Hello to Fall 2014 – Tonight is the Autumn Equinox

fallmorgantessiAt 10:29 pm EDT tonight the Earth will have equal amounts of light and darkness – day and night are balanced to nearly 12 hours each all over the world, tonight is called the beginning of Fall and the Autumn Equinox.  Meteorologically speaking, Autumn began on Sept. 1st, but the Autumnal Equinox marks the astronomical start to the Fall season.

In some places like Colorado the leaves are starting to change, there is a briskness in the air, and I must admit this always was my favorite time of the year, and I know Morgan loved it as well.  Now nightfall will come sooner – in 2011 that was not a good thing for us.

Today is a day of reflection for me.  I have been thinking back to the Fall of 2011 when Morgan’s stalking had been ongoing since August 2nd, but that Fall we had no idea that her stalking would end her life in just a few short months.  I remember at that time Morgan was determined not to let the actions of her stalker keep her from the things she loved.  She was frightened, and cautious, but determined not to allow anyone to take her love of life away.  She was enjoying school, ballet, photography and being with her friends.  At that time her stalking terror was confined to our house – she felt much safer away from home.  With nightfall coming earlier her bright days of feeling safe were now being cut shorter with the Fall Equinox.

My days of beating myself up for not being able to protect my daughter are over.  They were very painful days, but I now realize that it was something that I needed to go through in order to finally come to the realization that it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t her father’s fault, or her siblings fault, or her friends fault that we couldn’t protect her – it was the fault of the person that took her life.  We all wanted to protect her – we all loved Morgan so much.

I now realize that we all make choices in our lives, and when someone chooses to do evil things to another, that is their choice and they are the ones, the only ones, that should carry that burden.  The night Morgan was murdered it was the perfect storm…everything went wrong for Morgan.  She didn’t want to sleep at home, she was scared.  She tried to sleep at a friends house, and when that didn’t work she tried to have another friend sleep over, and when that didn’t work she came home alone.

Steve and I were so exhausted we both made huge mistakes. Earlier in the evening we were all gone out of the house between 6:00 – 8:00 pm.  I shut the dogs up in the laundry room, so it was possible that a person could have come into our home while we were away, and hid out until all were asleep (we didn’t leave the dogs loose like we usually did, because Morgan’s puppy had just ripped up a stuffed animal), and when we returned home Steve turned off the driveway motion alarm, because every time the sheriff’s cruisers drove by it would go off and scare everyone awake in the middle of the night.

After Morgan went to sleep that night we closed the door to our room instead of leaving it open – we always left it open so our dog could guard the whole house (even though she wasn’t much of a guard dog, at least we hoped she could alert us if anything happened.)  Steve and I both took sleeping pills to insure a good nights sleep – normally we took turns, so one of us could be on alert.  Steve was always moving around the location of various motion detectors, and that day he had taken the detector from the back patio to the garage in order to paint it, so it would be more concealed…unfortunately this left the back of our house more accessible that night. And that night Morgan hadn’t managed to get a friend to sleep over, so she was now sleeping in her room alone, on the the other end of our house, approximately 55 feet away from us…much too far away, with both doors closed we couldn’t hear anything.  We thought because she had a panic/alarm button on her nightstand, as well as her cell phone in bed with her, that she could alert us if anything was wrong – she had used both many times.  This was not a good plan because obviously if she were asleep and someone came in her room they could have easily overpowered her in her before she could send a text from her phone of push her panic button…and that night someone tore her panic button off it’s mount and tossed it on the floor away from her bed, and as for her cell phone it was found the next morning under her bathroom door…I now wish we had had cameras inside our home, along with motion alarms inside our home, among so many other regrets.  I just really want others to know what went wrong for us – it may help them somewhere down the line to be more aware than we were of what could possibly happen.  A stalker is always watching – that’s what they do, and they can always wait for that one perfect moment to strike, while you on the other hand have to be hyper-vigilent 24/7.

fallredleavesSo again I will repeat that Fall is a beautiful time of the year, and nature has absolutely nothing to do with Morgan’s murder – only the person that made the choice to kill her, and steal her from this world.  I believe someday there will be justice for Morgan, and her murderer will receive his punishment, along with anyone who assisted or covered for him…just like Morgan’s murderer made a choice, anyone that knows what he did, and doesn’t come forward is just as responsible, and that is a choice that they are making.  It’s not too late for people that have information to come forward…it’s just too late for the one responsible for taking Morgan’s life.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

 

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.

November 18, 2011 – Day 109 of Morgan’s Stalking – Who Was Morgan?

Morgan gets up and makes a juice drink to bring on her way to her ballet class.  She stretches while she’s standing in the kitchen, and says good morning to us.  The bar top is treated like a ballet bar and she is concentrating on her posture and movement, as Steve and I pour coffee.

Morgan would sometimes lecture us about drinking coffee, and sometimes not say anything.  What it was this particular morning I can’t be sure.  Health was very important to her and she was always sharing something she had learned with us.  It was that time when your children are soaking up knowledge faster than you are, and you have to adjust to receiving good information with grace.

I don’t really know if it was that as parents we had already been through this twice before Morgan, with our older two children, but Morgan was not only different, she was easier.  Steve and I would always talk about her advice to us, and how we should really listen to her.

Later that day Morgan was talking to her friend between classes.  Her friend Nicole asks her, ”Is the yarn you’re using for the mitts pastel or bright colors?” Morgan tells her, “Pastel.”  Her friend Nicole answers, “Okay! Thanks!”  Morgan sends her back a heart, “<3” and Nicole asks Morgan, “Who is your favorite Disney princess?” Morgan answers, “ Ariel? Yes! Mermaid!”  Nicole ends with, “ Okay! Good to know!”

She came home from classes and rested in her room.  She did that often.  She would sit in front of her mirror and sing while she fussed with her hair.  Most days she would come out and sing while playing her keyboard.  She didn’t have a wide repertoire, just a few favorites that she worked on perfecting.

Morgan had a few favorite series she liked to watch on TV, and over the years had collected every season she could and would watch them over and over.  Buffy was a favorite, then the Gilmore Girls, and Smallville.  Between the three she was endlessly entertained.

Washing her clothes was an ongoing task.  Morgan would wash, dry and fold and then sometimes her cat would knock them over, and the task would be repeated – never seeming to bother her.

At 6:20 pm, Steve texted her, “We’re taking Joni (her little niece) to the diner, would love to have you join us.”  And a minute later she answered me that she might not make it.  That she was kinda caught up with friends.  Steve texted her again at 6:52 pm that we were finishing, and did she want anything?  Morgan said no, and we brought Joni home.

At 9:00 pm we told Morgan that we were home.  She had made arrangements to sleep at Calder’s house, which would mean the couch, and I told her OK sweet dreams.

Her life was simple and we always knew what to expect.  Steve and I could count on her to do what was needed.  Her room wasn’t the neatest, but it was never all that bad.  She was the last child living in the house with us and we enjoyed having her.

Her stalker(s) had taken so much from her.  It was not fair, and we balanced justice for Morgan with the rights of all.  We saw suspicious things and reported them as we were asked.  But I can honestly say we never faced anyone down, or accused, of blamed.  The deputies had their theories, and we would more likely ask them if they were really sure, we did not want to accuse hastily, or rush to judgment.  We wanted the truth.

I never demanded answers from anyone, but we should have.  In two weeks time Morgan will be dead.  When your daughter is twenty, and healthy it does not even enter into the realm of possibility.  Morgan was worried about taking care of Steve, and I as we grew old.  She joked about what it was going to be like for her.  What the responsibility would be for her.  Not in a pained way, but in a happy way.  The same way that Morgan took most everything that was thrown her way.  I would always tell her to knock it off – no one was going to need to take care of us…ever!  The stalker she could have done without – that, she would not be shy in professing.

Today is November 1, 2012 – it was a busy day for me.  Steve and I met with a great investigator for three hours.  Everyone brings a new perspective to this case.  New advice, a new approach, another idea we had never thought of.

Morgan has left us with so many memories that we are learning to cherish with open arms, far more than we ever thought would be possible a year ago.  Steve and I look forward to the day that the things we have learned through Morgan will be more helpful and sharing, with more solutions for others than the solving of Morgan’s case that we visit so often now.  I know that Morgan would not care so much that we work to solve this mystery any more than we have.  But for the time being Steve and I agree that it is what we must do, and so we shall.  There are those that will not welcome our attempts to solve it.  They will want to stop it, or they will not even want to hear that it is really not us forwarding the solutions, but others far better than Steve or I will ever be will solve this crime.

So it begs to be said that two weeks before the end, a day is coming when most all the evidence that these brilliant minds have put forth, as their best opinion of what really happened to Morgan, is out for all to see.  How different it is from what we thought a year ago, and more importantly why would anyone else really have an issue with the truth about what happened to Morgan being known – because I can only think of one reason – can you?

Click here to read about the 110th & 111th days of Morgan’s stalking https://morgansstalking.com/?p=2124