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

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 ! ! !

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?

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.

The crime scene was a “mystery” wonder why?

I guess if you die under suspicious circumstances, you have been stalked for 4 months, and you are a healthy 20-year-old…I guess law enforcement shouldn’t wonder if maybe a murder has been committed and they should gather as much evidence as possible.

Just the thought of an autopsy makes my eyes shut and my shoulders quiver.  But I told myself, they’re right, it has to be done, and I tried to think of other things, pretend it was not happening. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do, maybe I should have grabbed Steve, and insisted on both of us riding with her, being right there every horrific step of the way. If my daughter was taken away in an ambulance to the hospital it would not have been any other way…I would have been with her.  Steve and I would be right there every single step of the way.  But on that cold Friday morning, on December 2nd, they were taking my daughter’s body away, not my daughter.

Only I’ve been told I would not have been allowed to be there for any step of the way, no matter how much I insisted.  First, as hard as it is for me to conceive, I was a suspect – until I am ruled out, it could have been me, and I can’t begin to be ruled out until the autopsy is finished, so I can’t possibly be allowed anywhere near it.

Enter the first theories of law as I understand them:

  • Pronouncement of death
  • Process the scene
  • Approve the removal of the body
  • Arrange to have the body moved to the lab for an autopsy
  • Maintain the chain of custody

And all of those steps happened for Morgan, but remember they were done by Thomas Walton.  What if he is not trained or legally able to do any of them?  What if the Garfield County Coroner’s office never completed the steps that would have established Thomas Walton as a legal Deputy Coroner?  I don’t even want to think about how potentially tainted Morgan’s case could be by the actions of the Coroner. But first things first.

There is another document recently adopted by the State of Colorado in May of 2011, before Morgan’s murder.  To clarify autopsies and it pertains to this case.  It is called the National Association of Medical Examiners Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards (NAME).  It was adopted intact as the minimum for an autopsy in the State of Colorado.

And wouldn’t you know it, right there in the first section, section A, another problem.

Section A: Medicolegal Death Investigation

The purpose of this section is to define responsibility for medicolegal death investigation and to outline the types of cases that are to be investigated by such systems. Investigations can be conducted by inquiry with or without examination. Inquiries are typically conducted via telephone interview, personal interview, or review of records. Examination may include scene investigation, external inspection, and forensic autopsy.

Standard A1 Responsibilities

Medicolegal death investigation officers, be they appointed or elected, are charged by statute to investigate deaths deemed to be in the public interest–serving both the criminal justice, civil justice and public health systems. These officials must investigate cooperatively with, but independent from, law enforcement and prosecutors. The parallel investigation promotes neutral and objective medical assessment of the cause and manner of death.

To promote competent and objective death investigations:

A1.1 Medicolegal death investigation officers should operate without any undue influence from law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.

A1.2 A forensic pathologist or representative shall evaluate the circumstances surrounding all reported deaths

The problem? The investigators and interviewers are to be independent from law enforcement and prosecutors.  Well if your interviewer is a Garfield County Sheriff’s detective, and your investigators are a group of Garfield County Deputies and Detectives, do you see the problem?  None of these people can legally be processing the crime scene.  It’s Colorado Law.  In Morgan’s case a neutral and objective medical assessment of the cause and manner of death never happened.

Was Thomas Walton, not really a legal deputy coroner? And a death scene overrun with Garfield County Sheriffs who are not supposed to be participating, by Colorado Law. Is that what Morgan had?  No Medicolegal officers in charge here,  trained in death scene assessment, practicing good investigative techniques present to take over and restore order?  Are all of the pages of investigation from Morgan’s death scene not potential evidence of a crime?  Are they rather evidence of a crime or evidence of crimes by the deputy coroner by the mere fact of being there, and crimes by the Garfield County Sheriff’s department by interviewing, touching, processing, and handling all of the evidence in an investigation that must be independent from these very law enforcement personnel?  Why on earth would they do that?  And who is responsible for the law enforcement personnel not following the law?

Should Thomas Walton have been in charge of preventing this intrusion into the death scene in violation of Colorado Revised Statutes?  He should have been, but…  Certainly not If his mere presence is in direct violation of Colorado Revised Statutes.  Is this really what happened?  Was Morgan’s death scene destroyed for all intents and purposes by the Sheriff and the Coroner?  And of course if you have been reading this blog of Morgan’s stalking you have to know it does not get any better.  You might be wondering how it could possibly get worse, but trust me, it can, and it does.

Enter Dr. Robert Kurtzman the forensic pathologist. He will be supervising the autopsy.  And the National Association of Medical Examiners Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards adopted by the State of Colorado once again set his minimum standards to work under.

I am only going to question one facet, as most of us did not witness what happened.  This is more of a prima fascia case based on timing.

First the standards complete with examples:

These standards underscore the need for assessment of all available information prior to the forensic autopsy to (1) direct the performance of the forensic autopsy, (2) answer specific questions unique to the circumstances of the case, (3) document evidence, the initial external appearance of the body, and its clothing and property items, and (4) correlate alterations in these items with injury patterns on the body. Just as a surgeon does not operate without first preparing a history and physical examination, so must the forensic pathologist ascertain enough history and circumstances and may need to inspect the body to decide whether a forensic autopsy is indicated and to direct the forensic autopsy toward relevant case questions.

Steve was asked by the detective to prepare an email with anything they should look for at autopsy, no matter how minor or far fetched, absolutely anything that may help to guide the autopsy.  They told him he didn’t have to do it right away. This was Friday early noon and they said Monday would be just fine.  So it has always bothered me deeply that a forensic pathologist is supposed to assemble all of the facts, history and circumstances, Prior to the autopsy, not during, not after – Prior.  And that simply was not done for Morgan.  And what is the purpose of asking Steve for that email of things, “to look for at autopsy” when the autopsy is going to be wrapped up Friday evening, in time for dinner, before Steve ever sends the email of what to look for. Has anyone ever given you a list of things to pick up at the store, after you leave the store?  Is this what happens when the Deputy Coroner lacks training and certifications, and when in place of Medicolegal officers they utilize the one officer that is specifically to be excluded from the investigation, the law enforcement officer.  And then it all ends up in a nice pile for the Forensic Pathologist, and he knows without question the investigators were not Medicolegal officers, that they were Garfield Sheriff’s.  He knew or should have known this is in direct conflict with the Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards that he is charged with upholding.

And it is not a simple gaffe, not a simple misunderstanding, it is in direct violation of Colorado Revised Statutes.  It is going 85 MPH when the posted limit is 25 MPH.  It is breaking the law.  A rose by any other name and all that.  I have been told there are “official” documents of Morgan released and circulating.  I should look at them.  But I have not.  I really don’t want to see them because to me they are anything but official documents.  They are prima fascia evidence of the miscarriage of justice that took place and continues to take place in the investigation of Morgan’s death.

Would you believe me if I told you that – to date nobody has ever asked Steve or I, her only parents, who her doctor was, what medications, if any, she was currently taking, and for what reason?  Where would be the best place to get the most current medical records for Morgan, and on and on.  I already know the answer, but really, is it too late to just start over?  It could not be any worse.

On the way to Grand Junction