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Tag Archives: victims rights
A little more about Morgan…her stalker can’t take away all the beautiful times she spent on this earth
Morgan’s birthday
Who was Morgan – really? I am not quite sure why I feel the need to write this down right now, but remember how I said you should always go with what your intuition is telling you? Well mine is telling me that even though I know who Morgan was, even though her whole family, and her friends know who Morgan was, not everyone knew her. I have tried, throughout this blog, using her text messages, and daily events that happened to her to give everyone a look into who she really was, but now my intuition is telling me to explain more.
Morgan was 19 when her stalking started. She turned twenty about 2 weeks later – she was born in August, she was a Leo – that should explain to some of you about her drive and her inner courage. She was not shy about speaking out when she thought someone was being unjustly persecuted. Morgan always stood up for her own rights as well, and enjoyed her freedom. After raising two other children, and being involved in so many other children’s lives over the years I knew that at age 20, I could not even begin to tell Morgan what to do, I could only explain to her why I would like her to do things like, text me on her way home, always let me know where she was, and who she was with, and always carry pepper spray on her – but this was only during her stalking – we never had to employ any of this before her stalking began, as some people have suggested. We actually thought we lived in a safe place, but I now know no place in this world is safe from evil. Morgan was such a sweet and loving soul that she never argued about my suggestions, she knew I was worried about her, and she did not want to cause me, or her father or anyone else any additional stress so our beautiful and kind daughter took my suggestions willingly…she was frightened too, and as other stalking victims have said to me over, and over again about how they felt while being stalked, Morgan said the same thing – she just wanted it to stop, she just wanted to believe it was over…they all do. Morgan tried to tell herself, as did I, if it was quiet for a day or two that maybe it was over…but it wasn’t.
Morgan was our youngest child, one of three. Her older sister and brother adored her. She was a twin, but I lost her twin during my pregnancy, and Morgan (our little Leo) hung in there, she was tough. When Morgan was only 11 years old she was exposed to chronic Carbon Monoxide for a year – it was horrible! She went from feeling like she had the flu to being so sick she started to lose her hair – she was pale and would shake all over. Steve and I have great insurance so we brought her to Children’s hospital, and every specialist we could think of in Colorado, but they could not figure out what was wrong with her. Morgan was so brave, and so happy when we finally found out what was causing the problem. We got her out of that house immediately, it was hard because it was the middle of winter in a ski town so there were not many places available, but she never complained – not even once, again she was very tough. She was so happy to be feeling better and to be back in school with her friends – unfortunately at that time we had no idea that the Carbon Monoxide would cause her more problems down the line…but what did Morgan do? It would have been easy for her to let it hold her back, let her fade into the background, but Morgan said she was happy about all the problems she had suffered through, because she felt that it had made her stronger and even more driven. She wrote, and did two speeches about it – she wanted to get her story out so others would know the dangers of Chronic Carbon Monoxide poisoning…not just Acute Carbon Monoxide poisoning like we sadly read about in the paper, after a whole family dies.
She was not materialistic, she loved going on “road trips” with her father and I – she always kidded us that we were a “crack-up”, as did some of her friends that we would invite along, all these trips and outings have left us amazing and happy memories that I wouldn’t change for anything. As a family we always loved having kids in the house, we sponsored hockey kids for a year, had various cousins live with us at times, enjoyed having big holiday dinners and BBQ’s. Morgan always enjoyed all the holiday craft times, egg dying, Christmas ornament making, and in her last two years became enamored with baking desserts for everyone.
Morgan even made heart shapes out of parmesan cheese :}
Morgan had just finished her first two years of college and transferred her credits to CU Boulder so she could finish up her last two years and receive her BA. Morgan wrote the following just before she was murdered, she thought she was going to get the chance to finish up her last 2 years of college and then go on to law school. She loved Philosophy and couldn’t wait to do even more good things with her life…now we are all going to help her fight for woman’s rights, as well as the right for all humanity to be treated equally. Change will be made – we are all here to help see this through Morgan.
Morgan wrote: About to spend the next two years overdosing on Philosophy in an amazing way. Also, anyone interested in perhaps making a grassroots effort to make a difference for woman’s rights? Anyone?
Her other passion, besides learning was her pets. She loved all animals, and they always loved her. Her cat Mogwai loved sleeping in her suitcase. Whenever he heard her come home from school but not come in her room he would yell out, “,Ma, Ma” he was a total Mama’s boy.
Her horse TC love her so much – they were like brother and sister. He knew when she was killed. I went to tell him later that same day and when he saw me he reared up, threw his head from side to side and yelled out. You could see in his eyes that he already knew and was extremely upset. He would not come to me and he always comes to me. I just cried and told him how sorry I was that I didn’t protect her. No one in this world could tell me animals don’t know. I was there and saw how her horse reacted that day and I am here to tell you he has never done that in his life…he knew, and he was very angry that this had happened to someone so dear to his heart, someone he could communicate with, someone who was so caring and gentle. I also would like to tell you that horses NEVER forget.
Morgan and her puppy Wylah May – Morgan adored this little one. Morgan worked very hard on a movie in California in the beginning of that summer and spent all her hard-earned money on that puppy. Made her special food, took her down to the river, the parks, took her for play dates with other dogs…this little dog was like a baby to her. Wylah was about 5 months old when Morgan was murdered. She is now an older, wiser, and beautiful dog. She is sweet and loving and great with other dogs but very weary of certain people – even if they are far away when she is on a walk she observes people around her and actually growled at a strange-looking man just a week ago. I guess she is a hyper-vigilant dog now.
Morgan and Wylah with bubbles
She loved her little happy ferrets – they always made us smile.
Morgan’s ferret Mocha peeking out of a bag
And Tessi missing Morgan coming through the front door, and while petting her always called her beautiful. Tessi and Morgan would always be together on the couch when Morgan was watching television. She seemed to like all the movies Morgan liked. Tessi misses Morgan so very much!
And of course I could go on for years writing just this one post about Morgan because there are so many wonderful things about her I could never put them in one post but I hope throughout the entire blog you will get the true “sense” of who Morgan was. She is the most beautiful, and gentle soul I have ever met, and I am truly proud to have been her mother. We will get justice and we will make changes…count on it.
Understanding the stalker, and the responsibilities of being a good parent, and a good human being
As the world grows it learns. The FBI has begun to further understand the intricate nuances of stalkers and their multifaceted dangers. Click here for a great article to read about predatory stalkers.
Keenan Vanginkel stalked and escalated, as predicted that he would. The lead detective assigned to Morgan’s felony stalking case knew the escalation was coming, and tried to warn us only two days before Morgan’s murder, at the same time he said he felt he was getting very close to making an arrest. I do not think the detective knew what kind of escalation it would be, but he did say he felt it would escalate, and sadly for our daughter Morgan it was all too little, and too late. She is now dead, and after the unspeakable travesties of Garfield County, Steve and I are stuck in a gut-wrenching, and never-ending rut of correcting those who should have been protecting Morgan, and her rights (before, and after her murder), but were not…
An afternoon in Santa Fe
The last words of the detective, before Morgan was killed, was not only that her stalking was going to – “if anything it’s most likely going to escalate,” it was also that he wasn’t sure if Keenan’s girlfriend Brooke was not involved at all – OR, as he had begun to think more so lately, that she was very involved. When your daughter is murdered somehow the who was more involved loses some of its fire.
So many lies have been uncovered that it is hard, really hard, not to point fingers at those who knew, and chose to pretend they did not. Such as even the father of Brooke. He confessed on the morning that Morgan’s body was found, to a client and certainly, by his own admissions, knew enough to put a stop to it, but chose not to. Instead he found it more important to protect his daughter.
There is a trend unraveling in Colorado these days, parents exposing the crimes and culpability of their children so others will not suffer. It is an in-depth and complex idea. Just the slightest word from a parent to law enforcement, that is willing to listen, has solved some of the shocking crimes that plague Colorado of late. But you see there are two parts to the equation. First there is a parent willing to give up the knowledge, and then there is law enforcement willing to listen. Here are some examples recently in Colorado:
1. His mother called 911 on Oct. 23, saying he wanted to confess to the Jessica Ridgeway Murder: Austin Sigg, teen suspect in slaying of 10-year-old Colo. girl Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/12/colorado-teen-pleads-not-guilty-in-murder-10-year-old-girl/#ixzz2dt6rZTJR
2. In a plot to kidnap, beat a man and then dump him in the woods to starve, the parents of some of the boys that were plotting this crime turned over information about the alleged plot to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and Basalt Police Department. Read more: http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20120420/NEWS/120429983
In Morgan’s case there was neither. On one hand the parent was, “just protecting his daughter,” and on the other hand there were county officials that wanted to ignore what was, and had happened. There was the Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario stating on camera for CBS Channel 4 that he would “never open this case.” At least he knew it was a case. And the contracted Forensic Pathologist was busily threatening me to stop having Morgan’s doctors, as well as other specialists tell him that she did not die of natural causes. That at the very least (especially under the circumstances of felony stalking) Morgan’s case should have been written up as undetermined (open an investigation) or homicide (open an investigation). Who threatens a mother to give up the quest for justice for their daughter?
The only thing that has changed is not where I end, but rather where I start. You see I have never had to suffer the loss of a murdered daughter before. And I have never been left with the task of trying to squeeze justice from those that just want us to just go away. The unbelievable has unfolded within this blog many times. I now think it is about to take a turn for Morgan. And if anyone deserves a turn at justice, it is our daughter Morgan. She cared, and loved, and wanted only to help others. That much is without doubt. She was also viciously murdered, and suffered through every attempt that Garfield County has done to hide that fact.
I so dearly wish I could share her smile with the world just one more time, but instead I will have to settle for letting everyone see what really happened to her. And hope that in so doing many more will be saved. Stalking needs to be taken seriously by all offices of law enforcement (not just some), by all judges (not just some) and no more excuses, no more hidden agendas, we want transparency. We miss you Morgan, but we will never give up the quest for justice.
The Predator Within…assess & stop the stalker before it’s too late!
A Predatory Stalker is more focused, and is considered to stalk in such a way that is far more preparatory to a sexual assault than love notes on the window, flowers or unwanted messages. Both are equally unnerving to the victim, and it is always paramount to identify what kind of stalker you are dealing with as soon as possible.
Morgan’s stalker was extremely cautious at the beginning, first leaving only scuffs and very faint footprints in the ground up against the house in front of her windows, employing his voyeurism. After many weeks of stalking, and increased brazenness, cast-able footprints were possible after painstaking preparation of the soils around the house by Steve. Steve’s exits from the house to give chase were also carefully planned to send the stalker retreating through the best areas to get a good print. At times our tactics paid off with great impressions. If only they had been treated like real evidence by the Garfield Sheriff’s Department, but they were not, they were never casted or photographed, so that evidence was forever destroyed.
The Predatory Stalker stalks his victim as part of a plan to attack her, usually sexually. The initial contact is aimed at gathering information about the potential victim.
Completely true, Steve always felt, and commented that Morgan’s stalker felt and acted as if he was sizing us up, testing the defenses. This feeling put Steve into what he thought was a counter course of action that involved trying to constantly change the locations of cameras, motion alarms, motion lights, as well as add to, or even take away something to always present a different array in an attempt to trip the stalker up. To give an idea of how closely we really were watched one time Steve re-painted two motion detectors a camouflage color then carefully went out after dark to place them in entirely new, and very concealed locations. Hours later they were both lying face down on the ground. The stalker had obviously been watching the entire time and managed to neutralize them before they were turned back on.
The Predatory Stalker will often extend the stalking far beyond what is needed to complete the acquisition of information, and is sustained by the gratification derived from the voyeuristic elements, from the rehearsal, from fantasies of the planned attack, and from the sense of power over the victim.
Once again, this is spot on, in Morgan’s Stalking the prints and scuffs right from the beginning were obviously indicative of a person with their face right up against her bathroom glass. And as the stalking continued he seemed to fall into a pattern of repetition, which I would completely see as the post acquisition of information stage, and right in line with what is described in the fantasy stage.
The Predatory Stalker is surreptitious so as not to alarm the victim, although some predatory stalkers take pleasure in raising the victim’s anxiety by actions that let the target know he or she is being watched without revealing the identify or whereabouts of the stalker. Examples of such actions are entering the victim’s home, and moving articles around, tapping on windows at night (which Morgan’s stalker constantly did at night), and calling out while hidden.
Morgan’s Stalker was completely surreptitious, as to not alarm his victim, unless he was tapping on her windows at night to raise her anxiety, and let her know she is being watched. He never called out while hidden. And we absolutely can’t help but think he was in the house on many occasions. Broken locks, jammed doors, missing jump drives, missing PJ’s and jewelry – far too many things to explain away as coincidence.
Predatory stalkers should almost always be managed within a sex-offender protocol, with the main focus being on the management of the paraphilia that is the driving force behind the stalking behavior.
Morgan’s Stalker was undoubtedly a sexual pervert, fulfilling the requirements of the law for Invasion of Privacy for Sexual Gratification with his actions. The previous incidents dating back years in the neighborhood filled this definition of sexual perversion.
Morgan was not given a rape kit, and her autopsy was over in less than two hours, with her body sent back to the funeral home far short of the time required for strangulation bruising to develop, so the true assessment of possible strangulation, or rape will most likely never be known.
Predatory stalkers often have poor self-esteem and are sexually deviant. They may display poor social skills, especially in romantic relationships. Many have lower than normal intelligence, and when picking a victim it could be someone he knows or a complete stranger.
They will generally stalk for a shorter period of time than other types of stalkers as they want information to commit the crime, sufficient fantasy to lead up to the crime, and then the crime itself, a predator, one of the most dangerous stalkers, they are more likely to have prior criminal convictions, most often sexual, than other types of stalkers. And they have a high potential to commit sexual assault or worse. Escape after the crime is part of the planning.
Morgan’s stalking went on for four months before her murder, a relatively short time frame for stalkers. Her stalker had a long criminal history, hitting on all of the hot button warning signs of a violent repeat stalker. He has most likely stalked before Morgan, and he most likely will, or has already again.
Predatory Stalkers and sex offenders as a group share an impressive capacity to rationalize, minimize and excuse their behavior, no matter how outrageous it may be. Leading double lives, leaving their family and friends stunned, and disbelieving when they are finally caught. As we have heard many rumors of Keenan bragging about killing Morgan, we have not completely confirmed those rumors as of yet, but Keenan has never been shy about talking about what happened to Morgan, it is just never him that actually did it according to him, he says he wasn’t one of the “ones” that did that to her, and this we have confirmed that he has said to some people. Richard Ramirez, dubbed the night stalker, a serial killer, rapist, and burglar, is considered a classic example of a predatory stalker. While the man named Midwestern, “Mall Rapist,” James Perry was actually married with two children while at the same time a brutally efficient predatory stalker. For a predatory stalker to lead a double life is more common than an impossibility.
All the above is the critical reason law enforcement needs to assess the stalking situation right in the beginning, so they know what they are up against, and act swiftly in order to protect, and save the victim. If additional training is required then make sure all officers get it – do not let stalking victims be left to fear for their lives with no protection from law enforcement.
Raise your awareness level – for more Information I suggest you read these:
Psychology Today The Human Equation Serial Killers, self-reliance and everything in between by Jon E. Johnson, Psy D. The Predatory Stalker A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing published on December 11, 2012 b Jon E. Johnson Psy D. in The Human Equation Advances in Psychiatric Treatment The management of stalkers
Morgan’s Search for Justice – what I wish we had known, and why law enforcement needs to attain, and utilize that knowledge
Morgan’s stalking began two years ago yesterday. Back then it would be five days and four clear incidents of stalking before I would finally call the Sheriff’s and our family would receive the Garfield County Sheriff’s answer to the crime of stalking in progress – this was ignorance on my part as I had no real experience or information about stalking at that time, and really didn’t know what to do. We were all worried, Morgan was nervous, and frightened, but we kept telling ourselves that this really couldn’t be happening – I now know this is one of the first reactions most stalking victims have. The true seriousness of the crimes being committed we did not know two years ago. The operator for the Sheriff’s department, my first contact, would wonder angrily why I had waited so long to call.
While in her mind, that may have been a fair way to treat me and Morgan’s stalking at that moment, it was far less than professional. Two years later I believe we all would have been better off if I had never even made that call – that is only in our situation with our Sheriff’s department…stalking victims should always document every incident, and involve their local law enforcement agency, unfortunately many of the stalking victims that have contacted me have not had adequate help from law enforcement, and they are frantic to know where to turn. There are so many wonderful, and heroic law enforcement agents in our country that know what to do, and do an excellent job – now I constantly wonder how to get that same education, and passion passed on to the ones that don’t. If Steve and I had counted only on ourselves to protect our daughter – to discover the true nature of the threat we faced, and the best way to combat it instead of completely trusting the Sheriff’s department – Morgan might still be alive today.
While that is a sad, sad truth and a personal indictment of the Sheriff’s Department, and their protocol for stalkers, that is for many reasons, what I believe. It can be fixed, and for the sake of the safety of young women across this county, it must be. A model for the rest of the country for effective law enforcement could exist here, free of sexual discrimination, upholding not only the laws of the state, but the Constitutional guarantees of the State of Colorado. And as long as I’m fervently wishing I’ll add in upholding the laws of this Country, along with the U.S. Constitutional guarantees as well.
I appreciate the current Sheriff has very strong beliefs about the Second Amendment, but there is not one Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, there are seven articles and twenty-seven amendments. I know that many are not his concern, but between the U.S. Constitution, and the Colorado Constitution there are certainly some Amendments that go straight to the heart of Morgan’s stalking and murder and they were completely ignored.
I call this little piece – Morgan’s search for justice, because she is the one who most deserves justice. Morgan was ignored, treated as if she were a second class citizen. She did not deserve to have her Constitutional rights completely whipped away. When Morgan risked her life to get out of her car and positively Identify Keenan as the driver who was following, harassing, and stalking her, there was no response from the Sheriffs. When Morgan saw Keenan at Thunder River, perfectly timing his arrival to pass right in the middle of the intersection, one time, then two times, the third time, or maybe it was the fourth time, Morgan lost it and out of sheer frustration wanted to take the law into her own hands. She did not, but the inaction and cascade of excuses flowing from the Sheriff’s Department made her feel only more discriminated against.
Why was she so ignored? Why did they not care? I just made a list of 48 individual occasions when Detective Glassmire promised some action that would end her stalking, a piece of evidence, an interview, an action that would bring her one step closer to safety. All 48 were things that he never, “got around to doing,” or else had some reason it was no longer necessary. Forty-eight times, makes me wonder what he really did do, I know he told James Harris that Morgan was going to have a formal interview in a few days (just 4 nights before Morgan was killed), did James Harris tell his daughter, or did she overhear? Did Brooke tell Keenan? I believe that could have happened.
The Gnome that was taken from the porch of the house we moved to, after leaving the house our daughter was murdered in, became a Sheriff’s report, I never saw them move so fast – I was shocked – it was just a little gnome, what was the point of a report, but they insisted. But the burglary that happened the night Morgan was killed – how is it that never became a report or a case? Is that really the way to catch the criminals? If all Keenan got for felony possession with intent to distribute, and theft by receiving was a hand slap – and it’s not the first time – what’s he going to get for gnome stealing? Really?
But on to something I really want to share, two years, and one day after Morgan first heard those taps on her windows. I want to raise awareness of a certain typology of stalker, and I want to show how a little knowledge could have gone a long way.
This typology is called a predatory stalker, they have unique characteristics, just like the name, they behave more as predators than stalkers. And they do so many things that mirror what happened to Morgan that I cried when I read about this particular typology, and wished deeply I had known even a fraction of what I read, before it was too late for Morgan, but I did not know about this two years ago, and the next post will be about this typology, and what I have learned since. There are many different types of stalkers and that is why education, and training are so important – the different topologies are not to be treated the same way if you are to save the victim, and catch the stalker. This is a critical step for law enforcement to know, and follow when dealing with a stalking case.