A Cry for Help – #stalkingvictims

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Morgan fought to the end – If She was Disappointed, She had Every Right to Be.

We know that Morgan was killed.  The doctors, the specialists, and the professors who’s pleas to Garfield County that fell on deaf ears have assured us of that fact.

We know the history the Ingram family now has with the contracted forensic pathologist hired by the Garfield County Coroner.

  1. He found Morgan’s manner of death from a disease she was never, ever diagnosed with.
  2. In his contracted capacity as the forensic pathologist, he is required by statute to manage the death scene, which he did not.
  3. He threatened me, more than once, I reported this to the Detective, and to the Coroner, and neither one ever answered me.  Say something they don’t like to hear, even if true, and they ignore you.
  4. Doctors helping us wanted to run tests on Morgan’s remaining samples, to help prove other possible manners of death.  The contracted pathologist knew this, but still ordered tests on samples in secrecy, violating our victims rights, and completely exhausting the samples remaining.  Why would he do this?
  5. Based on results that only further proved foul play, the pathologist found her death a suicide based on the theoretical ingesting of a quantity of pills that would not even be a fraction of a lethal dose.

Every day brings us closer to protracted litigation at a staggering cost as our only alternative to giving up.

On the first episode of Dr. Phil, the death scene evidence establishing the presence of someone in her room was not mentioned due to ongoing investigation on our part, as the Sheriff’s Department had given up the morning she was found dead.  This included –

  1. Morgan’s room was, for many reasons, very noticeably and completely disheveled from previous afternoon, and evening.
  2. Her panic button, which rang a chime in our room, was torn off its mount on her nightstand, and found later on the floor under clothes.
  3. Morgan was dressed in street clothes, and she never slept in street clothes.  These clothes she was found in were not the same clothes that she wore home the night before.
  4. Morgan’s PJ’s she was wearing that night when going to sleep were gone.
  5. A suspicious spray was detected on Morgan’s chest under blacklight, the most primitive means of examining for this, yet the contracted forensic pathologist found nothing on her chest.  A spray of dots does not disappear.
  6. Morgan had wounds on her right hand not seen the night before, and consistent with defensive wounds.
  7. She had a small red spot on her forehead, the size of a thumb that was not seen the night before by her father.
  8. She had a small quantity of blood at edge of her lips.
  9. There was a burn on the inside of her wrist.  There are two quite sinister reasons for this, but a Medical Examiner has not had a chance to comment on what he believes it means.  I do know that it was new and it was not seen the night before.
  10. Her eyes were wide open and sold black, consistent with bleeding before she died and then the blood turning black over the course of the night.
  11. The nails on her right hand were damaged when we saw her body again at the viewing and this is when they were first noticed by us.  The contracted pathologist said he did not touch her nails, the detectives say they looked fine to them.  The Coroner refuses to give us copies of the pictures taken at her death scene to really know when the damage occured – wouldn’t that be a huge question as it would show that she fought someone off?  A big question mark for the time being.
  12. Morgan was found on the opposite side of bed from where she always slept, facing the opposite direction from where she usually faced.
  13. I felt her body looked posed when I first saw it, I told the detectives that the same morning, there was no mention of this exact fact.
  14. Every report and opinion says the indications are simply that she was lying on her stomach, yet I found her on her side, and until Steve moved her to her back, that is how she was lying.  She was never on her stomach that morning, not even for an instant.
  15. Morgan’s lights in her bathroom, attached to her bedroom, went on sometime after midnight, Morgan never slept with lights on.  If she were still alive then, she could have turned them on, but she would have turned them off again.  The person who observed the lights wanted to explain this, and other things he had observed, but was never questioned by the Sheriff’s department.
  16. All of Morgan’s jewelry of value went missing from her room sometime that night and was never found again.  Keenan had a warrant issued for his arrest (and was arrested just weeks after her murder) for selling jewelry, in person, at a, “cash for gold store.”  The Detective insisted I produce a photograph of every piece of Morgan’s jewelry first, and refused to give me even a list of what the stolen pawned jewelry contained.  Further the proprietors of the cash for gold store instantly recognized Keenan from a Facebook picture as a regular customer.
  17. A knife Steve had just purchased for Morgan was in her bed, in an odd place, still in the box, with a happy face drawn on it by Steve.
  18. A very recent and important gift to Morgan was taken from its box, the box left and the gift never found.
  19. Morgan’s camera was taken into evidence and returned by the Sheriff’s.  When it was returned from evidence, it was missing the memory chip from the camera.  The Sheriff’s department has not been able to locate that memory chip or a copy that they would have made if there was a memory chip in it.
  20. Morgan’s driver’s license was missing from her purse.  Her instruction permit which she normally kept in her purse right behind her license was still there, but her current drivers license was missing and has never been located.
  21. Other doctors helping with Morgan’s case found that she died from a massive overkill, one time dose of Amitriptyline early on in their examination of her toxicology results.  The contracted forensic pathologist finally backed off his stance that she died from a disease she was never diagnosed with, and backed off to partially agree with this same conclusion after eight months.  He really had no choice as he was clinging to a non-defensible position.  A container or any syringe to hold, and administer this very lethal dose was never found in her room, or anywhere in her possessions.

At least three other pieces of evidence exist that point to an intruder in her room that night, but are being withheld at this time.  One of these is something taken from the house that was not discovered until just weeks ago.  Following every lead to the end will mean taking the video surveillance recorder back out and reviewing all six cameras for another day.  So as you can see the investigation never really stops, and useful evidence is constantly refined, our knowledge of what really happened that night will never be 100%, but it is always improving.  The real question is, if it was not Keenan in Morgan’s room that night, then who was it?

Now for those of you who do not know her, Morgan was a fighter, ask any of her friends and they will tell you that Morgan would not have gone down without a fight.  However, backing up for moment first, and imagining Steve and I when Morgan was first found, then at that moment in time when her cause of death was being called Natural Causes.  We did not think anyone was in her room initially and did not thoroughly search for indications.  We researched her manner of death to safeguard our grandchildren from some unknown malady. As far as I can tell the Garfield Sheriff’s Department never did any search for an intruder.  And as it became more and more obvious someone had to have been in her room, we fought the idea, I believe because it was just too painful to believe.  It was quite some time before we could fully accept it.

The first question then became her puppy, Wylah, why would she not have barked?  It was a quandary.  Then came a possible solution, Steve was being questioned by an investigator, recreating the moment when the first responders were there, at least three big men, all strangers to Wylah.  Steve remembers clearly that she just sat on the bed and did not make a sound.  That was a good enough solution for the investigator, but I still wonder if there wasn’t some other way that she was subdued, some way that would carry over to subduing Morgan also.

Some have conjectured that she could have been threatened, assured she was not going to be killed, and threatened that one peep and Morgan’s puppy dies, or her cat, or even Morgan’s parents.  I could see this happening.  Morgan would have been compelled to go along.

Then think of drugs, there were five date rape drugs found in her stomach, none of them ever absorbed into her body, and a massive dose of amitriptyline in her bloodstream, one of he highest doses ever seen at the national crime lab her samples were tested at.  Then, what about one more drug to sedate her.  The only Tox screens that were run were very basic, and many drugs that would easily have knocked her out would not be detected at all.  And not to be mysterious, but there is now a third possibility being checked out that will not be on the blog real soon, but it will find its way here as soon as it’s thoroughly checked out.

And that cry for help, it was real and it was meaningful, if only we had fully understood its importance….

 

For all the times she helped me…

Morgan Sharing her love with the world

Morgan Sharing her love with the world

The days are long and I am not sure myself if, like Steve, the realization that she is really gone is stronger now than it has ever been…

There is however, one big shining glow that both of us have to acknowledge – even just yesterday, one of Morgan’s friends expressed, “You should remember that Morgan inspires me to this day to do my best, she was my mirror, reflected who I was when I couldn’t see.”  I thought that was so beautiful and I just wanted to share that with you all.  More than anything in the world, Morgan CARED.  She cared about everyone, she loved so many people, and wanted to help the world.

To all of you who have expressed in some private moment how much Morgan changed your life – for the better, forever – I just want you to know as parents, Steve and I will cherish those very meaningful feelings always, and we love you all for your willingness to tell us about our daughter.

So sincerely,

Steve and Toni

 

 

es·ca·late – Become or cause to become more intense or serious

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It was coming to a close, the term, “getting close to an arrest,” was being bandied about with new meaning.  In a discussion Morgan had with her doctor concerning how she was feeling about her stalker, only 36 hours before we found her lifeless body, Morgan told her doctor that she was positive, and upbeat and that the Detectives in her case felt they were very close to making an arrest.  She saw the end of the nightmare, and she smiled at the thought.

On the drive home there were even giggles about the happy thoughts we focused on even though some very disturbing news to Morgan had been told to her by a friend over her cell phone.  Instead of going into self-pity mode Morgan, being Morgan asked her dad for a knife for extra protection, which he stopped and purchased for her on our way home.  Morgan had such courage and it never left her, even at the bitter end.

The very day before this drive (2 nights before her murder) I asked Detective Glassmire what he thought it meant, with so many upcoming events in her stalking case.  About how I thought the colder weather may also turn the stalker away, as one of the Sheriff’s Patrol Officers had mentioned in the beginning of the stalking.  When I think back on it now, his answer surprised me for an instant, as he said very matter-of-fact type of way that he felt, “if anything, it was going to escalate.”  Just like that, he “felt it was going to escalate.”

To put it in perspective, when you are not getting sleep, watching surveillance videos until you pass out and finding great joy and relief in a trip to Grand junction for an annual gynecological appointment, the word escalate is not something your mind wants to hear, much less process into a tangible thought.  Steve would have had some quick comeback, he would not have let that particular word slip by, but Steve was not there.  It was only Detective Glassmire and myself, standing at the corner of the house, between Morgan’s room and a tree we would later learn the stalker used to exit the roof.

To find out now that Detective Glassmire had told the suspects about her pending formal interview, on camera, I have to ask…was he thinking that this would scare them?  That knowing their goose would soon be cooked was all this case needed to end?  No, he knew the answer when he told me that, if anything, there would be a reaction, an increase in intensity, it would escalate.  That was Tuesday afternoon, November 30th, 2011, 2 days before Morgan would go to sleep for the last time.

Sandwiched around that day would be an interview with the on again off again prime suspect, known to be involved by the Garfield County Sheriffs Department Detectives, just not in what capacity, Brooke was, “kicked around constantly,” as the leader of the stalking, a participant alongside Keenan, and as knowing what Keenan was doing, but that was all.  This was before we would find out that Brooke had a habit of threatening Morgan, telling many others that Morgan was going to get it someday.  Detective Glassmire would reveal the date of the pending interview of Morgan with this suspect.  Something would happen to raise the Detective’s level of certainty that Keenan was Morgan’s stalker to 100%.

Morgan did not need any more evidence, she was already 100% sure it was Keenan.  She was an eyewitness to Keenan’s stalking, having seen him from a distance of less than 15 feet four times.  Once getting out of her car to stand in the roadway because she was not about to tell the Deputies she was 99% sure it was him only to be told that was not good enough.  Morgan was willing to risk it all to be 100% sure.  She did and she was,  I was 99% sure, and told Detective Glassmire that.

Keenan would know that the record of his hours working for City Market was going to be handed over the Sheriff’s department the following week.  Not only did the Detective think that, “if anything, the stalking was going to escalate.”  He would ask for, and receive increased patrols, an extra one or two a night.  And they would all be 100% focused up on our roof.  What did they find out?  And why did they not share it with us?

Knowing why the extra patrols were ordered would have been far more valuable than the extra minute or two of safety the extra patrols gave.  If we had known the danger level Morgan was in we would have somehow gotten her away where no one could find her – but we were not given that chance.  Was critical information withheld from us?  This has been eating at me for such a long time now and I really need to know.  Law enforcement doesn’t want to give that up – that would look like they made a mistake so they sweep it under the rug for no one to see.  How does that help the next victim?  What do you tell her parents, the same lines we were fed?  Accountability for your actions and changing the way things are done so it doesn’t happen again is what we teach our children – why were we not told, when our daughters life could have been at stake for all they knew those few days before she was, in fact, killed?

Tomorrow on Dr. Phil

Just in case you missed the Dr. Phil show at the end of last November here it is again…airing tomorrow on Wednesday, 7/10/2013 one of our supporters sent us this to let us know.  It was really edited down so we were not able to say a lot but it is interesting to watch.  Let me know what you think.

Attention supporters, @morgansstalking will be appearing on @DrPhil tomorrow, 7/10/13. Sneak peak -> http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1918 

Law and Order, or is the Beginning of the End of #Stalkers Running Free too Tall an Order?

Expressions of Morgan

Expressions of Morgan

‘Law and Order’ is such a simple phrase, that means so very much when you find yourself a victim.  Law is the premise, the nucleus, that brings order.  Law is dynamic, very dynamic I’m finding this as I read the Colorado Revised Statutes with all of the year specific repeals, and additions.  Keeping pace with the ever altering landscape that is our lives is graphically displayed.  How one single word changes everything is just as amazing to me.

In Morgan’s case I am troubled to no end, because laws existed, but were not enforced, or maybe brought into play is a better way to think of it.  For example part of a Colorado Revised Statute (or C.R.S.) says:

The general assembly hereby recognizes the seriousness posed by stalking and adopts the provisions of this part 6 with the goal of encouraging and authorizing effective intervention before stalking can escalate into behavior that has even more serious consequences.

Then we had a Sheriff, under whom’s direction, his department assigns a Detective on day 58 of Morgan’s Stalking.  Effective Intervention?  58 days?  What do you think?  And remember Deputies did respond during the 58 days before, but, no sirens, no blinking lights, they can’t collect fingerprints, cast shoe prints or effectively collect evidence, the case has no case number, because it has not opened yet, and as I’m also finding, record keeping is completely shaky at the very best.  The responding Deputies also told me that this was Colorado Law,  I haven’t been able to find the law they talked about, but as you can see the one I did find is quite the opposite.  And that the stalking did in fact “escalate into behavior that had even more serious consequences”, is without question.

And it was not just the nearly 60 days or two months of living hell before there was a Detective, and a case number, along with the hope of a forthcoming plan to catch the stalker(s), and bring about an end to the ensuing nightmare.  It was also that once assigned, our detective had to justify the amount of time he spent on Morgan’s case.  “Higher ups” within the Sheriff’s department saw fit to allow an hour or two here or there.  Was he assigned to Morgan’s case only to have his hands tied?

Our felony stalking detective was angling for an extra hour or two to work her case, and now Morgan is dead, killed by her stalker.  Doesn’t seem right to me in any way, shape or manner, and I suppose it never will.  How could it?  In the name of Morgan having every dream she ever had yet to realize taken from her, the stalking case deserved the number of hours it took to solve it.  Not the best that can be done in an hour or two a week.  And if that is not enough, “oh well”, that’s the best we could do.  We all know how that worked out for Morgan.

Another section of the same law on stalking that I found to be right to the point, especially in Morgan’s case is:

Because stalking involves highly inappropriate intensity, persistence, and possessiveness, it entails great unpredictability and creates great stress and fear for the victim

Morgan was stressed, and she was in fear.  She also had little hope for the simple pleasures in life, like a “good nights sleep”.  The Colorado General Assembly, which drafted and passed the laws on stalking obviously got it.  If you want you can read the entire text of the C.R.S. that was law during Morgan’s stalking here it is, STALKING LAW.

The General Assembly deserves kudos for understanding the evil serpent so well, and drafting an effective response.  I don’t believe the Sheriff got it… at all.  The response that is spelled out in the Colorado Revised Statutes for stalking never arrived for Morgan.  For the sake of all the victims of stalking,  I sincerely hope that changes in the future.  Morgan’s stalker(s) are still running free.

And often I have spoken of another Colorado organization – the CBI, or Colorado Bureau or Investigation.  The big guns of law enforcement here in this state.  Many have pointed to the need for a “microscopic” investigation of an unattended death under suspicious circumstances as Morgan’s was.  The CBI could have been and should have been called in the morning we found Morgan dead, but it would have been the Sheriff’s call and they did not make it.  That would have given Morgan a proper investigation instead of the, “so thoroughly botched,” investigation that unfortunately Morgan did have.

I bring this up because, just recently right here in the Roaring Fork Valley, the body of a man was found in an irrigation ditch, deceased.  Only he was not found in Garfield County, he was found in Pitkin County.  Different County, different Sheriff, and fact is that the protocol there for an unattended death under suspicious circumstances was to immediately call in the CBI, that’s why we have the CBI is my understanding, not just for deaths, but any investigation that is beyond that capabilities of a smaller Sheriff’s department.  The CBI responded, was there within a few hours, and evidently evidence was actually found quite a distance from the death scene, and collected, to be processed.

There is a difference between that, and reading Morgan’s texts, and a old journal from her room.  But her PJ’s she wore to bed the night before, completely missing, her panic button gone from its mount, her body posed, redressed, none of that mattered.  Who were they investigating, really?  How was that going to ID or catch the intruder?  A crime scene such as Morgan’s is to be considered a homicide until proven otherwise.  What gives here, really?

Complete answers to the possible crime just committed sits at the root of prevention of crime, and isn’t that the goal of law enforcement?  To Protect and To Serve?  If a person, usually a woman, is the victim of stalking, doesn’t she deserve adequate protection?  Or is that too much to ask?

And though the following was in response to a different post there is a comment I want to share again with you, this is too perfect a place for it not to – Guardian Angels.