Stalking & Violence Against Women – it can not be allowed!

morganbackyardHere’s what I do know:

  • These stalkers have engaged in a concerted war on innocent people.
  • And who benefits? Only the stalkers.
  • And here’s the kicker: our own law enforcement is not always on our side, sometimes it seems like they are more concerned with keeping things quiet, protecting the criminal, and not protecting the victim… you guessed it… most of these victims in Garfield County are female, and Morgan’s case is not an isolated case.

It’s a vicious cycle that rewards the criminals with a free hall pass– but keeps the innocent victims with no where to turn.

William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson. He supervised the drafting and played an important role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1968.  Mr. Clark has said, Who will protect the public when the police violate the law? as well as, “A great many people in this country are worried about law-and-order.  And a great many people are worried about justice.  But one thing is certain; you cannot have either until you have both.”

Everyone needs to heed these words, because if the laws of this nation are not upheld by our very own law enforcement agencies then we’re all in trouble.  Our country was based on checks and balances, law and order.  If there is no accountability, and no punishment for people in a position of power (like law enforcement) then there will be no incentive for this behavior to ever end.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still trust in our system.  I still trust and honor most of our hard working and brave law enforcement agents, but just like in any other walk of life there are the good, and then there are bad people.  When you have the bad, especially if they are in charge then you can have a horrific scenario start to develop and continue on for years in some cases. That is why it is critical that there are checks and balances – another agency that has the authority to come in and investigate when a policeman or sheriff goes rouge.  If this doesn’t happen then not only hurts the victims and co-victims, but it damages the lives of any good officers that work in that department as well.

In Morgan’s case:

Morgan died from a massive dose of a date rape drug called Amitriptyline.  She died during an active investigation into her felony stalking.  Morgan did not have any alcohol or illegal drugs in her system, but her toxicology reports shows prescription drugs that are all on the sexual assault panel (known as date rape drugs).  I know there is credible evidence that points towards foul play in Morgan’s death, and my family insists on an outside investigation into those questions, Morgan deserves at least that.  The Garfield County Sheriffs department can not investigate themselves.

If Morgan is able to receive justice, then there is a potential for change to be made in Colorado. The Garfield County Sheriff not only refuses to EVER investigate Morgan’s death, but he won’t let anyone else in to investigate either.

We want a return to law and order – this will show that everyday ordinary people, like all of us, rose up and fought against the wrongs being done to everyone.  Morgan’s cold case, along with so many other cold cases that are being opened, will be the catalyst for change.  If we are successful in having an investigation into Morgan’s murder opened we believe that Colorado will be forced to make changes that will be for the good of all…except of course the criminals.

Why don’t people come forward with what they know:

When people in power (like the sheriffs office) can make people afraid for their individual futures, then some people will stay silent about injustice. And until families that are unaffected are as outraged as those who are there will be no justice for the victims.

Everyone wonders how Hitler influenced his country to go along with his madness, it was quite simple: make the population afraid for their individual futures and they will stay silent about injustice.

The solution is actually pretty simple.

Good news– we can fix this.  Moving forward we can make changes in the system.

If we want to tackle violence against women, as well as inequality in our country, we need to let our local government, state and federal government know how we feel. We need to let them know this will no longer be tolerated.  Speak out every time you have the opportunity.  Let everyone know that you will not tolerate violence against women – or for that matter violence against anyone.

I believe Colorado Cares and their will be justice for Morgan and other cold case victims in the state of Colorado – it has already started happening.  Kudos to Colorado!

 

Sarah Afshar’s Exclusive Interview with Morgan’s brother Ryan

 

Ryan.Morgan.1999Morgan’s older sister and brother both adored her.  She was their baby sister.  She was 13 years younger than her sister, and 10 years younger than her brother, and she would have been 23 years old this past August 16th.  Her brother Ryan wanted to be able to speak out about what happened to his sister, he wanted to share his inner most feelings about the pain in his heart that he has had ever since Morgan was taken from this world.  There are people “others” on the Internet that want to attack victims and co-victims, and Morgan’s brother has also been attacked.  Up until now he has not come out and said anything, and these “others” have spent a lot of time making up whatever they want as if it came out of his mouth.

It’s very, very sad that people do this kind of thing.  I recently heard that an old friend of mine lost her boyfriend to a heart attack, and even she was attacked on the Internet by people saying very cruel things to her.  She was a person that lost a loved one to natural causes.  Yet they said things like, “He was never your boyfriend” along with really nasty lies…why?  Why do some people have the need to attack others that are grieving for absolutely no reason?  Have they lost their humanity or are they just a product of a very sad reality of their own?  Just like in the most recent tragedy of the loss of Robin Williams.  It has been reported all over the news that “others” attacked his daughter so viciously on social media that she took down all of her sights.  How could people be this cruel?  And the next question I have is why would good logical people ever begin to believe the lies and filth these people try to float?  Why would they even want to read any of the things these people write about?  And my last question on that subject is if any of the “others” really were knowledgable and were ever coming from truth then why are they always anonymous?  Why do they always use fake names, and fake accounts?

I have had people tell me that the “others” on the Internet have said stuff about Steve and I – they said we took out a life insurance policy on Morgan so we don’t want people to know she killed herself.  We never had a life insurance policy taken out on Morgan, or any of our children – why would we?  Our children are supposed to outlive us as parents.  If the mere thought of someone thinking this wasn’t so sick it would almost be laughable, but it’s not, it’s disgusting.  What kind of people think that way?  I wish the others would get a clue – Morgan never committed suicide – Morgan was murdered and there is still a murderer out there. There is ample proof that she was murder in a horrific way and If you knew your daughter had been murdered, if you had seen and heard the evidence that proves she was murdered would you just sit back and let her murder be swept under the rug?  Would you just allow false allegations to be tossed around without trying to bring the truth to light? I don’t think so.  Yes, it’s painful, but it is a reality and something we have to do, and there is no getting around that fact.

The loss of his sister has been extremely hard on Ryan.  He was so filled with anger for the first 2 years he couldn’t talk about it, but now he wants justice and has faith that Steve and I will be able to keep pushing forward until Morgan’s case gets opened, and those responsible for her murder are arrested.  He always gives me a little nudge over the phone at least once a week, “keep going Mom, what are you waiting for, hurry up.”

Morgan wrote this to her brother Ryan:

January 06, 2009
To the best brother a girl could ask for, when people tell me that the world is a cruel and horrible place all I can do is smile. I smile because I know them to be wrong. I know that the world is a beautiful place worth fighting for. I know this because of you. When I think of you I feel my heart, not the one that beats, rather the one that feels. Seventeen years here on earth, I have seen bad people and good people, but you Ryan, I know to be the best. For reasons I can ‘t quite explain, I see you more clearly than other people. I see your struggles and your triumphs, but mostly I see your heart. I am truly blessed to have a person like you in my life, a person who makes hope look so tangible, so real. ~Morgan

Please click on this link to read Ryan’s interview.  Thank you Sarah Afshar for giving Ryan a chance to use his voice. http://www.sarahafshar.com/2014/08/morgan-ingram-exclusive-interview-with.html

 

 

Is there something very wrong in #Garfield County, or is it just me?

garfieldcountyLong ago, right after the blog of Morgan’s stalking was just getting going I was contacted by a local author writing a piece about the great disparity between suicides, and homicides in Garfield County.  What was shared with me was fascinating, and troubling all at the same time.  But back then we were being told by Garfield County that Morgan’s death was from natural causes, while at the same time Morgan’s doctor believed her death was a homicide, and another forensic pathologist was telling me she did not die from natural causes, it was a suspicious death and should have been listed at the very least as undetermined until a full investigation had been done.  Along with all of this I was being threatened by the contracted forensic pathologist for Garfield County.  He said that Morgan’s manner of death could be revisited, and could possibly be changed from natural causes to an accidental overdose or suicide if I didn’t back off…I believe the grief, shock and stress I was feeling at the time was paralyzing me in so many ways, and I heard what I was being told by all these different parties, but at the same time my mind couldn’t properly grasp it all.  Writing on this blog about the things that happened to Morgan during her stalking helped keep me going, but looking back on it now I only thought I was pushing hard, truth be told I was only a fraction of myself.  Oh the things you learn as you come out of your grief bubble…
 I  honestly do not think Morgan’s case is the only one like this in Garfield County.  I have talked to other families and friends of missing, and dead loved ones, and I hear the same run-around that we received given to others, along with all the same non answers that we got.  These other families speak of the same unanswered phone calls, emails and letters.  They speak of evidence that the Sheriffs department or Coroner’s office had that has now gone “missing” or was “accidentally destroyed”, I even received a call from a mom that had spent her whole retirement account hiring a ballistic expert, private investigator, etc. and had solid evidence that her son did not shoot himself, but was shot with a completely different gun then the gun the police took into evidence (the gun that had been collected from the scene had never been shot and it was a different caliber than the gun that shot the bullet into her son’s body), and they still would not open that case or change his manner of death from suicide.  
In an article written by John Colson for the Post Independent newspaper about Morgan’s manner of death being changed from natural causes to suicide (and yes, this was after I was threatened by the pathologist to back off in trying to facilitate other doctors, and experts into explaining to him how his first conclusion was incorrect, that Morgan did not die from natural causes, and yes again, the Sheriff and Coroner had been notified about the threats, but would never respond) on August 31, 2012 Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario is quoted as saying that he would stick by the contracted forensic pathologist Dr. Kurtzman’s conclusion of suicide.  Sheriff Vallario wrote in an email to the reporter, “The results of the autopsy and pathology reports were that the manner of death was suicide.”  The sheriffs knew that her death was considered a suspicious death because of her stalking (that is why an autopsy was done, that was why crime scene tape was put up all around our house and we were asked to leave the scene), but they decided on the exact morning her body was found that it had nothing to do with her stalking.  Then right after the Post Independent article came out, Jeff Todd a reporter for CBS in Denver filmed Sheriff Lou Vallario right in the front of the courthouse in Glenwood Springs, CO stating that he would never open Morgan’s case.  Never?  I thought if evidence is brought forward in a capital crime that there is no statue of limitations, and a case can be opened at any time?  Am I mistaken here, or was Morgan’s case, like so many other suspicious cases in Garfield County closed, shut down, and buried for some sinister reason?  I really need to know the answer to that question – I feel that I deserve an answer to that question, wouldn’t you?  Please look at the following report from Garfield County and tell me what you think.  Is it just me or does something look wrong with these numbers?
 garco.suicide.homicide
garco.suicide.homicide2
Maybe it is just me, but when I look at this stat sheet for Garfield County it suggests to me a story about a county that does not want any murders on its books…natural causes, accidental, or suicide those are all okay, along with run aways, but not foul play, murder, kidnapping, or rape…they don’t want any of those on their stats. As you can see on the Garfield County stats that listed results of Colorado Death Dataset Query for suicides, and homicides- I have circled the 5 years ending in 2011 (the year Morgan was murdered) it shows 53 deaths (due to suicide or homicide), 50 were determined to be suicide and the other 3 are not listed under homicide, so they are either not accounted for, or undetermined…in my opinion this is why Garfield County has been said to have one of the highest suicide rates in the country, but I don’t believe they are all suicides, I think they have listed other types of deaths like Morgan’s as suicides that were really not suicides.  Anything to not have a homicide on their stats.  This type of protocol only causes to re-victimize the already traumatized families.  Not only re-victimizing families, but allowing a murder to never be investigated would seem to me to be dangerous to others in the community, unless of course Garfield County feels confident that a murderer will never murder again.  How confident do you feel about that?
Does anyone know when this type of thing started?  When did Garfield County start to go down this slippery road?  Is there any turning back?  I have to hope they can turn this all around, and start to uphold the law, protect their citizens, make the truth their number one priority.  It may take the citizens of the county to join their voices in protest and show the elected officials what they expect, and in an election year such as this one, it seems like a good time to make your vote count.  Speak out – write in to the local newspaper (like the Aspen Times, or the Post Independent).  Take a stand, make your voice heard.  No one wants this to ever happen to their family, so please make sure it can never happen to another family in Garfield County, or anywhere else.  Change is needed and change will come – hopefully sooner rather than later.  Thank you so much – each and every one of you have the power to move mountains!

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

 

Yesterday – it’s been 2 years & 6 months since we found Morgan’s body

Yesterday…  I could not for the life of me figure out why my whole body was vibrating.  I was in such an emotional state of frustration and could not shake it.  This morning when I woke up and looked at the calendar I realized that as of yesterday it has now been 2 years and 6 months since we found Morgan’s body – I can not believe it has been this long and an investigation into her death has never happened…I am outraged!

COLORADO – TAKE A STAND TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

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I can not understand why Garfield County does not care about violence against women.  In March 2013 President Obama signed the revitalized Violence Against Women Act  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/07/obama-violence-against-women-act_n_2830158.html 

Under the leadership of then-Senator Joe Biden, Congress recognized the severity of violence against women and our need for a national strategy with the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. This landmark federal legislation’s comprehensive approach to violence against women combined tough new provisions to hold offenders accountable with programs to provide services for the victims of such violence.  Read the Act at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/vawa_factsheet.pdf

In the Act it is proudly points out that all states have passed laws making stalking a crime.  In the state of Colorado (the state that Morgan was born in, the state that she grew up in, and the state that she was killed in) the following stalking law is in place:

Colorado’s legislative declaration states:

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.

And then:

C.R.S. 18-3-602.  Stalking – penalty – definitions – Vonnie’s Law. (2012)

(1) A person commits stalking if directly, or indirectly, through another person, the person knowingly:

(a) Makes a credible threat to another person and, in connection with the threat, repeatedly follows, approaches, contacts, or places under surveillance that person, a member of that person’s immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship; or

 

(b) Makes a credible threat to another person and, in connection with the threat, repeatedly makes any form of communication with that person, a member of that person’s immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship, regardless of whether a conversation ensues; or

 

(c) Repeatedly follows, approaches, contacts, places under surveillance, or makes any form of communication with another person, a member of that person’s immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress and does cause that person, a member of that person’s immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship to suffer serious emotional distress. For purposes of this paragraph (c), a victim need not show that he or she received professional treatment or counseling to show that he or she suffered serious emotional distress.

(2) For the purposes of this part 6:

(a) Conduct “in connection with” a credible threat means acts that further, advance, promote, or have a continuity of purpose, and may occur before, during, or after the credible threat.

 

(b) “Credible threat” means a threat, physical action, or repeated conduct that would cause a reasonable person to be in fear for the person’s safety or the safety of his or her immediate family or of someone with whom the person has or has had a continuing relationship. The threat need not be directly expressed if the totality of the conduct would cause a reasonable person such fear.

 

(c) “Immediate family” includes the person’s spouse and the person’s parent, grandparent, sibling, or child.

 

(d) “Repeated” or “repeatedly” means on more than one occasion.

(3) A person who commits stalking:

(a) Commits a class 5 felony for a first offense except as otherwise provided in subsection (5) of this section; or

 

(b) Commits a class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense, if the offense occurs within seven years after the date of a prior offense for which the person was convicted.

(4) Stalking is an extraordinary risk crime that is subject to the modified presumptive sentencing range specified in section 18-1.3-401 (10).

(5) If, at the time of the offense, there was a temporary or permanent protection order, injunction, or condition of bond, probation, or parole or any other court order in effect against the person, prohibiting the behavior described in this section, the person commits a class 4 felony.

(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or diminish the inherent authority of the court to enforce its orders through civil or criminal contempt proceedings; however, before a criminal contempt proceeding is heard before the court, notice of the proceedings shall be provided to the district attorney for the judicial district of the court where the proceedings are to be heard and the district attorney for the judicial district in which the alleged act of criminal contempt occurred. The district attorney for either district shall be allowed to appear and argue for the imposition of contempt sanctions.

(7) A peace officer shall have a duty to respond as soon as reasonably possible to a report of stalking and to cooperate with the alleged victim in investigating the report.

(8)

(a) When a person is arrested for an alleged violation of this section, the fixing of bail for the crime of stalking shall be done in accordance with section 16-4-103 (2) (d), C.R.S., and a protection order shall issue in accordance with section 18-1-1001(5).

(b) This subsection (8) shall be known and may be cited as “Vonnie’s law.”

(9) When a violation under this section is committed in connection with a violation of a court order, including but not limited to any protection order or any order that sets forth the conditions of a bond, any sentences imposed pursuant to this section and pursuant to section 18-6-803.5, or any sentence imposed in a contempt proceeding for violation of the court order shall be served consecutively and not concurrently.

So where was the effective intervention before Morgan’s death?  Only 3 days before we found her dead body the felony stalking detective (Detective Robert Glassmire) who was assigned to her case told me that he felt like the stalker was going to escalate – his words not mine.  So where was the intervention?  How did he know the stalker was going to escalate?  And why did he tell us the morning we found her body that her death had nothing to do with the stalker?  This is before her body was taken away for an autopsy.  He said her death was a “mystery” at that time.  A mystery?  If it was a “mystery” then why not do an actual investigation, collect evidence, interview our next door neighbor that had information and waited for a call that never came, a Pitkin County Sheriff’s wife that had information, all Morgan’s close friends, her teachers, fellow students, employer, as well as us, her mom and dad.  Why didn’t they ask the really important questions?  More correctly, why didn’t they ask any questions at all.  Why was was Morgan, an innocent women being stalked, completely ignored, while her stalker was given a free pass?

Also, where are all the Sheriff’s reports for ALL the incidents of stalking that Morgan, as well as Steve and I told them about?  The detective met with Morgan once a week to get all updates and this was in addition to the daily calls we were making to dispatch.  In Morgan’s case were they really responding, and investigating the reports?  If that ever happened where are the reports?  I’ll tell you there are not any.  It felt like it was more like the felony stalking detective was trying to convince us that the car with the suspect in it that Morgan reported to him wasn’t really the suspect or his car, and the truck that Steve and I saw surveilling our house over 3 times, and we wrote down the license plate number and gave it to the detective, along with an exact description of the vehicle, he told us it had not really been there, plus more and more incidents that the Sheriff’s office refused to investigate and went as far as to make up excuses for.  Is this what they call investigating a report or cooperating with the witness?

To treat a stalking victim/murder victim in this manner is not only disgusting, but needs to end…2 years and 6 months later this is now only the start.  Morgan will get justice and Steve and I will never give up!

This Tuesday evening Toni will be on another radio show about #stalking – please listen in if you can

Catherine and Patricia (see below) asked if I would like to be on their show and I told them that I would be honored – this blog talk radio show will go live this Tuesday, August 6th at 9:00 pm Mountain Time (8:00 pm Pacific, 10:00 pm Central and 11:00 pm EST).  I will be talking about Morgan, her stalking, the dangers of stalking, as well as the information about changes that can be made – please listen if you get a chance 🙂

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/captivating-chats/2013/08/07/our-special-guest-toni–morgans-stalking

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Raising Awareness On Stalking

Captivating Chats

Captivating Chats

 Pacific

Call in to speak with the host 

(347) 637-3317

Please join the ladies as they discuss the topic of stalking.  We have heard of celebrities being stalked, but are we aware this happens to everyday folks? 

It is an issue that is lurking underground, just as real stalkers do. We do not see it in our everyday lives.  It is very present whether we are aware of it, or not.  

We want to raise awareness and the issue of stalking.  The ladies welcome in Toni Ingram, she will be sharing her daughter’s story.

See you then,

Catherine and Patricia