Tag Archives: how did morgan ingram die

Team Morgan goes to London – buckle up!

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LondonTripWe all know stalking is serious.  We all know stalking doesn’t just happen in the U.S. – it happens all over the world, and it is serious wherever it happens.  Now that this blog has been visited over 5 million times, and has been read in over 115 countries, I would like to share with you another interesting fact…of course the U.S. has had the largest number of people that have read this blog, but those numbers have been followed up by the UK, and then Australia in turn.

So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when I was asked to fly to London to speak about Morgan’s stalking, and suspicious death.  So last week I flew to London in order to raise awareness, as well as to help the cause.  While in London my heart was filled with all the wonderful and positive energy that all of you have shared with me during my quest to find justice for Morgan.  I wanted to include you all in this, as I felt like I was taking all of you with me in spirit – and I believe this was another step forward in Morgan’s case.  The product of this trip will end up being a very affective and powerful tool when it comes to the changes we all want to see made in this world.  When the truth is let loose there is no need to defend it…it will defend itself.

The very first thing I noticed about London were the people…they seemed so happy.  I’m sure they probably have all the same type of crimes that we have, but they all seemed so warm and positive, happy and kind.  Especially the folks that I came there to speak with, they were all of the above plus driven to make a difference in this world.  So basically they were the kind of people I felt very honored to spend time with.  I am so very grateful to have had this opportunity, and I just wanted to share this with all of you.

Please do not ever give up hope that Morgan will get justice someday – I will never give up, our whole family will never give up, and I know it will happen.  There have been people over the past few years that have tried extremely hard (and are still trying) to keep Morgan’s murder from ever being a case that gets investigated, I don’t have to wonder why that is – it’s because if you have something to hide you don’t want the truth coming out.  Unfortunately for all of them the truth is surfacing, and can not be hidden forever…it is emerging.  Morgan’s case is a cold case.  A cold case that is not yet even a case because local law enforcement in Garfield County did not want it to ever be a case.  This is not only outrageous, but absurd!

Our families story is a cautionary tale.  You can not always trust that everyone has your best interests at heart.  Sometimes the people that are supposed to be the “good guys” are really not.  After all our family has been through since Morgan’s murder, I have realized that If you are faced with a situation where law enforcement will not investigate an obvious crime, a crime that has happened to someone you care about, then you need to become your own lead detective, your own investigator.  It’s not easy, but it can be done.  Be suspicious, ask questions, if they will not give you any answers keep asking, don’t give up.

In the face of tragedy I have seen the resilience in other families as they continue to fight for justice, and I must admit it is quite humbling.  They stand up for what is right and true, they do not hide and pretend everything is fine, because they know…it is not.  It is not okay – none of this is okay.

If local law enforcement can slam the door closed on an obvious capital crime and there is no remedy, no checks and balances that would allow, or even require another agency to come in and investigate then you have a really big problem!  If that happens, and it is in Colorado, you should be very frightened, this really means you have no protection under the law, only the protection that local law enforcement decides you should have, grants to you, and if that local law enforcement decides to protect the rights of the criminal and not the victim (living or not) then local law enforcement is thumbing their noses at the laws that have been put in place to protect the citizens of the United States of America.  This is not only morally unacceptable, but this is exactly why today there is such widespread and growing mistrust of the police.  And it is not all of law enforcement, it is the actions of very few that are casting a pall over all of law enforcement.

We were told over and over again that the sheriffs department did not have the “resources,” or could not get the approval to spend very much time on Morgan’s case. Oh they could send patrol officers to our house when we called in an incident, they could allow a detective to come meet with Morgan once a week for about a 1/2 hour, but that’s all she got.  Not enough money or manpower to really investigate any lead, in her stalking or her death, and there were plenty of leads that were completely ignored.  I learned many months after her death that they never even knew where the prime suspect lived after he had moved out of our neighborhood.  He had given them an address that did not exist, and they never followed up past that.  The man suspected of a felony gives the sheriffs an address that does not exist and they drop it right there.  That’s investigating the crime?  I don’t think so.  There was not enough in the budget to send images in to the FBI for analysis in order try and get a positive connection, perhaps solve the crime before it ended in violence?  I kept hearing they were going to bring the tracking dog in, but for whatever reason they never did.  When the suspect lives three houses down the street from us!  But then the Garfield County Sheriffs department does have a tank.  Morgan’s case never deserved tracking dogs to follow her stalker, for footprints the stalker left outside her window to be cast, or photographic evidence sent off to labs for further analysis.  Even for fresh new batteries in their wildlife cameras once a month.  But the sheriffs deserve a tank.  Why?  Does this tank protect stalking victims, rape victims, brutalized children, victims of domestic violence?  We have all of those in Garfield County and Morgan’s case was, and is not an isolated case.  There were many, just in our neighborhood in the past years, most never became actual reports, as if they never happened.  It’s a trade off I don’t understand unless it’s because the victims of these crimes are almost entirely women, and the County doesn’t care about protecting women?

When is this tank more important than batteries for your wildlife cameras, or a few trips out with the tracking dogs.  New Yorker reporter Sarah Stillman wrote, “thousands of police departments nationwide have recently acquired stun grenades, armored tanks, counterattack vehicles, and other paramilitary equipment, much of it purchased with asset-forfeiture funds.”  So SWAT teams have an incentive to conduct raids where they seize property and cash that then goes into their budgets for more weapons.

Dubious informants are used for raids. As New Yorker reporter Sarah Stillman wrote in another piece, informants are “the foot soldiers in the government’s war on drugs. By some estimates, up to eighty percent of all drug cases in America involve them.” Given SWAT teams’ focus on finding drugs, it’s no surprise that informants are used to gather information that lead to military-style police raids.

So does this mean drug informants get, “hands off” treatment and if their, “handler” loses track of them and they do something “heinous” then it needs to be hushed up?  The possibility is certainly there, and many documented cases do exist.  You decide for yourself, but if you do still live in Garfield County please, please, please be aware that there is a dark side there, and only if we the people expose what is really happening there then what happened to our youngest daughter can happen to anyone at anytime and there will be nothing you can do about it.

“The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them.” (Lois McMaster Bujold)

Another murder case in Colorado…called a suicide…covered up…now opened as a murder investigation

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Reporter Justin Joseph of Fox31 News Denver helped the family of Ashley Fallis to uncover the facts and evidence about her murder, like in Morgan’s case Ashley’s death was being called a suicide.  A new investigation is now being opened!  I applaud this reporter and Fox31 News Denver for helping this family in their time of need to illuminate the truth!

Evans detective accused of covering up evidence to hide murder as suicide
kdvr.com
EVANS, Colo. – The Evans Police Department has reopened an investigation into the death of a 28-year-old woman after FOX31 Denver found evidence an Evans police detective misstated or…

Evans police reopen murder investigation after FOX31 finds new evidence
kdvr.com
DENVER — The Evans Police Department has reopened an investigation into the shooting death of Ashley Fallis after a year-long investigation uncovered new evidence in the case. The…

Coming out of a long lull…Stalker / Murderer please beware – we are stronger than ever now ! ! !

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Morgan 570

Looking through the so many photographs Morgan took this picture Morgan shot of the sun breaking out through the branches of the tree just reminded me of the strength and determination within Steve and I that has been quite for perhaps a little too long.   So after a long lull without writing on this blog I have decided to burst forward again now.  No more silence.

John Edward had posted that the greatest pleasure in life is doing something people say you can not do, and we WILL do this Morgan – that I promise you. It is taking a long time, but we won’t give up, and we will make sure the truth comes out no matter how hard people try to stop us – remember we NEVER GIVE UP!

I have been extremely hesitant up until now to share all the evidence we have that Morgan was murdered, and who murdered her.  I was hesitant, but at the same time I was releasing what I thought was enough information to help officials understand that this was an investigation that should be opened.  This is not really “my” evidence, but rather the professional opinions shared with us based on the facts of Morgan’s case.  As if a law enforcement agency had conducted an investigation into how – a young woman in excellent health and the victim of a felony stalking case was suddenly dead. Days after her stalking was thought to escalate by the lead investigator. When she was killed, the story slowly changed and grieving parents were far too trusting of those officials.

Since then, many tens of thousands of people have written in to us to tell us that they feel the same way we do and could not for the life of them figure out why the investigation had not been opened.  I felt that only a law enforcement agency should have all the evidence to be on the safe side, in order to get a conviction someday, but now I am not so sure it has to wait for that time to come.

So Steve and I have discussed this and decided that I should change this blog very soon – to change the story line to be all about sharing all the evidence of the excruciating story of Morgan’s murder, not just limit it to the title of Morgan’s Stalking and what has been told so far about her stalking.  However I can’t stress enough  how the story of Morgan’s stalking has opened many eyes around the world and I have been very blessed to have been able to share real life information with other stalking victims through this blog, information that ultimately was able to help so many victims of not only stalking but of vicious crimes against victims screaming for help.  Helping others will always be my path now, but it is time to come out fighting for Morgan once again…and trust me – we will be fierce and unyielding to those who were involved in her death. Our path will be the truth,  scientific, forensic, and undeniable.  Because when you come from the truth, it makes it extremely difficult for the wrongdoers and those who would protect them to hide behind their pat, but so far less-than-true answers.

I have recently had people send me emails about things that are being said on the Internet about me, Morgan, my family, supporters, and on and on.  The funny thing about what I am hearing is number one, none of these people knew anything about Morgan or our family.  None of these people knew anything about Morgan’s life…they didn’t know her as a free spirit, a lover of life, and most importantly, a devout helper of others.  They certainly weren’t able to even begin to see how horrific her stalking was, and how she tried her best to continue her life loving and helping others so as not to let someone else have control over her.  Morgan was always first and foremost a fighter. Morgan fought for herself and others so many times over the years…she fought with wit, dignity and perseverance.  If only she had been returned the love she gave in her death, instead of weak attempts to pretend it never happened at all.

I can try to tell you that the morning we found Morgan’s lifeless body was the worse day a parent could ever imagine, but no parent could ever give that instant the justice it deserves. Now, March 4, 2014, over 2 years removed from that unimaginable day and with so many experts weighing in on all the evidence, we not only know Morgan was murdered, but we also know it was a horrific murder, and Morgan did suffer.  Morgan even managed to leave a conclusive sign as to who the murderer was – we did not find this out until one year and 11 months after her murder.  The reason it has taken so long for us to learn what really happened to our youngest daughter Morgan is a story within itself.

To all of you who have supported Morgan (Team Morgan), and our fight for justice over these past two years, Steve and I are eternally grateful – we love you all, and we want you all to know that you have helped so many others besides just us.  You have given us strength, made comments with stories that have helped other victims feel empowered and not so alone in their own fight.  Your voices are being heard, and so is Morgan’s voice. I have always tried to keep this blog available as a tool for education, and comfort, and at the same time telling Morgan’s story for all to learn from.

But now it is time for me to start to reveal the darker and more insidious things that happened in order to show how really pathetic and ridiculous this is for Colorado to put up with this type of thing going on.  This is no longer the wild west where people get away with whatever they want to get away with.  Criminals should not be allowed to kill and kill again, over and over until someday maybe they are caught.  How many victims should there be?  What if one of the victims were your loved one, your child?  If the criminal had been caught right away (and yes there usually is some evidence and/or people who always know, but are afraid to tell) then how many innocent lives would have been saved?

This is our reasoning for changing the direction of my writing in the months to come.  The Aspen Daily News says on its front page, “If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen.” and emphatically, that is not only profound but it is what I believe, having learned the hardest way possible.  To those who have killed our child, stolen a precious soul from our world, and then lied about our family and threatened anyone that stands with us in truth or even the search for it – watch out…if you did it will now be printed.

 

 

 

 

 

An article from the Journal of Criminal Justice – how would you react if your daughter was stalked & murdered?

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Let’s say for a moment (and I pray this will never be true in your case) that your daughter has a stalker – you want to keep your daughter safe so you call law enforcement, but at the same time you don’t just sit back and hope they protect her (you realize they can’t be everywhere all the time), you also do everything you can think of to keep her safe, while at the same time trusting in law enforcement to do their job.  You have no experience when it comes to stalking situations, you have only heard about celebrity stalkers, and you have no idea what to do or not to do.

Everyone you confide in has different suggestions – you decide to do as many as possible. Motion alarms, motions lights, cameras, pepper spray, mace with a staining solution that glows in the dark, water and rake the ground in order to get better footprints, observe what lights are on in neighboring houses or what cars are in driveways in the middle of the night when the stalker was just at your house, do your own stake-out, keep a timeline, borrow a watch dog, (we did that for a week, we love our dog, but just as a few of our readers have said that have the same breed as our dog, our dog is not a watch dog, never barked when the code on the front door was pushed, never barked when tapping happened on the windows), she only barks when she hears the doorbell ring (Morgan’s stalker did not ring the doorbell), or when she hears a loud knocking on the front door (Morgan’s stalker did not do that either), or if she sees someone through a window that she does not trust (that happened once when the stalker came up our driveway at night and she saw him through the front door window, read about that one here, October 18, 2011), but she did bark 3 times because of the stalker that I remember during that 4 month period, once which I mentioned above, once when I was in my office in the very front of the house, I had not gone to bed yet – I was waiting up to meet Morgan in the driveway, and Morgan called to say she would not be home until morning because she was sleeping at a friend’s house – she was exhausted and wanted to get a full nights sleep.  As soon as I hung up the phone something hard, and loud hit my window – I was startled and jumped, as did our dog, who was lying on the floor next to where I was standing, and she started to bark.  That was my first time to feel the absolute skin crawling fright that Morgan had been experiencing almost every day – and that was the first, and one of the 3 times our dog barked because of the stalker.  Suggestions like a bear trap, fish hooks on invisible fishing line hanging from the trees, things like that I couldn’t do – I love animals just like Morgan did, and injuring or killing an animal while trying to catch or stop a stalker did not sound like the right thing to do at the time.

Then your daughter’s stalking case becomes a FELONY STALKING case, and a detective is assigned to the case. You breathe a sigh of relief (because you trust law enforcement, you, like me, have seen some amazing heroes over the years), but you still keep trying to come up with ways to catch the stalker, as well as ways to protect your daughter, because you are a parent, and that is what parents are supposed to do…protect your child. With all the things we had tried we were still trying to add more things – wouldn’t you?  I told Morgan I would purchase a taser gun for her, she said she wouldn’t be able to use it.  Why?  She said, “Mom picture this, I am walking from the car to the house, holding car keys in one hand, along with pepper spray and my puppies leash in the other hand, how am I supposed to hold a taser and use it?”  So much for that idea…so I kept meeting her every time she drove home, in the driveway with pepper spray in my hand as well.  She would always send me a text to tell me she was on her way home, and I would wait for her and meet her outside – no matter what the weather was like, I’m sure you would do the same to protect your daughter.  Were her text messages being monitored?  I asked the detective, but he said he didn’t know of any software that could do that. Relatives said to carry a gun – we had one – and if we had to use it in the house we would have, but we lived in a neighborhood with houses fairly close together so if we saw the stalker running outside of our house and shot at him and missed the bullet could have gone right into a neighbor’s house and wounded, or even worse, killed an innocent person – that to me was not a valid option either.

Then after four months of being terrorized, the unthinkable happens…you find your daughter’s lifeless body.  You call 911 – you do CPR until the EMT’s rush into your home to take over, with so much hope and determination in their eyes, definitely heroes trying to save our 20-year-old with so much life still ahead of her, only to bow their heads in defeat. Your mind swirls thinking you must be having a nightmare.  This can’t be happening!  Please take me not her…then your mind starts up with all the questions – what happened, how did this happen, how could this happen to her?

This is now the worst pain you have ever felt in your entire life and it doesn’t end there.  That same morning you are told there are no signs of forced entry, no signs of a sexual assault, no signs of a struggle, no signs of suicide, and at this time law enforcement tells you her death is a mystery.  Your mind screams – mystery?  She is a healthy 20-year-old that has a felony stalker that has been terrorizing her for 4 months, and you were just told by the lead detective (only 2 days earlier) that in his opinion the stalker would not stop, if anything he would escalate – you start to ask question after question, hoping for some answers that make sense, but don’t get any, and all you can do now is still trust that law enforcement is really investigating, and will give you some answers.  Unfortunately you are wrong… it has now been one year, and nine months and you still have not received the information that you have requested, and deserve to have.

What would you think?  Would you think this is a cover-up?  Would you think this is just CYA because of mistakes law enforcement made, mistakes they can’t afford to admit now that your daughter is dead?  Would you think that maybe your law enforcement department was just lazy?  Would you think this is just because you live in a small town and small towns don’t have enough resources like big cities, so this is what happens – they just close the investigation?

For me none of the above reasons work, because EVERY human life is precious and deserves respect, dignity and honesty.  Families deserve answers.  Morgan’s felony stalking case was closed after she was murdered – 2 days before her murder I was told by the lead detective he was close to making an arrest then after she was gone no more follow-up, case closed.  This is after bringing the sheriff’s information, evidence to follow-up on and so much more, but only to see that they would not follow-up on anything or spend anymore time on her investigation.  What would you do when the suspects family tells you he was either working or not in state when Morgan’s stalking incidents occurred?  Number one how would they know when those incidents actually occurred considering the sheriff’s reports did not show all the reports?  And even more important than that is the fact that the sheriff’s did receive the work schedule for the suspect after Morgan’s murder and if they had actually looked at it and compared it to my timeline, like they were planning on doing before her murder, they would have seen what I saw…yes he was in the state (except when there was an intentional alibi being made or when there were no stalking incidents on my timeline).  I was shocked when I started looking over his hours – of course I was infuriated, wouldn’t you be?  And this is why the article mentioned below is so important…law enforcement doesn’t have to be super heroes they just need to be honest and do their job, most do, but not all and that is where change needs to be made.  Someone shouldn’t get away with murder, because it gets swept under the rug, or because a contracted forensic pathologist is allowed to say its natural causes for 8 months while being told that it can’t be by so many experts, and then he changes it to suicide when that is not true either and there is conclusive proof to the contrary.  When that is allowed to happen then other families will lose loved ones over and over, (because someone got away with murder), and the next time it can be anyone’s daughter.

I know that law enforcement can’t be everywhere at all times, I know law enforcement officers are just human like the rest of us and make mistakes too, but I also know that in my job (probably in yours too) I have to be honest, and accountable for the mistakes I make, correct them and do my best to make sure it does not happen again.  The only person responsible for Morgan’s murder is Morgan’s murderer, along with anyone that tried to cover up the crime – there are others who might be tried as an “accomplice” or an “accessory”, and remember there is no statute of limitations on murder.

This article (see link below) from the Journal of Criminal Justice explains very succinctly why there needs to be transparency, and honesty when law enforcement, and the judicial system deals with the family of victims of crime.

Journal of Criminal Justice 38 (2010) 880–888 click here http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2012a/commsumm.nsf/b4a3962433b52fa787256e5f00670a71/4edad3b79d32555b872579ac007e1eba/$FILE/SenJud0222AttachG.pdf to read the full publication.  I am so happy there are so many scholarly people in this world that can explain things that I think and have come to know, but can not properly articulate to others.

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.