Where evil lurks unimpeded – change needs to happen…

garfieldcounty

We live in Colorado, actually in Garfield County, which according to Wikipedia is the eighth most extensive and the twelfth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 56,389 at 2010 census.[1] The county is named in honor of United States President James A. Garfield. The county seat is Glenwood Springs.

Now I wanted to start out with this bit of knowledge, because all I have been hearing since Morgan was murdered is that we live in a small town, so they have limited resources.  Not enough qualified professionals in law enforcement, or in the Coroner’s office…does this mean that if you have crimes committed against you, and you live in a small town, that you have no rights compared to others that live in a big city?  I don’t believe that for one minute…should over 56,000 people not be able to feel safe?  When mistakes are made wouldn’t you think the professionals in charge would want to correct those mistakes in order to protect, and serve the citizens of this County as they have been sworn to do?  In Morgan’s felony stalking, and murder case there have been so many mistakes made by the Sheriff’s Department, and the Coroner’s office – is this a case of CYA or is it a cover-up?  I want to know – I have had people write in to me with their own stories of what happened to someone in their family, or one of their best friends, and they live in this County – this feels to me like it has been going on for a long time…like this is generational. When will it change?  It will never change, and it could someday happen to your family if we don’t all come together, and demand that it change!

Our family has lived in this valley since the 70’s.  This is a beautiful place, and I remember I always thought it was the perfect place to raise a family – safer than a big city, but under this beautiful face there now lies a dark secret.  Very bad things have been happening in Colorado for quite some time now, and there are people that can’t afford for this to all come out.  Some of it they could not contain, as when the media has taken hold of some horrid events that have happened in just the last couple of years here in Colorado – but for the sake of tourism, and the economy most things are kept under raps.  Why, oh why, can’t the state enforce it’s laws, do the right thing, and go on the attack against crime?  To me that seems like the best course of action.  Then this beautiful state can also become the safest state – something to be proud of, instead of people referring to it as the devil with a mask of beauty covering it’s face.

Morgan loved Colorado for it’s beauty and nature.  She also stayed away from certain people because they were entrenched in drugs, drama and lies, among other things.  I refuse any longer to sit by and allow those people to make up lies about Morgan to protect themselves.  It is time to finally go on the offensive and tell not only the truth – but the whole truth about who was involved in Morgan’s stalking and murder.  Before I was waiting for another law enforcement agency to come along and look into this, but I am now tired of waiting – it has been over 6 years now!  Steve and I will now through everything we can muster into getting justice for Morgan, helping others in the same situation, and making the changes we want to see made.  If some people don’t like it – too bad.

We will need everyone’s help.  I have realized now that when I accept others help we end up so much further along this path.  I have been told that there is an army on the other side as well as an army here on earth that want to help make these changes – so here we go – the time is now!

 

 

Evil Never Rests…

Victims of stalking become hyper-vigilant…they never know when or where their stalker will strike.  They know evil never rests – exhaustion from lack of sleep becomes the norm.  Wikipedia says, “Hypervigilance is an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hyper-vigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion.”

Morgan, Steve and I were all victims of stalking in Colorado – it was a gang stalking – it involved more than one person.  Morgan was killed during the active investigation into that felony stalking case.  Colorado understands how dangerous and pervasive stalking is – here is the Colorado Legislative declaration:

C.R.S. 18-3-601. [Formerly 18-9-111 (4) (a)] Legislative declaration. (2010)
(1)  The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:

 (a)  Stalking is a serious problem in this state and nationwide;

(b)  Although stalking often involves persons who have had an intimate relationship with one another, it can also involve persons who have little or no past relationship;

(c)  A stalker will often maintain strong, unshakable, and irrational emotional feelings for his or her victim, and may likewise believe that the victim either returns these feelings of affection or will do so if the stalker is persistent enough. Further, the stalker often maintains this belief, despite a trivial or nonexistent basis for it and despite rejection, lack of reciprocation, efforts to restrict or avoid the stalker, and other facts that conflict with this belief.

(d)  A stalker may also develop jealousy and animosity for persons who are in relationships with the victim, including family members, employers and co-workers, and friends, perceiving them as obstacles or as threats to the stalker’s own “relationship” with the victim;

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

(f)  Stalking involves severe intrusions on the victim’s personal privacy and autonomy, with an immediate and long-lasting impact on quality of life as well as risks to security and safety of the victim and persons close to the victim, even in the absence of express threats of physical harm.

(2)  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.

Notice, Colorado encourages and authorizes effective intervention before stalking can escalate, as it did in our case.  From the very beginning of the stalking, until 4 months later when Morgan was murdered, the stalker(s) were continually ratcheting it up.  They “got off” watching the sheriffs show up with their flashlights to look on the ground – it caused the stalker(s) to set off more alarms, more motion lights, more impacts against the windows.  Morgan was murdered just 2 nights after Det. Glassmire told us he believed the stalking was going to “escalate” and he would be assigning more directed patrols of our home.  Our daughter ended up dead 2 nights later, and Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario has the nerve to go on camera, almost 9 months after her death, and say his officers were out at our house over 50 times, and never saw a stalker?  Seriously – does he think a “stalker(s)” will just sit on the front lawn and wait until the sheriffs get there?  Wow, does that happen often?  I think not. This is why so many victims of stalking no longer trust law enforcement.  This needs to change.  There needs to be more education, and the implementation of an more effective protocol.

And why, out of 4 months of calling law enforcement out to our home, almost twice as many times as the sheriff claims, keeping our own timeline like suggested, giving law enforcement photos, videos, statements, witnesses, etc. the sheriffs only produced ~ 6 investigating officer’s reports (which is what they are supposed to do EVERY time) – where are all the other reports of these stalking incidents?  And the felony stalking detective Rob Glassmire (the now current coroner of Garfield County) met with Morgan almost every week, he was called and emailed, and texted every time something happened, he was given details of events and where are all his reports?  When you take out the copies of what Morgan and I gave him and the “suspects” work hours there isn’t much left in his reports. Where are the details about what happened during all those horrific incidents?  Were those reports ever written?  Were those reports deleted intentionally out of the police reports many months after Morgan was murdered?

Here is the sheriff’s list of incident reports – or should I say the only ones they list.  Of the almost non-stop stalking incidents for 4 months straight, this is just a small fraction of the incidents that were called in, and responded to – how can that be?  We have all the dates and times dispatch was called.  We have the cards of the responding deputies.  We have video of the sheriffs looking around our home with flashlights and walking up and down our driveway.  if you read what they write, it’s crazy – during an active felony stalking case they list the events as Trespassing, Suspicious Events, Directed Patrols, Harassments and Follow Ups.  This is how the Garfield County Sheriff deals with felony stalking.  This has to change, or many more innocent people will die because of their stalkers, due to the lack of an untrained sheriff, and the absence of an effective stalking protocol.

Evil never rests, and to ignore evil and pretend it didn’t happen just allows it to keep damaging innocent families…this needs to stop now!

Fight Song by Rachel Platten…And I Still Have A Lot Of Fight Left In Me

I heard this song for the very first time tonight, and I said, “Wow!”  It was exactly how I was feeling.  Songs sometimes have a way of doing that.  There is such power in words, and music.

In December, when the 5th Anniversary of Morgan’s death arrived, I felt like I was sucker-punched.  I never thought 5 years would go by without an investigation into Morgan’s homicide.  She was a victim of stalking and murder that was “swept” under the rug.  People write in to me all the time to tell me they are proud of Steve & I for fighting on for Morgan, as well as other victims of stalking.  They say they are “amazed” at how strong we are.  It is really wonderful to hear, and it has helped us a lot, BUT after December it felt like all the air went out of my lungs…I couldn’t breathe.  I woke up every morning telling myself what I needed to do next to fight on for Morgan, but I couldn’t do it.  I was frozen in pain.  I couldn’t fight.

That has now changed.  I am now ready to fight on.  Like the lyrics of this song say – “My power’s turned on.  Starting right now I’ll be strong.”  And this will be “my” fight song.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Every time I listen to it I feel Morgan, and visualize her clapping her hands…she never gave up and neither will I.  Justice for Morgan, and nothing less!

 

Fight Song
Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Like how a single word
Can make a heart open
I might only have one match
But I can make an explosion
And all those things I didn’t say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time?
This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I’m alright song
My power’s turned on
Starting right now I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song
And I don’t really care if nobody else believes
‘Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me
Losing friends and I’m chasing sleep
Everybody’s worried about me
In too deep
Say I’m in too deep (in too deep)
And it’s been two years I miss my home
But there’s a fire burning in my bones
Still believe
Yeah, I still believe
And all

The Day Your Battle Became Ours…

On December 2, 2013, exactly 2 years after Morgan’s murder, her friend wrote the following heartfelt words:

Today is just another day
Today is just a day…
The day your battle became ours

The day you were robbed, and us too
I loved you long before this day
I loved you for the hundreds that came before it

Two years ago today you took the colors with you
leaving the snow you longed for behind
The sunset and sunrise without your love burned redder in sorrow

Mountains fell silent- void- of sound as you left
Stillness-
Snow untouched, attempted to preserve the moments
Stop the world from turning to keep you near
…but you had to go

and I prayed for the first time
– wake up from this dream,
but each day this dream turns more real
and you become the dream

fading with every sunrise
This world slowly filling with colors I thought I had lost forever
as now you are close in reveries of starry nights and philosophy

today is just a day.

All the words that matter are: I love you.

collage from Katie