seen with my own eyes), but he did do that enough to have met Morgan more than once at his register standing in his check-out line.  Morgan would have paid with a credit card, he could have asked to see her license, this could have happened many times before he moved in to the neighborhood in June or July of 2011, even Keenan is not quite sure when he did move in.  Just that we know it was right before the daily stalking began.
  • Another possibility is the ranch behind the house.  By the time Keenan moved into the neighborhood his girlfriend was Brooke.  Brooke’s mother Christine worked at the ranch, Keenan’s sister volunteered to help with the therapy horses.  Elliott was there with his daughters, and I did try to ask him if he ever saw Keenan there, but ever since he moved out, right after Morgan’s murder, it’s been hard to get hold of him.  Morgan was at the ranch infrequently, and passed by a few times a day at least, so he certainly could have seen her there.
  • One documented meeting was at Morgan’s friend’s house.  After a stay at a drug rehab facility Brooke had been living with that family (Morgan’s friend’s family) instead of at her home with her parents.  While Morgan was there one afternoon Brooke showed up with Keenan, and Morgan was so “absolutely creeped out by this guy who was with Brooke,” that she left without speaking a word.  Morgan told me, Steve, Deputies, and Detectives about this meeting many times.  What was not known until later, after Morgan was already dead, was that this was one of the times when Brooke, behind Morgan’s back, but talking about Morgan, said “that bitch is going to get it someday.”  This particular threat by Brooke was just days before the car Morgan and I shared was vandalized, with “Bitch” scraped down to the metal on the driver’s door while parked at the college where Morgan was taking a night class (this was just blocks from the house Brooke was living in).  Repairs were well into the thousands, and Keenan would later say to a detective that this was “Brooke’s style.”  But was this ever looked in to?  NO.

There may well have been other incidental meetings, but they were never recalled and hence never explored while Morgan was still alive.  A common component from a psychological point of view is the stalker manifesting anger, and hostility towards the victim, this often stems from perceived rejection of the stalker by the victim, it could also be actual rejection, but I do not believe this to be the case as Keenan never made an approach toward Morgan that she could remember.  She did not remember him ever actually speaking to her except for the things he had to say at the grocery store.  An important part of rejection, even perceived rejection would be a conversation, real or imagined.

If the victim of a stranger stalker can identify the meetings with strangers that could be a stalker, it is the beginning of a list of suspects.  The unique characteristics of the stalking is another source of suspects.  In Morgan’s stalking the arrival of her stalker within minutes of her arrival home was a very big component.  Every neighbor was made a suspect at the beginning so as not to miss anyone, and many fell off very quickly.  The unexpected wildlife camera images whittled the suspect list down to four, which was real progress.

The success of the wildlife cam was due to two things. It was brand new, hung just before darkness one afternoon, so the element of surprise.  And the stalker was distracted.  Of course he is trying to look as nonchalant as he can in the picture, but there was some amount of focus on the departing Sheriff’s Deputies.  The trigger time for that camera was rated at five seconds, only in practice as much as eight seconds could elapse before an image was taken.  Going by the time imprinted on the images the actual interval was between a little more than one minute, up to a little less than three.  When taking a picture the camera lit up with a red glow first and then the picture was taken.

There were three deputies there crisscrossing the yard.  Was this stalker on the roof, just watching them, then dropping down as they went for their trucks?  Better than all three missing as he hid in plain sight.  Recreating the incident as if he were on the roof, it takes 12 seconds to come down off the roof and walk casually to the front of Steve’s truck.  5 – 8 seconds for the camera to click his picture.  Within thirty to forty seconds after they walked down the drive, he was at the hood of Steve’s truck.  The attempts to knock the camera down came right after that.  He knows he has been recorded on camera.  In the following days, his hair goes from blonde to black and during interviews he admits that he may have come in the driveway because he saw something of interest.  More attention has to be paid to the details, the #1 suspect never gets a free pass to be in the driveway (and this was not at the end of our driveway it was close to the front door where our cars were parked) watching the Sheriffs Deputies leave.  And keep track of his hair color.  See the wildlife cam images here

I believe after the incident he went back up on the roof.  From there he can see the surrounding streets and highways for miles in all directions.  He can see the Sheriffs drive away and be certain not one deputy, “hung around,” as they sometimes did from a block or two away to see if a lone figure wanders to another house in the subdivision.

He was one step ahead of the Deputies at all times.  Why did they not bring in the dogs?  That night they had a picture of him, knew exactly where he was standing so the dogs could get his scent, then put their nose to the ground and track back to a house where he went, or a tree he had used to scale back up on the roof.  Either way he was one step closer to being caught if they had employed the dogs.  Instead they drove away, angered at how he was, “thumbing his nose at them.”  Mark Wynn’s (an expert on matters of stalkers, and stalking) this is an assessment that indicates a dangerous stalker, one to be taken very seriously.  The Deputies got angry the stalker was cavalier to their presence and left, Morgan was killed three months later.  Somewhere priorities, and pride got a little too jumbled in our daughter’s case.  Pay careful attention to the attitude of you protectors and always ask yourself – are they doing all they can?  Do they really care?  Or am I getting lip service, and not much more?

But in the wee hours of the morning that day we had a blurred image, we knew his height, could guess at weight, if male or female, his build, and more.  A list of suspects shrank to four.  All because something unexpected had happened!  How many times had he done that exact thing before?  Only this one night there was a camera.

Do unexpected things, change-up what you are doing constantly, and never talk about it in your home.  While he was standing at Morgan’s windows, or a few feet back, to watch her, it is fantasy to think he did not hear all of the conversations in the house – which usually included our future plans to catch him.

The unknown and unexpected, are your tools to use as you wish.  Running out the door with a bat is not the weapon you think it is – I know we tried.  I would suggest this only if you have trip lines at strategic locations.  They did not work for us, but they may for you.  Every stalker is different, possessing different skills, and physical abilities.

Another tool is a random event along with your deterrence already in place. When we had security video covering the drive he was crouched behind the car Morgan and I shared.  One might ask why, Steve did immediately.  Not one Deputy, and not one Detective said, “I wonder what he was doing back there?”  Pay attention to lapses such as that.  Knowing the capabilities of your defenders is not a slight it’s in your best interest.

So while he was crouched behind the car, doing whatever he was doing back there, a neighbor suddenly starts driving up the street.  If he sits behind the car he will be exposed, so he stands and runs for the trees of the front yard.  That part works, the neighbor had no idea all this happened as he came up the street.  But the stalker was again on a clip of video, because something unexpected happened.  The cameras he knew were there, that a car would come up the street right at the same time he did not.

Do not allow ridiculous answers to slide by, ever.  Morgan’s stalker told the detectives he might have been in our driveway.  I believe Brooke did too.  Now what, do they just get a free pass?  The #1 suspect should never be allowed in the driveway for any reason.  Stalkers go up your driveway to stalk the victims in the house, no other reason.

And really?  Is it possible that you were ever in your neighbor down the streets driveway, crouched behind his car, dressed in clothes to conceal yourself, in pitch blackness, and it’s possible you don’t remember?  The girlfriend too?  That they were let off with answers like that, “I might have.”  Is just poor investigation.

Morgan’s stalker, in a conversation on facebook, says:

November 6, 2011, 9:26am, Keenan James Vanginkel says:

 “Idk why you are giving me so much trouble cuz I have done nothing wrong. For everything u are accusing me of I will have a story for and multiple people to prove that I wasn’t there. But if u don’t stop right now I will press charges against you.”

Notice – “everything u are accusing me of I WILL have a story for and multiple people to prove that I wasn’t there.”

So he knows there is a stalking, no questions about that.  And he WILL have an alibi for everything, his own story and multiple others.  Isn’t that all too convenient for him?  At least he admits there is a stalking, James Harris claimed he didn’t even know, AFTER the Deputies talked to him about the stalking, the Detectives questioned his daughter about the stalking.  He talked to the Detectives about the stalking, about how he heard Morgan’s parents were overreacting.  My daughter is dead – and I think he knows more than he is saying, don’t you?  I obviously did not react enough!

Set up your defenses so there are always two different things to contend with for the stalker.  One thing at a time is easy, but look at Morgan’s stalker, video surveillance, easy to hide behind car, but a neighbor coming home from work, and he’s caught on film again.

There was a surprise snowstorm, and footprints all the way from Brooke’s house and to the corner where they climbed the tree were revealed.  Steve photographed it all (while walking and observing the prints with the Deputy) and drew a map for the Deputy.  That our map given to the Deputy was never entered it into evidence is an incentive for you to check the evidence often.  Perhaps weekly with your Detective, so you know it’s all in there instead of, gee wonder what happened to that one?

Two tools – the unknown and the unexpected.  Keeping your stalker off guard can be counted on to anger him, but then you will also get shots at him.  The night Morgan’s stalker was caught on the wildlife camera Steve took it down to check the chip, in yet another unexpected act.  Actually I asked Steve after the Deputies left, even though he was tired, and it was so late, just to see how it works – I was sure it would have picked up the Deputies leaving the house.  He had work the next day, he was exhausted, but he did it.

Morgan’s stalker came by the house seven more times that night to set off our alarms on the rear of the house after the Deputies left to otherwise make his presence known as if to say ha ha didn’t catch me.  A simple display of anger and/or “I can’t be caught.”  For all the times the Sheriffs promised the dogs, if they were ever going to do it that would have been the night.  But they did not.  You have to count on yourself, and wouldn’t it be even better if we all counted on each other – to help out?

From Morgan to her Dad on a Father’s Day long ago…Happy Father’s Day to all the other Dad’s out there!

Posted on by

dad

Getting to the bottom of it all – #Stalking and #Murder – Part 1

Posted on by

blurred mess

What does it mean when the suspects don’t like what the victims of a crime have to say?  Really?  Because there are two choices for victims, go away and keep quiet, or tell what you really know, and see just where the proverbial chips fall.

Now of course the “alleged“ stalkers of Morgan, and the “alleged” killer of Morgan would like nothing more than for us to go away and keep quiet.  They have not yet been charged with any crime, and they want to get back to their life.  And does getting back to their life mean a new target, a new victim?  Or is there a cooling off period, as the FBI believes a serial killer will have between kills?  I believe it is some of both.

Morgan’s stalking was so much more than just stalking, when I type the words now, I can’t help but feel that “stalking” completely minimizes the crime(s).  Not only was there stalking, a stranger stalker, bent on remaining unseen at all costs, most times he presented himself in the yard and he was wearing a mask that completely covered his face.  Height and weight are hard to disguise, and he was all too constant with that part of the description.  But then he was unique at times, in that once behind the wheel of his car he must have thought he was invisible, or that his windshield was a one way glass.  And Morgan ID’d him every time, but one.

In addition to stalking then he should also be considered a peeping tom, standing at a bathroom window, and then knocking after some period of just watching.  Some believe that the knocking was meant to startle, because he needed to see that expression of startle and fear too, in order to fulfill his fantasy, as if his existence is in some other realm.  In Colorado it is called “Invasion of Privacy for Sexual Gratification” and that he did, right along with his stalking.

And of course he was eavesdropping, and anyone, “assisting,” him at any time did the same.  How could they not have?  If you are inches from a partially open window and watching, you will hear the talking, it’s hard to miss.  Of all the Colorado Revised Statutes I have read and reread recently, trying to understand it as best I can, this is the simplest, most straight forward statute.  They eavesdropped – all of them.

There was harassment too, and the Sheriffs favorite, trespassing.  I mean he’s standing at her bathroom window, leaving footprints in the soil we’ve been instructed to keep watered, “for better prints,” he’s looking in the window at her, and when Morgan senses this and goes to close the window he bangs on it.  I’m not a criminal law scholar, but does that sound like trespassing to you?  And one last comment on the Sheriff’s, when you show up a half hour later, and he’s not standing right in those footprints at the window, as if he is magically glued to the ground…are you really surprised?  Did you really think, all those times, that if you circle the house with a flashlight you are going to find him?

Steve and I were reacting, assessing, trying to make the world stop spinning after Morgan was killed.  First a mystery, then natural causes, then sitting with the very first person not from Garfield County, not just medically brilliant in her own right, but instant access to all the medical brilliance she needs, just in case.  And for her there is no doubt – Morgan’s death is anything but natural causes, it is a homicide!!!  Try sitting through a meeting like that three months after your daughter’s death, and not being shocked to the core of your existence.

As if we needed it, agreement from those in the medical profession came as fast and furious as we wanted, or could handle.  Then as we shared this with Garfield County, it then had to be a certain type of doctor, because the rest of them can’t testify we were told, when this is such a lie, doctors testify on death all the time, especially on appeal, when it really matters the most. I have read from court case after court case where the doctors testify, cardiologists about heart conditions, psychologists about behavior, oncologists about the behavior of cancers, neurologists about anomalies of the brain.

And right there, front and center, you’ve all seen it in a movie, or TV show, or even real life,  the court reporter taking down every single word, and I have read those words, from doctors, which is why I say it was such a lie what we were told by Garfield County.  But the forensic pathologist that did Morgan’s autopsy wanted a specific medical professional that was also from the state of Colorado to boot.  As if there is different medical knowledge taught in other states, as if it’s not all the same.  Did he want to exclude the uber experts from the world-renowned, top flight universities?

In the end it didn’t matter, because we have some really excellent  forensic pathologists right here in Colorado.  In a fortuitous turn of fate, his request was answered.  And it was not just a difference of opinion between two doctors that quickly followed.  It was a number that simply can not be that high, and ignored.  It was about supposed genetic testing we had to pay 10’s of thousands of dollars for, or else – that on second opinion was not needed at all!  It was about a medical condition that she was absolutely, never diagnosed with, that had found its way on to her Postmortem Examination Report as a cause of death, when it absolutely, positively can not be, and there was no forensic evidence that it was.  It was about a study that was currently being conducted at the Mayo Clinic, another top flight research facility, and medical center that has helped to redefine medical diagnoses and care, also getting right to the bottom of things, and how Morgan’s tissue samples could be sent there for analysis at no cost, there would be answers, ones that you can take to court, but the forensic pathologist that did Morgan’s original autopsy did not send any samples to them.

Unfortunately, none of this ever happened!  Because the contracted Forensic Pathologist the Garfield County hires would never get on the phone with the very person he insisted that we get, or else he would not talk to them.  Confused?  Believe me, so were we, and when it’s all about the murder of your youngest daughter, to call it mere confusion is also completely minimizing the feelings Steve and I were literally flooded with.

A search for the truth being conducted? In a suspicious, and unattended death?  Hardly!  I would call it Prima Fascia evidence of the complete opposite!

Right about this time, in the world that Steve and I were trying to desperately make sense out of, a real expert on National and International Terrorism had a talk with me.  He had insights into what we were going through, and even compared some aspects to the fight against terrorism, that he has dedicated his life to.  And of all the things that came out of that conversation, he ended it with a simple idea for me – start a blog.

Go away, and keep quiet would have been an option if her death had truly been, natural causes, but as the veritable “can of worms” handed to us by Garfield County opened further and further, it was not an option.  By now the threats to revisit her death, if we did not give up, had started.  And when every other doctor is shaking their head at Morgan’s death being natural causes, and the forensic pathologist is threatening you, there is no such thing as middle ground, so along with every other thing connected with her stalking, and death that was happening at the time, the option to go away was simply off the table – completely.

For two adults that are not even sure what a blog is, and having had a daughter that would always tell us that everything is done through social media nowadays, we just had to figure out what a blog was.  It took us a long time, and how exactly it came to be, “launched,” on Father’s Day I don’t remember, but it was.  As for terms, launched was really generous.

Right there, so clearly, and ever-present in my memory at the time was a poem Morgan had written about me of all people.  I shared it with you all back in April and here is the link – A poem from Morgan.  I love to talk so expressing myself in this blog was good for me, our family was so deeply wounded by everything that had, and was happening, and I was also just beginning to find out about the true extent, and reach of the true terror that stalking is.  And I wanted the truth.

Now I wonder if my friend, the expert on terrorism, knew this all along, but chose not to tell me.  The more I told the truth about Morgan’s stalking, and Morgan’s murder, the less the “alleged” staker(s) and the less the “alleged” murderer liked it.  Even their parents joined in with the not liking it, at all.  They threatened, they lied too, and some day we will perhaps sit in a room, and among all the others there will be that court reporter, taking down every single word along with sounds made by the person on the witness stand that are not even words at all, but sometimes the muffled shrieks tell far more than mere words.  Maybe the “alleged” accomplice will have weeks to tell her side of the story, as has recently happened.  And at the end there will be a judgment – one can only wish…  My Nana talked to me about judgment day, I remember it well, I take it very seriously.  And thank you Nana – I love you.

SO THERE – I have written an entire blog, almost, and not named one name, except for Nana, and poor Steve, but he always gets named.  And seriously, has it changed anything?  Has one single fact of Morgan’s stalking, and Morgan’s murder changed?  Has it suddenly changed the fact that the Sheriff’s Detectives were finally 100% certain of the identity of her stalker, just days before she was killed?

Nothing in the facts has changed, not one single bit, because the truth never changes.  There is still the incident when Morgan got out of her car, against all warnings, to see him face to face, just so she could be 100% certain for the Sheriff’s Department, who would accept nothing less.  There are still all the incidents where Morgan saw him, face to face, and knew his name – first, last, and middle – and told the Sheriffs.  There is still the altercation in the subdivision, witnessed and reported.  There is still a crack, top to bottom, in the gutter, centered directly above where Morgan’s bedroom window was.  There are still the figures caught on wildlife cams images, and on video.  There is the person I myself saw on the porch, and at another time running across the driveway, and heard pressing of the buttons on our electronic front door lock.  There is still the person who chose to terrorize Morgan as she let her puppy out to go potty in the early morning darkness, and if he was wearing a mask, and dressed all in black, was he really just trespassing?  There is still the person who stood at her bathroom windows, watching Morgan bathe, and was he really still just trespassing?  There are, without doubt, the twenty pieces of evidence present at her death scene, none of it collected, which is very unfortunate, only eclipsed by the fact that they existed, right there for all to see.  And finally there is the forensic testing of Morgan’s samples, which, interpreted by an expert who does nothing but testify about what drugs do to a person and how they react after that person is dead, the story is all there.  It is a brutal, and very cruel story of how Morgan was killed, and that will never change… and Steve and I can never bring her back – that too, will never change.

Morgan I’m quite certain would want to help others, in her life it was quite a passion of hers, so tightly woven into her planning of her future.  So, still picking up the pieces and looking forward – it is just before 8:00 am in the morning in Colorado, and 117 people so far have entered some term about stalkers, and stalking into a search engine that has pulled up Morgan’s Stalking for them.  And so much more than writing a blog this morning, I wish I could somehow end their stalking, along with all the fear and terror that goes with it, forever, but that is not something I can do… it is something we are all going to have to do together.

Stalking victims need to accept the help that comes, and to also to find help where they need it most, and to never ever forget this –

You did nothing to deserve being stalked!!!  It is your stalker that is breaking the law, and they are the ones that need to be stopped.

A Walk Down Manipulation Lane

Posted on by
Morgan walking

Morgan walking

 

Back in August of 2012, I shared on a post some information from the Office of Women’s Programs and Studies at Colorado State University about the manipulation tactics of Stalkers, here’s a link, Manipulation Tactics of Stalkers.  I revisited it with an eye toward the tactics that were relevant to Morgan’s Case, and it goes like this…

No Gifts or Notes: Morgan was not the recipient of gifts or notes, her stalker did not choose this approach.

Constant Communication: Stalkers work to harass their victims with a continual stream of information so that they know the assailant is always lurking out there.

Communication comes in many ways, and through his knocking, and banging he effectively communicated that he was always lurking out there.  One time even showing up, all dressed in black, standing within 10 feet of her in the pitch darkness of the early morning, when she opened the back sliding glass door to let her puppy out to go potty.  Some have suggested he was a complete coward as his preferred time to terrorize Morgan was coming in the dark of night, when emotions of fear and uncertainty naturally run at their highest.  But then he was either emboldened or cavalier in his car as he confronted her 6 times, four in broad daylight, and in a way that she was sure to get a good look at him.

It was an odd behavior because for all his diligence to remain unseen at night, he completely exposed himself in his car.

Surveillance: Most stalkers are very good at tracking. They follow, peep, and record. They usually keep logs or diaries, or memorize as much about the victim as possible. Electronic means of stalking have increased significantly in recent years.

This too was a manipulative tactic of Morgan’s stalker. He used his tracking skills without question, he followed, eavesdropped and peeped whenever he could. And this has always been a question for me. I feel that Brooke would have been so upset at his fascination to watch Morgan through windows.  Did it not upset her, or did she only find out in the end, and then ask for the ultimate form of retribution from Keenan….

Keenan was a trophy hunter, and fisherman too.  Most pictures I have seen of him revolve around being all geared up and ready for a hunt, or after a successful hunt, posing with his kill.  He followed / tracked Morgan in his car, and Steve had the constant feeling that he was testing us.  That so much of what he did was to see what our response would be, as if always preparing for some future moment.  I do not know if he had a log or diary, but it is completely possible that he did.

And as for electronics we know about the night vision glasses, There are also suits that minimize your signature in front of infra-red cameras, as we had around the house.

 Threats of Violence: Threats of violence may be a way to get the victim to do the stalker’s bidding. Also, there are stalkers who make no direct threat but do in fact commit acts of violence against their victims. Even if there are no physical threats of harm, continual harassment and surveillance become a very real emotional and psychological threat to victims of stalking.

 I don’t believe that Morgan ever heard his voice throughout the stalking.  Keenan fit the mold of the stalkers who make no direct threat, but do in fact commit acts of violence against their victims.

Legal Harassment Tactics: Stalkers may file small claims or other legal actions against their victims. These cases are usually eventually dropped, and are strictly used to harass and manipulate the victim.

Morgan was not the subject of any legal action, but Steve and I have been.  Brooke and James Harris filed a restraining order against Steve and I because of this blog, but it was eventually dropped.  It seems that someone within Keenan’s family or friends is always threatening legal action.  It has now broadened out to include all supporters of Morgan’s case.

Libel and/or Slander: Stalkers may make slanderous remarks to victims’ friends or associates, thereby causing victims damage in both interpersonal relationships and associations in the workplace.

Since Morgan’s death the libel and slander against Morgan has been non stop.  Once again from the family, and friends of Keenan.  I still am not sure when it was that he said, “I never worry, because someone has my back,” he was referring to this group now who seems willing to do anything to protect him, almost always under false or nonexistent identities.  Or someone who works within an official capacity, as so many have suggested.

Harassment of Family Members: Stalkers may resort to harassing family members if they are not able to contact the victim directly. A jealous stalker may make threats to a significant other if they view them as a barrier. Some stalkers may harass victims’ pets.

This is another big yes.  During her stalking Steve and I were always harassed by his actions.  When you are constantly awoken at or after midnight, and will have to spend the next two to three hours before the responding deputies have left and everything is calming down somewhat, how that could be anything but harassment, constant harassment, is beyond me.  Indirectly and directly Morgan’s pets have all been harassed,  Wylah especially.

Fraud: A stalker may run up large bills on the victim’s calling and credit cards, or go through the mail to disrupt services.

 This has not happened

Vandalism:  This is a common tactic used by stalkers, causing emotional and financial burden on the victim.

My car has had so much vandalism heaped on it.  Starting all the way back with the “bitch” inscription on my driver’s door, and scrapes up and down the sides.

Trophy Collection: Some stalkers will commit burglary both to further their information gathering as well as spur on their fantasies. Several types of stalkers are known to collect undergarments.

Breaking and entry for information gathering has been supposed by so many it’s hard to imagine that it did not happen.  Mostly before Morgan was killed.  There are in reality so many ways to enter a home such as ours without leaving a mark.  The Sheriffs Deputies said that there was no sign of forced entry, but that has been completely dispelled by so many as they easily enter without so much  as a mark.  And on the night Morgan was killed so many things were taken.

Once again – Share this with your Friends