Ok, after rewatching this case today, the internal skeptic came over me and began to think about the legitimate possibility that Morgan did in fact commit suicide. There are several confusing parts and little tidbits left out of the UM segment that would make the case for homicide or suicide more clear. Like where exactly was the gunshot wound and the trajectory of the bullet, etc. Then I thought about simply analyzing this case, and not the other 2 cases connected to it (Casolaro & Doug Johnston). Because if we were to ignore the Casolaro/Johnston conspiracy theories, it would get a better grasp on what happened to Morgan back in 1977, IMO. Anyway, I got to thinking about it and came up with a list of unconfirmed things presented in the UM segment:

-http://tucson.com/news/local/crime/cold-case-strange-evidence-found-in-on-near-man-s/article_e84a1034-c078-5a43-81a1-e602f52eda02.html

This article talks about extensive modifications done to Morgan's car, as well as several weapons, ammunition, and a CB radio. In addition to his bullet proof vest and his .357 magnum, Morgan also was carrying a knife in his belt. The guy was definitely paranoid and afraid of something.

-The UM segment says that a lady identified only as "green eyes" called in to the Pima County Sheriff's department to report that Morgan had met her in a motel shortly before his death, where he showed her a briefcase containing $60,000 in cash. The article I posted above makes no mention of this meeting, but does go on to say that the authorities determined that Morgan was hiding out in a motel room for several days before his death. UM makes it seem like Morgan "disappeared" in the same manner as his first disappearance.

-"Green eyes" has never been identified. But if her information is real, why exactly did Morgan meet her at the motel? Was he having an affair? Was she some sort of contact to his eventual killers? "Green eyes" makes the case much more confusing to me. For argument's sake, if this was a mistress that had met Morgan at the motel, would the guy who was said to have been petrified for his life decided to throw in one final fling with his mistress? It just makes no sense to me.

-http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/1995/10/13/1171-news-of-the-weird/

This article says Morgan's wound was found at the top of his head. Which would seem to indicate that a suicide wouldn't be as unlikely as the UM segment made it seem. Tack on the fact that Morgan's gun was found next to him, AND that his gun was the one used to kill him, I don't think suicide should be written off simply because the guy was wearing a bullet proof vest.

-To my knowledge, I don't know if the $60,000 has ever been verified. There would have to have been a record somewhere of Morgan obtaining this money. I don't think it's ever come out, outside of the "Green eyes" informant.

-The 2nd article posted also mentions gunpowder residue on Morgan's hands. I'm no expert on guns, but if Morgan were ordered to kneel down before being executed, I don't see how residue would have gotten on his hands.

-Morgan's first disappearance was never verified by anyone outside of his wife and family. Not saying that his wife had any reason to lie, I don't think she was, but there is no way of knowing as to whether or not Morgan was in fact abducted, and if in fact his throat was painted with an hallucinogenic drug. The police were never notified of this first disappearance, presumably because Morgan feared for his life. But then again there was no proof that he was ever abducted outside of Morgan's own word.

-Even after Morgan's second disappearance, his family did not report this to the authorities. At that point, despite Morgan's fears of retribution to his family for going to the authorities, don't you think his family would have reached out to someone if they had no idea where he was the second time?

-Morgan's wife said he had come close to telling her what he got himself wrapped up in. But he never did. How would these shady characters know whether or not Morgan told his wife anything about what he was involved in? Why not kill her as well just in case?

-According to Don Deverux, the FBI were "all over the case like a blanket" initially. Had Morgan really been working with the government as an informant, they surely wouldn't have helped cover up his death and agree that it was a suicide. In addition, the UM segment aired 12 years after Morgan's death. No new leads, tips, or anything remotely suggesting ANY viable suspect who would want Morgan dead had come in at that point. And there is still nothing that has been discovered up to the present.

-The only piece of evidence found at the scene of Morgan's death that suggested someone else was there were a pair of sunglasses and the handwritten directions found on a piece of paper. UM simply says that the sunglasses were not Charles Morgan's. I don't know how the authorities would be able to determine whether or not they were Morgan's, but this and the handwritten directions found (in Morgan's handwriting), do suggest Morgan was there to meet someone for something.

-His cryptic $2 bill reminds me a lot of the David Stone case. David Stone wrote similar eerie "clues", that some speculated were a call for help. But in reality, Stone was probably going stir crazy at the time and was not of sound mind when writing his "clues". The same thing could have applied to Charles Morgan.

I could imagine a scenario where Morgan, either fearful of some crime syndicate for leaking information to the US government wanting him dead OR fearful of getting in trouble with the law for helping these organized crime rings launder money, began to seriously panic and slowly lose his mind. For all we know, he may have imagined that someone was out to get him. Who's to say Morgan's first disappearance wasn't simply a ruse to get out to either: see his mistress (if indeed "Green eyes" was a mistress and was really involved with Morgan somehow), or leave town for a few days until things cooled off (if he felt the pressure caving in on him being that he was helping these criminals illegally obtain money)? Or what if the justice dept paid Morgan a visit one day and he got cold feet and decided to take off? Both of these, IMO, seem equally plausible as the abducted by the mafia presented in the UM segment. I'm not in any way sold 100% on the theory that Morgan's death was a suicide. But based off of the information presented in the UM segment, and the scant information found on the web, I don't think people should write it off and believe it was murder. Despite UM's best efforts to play up how ridiculous a suicide would have been, I'd say it's a 50/50 shot of being a suicide.

The 2nd article posted also mentions gunpowder residue on Morgan's hands. I'm no expert on guns, but if Morgan were ordered to kneel down before being executed, I don't see how residue would have gotten on his hands.


My (limited) knowledge of gunpowder is that if you're anywhere near a gun when it's going off, you're going to end up with residue on your hands.

Despite that, you've put a TON of thought into this, TheCars1986! I agree that if you take his connection to the other mysterious murders out, it becomes a lot more fuzzy.

My (limited) knowledge of gunpowder is that if you're anywhere near a gun when it's going off, you're going to end up with residue on your hands.

Despite that, you've put a TON of thought into this, TheCars1986! I agree that if you take his connection to the other mysterious murders out, it becomes a lot more fuzzy.

Thank you. I was hoping that my rambling wasn't confusing.

That article actually says the gunpowder residue was found on Morgan's left hand. I can't envision a scenario where Morgan's kneeling down, with his back turned to his killer, where residue would show up on one hand and not the other.

ETA: I also think it's entirely possible that Morgan's first disappearance was real, but he still could have committed suicide.

Fantastic post, TheCars1986. From someone who strongly believes Danny Casolaro committed suicide, I think you make a great case that Morgan did so.

Something else I just thought of: if Morgan was indeed abducted during his first disappearance, why not just kill him right then and there? Why release him only to kill him two months later? It really makes zero sense. If the guy was in fact working for the US government and this mafia group abducted him to intimidate him, why on Earth would Morgan continue to do work for the government if he was that fearful for his life? The only concrete proof anyone had for Morgan being involved with these shady characters was that he did escrow work for a certain mafia family in the area. The rest, IIRC, about the money laundering and working for the US government in secret was just rank speculation. The whole segment seems like something out of a John Grisham movie.

Lots of interesting points here, but one thing that hasn't been addressed is the two mysterious men claiming to be FBI agents who ransacked Mrs. Morgan's house looking for something. Of course, she could have simply made the entire story up, but she never struck me as a liar in her UM interview.

Don Devereux said he inquired about this incident with the FBI, but they claimed they never even heard of Charles Morgan. While this would lend credence to the theories that these guys weren't really FBI agents or the visit never happened, Devereux mentioned that their claims never hearing of Morgan contradicted the fact that they had initially investigated the case.

Of course, it's not impossible that Morgan could have been committed suicide either way, but if the visit from those two agents really happened, I'm still convinced he was involved in something shady.

Lots of interesting points here, but one thing that hasn't been addressed is the two mysterious men claiming to be FBI agents who ransacked Mrs. Morgan's house looking for something. Of course, she could have simply made the entire story up, but she never struck me as a liar in her UM interview.

Don Devereux said he inquired about this incident with the FBI, but they claimed they never even heard of Charles Morgan. While this would lend credence to the theories that these guys weren't really FBI agents or the visit never happened, Devereux mentioned that their claims never hearing of Morgan contradicted the fact that they had initially investigated the case.

Of course, it's not impossible that Morgan could have been committed suicide either way, but if the visit from those two agents really happened, I'm still convinced he was involved in something shady.

Yes, I had forgot to address that part in the segment. My best guess is either:

-Two men posing as FBI agents from the mafia family that Morgan was doing escrow work for searched through Morgan's house for a document that tied them to the money laundering scheme.
-Two agents of some US government agency searching Mogran's house for proof of the illegal money laundering activity going on.

Either way, the appearance of the two men would not rule out a suicide, IMO. Had these men been mafia hired guys posing as agents, why not just eliminate his wife right then and there? And maybe I misheard Devereux in the segment, but I thought he said he contacted the FBI after the visit from the two men and that they had been on the case "like a blanket" at the time, but they never had any record of two men going to Morgan's house. I think it's just another red herring in the case.

And maybe I misheard Devereux in the segment, but I thought he said he contacted the FBI after the visit from the two men and that they had been on the case "like a blanket" at the time, but they never had any record of two men going to Morgan's house.

I've copy-and-pasted this quote from the page on the UM website. Devereux makes it sounds like not only did the FBI have no record of the two agents visiting the house, they had no record of the Morgan case at all:

“When I made a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI, they had never heard of Mr. Morgan, despite the fact that they obviously opened an investigation, despite the fact the FBI interviewed Mr. Morgan’s attorney. They were all over this thing like a blanket for a while. But now they’ve never heard of the guy. He never existed. No card, no file, no nothing.”

Of course, if the FBI did investigate the Morgan case right after his death, it's pretty suspicious that there wouldn't be anything about it at all in their files. But given that around ten years had passed at this point, maybe the FBI just didn't consider it a priority any more and the records simply got misfiled somewhere.

The first article states that he was shot in the back of the head , that to me sounds a bit unusual , usually executions occur like that not suicides. Then , he was wearing a bulletproof vest , hmmm.....why ? If he just wanted to kill himself then that doesnt make sense. Why the knife and extra precautions he was making ......unless maybe he because paranoid and delusional bu t there is no mention of previous mental health issues. Charles was afraid of someone who most probably killed him ....

As stated above, if you are near a gun firing then there is going to be some gunpowder residue on you, so its difficult to jump to conclusions without knowing the exact amounts of residue found on his hand. That residue could also bee explained as being from a defensive move such as raising a hand while he was being shot for example..

I found the connection to Danny Casolaro quite disturbing :eek: the Octopus was real and many people have died mysteriously and been ruled suicides way too often .......either a lot of suicidal people were involved ( Morgan , Casolaro etc) :lol: or there is something very fishy and it stinks real badly !

I just find it odd that if Morgan was in fact giving information to the justice department, who was then murdered by some mafia family hired hitman, that the justice department would then deny ever knowing the guy and unwillingly help cover up his murder. It just doesn't make sense.

I just find it odd that if Morgan was in fact giving information to the justice department, who was then murdered by some mafia family hired hitman, that the justice department would then deny ever knowing the guy and unwillingly help cover up his murder. It just doesn't make sense.

Interesting point , this is the same Justice Department which a few years later violated copyright law and stole Inslaw`s software PROMIS then refused to honor the contract and pay Inslaw for using their software which then drove Inslaw into chapter 11, then when a judge ruled that the Justice Department had violated the law in stealing the software that judge has his tenure not renewed for no apparent reason ;)

Danny Casolaro looked into this Inslaw saga which is connected to the Octopus and he also commited suicide ;) Maybe it wasn`t in the Justice departments interest to pursue the Morgan case as murder as a whole can of worms would have been opened given the allegations about what Morgan was involved in as stated in that UM segment ......

My personal take on Casolaro was that he was investigating a scandal which he thought to be much, much bigger than it really was and ultimately committed suicide over the fact that his research led him nowhere.

As for Morgan, his death just seems like it was too contrived to be real. Either way, there was never any evidence that surfaced as to Morgan's involvement with the government or with shady money laundering. It was only implied.

This case is so intriguing.
Forgive me if this has been answered, but what exactly, did Charles Morgan do for a living?
I only saw that he was a "businessman."
That could mean many things.

I just don't see a man wearing a bullet proof vest shooting himself.
I can't get past that.
Unless he had undiagnosed severe mental illness.

I believe Morgan was an escrow agent. Somehow the guess was made that because he did escrow work for a mafia family, he may have also been involved in smuggling gold across the Mexican border.

My personal take on Casolaro was that he was investigating a scandal which he thought to be much, much bigger than it really was and ultimately committed suicide over the fact that his research led him nowhere.

Agree 100%.

My personal take on Casolaro was that he was investigating a scandal which he thought to be much, much bigger than it really was and ultimately committed suicide over the fact that his research led him nowhere.


I disagree on this one, Danny Casolaro was uncovering more incriminating evidence which is why he was bumped off and had all his investigative files stolen (most likely destroyed). If he was going nowhere why did his files all go missing if they were useless ? Someone in the Octopus was getting uncomfortable with the idea of a journalist (Danny) digging around and hence what followed next ....

Why is it that Danny`s brother and those close to him say he was very squeamish about blood and yet he allegedly chose to slit his wrists (multiple times on both hands) out of all the ways he could commit suicide ? It doesnt add up ....

Who gave the order to embalm Danny before an autospy and without the families consent ? This was illegal in West Virginia . A lot of things like this just dont add up ....

Why did the room get quickly get cleaned up ? Usually deaths should be treated as suspicious until foul play is completely ruled out yet Danny was quickly ruled suicide the room was cleaned and signs of a struggle based on a broken fingernails on Danny`s hand were quickly ignored .....

Danny was murdered , the investigation that followed was bundled ,& incompetent then add to that the illegal embalming.....I find it hard to reconcile with all this let alone believe a person who feared blood slit his wrists and bled himself to death in a bath tub with all that blood around him ......

There is a lot of information, including information that Unsolved Mysteries left out, that indicates Casolaro probably committed suicide. I have posted a lot about this case in a thread dedicated to Casolaro, suffice it to say that there is very little evidence actually pointing to foul play and a lot of it pointing to suicide.

When it comes to Morgan, I never thought about it, but TheCars made a very good analysis. Until now, I guess I never questioned that validity of Charles's actions and his wife's claims. However, if they cannot be substantiated at all, we must be skeptical. I also did not realize the wound was positioned so as to make self-infliction a possibility.

When it comes to Morgan, I never thought about it, but TheCars made a very good analysis. Until now, I guess I never questioned that validity of Charles's actions and his wife's claims. However, if they cannot be substantiated at all, we must be skeptical. I also did not realize the wound was positioned so as to make self-infliction a possibility.

With regards to Morgan, no one was ever notified of either one of his disappearances. Not doubting his wife's story of him disappearing, but we really have no way of knowing what the cause for him disappearing would be since he never really seemed to tell anybody anything.

Sorry to bump an older thread, but I saw the re-enactment recently, and they depict a man approaching Morgan in the desert and then reaching into Morgan's jacket and removing a gun before ordering him to kneel down. This would seem to indicate that he was killed with his own gun (assuming the re-enactment is accurate). Just another part of the story that would add a tad more credence to the suicide theory.

ETA: In the Morgan/Doug Johnston segment, they show a brief clipping from a newspaper story about Johnston's death. I found it.



Kin angry, unsure over violent death of 'happiest man'

Doug Johnston arrived early work Monday night as usual. Sitting inside a 1977 Toyota station wagon that he had bought for $200, the 35-year-old Glendale man apparently sipped a can of Mountain Dew. He shut off the engine and the headlights. Shortly after, his life was ended, a bullet in the brain. His 10-year-old daughter's headphones, music still playing, were wrapped around his head as he slumped over the steering wheel. "It's a violent death, and we're all still very shook," said Johnston's sister, Linda Jennings, on Wednesday. The anger and uncertainty over Peter Douglas "Doug" Johnston's death have anything but subsided, especially in light of suggestions by police that the man whom friends described as "the happiest man on Earth" may have taken his own life. More than 48 hours after the discovery of the body, police detectives and family members have more theories than clues. No motive has been established. His wallet, watch, ring and other valuables were left with his body. His family says he had no enemies. No telltale clues, such as a suicide note or indication of a struggle, were found. No witnesses were available. And no weapon was found. "We're at this point investigating it as a possible homicide," said Sgt. Kevin Robinson, a Phoenix police spokesman. "Other than that, it is a continuing investigation, and we're not going to comment on it." Johnston's family, including his wife, Denise, and her parents, were anxious to speak about the shooting "There's no way in hell he could have committed suicide," said Walter Hobie Reiss, 56, Johnston's father-in-law. Besides, the family said, his life had just taken a turn for the better. Johnston graduated from ITT Technical Institute with honors and, two weeks ago, landed a computer drafting job with ICM Inc. of Phoenix, his family said. Johnston quit his previous job as a forklift operator at a food warehouse and returned to school to "get a better life for (his 10-year-old daughter) Amber and Denise," said Steve Hirsch, 35, a friend of Johnston. Denise Johnston said Doug felt that he had cheated death last year when he walked away unscathed from a truck rollover. "He had thought, 'If I could come out of this alive, then nothing can hurt me,' " she said. "I thought so, too."

Whoa just found out Charles Morgan was only 39! He looked more like 59



This is an interesting case. I'm surprised it has to been featured on any other crimes shlws

Just saw this on Amazon for the first time.

This was a clear case of suicide made to look like a murder. It's also odd that he would leave a $2 bill in his underwear to be found in his death if he was wearing a bullet proof vest. He clearly went there to kill himself, and tried to disguise it as a murder.

The first time he came home and said he was fed some acid, was also a suicide attempt too I believe. I believe he tried to kill himself the first time, but failed, hence him telling his wife not to call the authorities. Why not get your family into a secret identity program if these people are after you?

I'm not sure if he was actually into something shady, or went nuts, it's hard to say. If I could be honest it seems like he wanted to commit suicide, while giving his family an insurance pay out. Hence "green eyes" making multiple phone calls to establish credence (who I believe was a prostitute he paid to call after his death, he probably told her to call specific places at specific times knowing he was going to have committed suicide by then), and the story about the "FBI men" who ransacked their house conveniently after his death, weird they never came when he was alive.

I find it odd she never called the cops when he came home the first time. I understood he said not to, but you have children to be concerned about. If you're that afraid for your life, and FBI agents are magically showing up after you died, then why would you want your family to stay there?

Edit: If you actually sit back and think about this case, his wife does seem really odd. I wouldn't be surprised if she was green eyes. We only have testimony from her and no one else. Did she murder her husband, and make everything else up? Or did she know her husband was going crazy and took advantage of it to get an insurance pay out?

Unless her husband devised everything to look "suspicious" so his family could get insurance, I find his wife extremely odd.

My question,

If he really was kidnapped and his throat really burned as bad as his wife said, would there not be some evidence in an autopsy? Like burn scar tissue?

My question,

If he really was kidnapped and his throat really burned as bad as his wife said, would there not be some evidence in an autopsy? Like burn scar tissue?

I don't know about that, but LSD (if that was the hallucinogen swabbed in his throat) can cause muscle spasms and tension. The alleged kidnapping was in March 1977, so over two months had passed when Morgan was found dead and there might not have been any evidence of irritation or damage.

I don't know about that, but LSD (if that was the hallucinogen swabbed in his throat) can cause muscle spasms and tension. The alleged kidnapping was in March 1977, so over two months had passed when Morgan was found dead and there might not have been any evidence of irritation or damage.

What I can't comprehend is why waste time burning his throat and handcuffing him, and not just kill him? He was also "kidnapped", which doesn't make sense because again, why not just kill him?

I think he was into drugs/something shady and his wife was covering for him with the phony stories.

I just watched the Morgan episode again and the follow up on the death of Dug Johnston. I paid particular attention to the interview with Don Devereux. Devereux claims that after Johnston is murdered he spoke to a reporter friend in DC. The said reporter supposedly told Devereux that a CIA official told him that Don was the intended target. I'm not disputing that Johnston was murdered because someone thought he was Devereux. But Devereuxs claim about the reporter friend getting info from a CIA source is a little self serving. UM reported this as gospel and it's just not the case.

Secondly, how is the CIA privy to info from a domestic homicide in Arizona in the 1980s. I'd say the CIA would have had their hands full missing the collapse of the Soviet Union and all the shenanigans in Centraln America during this time frame. Unless Devereux says who his reporter friend is, his story about the CIA knowing about all of this is nonsense.

Apart from the fact that the CIA's charter grants it no authority or jurisdiction in domestic matters (especially after Watergate), I find the idea that a Company man would allow him- or herself to get quoted as an unnamed agency source rather laughable.

Just saw this on Amazon for the first time.

This was a clear case of suicide made to look like a murder. It's also odd that he would leave a $2 bill in his underwear to be found in his death if he was wearing a bullet proof vest. He clearly went there to kill himself, and tried to disguise it as a murder.

The first time he came home and said he was fed some acid, was also a suicide attempt too I believe. I believe he tried to kill himself the first time, but failed, hence him telling his wife not to call the authorities. Why not get your family into a secret identity program if these people are after you?

I'm not sure if he was actually into something shady, or went nuts, it's hard to say. If I could be honest it seems like he wanted to commit suicide, while giving his family an insurance pay out. Hence "green eyes" making multiple phone calls to establish credence (who I believe was a prostitute he paid to call after his death, he probably told her to call specific places at specific times knowing he was going to have committed suicide by then), and the story about the "FBI men" who ransacked their house conveniently after his death, weird they never came when he was alive.

I find it odd she never called the cops when he came home the first time. I understood he said not to, but you have children to be concerned about. If you're that afraid for your life, and FBI agents are magically showing up after you died, then why would you want your family to stay there?

Edit: If you actually sit back and think about this case, his wife does seem really odd. I wouldn't be surprised if she was green eyes. We only have testimony from her and no one else. Did she murder her husband, and make everything else up? Or did she know her husband was going crazy and took advantage of it to get an insurance pay out?

Unless her husband devised everything to look "suspicious" so his family could get insurance, I find his wife extremely odd.




Wow . Interesting theory


I do think murder is possible here though since he was involved with some shady people.

I do think murder is possible here though since he was involved with some shady people.

Or was he shady himself and got in too far over his head and promptly freaked out? He owned his own company so did he do something illegal and tried to "hide"? Or was he threatened and intimidated, and took his own life out of fear?

There's multiple ways to look at this one. However, the incoherent babbling, and the marked $2 bill leads me to believe that something happened that caused him to lose his mind (drugs, mental illness, fear) and he took his own life. Charles has been acting overly strange before his death, and would hide out for days at a time. Add in the bizarre death scene, and I think mentally he was damaged.

He staged his suicide to look like a murder, and added the $2 bill with the map to make it look "mob" related, like he knew something secret. I really wonder if he took drugs, or had a mental illness?

The main thing that grabs me about this case is his wife. I don't believe that the FBI came to the house AFTER he died to find something. Wouldn't it be easier to find it with him there? "Green eyes" or whatever sounds like BS too. I wonder if he told her to keep the charade up, or did she have a hand in this?

In the words of our great God Danny Wheeler

"Why is she lying? it makes me wonder. What is she hiding? it makes me wonder" - Air Wheeler 23

The whole case is downright bizarre no matter how one slices it- and I'm not sure how his life ended.


I'm not sure I believe everything the wife says either. However; if the authorities ALREADY believed it was a suicide, why would the wife have gone on UM to claim it was a murder by unknown folks if in fact she was the one who murdered him? Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to quietly accept the suicide ruling and not try to make any waves?

Charles Morgan was helping the mafia do business, and he seemed incredibly naive, as did his wife. I have serious doubts that he was working for the government however he may have been contacted by them (as part of a mafia investigation) or he may have started to panic and contacted them on his own looking for a way out. The "FBI agents" were obviously fake and probably part of the mafia looking for any notes or records Charles may have had at home.

My best guess is, like Don Devereaux suggested, that Charles Morgan went to meet someone trying to buy his way out and ended up paying for his own execution. I have the feeling he was in way over his head and the mafia feared he had or would talk to the cops, so he was taken out. I don't see why he would kill himself and make it look like a murder. There really isn't much to be gained at that point.

I'm still curious what the whole $2 bill with the map on it is for. Obviously it was important to Charles. This is one of my all-time favorite UM cases!

The whole case is downright bizarre no matter how one slices it- and I'm not sure how his life ended.


I'm not sure I believe everything the wife says either. However; if the authorities ALREADY believed it was a suicide, why would the wife have gone on UM to claim it was a murder by unknown folks if in fact she was the one who murdered him? Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to quietly accept the suicide ruling and not try to make any waves?

Insurance payout. However, it is possible that she knew he committed suicide, but had another motive. I don't know if she killed him for sure, but she definitely knew more than what she was telling, and her story doesn't make sense.

As crappy as it sounds, she could've figured it was suicide but kept the wheels turning for attention, and TV time. The "men in black" story is bogus, so why lie?

Charles Morgan was helping the mafia do business, and he seemed incredibly naive, as did his wife. I have serious doubts that he was working for the government however he may have been contacted by them (as part of a mafia investigation) or he may have started to panic and contacted them on his own looking for a way out. The "FBI agents" were obviously fake and probably part of the mafia looking for any notes or records Charles may have had at home.

My best guess is, like Don Devereaux suggested, that Charles Morgan went to meet someone trying to buy his way out and ended up paying for his own execution. I have the feeling he was in way over his head and the mafia feared he had or would talk to the cops, so he was taken out. I don't see why he would kill himself and make it look like a murder. There really isn't much to be gained at that point.

I'm still curious what the whole $2 bill with the map on it is for. Obviously it was important to Charles. This is one of my all-time favorite UM cases!

While it's possible that he did fear the mafia, everything points to him doing it himself. Think about it, apparently the "mafia" came to his house AFTER he died, if they wanted him that badly why not before? That's incredibly sloppy for a mafia move. To ransack the house with the wife, and children there, when Charles could've helped them. I don't buy it.

Why would Charles put a $2 dollar bill in his underwear to be found, yet when to the meeting spot in a bullet proof vest? It seems like he went with caution, but still put the $2 bill there to be found. Charles actions before were sporadic, and random. He went missing for days at a time multiple times, and was acting overly paranoid.

Sure, he probably did something shady/helped with something shady and feared for his life, but if he was really being threatened then why did they NEVER attack him, his family, or his home until after he died? In which we only have the wife's account who is already suspect?

Don have seemed to have been schizophrenic. Delusions, and overly paranoid. The $2 bill seemed like something a schizophrenic came up with, as it makes absolutely no sense. Was Don afraid, mentally ill,or taking drugs? Possibly all 3. But it's no doubt in my mind that he shot himself to make it look like a murder.

If Don was running around saying he was in trouble, and had all of these cryptic maps, then isn't it possible that he staged his death to look like a murder? Maybe he wanted people to "believe" him. Maybe it was his way of getting out of trouble with the law.

freakbook,

I agree that the widow's story doesn't make sense and she could know more than she's telling.

However; if she'd actually killed him or knew he'd offed himself, what good would it have done her to go on UM to claim he was done in by unknown, murky forces when the official cause of death was suicide ? Would she have thought that being on the show itself would spur everyone to go on a wild goose chase for no reason with no one to look for? I'm not saying what you're saying is impossible but it doesn't seem likely, IMO.

freakbook,

I agree that the widow's story doesn't make sense and she could know more than she's telling.

However; if she'd actually killed him or knew he'd offed himself, what good would it have done her to go on UM to claim he was done in by unknown, murky forces when the official cause of death was suicide ? Would she have thought that being on the show itself would spur everyone to go on a wild goose chase for no reason with no one to look for? I'm not saying what you're saying is impossible but it doesn't seem likely, IMO.

Truth be told, I don't know. It's possible that she just thought he was murdered, but why the wild stories that don't make any sense? Maybe Charles had fooled her with the wild stories and she really believed that he was being stalked, and she came up with the wild stories so he wouldn't just get labeled a suicide?

I'm not sure if his wife was gullible or guilty. I believe that she knew about the illegal activities in his company, and could've possibly had her name in some of the documents.

Maybe she really did believe his wild tales, and didn't want to accept that he didn't commit suicide. Maybe she thought he was really murdered and wanted his autopsy saying as such.

Maybe she was telling wild stories, so that when the hammer came down on him and his illegal activities then she'd already have an "alibi". Men in Black, and a bizarre woman calling all AFTER his death is suspect. Maybe she ran with these wild stories, and Charles paranoia so L.E. wouldn't come down too hard on her? His company was going to get turned inside out by L.E. eventually, so maybe she was afraid since her name was on some of the illegal documents? Dunno.

There is a lot that doesn't add up in the case. How the murder weapon, a pistol, had no fingerprints on it is the biggest red flag. Unless the police botched the dusting of prints on the pistol and said there weren't any prints to cover their own ass, there is no way the victim could have shot himself without leaving finger or palm prints on the gun. I don't recall them finding him wearing gloves.

My best guess is, like Don Devereaux suggested, that Charles Morgan went to meet someone trying to buy his way out and ended up paying for his own execution. I have the feeling he was in way over his head and the mafia feared he had or would talk to the cops, so he was taken out. I don't see why he would kill himself and make it look like a murder. There really isn't much to be gained at that point.

My main issue with the murder theory was why would the mafia kidnap him and paint his throat with LSD if they planned on murdering him 2 months later? If they feared he was working with the feds, why not just kill him then? Why threaten him? There's also no evidence (as far as I remember) that Morgan was working with the government or any law enforcement officials.

My main issue with the murder theory was why would the mafia kidnap him and paint his throat with LSD if they planned on murdering him 2 months later? If they feared he was working with the feds, why not just kill him then? Why threaten him? There's also no evidence (as far as I remember) that Morgan was working with the government or any law enforcement officials.

I have always had my doubts that it was possible to "paint someone's throat with LSD". Charles Morgan's case is the first - and only time - I have ever heard about such a claim. Was the feasibility of this even put to the test by medical examiners?

Sounds like an outrageously outlandish excuse to me. Being forced to consume LSD without knowing is one thing, but "painting a throat with LSD" seems ludicrous.

My main issue with the murder theory was why would the mafia kidnap him and paint his throat with LSD if they planned on murdering him 2 months later? If they feared he was working with the feds, why not just kill him then? Why threaten him? There's also no evidence (as far as I remember) that Morgan was working with the government or any law enforcement officials.

Precisely. I think if Charles was afraid of anything it was the government, not the mafia. He was doing illegal things through his company for years.

And like you said, why would the mafia taunt him instead of killing him? And why would they finally come to his house AFTER his death? It would've made more sense to come when he was alive. Also, I'm mostly positive that the "LSD" story was him trying to commit suicide and failing.

I've watched this over and over - is really a favorite segment of mine, if only because of how far out it is. freakbook's read on it makes eminent sense too and I generally agree with it.

Two things still stick out to me though. The first is the fact that in the original segment, you have a Sheriff's investigator mention how several former LE officials/investigators have quit LE entirely (and a few leave the country because they possibly feared for their lives) due to this case. This doesn't seem to jive with the suicide angle and I can't for the life of me imagine a reason why a LE official would want to make statements that seemingly play right into the hands of the tin-foil hat types.

The second is Don Devereux. As I read & processed freakbook's theory, I was ready to write him off as a tin-foil hat type in the same vein as Danny Casolaro (who I now believe committed suicide after chasing something that turned out to be a lot less than it really was). However, that snippet from the LEO I mentioned leads me to believe that at least some of what he put forth might actually be true. The question then becomes, which pieces??

Two things still stick out to me though. The first is the fact that in the original segment, you have a Sheriff's investigator mention how several former LE officials/investigators have quit LE entirely (and a few leave the country because they possibly feared for their lives) due to this case. This doesn't seem to jive with the suicide angle and I can't for the life of me imagine a reason why a LE official would want to make statements that seemingly play right into the hands of the tin-foil hat types.

Excellent point. But think, were any of those LE officials killed, or just scared? Think about Charles actions before his death. He was paranoid, disappeared for months at a time, and even what I believe was a suicide attempt. So maybe he was just scared too? Maybe he was so scared/paranoid that he drove himself crazy to the point of suicide?

Before his death, the mafia never came to his house, or anything (atleast not that we know of). The "throat LSD" incident was no doubt a suicide, or faked suicide attempt. Then he became overly paranoid/suspicious.

So while he, too, could've been scared, it's also possible that he became too paranoid (especially if drinking/drug taking was happening) and he took his own life. He bares all the marks of a schizophrenic. The $2 bill is the biggest give away. While he may have been scared, he was adding a whole other realm of fantasy to it.

There is a lot of smoke in this case that blinds one from focusing in on the physical evidence. The gun, the location of the head wound and the illegal activity going on with his escrow business. Is it possible he could have shot himself where he did with that type of gun and not leave fingerprints? Not an easy question to answer and prove if you think yes he did.

Wasn't the shot to the back of his head though?

It was. Not an easy shot to make if youre doing it yourself with that particular hand gun. To leave no prints as well

Excellent point. But think, were any of those LE officials killed, or just scared? Think about Charles actions before his death. He was paranoid, disappeared for months at a time, and even what I believe was a suicide attempt. So maybe he was just scared too? Maybe he was so scared/paranoid that he drove himself crazy to the point of suicide?

Before his death, the mafia never came to his house, or anything (atleast not that we know of). The "throat LSD" incident was no doubt a suicide, or faked suicide attempt. Then he became overly paranoid/suspicious.

So while he, too, could've been scared, it's also possible that he became too paranoid (especially if drinking/drug taking was happening) and he took his own life. He bares all the marks of a schizophrenic. The $2 bill is the biggest give away. While he may have been scared, he was adding a whole other realm of fantasy to it.

I do think Charles was scared and drove himself off the edge of a proverbial cliff and that the "LSD on the throat" was a botched suicide attempt as well.

If we want to say that both he and the LEOs I mentioned were scared though, I would lean towards the gov't than I would the mafia in that case. Still have a hard time believing some of what Don Devereux spewed out (gov't officials, rogue CIA agents and whoever else smuggling this, that and the third out of SE Asia).

My main issue with the murder theory was why would the mafia kidnap him and paint his throat with LSD if they planned on murdering him 2 months later? If they feared he was working with the feds, why not just kill him then? Why threaten him? There's also no evidence (as far as I remember) that Morgan was working with the government or any law enforcement officials.

IIRC, on the Doug Johnston segment, they talk about how the Morgan episode generated over a hundred tips and led to Don Devereux learning that Morgan had kept a duplicate set of records about his company's illicit financial transactions, which he hoped would be an insurance policy on his life. If Morgan's kidnapping actually took place and those records existed, that might be the reason they decided to let him go and waited another two months before killing him. I've always assumed the "paint his throat with LSD" thing was nothing more than a psychological ploy, where Morgan's captors said this to scare him into keeping quiet and Morgan wouldn't have known they were bluffing.

I also agree that the lack of fingerprints on Morgan's gun suggests murder, though I do find it weird that this crucial piece of info wasn't mentioned on UM and can only be found in one of the newspaper articles about the case. IMO, the Doug Johnston murder has always lent credibility to the idea that Morgan was murdered. Without it, I'd be more willing to consider the idea of Morgan committing suicide and Don Devereux being a tinfoil hat-type, but I don't think there's any other logical explanation for Johnston's murder other than a contract hit gone wrong, so this story obviously ruffled SOMEONE's feathers.

IIRC, on the Doug Johnston segment, they talk about how the Morgan episode generated over a hundred tips and led to Don Devereux learning that Morgan had kept a duplicate set of records about his company's illicit financial transactions, which he hoped would be an insurance policy on his life. If Morgan's kidnapping actually took place and those records existed, that might be the reason they decided to let him go and waited another two months before killing him. I've always assumed the "paint his throat with LSD" thing was nothing more than a psychological ploy, where Morgan's captors said this to scare him into keeping quiet and Morgan wouldn't have known they were bluffing.

I also agree that the lack of fingerprints on Morgan's gun suggests murder, though I do find it weird that this crucial piece of info wasn't mentioned on UM and can only be found in one of the newspaper articles about the case. IMO, the Doug Johnston murder has always lent credibility to the idea that Morgan was murdered. Without it, I'd be more willing to consider the idea of Morgan committing suicide and Don Devereux being a tinfoil hat-type, but I don't think there's any other logical explanation for Johnston's murder other than a contract hit gone wrong, so this story obviously ruffled SOMEONE's feathers.

EXCELLENT post, RobinW! I agree with everything you said.

With regards to the alleged LSD, Charles was naive and probably paranoid. I agree that just saying this probably had a dramatic effect. It would be like injecting someone with cherry KoolAid but telling them it was blood infected with HIV. How would you know? Plus most of what we know about that incident comes from his wife, so maybe something was lost in translation.

I think the fake FBI were mafia looking for his records. Even though he was dead, those records could be bad. It's highly likely the map on the $2 bill led to his stash of records.

As for no fingerprints on the gun, that seals it for me. How can a guy not wearing gloves shoot himself in the back of the head and not leave fingerprints? This was an execution all the way.

I say again, I think Charles was doing work for the mafia and got in way over his head. Somehow, this led to his murder.

I also agree that the lack of fingerprints on Morgan's gun suggests murder, though I do find it weird that this crucial piece of info wasn't mentioned on UM and can only be found in one of the newspaper articles about the case. IMO, the Doug Johnston murder has always lent credibility to the idea that Morgan was murdered. Without it, I'd be more willing to consider the idea of Morgan committing suicide and Don Devereux being a tinfoil hat-type, but I don't think there's any other logical explanation for Johnston's murder other than a contract hit gone wrong, so this story obviously ruffled SOMEONE's feathers.

I keep seeing this repeated, but this could be absolute rubbish. They tried to say that it wasn't suicide because of some damn sunglasses, so I'm definitely not taking them seriously over the fingerprints on the gun.

Police ruled it a suicide, so where did this whole fingerprint thing come from anyway? Was it a pandering article, or fact? Like I always say, not all articles are true. So taking one article as fact is foolish when there's nothing else that says anything about fingerprints, AFTER the police ruled it a suicide.

Everyone keeps saying "mafia, mafia, mafia" when they're forgetting that Charles has been doing illegal operations through his company for years. If he's scared of anything it's the government. I also think Don, and UM blew his story up more than it needed to be. Strange, sure, but it was just a crooked businessman who was probably scared of going to prison (hence going away for days at a time)

I also agree that the lack of fingerprints on Morgan's gun suggests murder, though I do find it weird that this crucial piece of info wasn't mentioned on UM and can only be found in one of the newspaper articles about the case. IMO, the Doug Johnston murder has always lent credibility to the idea that Morgan was murdered. Without it, I'd be more willing to consider the idea of Morgan committing suicide and Don Devereux being a tinfoil hat-type, but I don't think there's any other logical explanation for Johnston's murder other than a contract hit gone wrong, so this story obviously ruffled SOMEONE's feathers.

The biggest hole in this theory is that Devereux was never harmed, or at the very least threatened since Johnston's murder. If they wanted to silence him, why continue to let him live?

The biggest hole in this theory is that Devereux was never harmed, or at the very least threatened since Johnston's murder. If they wanted to silence him, why continue to let him live?

Yep.

Don was definitely a tin-foil hatter who wanted attention. "They were after me", but like you said, why is he still living?

I keep seeing this repeated, but this could be absolute rubbish. They tried to say that it wasn't suicide because of some damn sunglasses, so I'm definitely not taking them seriously over the fingerprints on the gun.

Police ruled it a suicide, so where did this whole fingerprint thing come from anyway? Was it a pandering article, or fact? Like I always say, not all articles are true. So taking one article as fact is foolish when there's nothing else that says anything about fingerprints, AFTER the police ruled it a suicide.

The main source of the fingerprint claim seems to be this article from the Arizona Daily Star:
http://tucson.com/news/local/crime/cold-case-strange-evidence-found-in-on-near-man-s/article_e84a1034-c078-5a43-81a1-e602f52eda02.html

The caveat is that this article was published in 2010 and like I said, I do find it odd that this detail would not have been mentioned on UM since that would have been the strongest piece of evidence to support the murder theory. So I do concede that it could be some sort of error.

The biggest hole in this theory is that Devereux was never harmed, or at the very least threatened since Johnston's murder. If they wanted to silence him, why continue to let him live?

Possibly because they felt murdering him so soon after the Johnston murder would attract too much unwanted attention, especially since Devereux lived across the street from where the crime took place. I'm sure there would have been a ton of suspicion if Devereux was killed after he was interviewed on national TV, though I will admit that the UM segment did not actually air until two years after Johnston's murder, so it's odd that no one would have made any other attempts on his life during that time.

The biggest problem is that I just can't figure out any other reason why an ordinary computer draftsman like Johnston would be shot in the back of the head, execution-style. There was no robbery and he had nothing shady in his background, so if his murder wasn't connected to Devereux, what was the motive here?

The biggest problem is that I just can't figure out any other reason why an ordinary computer draftsman like Johnston would be shot in the back of the head, execution-style. There was no robbery and he had nothing shady in his background, so if his murder wasn't connected to Devereux, what was the motive here?

The article I posted back on page 2 of this thread says that Johnston just started working at the computer company 2 weeks prior to his death. Johnston left his house that night at 11 p.m., and was found dead an hour later in the company's parking lot. Surely if Devereux was the intended target, they would've known that he did not work for a computer graphics company, and would have no business being there close to midnight. The two men look absolutely nothing alike. Again, a contracted killer working in connection with the mafia/government/etc. would be sure to have a picture supplied to them to know who exactly their target was. Devereux himself says that someone waited in the company lot for Johnston to arrive.
Why were they waiting there? They had to know it wasn't Devereux's house, considering it was a large building in a business park. Devereux says that he put the Johnston case out of his mind shortly after contacting the Phoenix PD and they essentially blew him off. One year after Johnston's death, Devereux gets involved with Danny Casolaro (IMO, a guy chasing shadows to a non-story). 6 months after Casolaro's suicide, Devereux then gets a call from another "writer" who tells him that Johnston was a botched hit intended for Devereux. 1 and a half years after the fact. All because Devereux was investigating Charles Morgan's death (13 years prior to Johnston's), which was officially ruled a suicide. I just don't buy it. Devereux's association with Casolaro checkers his credentials, IMO. Casolaro chased false information and nowhere leads, and it wouldn't surprise me if Devereux did the same by trying to make a leap that a guy killed in his area was a botched hit intended for him. It's too convoluted.

I'd be much more inclined to believe that Johnston was killed by someone who worked at the computer graphics company, possibly someone who lost their job that Johnston replaced. It would make sense why he was killed in the company lot, and how someone would've known the approximate time of his arrival.

According to Donny Boy, himself and Johnston drive the same model car and that he sometimes parked his car in that parking lot. Also, the police ruled this death a homicide straight away. Even tho there was no gun recovered at the scene. What kind of police work is that? Also, computer programmers weren't known for knocking each other off over jobs back in the 80s. Don touches on some strange stuff, but i dont like that all he has to offer in terms of evidence is unnamed sources. That dont jive with me.

The article I posted back on page 2 of this thread says that Johnston just started working at the computer company 2 weeks prior to his death. Johnston left his house that night at 11 p.m., and was found dead an hour later in the company's parking lot. Surely if Devereux was the intended target, they would've known that he did not work for a computer graphics company, and would have no business being there close to midnight. The two men look absolutely nothing alike. Again, a contracted killer working in connection with the mafia/government/etc. would be sure to have a picture supplied to them to know who exactly their target was. Devereux himself says that someone waited in the company lot for Johnston to arrive.
Why were they waiting there? They had to know it wasn't Devereux's house, considering it was a large building in a business park. Devereux says that he put the Johnston case out of his mind shortly after contacting the Phoenix PD and they essentially blew him off. One year after Johnston's death, Devereux gets involved with Danny Casolaro (IMO, a guy chasing shadows to a non-story). 6 months after Casolaro's suicide, Devereux then gets a call from another "writer" who tells him that Johnston was a botched hit intended for Devereux. 1 and a half years after the fact. All because Devereux was investigating Charles Morgan's death (13 years prior to Johnston's), which was officially ruled a suicide. I just don't buy it. Devereux's association with Casolaro checkers his credentials, IMO. Casolaro chased false information and nowhere leads, and it wouldn't surprise me if Devereux did the same by trying to make a leap that a guy killed in his area was a botched hit intended for him. It's too convoluted.

I'd be much more inclined to believe that Johnston was killed by someone who worked at the computer graphics company, possibly someone who lost their job that Johnston replaced. It would make sense why he was killed in the company lot, and how someone would've known the approximate time of his arrival.

I know Devereux said there was only a one-digit difference in the address number of his house and the computer company and that it was common for him to mistakenly receive the company's mail because of this. I guess it's possible that someone could have hired an outside contract killer with no real knowledge of Devereux, but provided them with an address and a description of Devereux and his car. If there was a miscommunication, the killer could have shown up in the computer company's parking lot and assumed Devereux wasn’t there yet because they didn’t see his vehicle. They waited around until Johnston's car showed up and then walked up and shot him. The scene indicated that Johnston was shot in the back of the head immediately after he parked, so even if the killer had been provided a photo of Devereux, he could have brashly walked up to Johnston in the dark and shot him without looking at his face first. Yes, this would have to be a pretty inept and sloppy contract killer, but contract killers can make stupid mistakes.

This did take place a full 13 years after Morgan's death, but it was only three months after Devereux appeared on national TV in the UM segment and started digging deeper into new leads after receiving viewer tips. I actually don’t discount the idea that Johnston might have been killed by someone connected with the computer company (given that Matt Flores was murdered under similar circumstances), but it would be a hell of a coincidence that an execution-style murder of an innocent man with no discernible leads would occur directly across the street from where a reporter investigating conspiracies lived.

Plot twist: Seeing as how Johnston drove the same car, and was parked near Don, Don killed Johnston and bridged a conspiracy to himself in order to get publicity.

I know Devereux said there was only a one-digit difference in the address number of his house and the computer company and that it was common for him to mistakenly receive the company's mail because of this. I guess it's possible that someone could have hired an outside contract killer with no real knowledge of Devereux, but provided them with an address and a description of Devereux and his car. If there was a miscommunication, the killer could have shown up in the computer company's parking lot and assumed Devereux wasn’t there yet because they didn’t see his vehicle. They waited around until Johnston's car showed up and then walked up and shot him. The scene indicated that Johnston was shot in the back of the head immediately after he parked, so even if the killer had been provided a photo of Devereux, he could have brashly walked up to Johnston in the dark and shot him without looking at his face first. Yes, this would have to be a pretty inept and sloppy contract killer, but contract killers can make stupid mistakes.

This did take place a full 13 years after Morgan's death, but it was only three months after Devereux appeared on national TV in the UM segment and started digging deeper into new leads after receiving viewer tips. I actually don’t discount the idea that Johnston might have been killed by someone connected with the computer company (given that Matt Flores was murdered under similar circumstances), but it would be a hell of a coincidence that an execution-style murder of an innocent man with no discernible leads would occur directly across the street from where a reporter investigating conspiracies lived.

What's strange to me is that at no time during the UM segment did any member of the family or law enforcement emphatically say that it couldn't have possibly been a suicide because no gun was found at the scene. Even in the article that's not mentioned. They simply say he couldn't have killed himself because he was happy and just started his new job. Did Johnston own a gun capable of shooting .25 rounds that was never found? There has to be more information not being made public to make the police even consider the possibility of suicide.

I still have issues with a contract killer showing up late at night in a company parking lot (which could alert potential witnesses) and simply blowing away the driver of the first station wagon that showed up. The article says Johnston was sitting in his car listening to music when he was shot. And Devereux allegedly had contracts ("plural") out on his life. Only a year and a half after Johnston's murder (and coincidentally Casolaro's suicide, which Devereux believed to be murder) did he reach the conclusion that Johnston was supposed to be him. Why didn't any other hitmen show up within that time frame to off Devereux? Especially when police could not rule out suicide with Johnston. The entire theory of a botched hit hinges on an unnamed writer who had "sources" within the CIA. It just reeks of more "Octopus" BS.

The article says Johnston was sitting in his car listening to music when he was shot. A

Is it possible that Johnston was buying/selling drugs, or something else and was killed in the process? No gun being found at the scene is bizarre. Though, someone could've been hiding out in his backseat and it was a botched robbery attempt.

I wouldn't pay much attention to Devereaux to be honest.While he seemed to be on about some stuff, he just ran with whatever seemed out there.

Is it possible that Johnston was buying/selling drugs, or something else and was killed in the process?

I guess anything is possible with regards to Johnston because so little of the segment focused on him and it was more about Devereux and his connection to investigating Charles Morgan and his association with Danny Casolaro. The segment was trying to paint this tangled web of bodies piling up around people associated with Devereux that Johnston seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

I guess anything is possible with regards to Johnston because so little of the segment focused on him and it was more about Devereux and his connection to investigating Charles Morgan and his association with Danny Casolaro. The segment was trying to paint this tangled web of bodies piling up around people associated with Devereux that Johnston seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

There was a good interview with Doug's wife that says what kind of man he was. He wanted to improve his life for his family so he went to school to be a computer programmer. He was working a blue collar job and wanted something more for his family. He had only just been hired when he was murdered.

Look at the Wheeler case. Ends up after everything it wasn't any family member at all.

If Morgan's kidnapping actually took place and those records existed, that might be the reason they decided to let him go and waited another two months before killing him. I've always assumed the "paint his throat with LSD" thing was nothing more than a psychological ploy, where Morgan's captors said this to scare him into keeping quiet and Morgan wouldn't have known they were bluffing.


Good points. I think that the kidnapping, if it occurred, was a shakedown of Morgan, either for compromising information that he possessed or the belief that he was an informant. Swabbing or painting his throat with LSD, which might have caused irritation, was possibly used as an intimidation tactic but it might also have contributed to his some of his behavior later on.

There's a comment on the Unsolved.com (http://unsolved.com/gallery/chuck-morgan/#comment-5732)page that claims the $2 bill lists the names of law enforcement in Nogales at that time. There's plenty of strange information that can't be substantiated, and I think that the Johnston case could simply have been a botched robbery, but imo the physical evidence doesn't suggest that Morgan committed suicide.

“Men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road. Remember him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

"Green Eyes" called Morgan's wife 9 days after he disappeared. And she referenced Ecclesiastes 12:1-8. Which is about getting old and eventually dying.

Remember your Creator while you are young, before the bad times come—before the years come when you say, “I have wasted my life.” Remember your Creator while you are young, before the time comes when the sun and the moon and the stars become dark to you—before problems come again and again like one storm after another. At that time your arms will lose their strength. Your legs will become weak and bent. Your teeth will fall out, and you will not be able to chew your food. Your eyes will not see clearly. You will become hard of hearing. You will not hear the noise in the streets. Even the stone grinding your grain will seem quiet to you. You will not be able to hear the women singing. But even the sound of a bird singing will wake you early in the morning because you will not be able to sleep. You will be afraid of high places. You will be afraid of tripping over every small thing in your path. Your hair will become white like the flowers on an almond tree. You will drag yourself along like a grasshopper when you walk. You will lose your desire, and then you will go to your eternal home. The mourners will gather in the streets as they carry your body to the grave. Remember your Creator while you are young, before the silver rope snaps and the golden bowl is crushed like a jar broken at the well, like a stone cover on a well that breaks and falls in. Your body came from the earth. And when you die, it will return to the earth. But your spirit came from God, and when you die, it will return to him. Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time!"

The passage is interesting because "Green Eyes" told Morgan's wife that he was all right. 2 days later, he was found dead in the desert. The condition of Morgan's body led medical examiners to believe he had only been dead for about 12 hours at the time his body was found. Meaning he was still alive when "Green Eyes" called his wife. His wife says that he would've never killed himself without leaving a note to her or their daughters. But I think this phone call could've been his way of telling them goodbye. Because if Morgan feared for his life and feared that he was going to be murdered, why not call his family himself? Or at the very least, get "Green Eyes" to relay a less cryptic message to them letting them know he was in danger. I think Morgan freaked out that he was going to be investigated and found to have been dealing with smuggling gold for crime families, and feared that the government or the mafia were going to get him at some point, so he decided to kill himself. His family believes he was murdered in part, because anything else makes him look like a bad guy. That's why the angle of Morgan working with the government to expose the mafia angle was played up in the segment. Devereux, despite his best efforts, does not offer any proof (nor has there ever been any) that Morgan was working with the government. He certainly was in part of an open investigation, because the FBI interviewed Morgan's attorney after his death. Which would make zero sense if Morgan was in fact, working with the FBI. Devereux makes too many inferences with little to no information, IMO.

I've flirted with the notion that "Green Eyes" murdered Morgan for the money he allegedly had with him, but that would make no sense considering she was the who called the police department and told them she met with him at the motel, and that she called his wife with the short, cryptic message.

"Green Eyes" called Morgan's wife 9 days after he disappeared. And she referenced Ecclesiastes 12:1-8. Which is about getting old and eventually dying.



The passage is interesting because "Green Eyes" told Morgan's wife that he was all right. 2 days later, he was found dead in the desert. The condition of Morgan's body led medical examiners to believe he had only been dead for about 12 hours at the time his body was found. Meaning he was still alive when "Green Eyes" called his wife. His wife says that he would've never killed himself without leaving a note to her or their daughters. But I think this phone call could've been his way of telling them goodbye. Because if Morgan feared for his life and feared that he was going to be murdered, why not call his family himself? Or at the very least, get "Green Eyes" to relay a less cryptic message to them letting them know he was in danger. I think Morgan freaked out that he was going to be investigated and found to have been dealing with smuggling gold for crime families, and feared that the government or the mafia were going to get him at some point, so he decided to kill himself. His family believes he was murdered in part, because anything else makes him look like a bad guy. That's why the angle of Morgan working with the government to expose the mafia angle was played up in the segment. Devereux, despite his best efforts, does not offer any proof (nor has there ever been any) that Morgan was working with the government. He certainly was in part of an open investigation, because the FBI interviewed Morgan's attorney after his death. Which would make zero sense if Morgan was in fact, working with the FBI. Devereux makes too many inferences with little to no information, IMO.

I've flirted with the notion that "Green Eyes" murdered Morgan for the money he allegedly had with him, but that would make no sense considering she was the who called the police department and told them she met with him at the motel, and that she called his wife with the short, cryptic message.

I couldn't agree more. "Green eyes" was always suspicious to me. I got the times mixed up and thought she called AFTER he died, but I see that it's before. I'm sure he paid a random prostitute, or maybe ex employee to make those calls as his "goodbye" as you said.

I also never bit he was running from the "mafia" as he had done so much illegal stuff himself through his company that it's obvious he was running from the government/police. His scheme didn't work forever, and when he figured the jig was up he panicked.

You have a problem with me, come and solve it.

When I read that, all I could think of was this particular meme:

http://media2.teenormous.com/items/www.snorgtees.com/images-IfTheresAProblem_Fullpic_1.gif


That being said-- I'm about to do some cleanup of some earlier posts. How about we stick to the facts of the case and not take pot shots at people's theories, hmmm? Questioning is great. Debating is great. It's encouraged. I love it when people are talking about these cases and throwing out new theories. But to stop the flow of discussion so you can insult and chew out other posters? Not cool.

P.S. I totally think Morgan was murdered. I just don't know by who. Or why. I got caught up with the drama and will read Cars comment on "Green Eyes" in just a second.

I guess my main point is that if Morgan (and Casolaro to an extent) both committed suicide, why would there be any reason to want Don Devereux dead? And if both men did commit suicide, that means Johnston's death is totally unrelated, and just an odd coincidence. But I'd love to know more about whatever became of the investigation into it.

P.S. I totally think Morgan was murdered. I just don't know by who. Or why. I got caught up with the drama and will read Cars comment on "Green Eyes" in just a second.

All I can find out on the gun the killed Morgan is that it was a .357. Unless it was a snub nose, no way he could put a 357 behind his head at any sort of normal angle and pull the trigger.

I've flirted with the notion that "Green Eyes" murdered Morgan for the money he allegedly had with him, but that would make no sense considering she was the who called the police department and told them she met with him at the motel, and that she called his wife with the short, cryptic message.

What if we took what you said just now, and turned it around? What you said about "Green Eyes" is true she called his family and police, right? So what if she assisted him in suicide? What if she killed Charles, not for cold-blooded murder, but because he paid her to?

Maybe he struck a deal with this person to kill him at a specific locoation, and then call his wife and the police? If she made the calls, why not pull the trigger too if asked?

The whole "LSD in the back of the throat" was a botched suicide attempt. So what if he didn't have the guts to try again, so he paid someone else to do it? Like the same person who made the calls to his family?

Also, while we're at it, what if Charles had paid the "men in black" to come in and rough his house up a little? It sounds weird, but what if he didn't want his wife and children to think he was a coward and paranoid, but was "right" the whole time and faked this "men in black" thing to confirm that he was being stalked?

Unless the wife was lying about the men in black, and "green eyes"...

Sorry for my multiple posts, but it just hit me. "Green Eyes" was Charles wife the whole time.

I read this on Unsolved:

"Ruth knew little of her husband’s work:

“Chuck mentioned to me once that there was money laundering going on, but nothing that he himself was involved in. He told me, ‘The less the girls and you know, the better off you will be.’”

This confirms my suspicions that I had earlier that she knew what was going on. With his being said, she KNEW the trouble he was in with the government. I'm willing to bet she also helped Charles hide.

So...what if Charles asked Ruth to kill him so that her and their daughters would be from under the dark cloud of the government? With Charles dead, there's no more wondering about the government knocking down on their doors, and the case will be closed.

However, what if Ruth helped fabricate the whole story about the "LSD throat" painting, and even helped with the set-up of his death? Green Eyes never made much sense, and neither did the men in black destroying their house

So, my point being, Charles and Ruth were in cohorts, and when they found out that Charles was being investigated, they planned his "murder?" Perhaps she spun the green eyes, and men in black stories to keep the government off of her back? If Charles had just committed suicide then he'd look guilty, and so would she if she knew about his illegal operations and had her name on it.

But....if Charles was "threatened", and had mysterious callers, and a phony $2 bill map, and people looking for him then he looks less "guilty" of his illegal activities, and the police would focus their investigation on these weird things INSTEAD of Charles illegal operations...

One more thing....

So we have a motive...of sorts. Charles and Ruth decide that it's better for Charles to be "murdered" because of the open investigation by the government. They decided that it's better if their children had one free parent, instead of two that we're locked up. (assuming she helped with her illegal work)

But let's think about the passage that TheCars1986 posted that "green eyes" had quoted to Ruth over the phone :


"Remember your Creator while you are young, before the bad times come—before the years come when you say, “I have wasted my life.” Remember your Creator while you are young, before the time comes when the sun and the moon and the stars become dark to you—before problems come again and again like one storm after another. At that time your arms will lose their strength. Your legs will become weak and bent. Your teeth will fall out, and you will not be able to chew your food. Your eyes will not see clearly. You will become hard of hearing. You will not hear the noise in the streets. Even the stone grinding your grain will seem quiet to you. You will not be able to hear the women singing. But even the sound of a bird singing will wake you early in the morning because you will not be able to sleep. You will be afraid of high places. You will be afraid of tripping over every small thing in your path. Your hair will become white like the flowers on an almond tree. You will drag yourself along like a grasshopper when you walk. You will lose your desire, and then you will go to your eternal home. The mourners will gather in the streets as they carry your body to the grave. Remember your Creator while you are young, before the silver rope snaps and the golden bowl is crushed like a jar broken at the well, like a stone cover on a well that breaks and falls in. Your body came from the earth. And when you die, it will return to the earth. But your spirit came from God, and when you die, it will return to him. Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time!"

Why would "Green Eyes" quote this to Ruth from Charles? That's a long ass passage to quote over the phone. And why not something short like "love you, take care"?

It sounds like something she read to her children. I can't see why her grown ass husband, would have a passage read to his grown ass wife about getting old?

If we are to believe the suicide theory, then who is Green Eyes? I don't think his wife has any reason to lie about that. I don't see what credibility it would give the story more than just saying Charles himself called.

So who is she -- friend? Coworker? Mafia liason?

I don't think the government ever was really invloved with this, other than possibly questioning Charles about his business. I think evrything else was an exaggeration or lie.

If he were really suicidal, the whole scene is way too elaborate, anyway. Why go through all that trouble? Killing people in the desert is pretty standard mafia behavior. I think Charles went to talk/buy his way out of trouble but was executed in the back of the head (again, standard mafia behavior).

Doug Johnston's death could be just a coincidence but there are a LOT of signs that show Don Devereaux was the intended victim. I agree with RobinW that they probably didn't come after him again due to the notoriety.

For all we know, Charles's back up records are still buried somewhere...

If we are to believe the suicide theory, then who is Green Eyes? I don't think his wife has any reason to lie about that. I don't see what credibility it would give the story more than just saying Charles himself called.

So who is she -- friend? Coworker? Mafia liason?

Read my post up above. She was "Green Eyes"

I don't think the government ever was really invloved with this, other than possibly questioning Charles about his business. I think evrything else was an exaggeration or lie.

Don had found records of Charles laundering money, and even his wife said he was laundering money. I think the government was a huge part of this, hence his freak out.

If he were really suicidal, the whole scene is way too elaborate, anyway. Why go through all that trouble? Killing people in the desert is pretty standard mafia behavior. I think Charles went to talk/buy his way out of trouble but was executed in the back of the head (again, standard mafia behavior).

The scene is way too elaborate for a murder. And the Mafia only really do stuff like this in the movies. I'm not sure if Charles was suicidal, or scared. You also have to think that his wife might have had a role in his dirty business. If that's true, then he had a wife and children to think about. It'll be easier if he committed suicide, and the wife spun a bogus tale about the mafia to save her own hide. If Charles was investigated and arrested, then so would his wife. If they're both arrested, then what about the children?

It seems like Charles was a dirty man who put his family in jeopardy for his own greed.

Why hide that long from the mafia, to only go and talk months later with a $2 bill taped to your underwear? Again, if you start to look at his wife in a different light, then this whole case goes upside down.

Is this a case of not wanting to hurt a forum members feelings at the expense of a victims family member or members?

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=5205638&postcount=400

https://i.imgur.com/0hQyd5L.gif

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=5205638&postcount=400

https://i.imgur.com/0hQyd5L.gif

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

If we are to believe the suicide theory, then who is Green Eyes? I don't think his wife has any reason to lie about that. I don't see what credibility it would give the story more than just saying Charles himself called.

Prostitute or mistress, IMO. He disappeared 2 months prior to his death for 3 days before resurfacing in the middle of the night acting like his throat had been painted with LSD. His wife did not report him missing to the police, don't you find that a bit strange? If your spouse just up and disappeared for three days, you would think you'd call the police to report them missing. It's almost as if Morgan had done this before.

I don't think the government ever was really invloved with this, other than possibly questioning Charles about his business. I think evrything else was an exaggeration or lie.

The UM segment mentions Morgan being a "possible witness" in a land fraud case involving a known crime boss. No mention of money laundering, or smuggling gold. But if Morgan was only a possible witness in this case, one would think there would be other witnesses involved too. And was Morgan a witness against or for the crime boss? UM was too vague. But, knowing that there had to have been other witnesses in this case against the crime boss, why weren't any of them assassinated?

If he were really suicidal, the whole scene is way too elaborate, anyway. Why go through all that trouble? Killing people in the desert is pretty standard mafia behavior. I think Charles went to talk/buy his way out of trouble but was executed in the back of the head (again, standard mafia behavior).

I just think back to Cindy James. Mental illness was still misunderstood back then, and it still is to this day. Morgan's attorney was questioned prior to his death with regards to the land fraud case, and I think that freaked Morgan out. Something illegal he was involved in. Since his wife had said he mentioned money laundering to her in the past, I'd go with that.

Doug Johnston's death could be just a coincidence but there are a LOT of signs that show Don Devereaux was the intended victim. I agree with RobinW that they probably didn't come after him again due to the notoriety.

But we get next to nothing in terms of other possibilities for Johnston's death. UM slanted it in a way to show that the most likely scenario was a mistaken hit, and that might not have been the case.

Prostitute or mistress, IMO. He disappeared 2 months prior to his death for 3 days before resurfacing in the middle of the night acting like his throat had been painted with LSD. His wife did not report him missing to the police, don't you find that a bit strange? If your spouse just up and disappeared for three days, you would think you'd call the police to report them missing. It's almost as if Morgan had done this before.



The UM segment mentions Morgan being a "possible witness" in a land fraud case involving a known crime boss. No mention of money laundering, or smuggling gold. But if Morgan was only a possible witness in this case, one would think there would be other witnesses involved too. And was Morgan a witness against or for the crime boss? UM was too vague. But, knowing that there had to have been other witnesses in this case against the crime boss, why weren't any of them assassinated?



I just think back to Cindy James. Mental illness was still misunderstood back then, and it still is to this day. Morgan's attorney was questioned prior to his death with regards to the land fraud case, and I think that freaked Morgan out. Something illegal he was involved in. Since his wife had said he mentioned money laundering to her in the past, I'd go with that.



But we get next to nothing in terms of other possibilities for Johnston's death. UM slanted it in a way to show that the most likely scenario was a mistaken hit, and that might not have been the case.

I agree with you 100% regarding this case, but how truthful do you think his wife was being? I mean, were there any other witnesses outside of "green eyes" that saw Charles acting weird and staying at a different location? Her story doesn't jive with me, but I can't figure out why.

The UM segment mentions Morgan being a "possible witness" in a land fraud case involving a known crime boss. No mention of money laundering, or smuggling gold. But if Morgan was only a possible witness in this case, one would think there would be other witnesses involved too. And was Morgan a witness against or for the crime boss? UM was too vague. But, knowing that there had to have been other witnesses in this case against the crime boss, why weren't any of them assassinated?

I just think back to Cindy James. Mental illness was still misunderstood back then, and it still is to this day. Morgan's attorney was questioned prior to his death with regards to the land fraud case, and I think that freaked Morgan out. Something illegal he was involved in. Since his wife had said he mentioned money laundering to her in the past, I'd go with that.

You make some interesting points, Cars. I always like reading your opinion. I do think that paranoia/mental illness could be involved. Morgan was naive and anxious, bordering on paranoid, so it is hard to see what was real and what was perceived.

However, there is evidence that he was involved with shady and/or illegal dealings. In addition to the article RobinW posted, you can read this Charles Morgan article here (https://www.cochise.az.gov/sites/default/files/treasurer/WillcoxMurder.pdf). (DISCLAIMER: Yes, this article was written by Don Devereaux. But he cites enough facts that most of this can be assumed credible. Also, oddly enough this article is hosted on an Arizona county government website.)

There is proof that Morgan did testify in court and this obviously would have opened him up somewhat. Also, there is enough in the article to support Morgan knew of or participated in illegal escrow transactions.

I do think your point is good about why his wife wouldn't call the police for that many days. My only thought is that maybe Morgan knew in advance he might get nabbed and warned her NOT to ever call the police. Perhaps she knew more about what he was into than she let on. But your point is valid on this.

Green Eyes could be a hooker but it seems like she knew an awful lot. I can't believe he would give a hooker such detail and then let her know his home number. But that whole angle is weird, so I wouldn't completely discount the hooker theory either.

I think mental illness may have played into his final demise. Whether he was really on the run for his life or on the run in his mind, the guy was messed up. I still think the bulk of the evidence supports murder. Interesting the cops said suicide but the M.E. said undetermined. (I wonder if the cops were scared of taking on the mafia as well? Easier to rule it a suicide and forget it ever happened.)

Green Eyes could be a hooker but it seems like she knew an awful lot. I can't believe he would give a hooker such detail and then let her know his home number. But that whole angle is weird, so I wouldn't completely discount the hooker theory either.

Montana, although in the middle of nowhere, has a lot of activity with human trafficking and the sex trade. You'd be surprised at the things folks tell escorts/strippers/even bartenders. If a person is desperate to talk to someone, who better to tell than an anonymous stripper/escort?

I'll say this-- we get a lot of valid information from sex trade workers. It's cleaning them up for court that presents the problems. :)

I'll say this-- we get a lot of valid information from sex trade workers. It's cleaning them up for court that presents the problems. :)

HAHAHA! That is awesome! I love it...

Maybe I should clarify my point. I can see someone spilling their guts to a hooker, but I can't see a hooker calling the john's wife, offering comforting words, and giving a Bible verse to explain it all. :D

HAHAHA! That is awesome! I love it...

Maybe I should clarify my point. I can see someone spilling their guts to a hooker, but I can't see a hooker calling the john's wife, offering comforting words, and giving a Bible verse to explain it all. :D

That's always stuck out for me too. I never really considered that it actually was a suicide but the existence of a "Green Eyes" always made no sense to me, in that how would someone be so close to the situation that she would know these bizarre bible codes and then call up the wife by a pet-name and reassure her but no one would be able to figure out who that was by proximity.

That's always stuck out for me too. I never really considered that it actually was a suicide but the existence of a "Green Eyes" always made no sense to me, in that how would someone be so close to the situation that she would know these bizarre bible codes and then call up the wife by a pet-name and reassure her but no one would be able to figure out who that was by proximity.

It makes sense if you think that "Green Eyes" is made up, and the wife is hiding something.

Maybe I should clarify my point. I can see someone spilling their guts to a hooker, but I can't see a hooker calling the john's wife, offering comforting words, and giving a Bible verse to explain it all. :D

"Here's an extra $50. Call my wife at this number, tell her I'm fine, and tell her to look up Ecclesiastes 12:1-8."

"Here's an extra $50. Call my wife at this number, tell her I'm fine, and tell her to look up Ecclesiastes 12:1-8."

Yeah! Just like that! :D :D :D

Yeah! Just like that! :D :D :D

Would've had to pay me more than $50 to read that novel.

Would've had to pay me more than $50 to read that novel.

She didn't read the thing over the phone. It was a brief less than 15 second phone call. I just posted the entire verse for context. The message was "Chuck is fine. Ecclesiastes 12:1-8" and then she hung up.

She didn't read the thing over the phone. It was a brief less than 15 second phone call. I just posted the entire verse for context. The message was "Chuck is fine. Ecclesiastes 12:1-8" and then she hung up.

Nah. Sounds too drummed up. I wonder if there's anything else to support the wife's claims about Charles going crazy?

Sounds like he was hiding out, and she was helping him.

Nah. Sounds too drummed up. I wonder if there's anything else to support the wife's claims about Charles going crazy?

Sounds like he was hiding out, and she was helping him.

"Green Eyes" called the police department and told them about the briefcase. I highly doubt it was Morgan's wife making that call.

"Green Eyes" called the police department and told them about the briefcase. I highly doubt it was Morgan's wife making that call.

I don't, especially if she was also helping to narrate his "crazy escape". It's known she knew about his illegal operations, so who's to say she didn't help Charles hide, and contribute to his wild fantasy?

The wife helping, and making that call makes more sense that a paid prostitute. After looking at Donald Eugene Webb's wife, some wives are that hardcore.

The only thing that really hurts "green eyes" to me is the "men in black" story. His wife also seems odd in her interview. Something is off about her. I don't trust her story nor her "he told us about money laundering or something but told us not to worry about it?.....what? Why would you tell your wife that if she wasn't helping you?

"Hey honey. I'm smuggling cocaine. Just don't worry about it and go on about your day"

"Green Eyes" called the police department and told them about the briefcase. I highly doubt it was Morgan's wife making that call.

Actually...this had bothered me.

"Two days after Chuck's death, an anonymous woman spoke to an officer for the Pima County Sheriff's Department on the telephone. She claimed that he was supposed to meet her at a local motel shortly before he died. She claimed that her nickname was "Green Eyes" and that she was the same woman that had called Ruth several days earlier. She also claimed that at the motel, Chuck showed her a briefcase containing several thousand dollars in cash. He said that the money would buy him out of a gang contract that had been put on his life."

1.) I can't see a prostitute being that loyal to phone the police two days after his death putting her at risk of being arrested. And how did she know he was going to be dead after two days if he ran into the desert? Most would take the money and leave. Or atleast call the cops and say where his body is and that's it. Why would she divulge the information about calling his wife? That's way too mouthy for hired help.

2.) Gang contract huh? Chuck laundered and stole money. The only one after his life was the government. A gang/mafia wouldn't toy around with him like that, or visit his family after he's dead and not do anything. He would've been dead before he took his daughters to school.

ROB=Green eyes

joking

that's my olive branch...

Actually...this had bothered me.

"Two days after Chuck's death, an anonymous woman spoke to an officer for the Pima County Sheriff's Department on the telephone. She claimed that he was supposed to meet her at a local motel shortly before he died. She claimed that her nickname was "Green Eyes" and that she was the same woman that had called Ruth several days earlier. She also claimed that at the motel, Chuck showed her a briefcase containing several thousand dollars in cash. He said that the money would buy him out of a gang contract that had been put on his life."

1.) I can't see a prostitute being that loyal to phone the police two days after his death putting her at risk of being arrested. And how did she know he was going to be dead after two days if he ran into the desert? Most would take the money and leave. Or atleast call the cops and say where his body is and that's it. Why would she divulge the information about calling his wife? That's way too mouthy for hired help.

2.) Gang contract huh? Chuck laundered and stole money. The only one after his life was the government. A gang/mafia wouldn't toy around with him like that, or visit his family after he's dead and not do anything. He would've been dead before he took his daughters to school.

1) Working on the assumption for a moment, that "Green Eyes" isn't Morgan's wife, could she possibly be the wife/girlfriend/mistress of someone else involved in the shady dealings? Given the supposed scope of things, it's not out of the realm of possibility for him to come into contact with someone on the periphery of it all, someone who might be starting to wonder about just what is going on.

2) Whether it be the government, mafia or whoever, could Morgan have committed suicide in an attempt to keep his family in the clear and keep the perps from coming after them? I agree his wife was shady and to some extent, she knew what he was up to. Perhaps her knowledge of his activities & of this sick little suicide "feint" is why she came off so odd?

3) Despite the preponderance of evidence, I'm starting to think that Doug Johnston's death could've been a random accident. Yeah, he worked across the street from Don Devereux and yeah, he drove an almost identical car, but based on everyone's theories about what/who was behind Morgan's death, I don't believe that was a "big" enough motivation for someone to try and kill Devereux.

DD exists largely on the fringe, or otherwise 'below the radar' in the same realm that Danny Casolaro did. Chasing wild conspiracy theories was damn near a full-time job for him. So naturally, when some guy who happens to drive a similar car gets shot right across the street, what do you think a guy like DD is going to think? (A CIA source claiming the bullet was meant for him is crazy enough, but Israeli intelligence too? Give me a break.)

If someone actually did want DD dead, I'd argue that it was someone entirely unrelated to the Morgan case. (DD seems to have done enough muckraking down other avenues)

1) Working on the assumption for a moment, that "Green Eyes" isn't Morgan's wife, could she possibly be the wife/girlfriend/mistress of someone else involved in the shady dealings? Given the supposed scope of things, it's not out of the realm of possibility for him to come into contact with someone on the periphery of it all, someone who might be starting to wonder about just what is going on.

2) Whether it be the government, mafia or whoever, could Morgan have committed suicide in an attempt to keep his family in the clear and keep the perps from coming after them? I agree his wife was shady and to some extent, she knew what he was up to. Perhaps her knowledge of his activities & of this sick little suicide "feint" is why she came off so odd?

Yeah, Green Eyes could've been someone else's wife, but what would their motive be for calling Charles wife with a bible quote two days before he died? Charles could've called her himself, so why didn't he? My hunch is because he and his wife were in it together. If you suspect the wife helping Charles then it starts to make alot more sense.

Charles could've absolutely committed suicide to help his family, or maybe himself. Or if he didn't commit suicide, then I'd bet it was assisted suicide, perhaps with the help of his wife.

You really have to think outside of the box on this case. People are too quick to gobble up Devereaux's theory, or the mafia theory, but you have to remember that Charles was the bad guy. People are looking at this case completely upside down. They are looking as if Charles was a nice guy, who got blindsided by the mafia. The angle that Um portrayed this made it seem like Charles was a business man who got sucked in by the mafia, but it's the opposite. Charles WAS the bad guy. He laundered money, and other illegal operations. Even his wife had said that he "mentioned it".

So like I said think outside the box. His wife had said that he mentioned his illegal activities passively. So from that we can conclude that without a doubt she knew about his crimes. So right away I already have my doubts about how much she knew. Then we have to add her bogus "mafia FBI" story after he died. She's shady because she's lying. She was Green Eyes. She played the role of a "helpless, unknowledgeable" wife, but it's the opposite. Again, would Green Eyes make sense from anyone but her?

Green Eyes also never existed. It was nothing more than something made-up to establish a fake 3rd party so his wife wouldn't be the sole suspect. Why would a random woman call his wife, and then call the police to let them know that she called Charles wife? Sounds fishy, right? Green Eyes was made up to create a false witness and alibi.

This story is nothing more than a criminal who bit off more than he could chew, and when the government started coming after him he freaked out and his wife helped. That's all.

Take in the Lord Buddha's teachings and practice meditation. When you become enlightened, and your 3rd eye opens then you will begin to see through people's BS and perceive the truth. A clouded mind leads to clouded judgement.

Amitofo.

Take in the Lord Buddha's teachings and practice meditation. When you become enlightened, and your 3rd eye opens then you will begin to see through people's BS and perceive the truth. A clouded mind leads to clouded judgement.

Amitofo.

I like this quote...and after having been a bit more enlightened in the past few years, and seeing what reality truly is, you can really start to think outside the box and realize that strange explanations are sometimes true, although it's hard for people in the "societal" mindset to believe anything like that could be possible. I'm sure the occam's razor is true for many cases, the truth of some cases just don't fit that bill.

The thing about Don Devereux, is that while the theory sounds out there, he does give plausible explanations for all of it, which is why it is one of the more striking UM segments. This is one of these cases where I'd want to see what info is available outside of UM before making a judgement call on it.

Devereux has a website but it looks like the only way to contact him is via PO box or I'd ask him to post in this thread.

The thing about Don Devereux, is that while the theory sounds out there, he does give plausible explanations for all of it, which is why it is one of the more striking UM segments. This is one of these cases where I'd want to see what info is available outside of UM before making a judgement call on it.

Devereux has a website but it looks like the only way to contact him is via PO box or I'd ask him to post in this thread.

Yeah, Don sounds plausible, and I'm sure he has more insight than any of us as he studied this case, but Don is sketchy to me. For instance, the Doug Johnston murder. I don't fault him for thinking that it could've been for him, but he took it and ran with it. He seems like an attention-seeker.

He made Johnston's murder all about him rather than finding out what he could and then running public with that theory. Straight away it seemed like a "me me me" type of deal. I'm sure Don's a nice guy who means well, but he seems to get carried away.

I could tell from the rip something was off about Morgan's wife. When I re-read her "he mentioned something about money laundering" then it hit me. As well as Charles being a major criminal, it just makes sense that Charles was running from the government and his wife helped. My main question is if she helped with any of the illegal documents. I'm not telling my wife I'm money laundering unless I need her to help. I mean, she could call the police and snitch, so it took some bravery to tell her that. She could also use that against him in a divorce settlement. I bet he told her because he needed her to help. I wonder if she opened any accounts for him?

I will say that I don't blame Don on his opinion regarding Morgan though. The bulletproof vest, the map in his underwear, Morgan's wife testimony, plus the files he read on Morgan will naturally lead to that conclusion.

I just don't agree with him here, but his theory is plausible given what we were told.

The more I have seen this segment the more I am convinced that this guy was a depressed fantasist-wouldn't let his wife take him to a hospital or have blood taken so they could see what was in his system.

How exactly could you paint a drug on somebodies throat? What sort of hallucinogenic drug would drive somebody insane or kill them? He already according to him had it in his throat so an allergic reaction to it would have killed him anyway. Wanted the wife to move his car so the kidnappers wouldn't know he was home-er where else would he go & if they weren't watching him why couldn't they contact the cops & medical help? I think he just made this up & had his wife drop water in his throat for a week to convince her of this diabolical plot.

Alluded to working for the government but didn't provide any details, fears for his daughters so drives them to & from school everyday-erm, if he had been kidnapped then why would he risk being kidnapped again with his children in the car as potential fellow hostages? Left a letter telling who was responsible if he should meet with foul play-but this could not be located. Leaves cryptic clues rather than something that anybody could actually fathom & act upon.

What seems most likely is he was crooked & feared exposure-Devereux later uncovered his four-five years of dodgy deals, was having an affair with this green eyes character who he was most likely shacked up with during his vanishing acts & got her to help him play this elaborate game of charades & mystery-maybe he was trying to ensure his family received any life insurance policies by making it look like murder instead of suicide. Certainly if the Mafia want you dead they don't kidnap you & spend time painting drugs in your throat before letting you go, they shoot you.

As for Don not really buying into the hit gone wrong scenario-he had been on UM so could hardly be mistaken for somebody else much younger & who looked nothing like him-cheap amateur hitmen make mistakes like that but the Mafia or pros don't. Why exactly would an Israeli operative have intelligence on a hit? Despite this supposed hit still being out on him he has been walking around unhindered in his investigations ever since.

Yeah, Don sounds plausible, and I'm sure he has more insight than any of us as he studied this case, but Don is sketchy to me. For instance, the Doug Johnston murder. I don't fault him for thinking that it could've been for him, but he took it and ran with it. He seems like an attention-seeker.

He made Johnston's murder all about him rather than finding out what he could and then running public with that theory. Straight away it seemed like a "me me me" type of deal. I'm sure Don's a nice guy who means well, but he seems to get carried away.

I could tell from the rip something was off about Morgan's wife. When I re-read her "he mentioned something about money laundering" then it hit me. As well as Charles being a major criminal, it just makes sense that Charles was running from the government and his wife helped. My main question is if she helped with any of the illegal documents. I'm not telling my wife I'm money laundering unless I need her to help. I mean, she could call the police and snitch, so it took some bravery to tell her that. She could also use that against him in a divorce settlement. I bet he told her because he needed her to help. I wonder if she opened any accounts for him?


Maybe, but on the other hand I could see him doing this not for personal fame but to save his life. (Otherwise I feel he'd have been more well known beyond just UM and attached to other big-name cases) If he actually had people saying there were contracts out on him it's natural he could have assumed that if this and the Doug Johnston connection were made public that attention might dissuade further attempts. Apparently, if there were indeed contracts out, it seemingly worked so I can't fault him for it.

I think the bible passage that he wanted "Green Eyes" to tell his wife was his version of a suicide note.

The more I have seen this segment the more I am convinced that this guy was a depressed fantasist-wouldn't let his wife take him to a hospital or have blood taken so they could see what was in his system.


freakbook came up with a good theory along these lines back on pg 2. Yeah, Morgan was into some shady stuff and halfway off his rocker probably. There was a part of this case though that was legitimate........legitimate enough to scare a few people in local law enforcement and get them to skip town/start looking over there shoulders (see the post I made on pg 3) - that's never been delved into/explained.

freakbook came up with a good theory along these lines back on pg 2. Yeah, Morgan was into some shady stuff and halfway off his rocker probably. There was a part of this case though that was legitimate........legitimate enough to scare a few people in local law enforcement and get them to skip town/start looking over there shoulders (see the post I made on pg 3) - that's never been delved into/explained.

Would like to know more about them-did they really skip town or did they just relocate & transfer to the force in that area, retire etc? It is 40 plus years since he died but there has still been no major scandal. The guy was it seems dirty, but did he have heat with the mafia? What happened to him doesn't point to them being involved, so what would the officers have been in fear of?

Would like to know more about them-did they really skip town or did they just relocate & transfer to the force in that area, retire etc? It is 40 plus years since he died but there has still been no major scandal. The guy was it seems dirty, but did he have heat with the mafia? What happened to him doesn't point to them being involved, so what would the officers have been in fear of?

That's the one thing that really baffles me about this. You have Morgan halfway off his rocker and Don Devereux coming up with conspiracy theories making the whole case seem slightly crazy & unhinged. Then you have the one LEO on the segment who mentions what he does and you stop and think "Okay, WTH? :confused: " and at the end of the day you're left not really sure what the deal was.

As for Don not really buying into the hit gone wrong scenario-he had been on UM so could hardly be mistaken for somebody else much younger & who looked nothing like him-cheap amateur hitmen make mistakes like that but the Mafia or pros don't. Why exactly would an Israeli operative have intelligence on a hit? Despite this supposed hit still being out on him he has been walking around unhindered in his investigations ever since.

I'm very skeptical of anything that attributes anonymous sources. That being said, Don wrote about this in different journalism landscape then we have today. I can see a Israeli Intel Op being involved because the gold angle. On top of Chucks escrow business, he was dabbling in the gold market. Back then you had the Mafia, US Intel and Foreign Intel all over that place. It was a whos who of the nefarious and dubious. Almost likes a scene out of Jabba the Hutts Palace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zfZhskSmp0

Buzzfeed "Unsolved" looked at this case this week. Nothing new offered, but it's a fun recap as they tend to be light hearted while talking about the cases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zfZhskSmp0

Buzzfeed "Unsolved" looked at this case this week. Nothing new offered, but it's a fun recap as they tend to be light hearted while talking about the cases.

I enjoy these guys, especially when they do ghost hunting. Shane's indifference about ghosts is great.

My favourite part of these segments is that despite multiple contracts out to kill Don Deveraux he continues to do his writing in front of a massive bay window facing the front of the house with no curtains or blinds.

My favourite part of these segments is that despite multiple contracts out to kill Don Deveraux he continues to do his writing in front of a massive bay window facing the front of the house with no curtains or blinds.

And apparently he's still alive(?)

lol yes

My favourite part of these segments is that despite multiple contracts out to kill Don Deveraux he continues to do his writing in front of a massive bay window facing the front of the house with no curtains or blinds.

Yes, hardly the actions of a man in fear of his life.

And apparently he's still alive(?)

Anybody might think the other guy was just the victim of a robbery gone bad, or something due to his personal life. Other than their cars being similar & living near to each other I didn't see any real physical resemblance as he claimed there was, certainly their ages weren't that close etc. 30 years later he is still alive-exposing all the secrets THEY don't want you to hear.

http://i.imgur.com/XuNjVix.gif

My favourite part of these segments is that despite multiple contracts out to kill Don Deveraux he continues to do his writing in front of a massive bay window facing the front of the house with no curtains or blinds.

Considering he played himself in that reenactment, I highly doubt it was filmed at Don's actual house at the time.

I have to think he would have moved by the time of the mistaken hit segment. Filming at his actual house would have been like giving killers a more detailed look at his floor plan.

Anybody might think the other guy was just the victim of a robbery gone bad, or something due to his personal life. Other than their cars being similar & living near to each other I didn't see any real physical resemblance as he claimed there was, certainly their ages weren't that close etc. 30 years later he is still alive-exposing all the secrets THEY don't want you to hear.

I've speculated that it was a possibility that something that wasn't mentioned in the segment in Doug Johnston's personal life could have been the reason he was killed. It did say that Doug just started his job at a computer graphics company. I wonder if a disgruntled ex-employee killed Doug, or if it robbery was the motive.

Knowing that Devereux fed into Casolaro's delusions, it wouldn't surprise me if he searched for suspicious deaths in the area and tried to claim that it was a botched hit intended for him. Because no hit man is that sloppy. Not even Elmo Florence go the wrong guy.

Yes, hardly the actions of a man in fear of his life.
Perhaps he just didn't want to live in constant fear 24 hours a day or that the reinactment wasn't exactly accurate? Unless you were planning on never leaving the house there isn't much else you can do to prevent being killed if "multiple" contracts are out on your life without hiring several bodyguards to protect you.

I think the bible passage that he wanted "Green Eyes" to tell his wife was his version of a suicide note.

I'm not sure I think Morgan's death was a suicide, but a key snippet that was left out of the reading of the passage on the segment has always bothered me--the final line:

Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity!

There is something reminiscent of suicide or hopelessness there, to my mind.

Considering this case as I was doing some chores this AM, I think perhaps the only factors that would sway my opinion in a definite manner on the nature of Morgan's death is exactly what handgun (that is, the exact make and model) was used, and the exact location of Morgan's head wound.

Devereaux is right: it's not a common place to shoot oneself. But if the wound was more posterolateral than posterior, and/or the handgun had a shorter barrel length that would permit such a shot, I would probably be much more inclined to reason he committed suicide.

Given that I have no information there, a murder seems as likely as a suicide given the nature and extent of Morgan's involvement in those financial activities and indiscretions.

Y'all may know I think Danny Casolaro committed suicide and had probably had far less actual credible information on various conspiracies than he implied, so his contact with DD has little bearing one way or another for me.

Considering this case as I was doing some chores this AM, I think perhaps the only factors that would sway my opinion in a definite manner on the nature of Morgan's death is exactly what handgun (that is, the exact make and model) was used, and the exact location of Morgan's head wound.

Devereaux is right: it's not a common place to shoot oneself. But if the wound was more posterolateral than posterior, and/or the handgun had a shorter barrel length that would permit such a shot, I would probably be much more inclined to reason he committed suicide.

Given that I have no information there, a murder seems as likely as a suicide given the nature and extent of Morgan's involvement in those financial activities and indiscretions.

Y'all may know I think Danny Casolaro committed suicide and had probably had far less actual credible information on various conspiracies than he implied, so his contact with DD has little bearing one way or another for me.

You're right, this case is rather ambiguous, so it's hard to tell what really happened. I sway more on the side of suicide because when his wife said he came home unable to talk because someone forced him to drink acid, I took that as a failed suicide attempt.

I personally think Charles had gotten in over his head with his illegal dealings and started freaking out. Maybe he was threatened, or maybe he thought he was going to be arrested, but his actions seemed like he was scared/freaked out so he committed suicide. The map he had and everything else seemed wacky and like he had planned it himself.

I'm torn if he was suffering from some sort of paranoid delusion, or just scared out of his mind and committed suicide from either one.

Also to note, I wonder if he wanted an insurance payout to his wife/children, so he shot himself in the head to make it seem like someone else had shot him?

You're right, this case is rather ambiguous, so it's hard to tell what really happened. I sway more on the side of suicide because when his wife said he came home unable to talk because someone forced him to drink acid, I took that as a failed suicide attempt.

I personally think Charles had gotten in over his head with his illegal dealings and started freaking out. Maybe he was threatened, or maybe he thought he was going to be arrested, but his actions seemed like he was scared/freaked out so he committed suicide. The map he had and everything else seemed wacky and like he had planned it himself.

I'm torn if he was suffering from some sort of paranoid delusion, or just scared out of his mind and committed suicide from either one.

I think he *was* into some shady stuff. Whatever mob connections there were though made him overly paranoid, to the point that he feared his shady dealings becoming exposed. So, he concocted a story, got his wife to go a long with it, then went out & shot himself in such a way that it would look like murder (so his wife/kids would get an insurance payout).

There is nothing online about Doug Johnston. The police officer interviewed in the segment said that while they couldn't rule out suicide, they were still investigating the case as a homicide. It's been over 30 years. No person shoots themselves in the head while holding the gun 12" away, leaving no gunshot residue, and no gun behind. And there is seemingly nothing being done to solve this murder. I don't get it.

Something that I find extremely odd is that on unsolved.com, on both the Charles Morgan writeup (https://unsolved.com/gallery/chuck-morgan/) as well as the Danny Casolaro writeup (https://unsolved.com/gallery/dan-casolaro/), there is no mention of Doug Johnston.

I believe Morgan and Casolaro had psychological issues and committed suicide. I find it very difficult to believe Johnston wasn't murdered, but I think the motive was personal rather than professional.

I believe Morgan and Casolaro had psychological issues and committed suicide.

Agreed. Though I've grown quite suspicious of Morgan's wife.

I'm not saying she killed him or anything, but I wonder if she was included in any of his shady dealings, or lied about anything. I found the story about the "men in black" who ransacked their home when Charles died to be suspicious.

I'm not saying she killed him or anything, but I wonder if she was included in any of his shady dealings, or lied about anything. I found the story about the "men in black" who ransacked their home when Charles died to be suspicious.

I don't think she was honest either, probably because she knew more about the illegal activities of her husband, but it's also possible she embellished things because she didn't want to believe he committed suicide.

I don't think she was honest either, probably because she knew more about the illegal activities of her husband, but it's also possible she embellished things because she didn't want to believe he committed suicide.

True. But if she is lying about that FBI agent story, then that can't be because she didn't want to believe he committed suicide. It's like she was trying to convince people that Charles was really into some cryptic government stuff, and even made up a story to go along with it.

I can't figure out why. Insurance payout perhaps?

I was thinking she may have made up the FBI story to convince others of her belief that he might've been killed because he was secretly working for the government. That it wasn't just Charles saying that.

But yeah, if his life insurance policy had a suicide clause, that could be a reason.

I was thinking she may have made up the FBI story to convince others of her belief that he might've been killed because he was secretly working for the government. That it wasn't just Charles saying that.

Good point

Morgan's wife definitely knew about his shady dealings, but made up the BS about the FBI to complete the charade that he was murdered (when in all actuality, he probably committed suicide and wanted her to get his insurance payout).

Casolaro was a washed up journalist who got onto an innocuous story (theft of the PROMIS software), but soon got sucked down into a rabbit hole filled with tin-foil hat types who either played him, or just fed him their same kind of delusions. After chasing his "leads" for so long, he either figured it was all BS, people weren't buying it at all or some combination of the two. Either way, the weight of this realization was enough to convince him he *was* washed up, his career was going nowhere etc etc and so he killed himself.

Johnston not being mentioned in connection to either Morgan or Devereux isn't all that surprising. I mean yeah, there was a whole segment on him, but the police treated it as a random act of violence just as they treated Morgan's death as a suicide. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone in LE down there may have written off Don Devereux as a quack and that might have something to do with it too.

Johnston not being mentioned in connection to either Morgan or Devereux isn't all that surprising. I mean yeah, there was a whole segment on him, but the police treated it as a random act of violence just as they treated Morgan's death as a suicide. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone in LE down there may have written off Don Devereux as a quack and that might have something to do with it too.

I agree with your points with regards to Morgan, Casolaro, and Devereux...but Johnston's murder currently not being investigated is legitimately baffling to me.

Johnston's murder currently not being investigated is legitimately baffling to me.

agreed. makes me wonder if Devereux's "IT WAS MEANT FOR ME!" threw investigators off? perhaps they started investigating what Devereux was saying, and they got off on the wrong trail until they just left it alone?

doesn't seem like they investigated Johnston's background enough

agreed. makes me wonder if Devereux's "IT WAS MEANT FOR ME!" threw investigators off? perhaps they started investigating what Devereux was saying, and they got off on the wrong trail until they just left it alone?

doesn't seem like they investigated Johnston's background enough

I've always thought that the motive had something to do with Johnston's new dream job. It wasn't just a crime of opportunity, because nothing of value was taken from the crime scene.

I've always thought that the motive had something to do with Johnston's new dream job. It wasn't just a crime of opportunity, because nothing of value was taken from the crime scene.

Definitely not a crime of opportunity, it seemed like a clean hit. I always wondered why the shooter was in Johnston's car to begin with. Did he willingly let the killer in?

Yeah, the murder could've been about his job, but I wonder if a "transaction" of sorts was going down? The fact that he was murdered an hour after he left for work makes me think that he never got out of the car, so was he meeting with his killer in the parking lot under the guise of doing business? Given the fact that he was new at his job, I can't imagine the motive from anyone from his job.

Not to sully Doug's name as there is no evidence to suggest such a thing but maybe it was a drug transaction gone bad? Maybe he was buying/selling something else?

Given the fact that Johnston's wife was on the segment saying that she believed the hit was mean't for Devereux, let's me know that Devereux was running around putting the attention on himself probably is the reason why authorities didn't focus too much on investigating Doug's death.

Not to sully Doug's name as there is no evidence to suggest such a thing but maybe it was a drug transaction gone bad? Maybe he was buying/selling something else?

Doug was not leaving his job, but going to it. He was found slumped over in his car, with headphones on listening to music. He definitely wasn't involved in something shady. Whoever killed him simply walked up and shot him. He probably never saw it coming.

agreed. makes me wonder if Devereux's "IT WAS MEANT FOR ME!" threw investigators off? perhaps they started investigating what Devereux was saying, and they got off on the wrong trail until they just left it alone?

doesn't seem like they investigated Johnston's background enough

I'm sure Johnston's background was investigated from day one and nothing noteworthy was discovered. That might have been why one of the article snippets shown in the segment referred to him as the "happiest man."

Don Devereaux made mention to the police at first that he lived across the street from where the shooting took place and that he drove the same type car. But he didn't think much of it after. It wasn't until several months later when the two CIA contacts and the caller from Israeli Intelligence told him that he was the target, not Johnston. That was when Devereaux officially made the statement that the bullet might have been meant for him.

I agree with your points with regards to Morgan, Casolaro, and Devereux...but Johnston's murder currently not being investigated is legitimately baffling to me.

It's really not that baffling.

I'm not sure how hard the authorities went at it initially, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here and say they gave it their best shot. With Morgan's case being a suicide and Don Devereux most likely being written off as a quack, that left the murder of Johnston as an isolated incident (you can decide for yourself whether it was a random act of violence or not).

With no leads or anything else, I'm sure after the passage of time, the case was initially deemed inactive, 'cold' or whatever. Depending on the time, resources & priorities of the Phoenix PD, I'm sure they either haven't had the manpower to keep at this after almost 32 years now or it just hasn't made it high enough on their list of priorities (again, you can decide which is more likely).

It's really not that baffling.

They don't even have his case featured on their cold case website (https://silentwitness.org/category/homicides/page/27/), which has cases from the 1970s on there.

I'm not sure how hard the authorities went at it initially, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here and say they gave it their best shot. With Morgan's case being a suicide and Don Devereux most likely being written off as a quack, that left the murder of Johnston as an isolated incident (you can decide for yourself whether it was a random act of violence or not).

I don't think the cops ever took Devereux's scenario seriously. The cops actually said out loud that they couldn't even rule out a suicide (with no gun, come on), so that should tell you how hard they went at this.

With no leads or anything else, I'm sure after the passage of time, the case was initially deemed inactive, 'cold' or whatever. Depending on the time, resources & priorities of the Phoenix PD, I'm sure they either haven't had the manpower to keep at this after almost 32 years now or it just hasn't made it high enough on their list of priorities (again, you can decide which is more likely).

Johnston's family, outside of one article and his wife's appearance on UM, have been largely silent about this case. That has also been baffling to me. And it makes me wonder if there eventually was some sort of "closure" to this case that the public has never been privy to.

Doug was not leaving his job, but going to it. He was found slumped over in his car, with headphones on listening to music. He definitely wasn't involved in something shady. Whoever killed him simply walked up and shot him. He probably never saw it coming.

I know he was going to work. I was thinking that he could've made a deal in the parking lot before going into work.

And apparently he's still alive(?)

IF there was a contract on him, and that's a big IF, they would be stupid to go after him now. He probably figures he's safe at this point.

Watched this segment again and went googling randomly as I sometimes do. Stumbled upon this blog post (https://morbidology.com/the-bizarre-death-of-charles-morgan/) (from 2018). Doesn't really say anything of interest until you get down toward the bottom:

Police were able to corroborate that the woman and Morgan had met with CCTV footage. They found out that at some time between his disappearance and his death, Morgan had registered at a south-side hotel where he met with this woman several times. When Ruth was asked if she believed her husband had been having an extramarital affair, she denied it, stating: “A woman knows when her man has strayed, and Chuck hasn’t strayed in 19 years.”

Following Morgan’s death, his attorney, Ronald J. Newman, confirmed that Morgan had testified in a secret state investigation concerning Tucson’s Banco International de Arizona and a former director, David Kali. Atty Gen. Bruce Babbitt confirmed that they had been conducting an investigation for the Banking Dept., and confirmed Morgan had been called to testify about internal dealings at Banco that he knew of but wasn’t involved in. Shortly after Morgan’s body was found, his impounded car was broken into while in police possession. His is office was ransacked as well and several weeks later, two men claiming to be members of the FBI showed up at the family home and searched it.


Now the meeting with 'Green Eyes' being confirmed doesn't raise that much suspicion with me. I know in the past, there's been speculation that Morgan's own wife could've been Green Eyes - so all that's confirmed here is that Morgan met with a woman......there's nothing that would lead us to be able to prove or disprove who she was/is.

That next paragraph though, that does contain some interesting tidbits. I don't want to necessarily place emphasis on the word of Morgan's attorney as much as I do on what comes afterwards. Of note:

-The former AZ Attorney General (later the Gov. from 78-87 and US Secretary of the Interior from 93-01) confirmed that there was an investigation that Morgan had peripheral involvement in.

-Morgan's car, while in a Police Impound Lot, was broken into as was his office (facts that weren't mentioned in the UM segment)


I guess it's still possible that Morgan could've been involved in some shady stuff, concocted a scheme to kill himself and then others who were involved (mafia figures, corrupt politicos etc) could've gotten paranoid and wanted to do some clean up after the fact.....but at the same time, this brings to mind comments made by the ret. LEO in the initial UM segment (who said some Intelligence Officers from the Sheriff's Dept. who were familiar with this case, eventually left LE and skipped the country, in fear of their lives) and then the point made by TheCars1986 (that there's little to no info on Doug Johnston's case - as if the authorities just gave up and washed their hands of it) which makes things a bit murkier.

Shortly after Morgan’s body was found, his impounded car was broken into while in police possession. His is office was ransacked as well and several weeks later, two men claiming to be members of the FBI showed up at the family home and searched it.

If this is true, then that means that his wife was telling the truth when she said two men knocked on their door claiming to be FBI.

Then I wonder if the people who were breaking into his things were associates of his? Maybe he had something with their names on it that could get them in trouble so they ransacked everywhere looking for it.

I always wondered why they waited until he died, but im guessing because they were doing dirt togehter

If this is true, then that means that his wife was telling the truth when she said two men knocked on their door claiming to be FBI.

Then I wonder if the people who were breaking into his things were associates of his? Maybe he had something with their names on it that could get them in trouble so they ransacked everywhere looking for it.

I always wondered why they waited until he died, but im guessing because they were doing dirt together

Agreed - I think that's the likeliest explanation too. He was into some deep s*it, panicked and hatched a plan to off himself without telling any of his associates - but his wife here had no knowledge or involvement.

This makes me wonder how wide ranging this was and whether any gov't officials were involved (or whether that was merely a figment of Don Devereux's imagination)

This makes me wonder how wide ranging this was and whether any gov't officials were involved (or whether that was merely a figment of Don Devereux's imagination)

Yeah, this had to be pretty big. From what I read they somehow broke into his car and searched through it while it was in police custody. I don't know how you would do that without some kind of pull

I've studied this case for many years, i've read just about anything and everything there is, i've always had a theory, and infact i'm not saying it's true it's just something i think should be put out there. but when we watch a segment on UM theres usually 2 or 3, even more people that tell the story, a few family members- co-workers, police... the problem with this story is that everything is told to us by Ruth Morgan and ONLY Ruth Morgan. now she seemed believable on UM, theres nothing really there to suggest she's lying. but however if you discard everything that Ruth says then all you have is a dead man in the desert.

Theres no green eyes, no bible verses, no coming home with his hands tied. it's simply a dead man in the desert. and although i'm not saying she lied. i think it's an important thing to remember.

Green eyes is key if all this is true, what i always found very interesting is the fact that "green eyes" called Ruth "Ruthie" which suggests an amount of familarity between the two, did they know each other? did Chuck talk enough about his wife to green eyes that she felt confident enough to call her that?

The bible quote is very interesting, it talks about being close to God when you're young and life is easy, and how people come looking for him near death when life becomes harder and they are scared of "terrors on the highway" which fits, i mean Chuck was coming to the end of his life and he was scared of something, thats why he bought a gun and a bullet proof vest. but what if the number, not the words are more important to someone who could understand it all?

Trace evidence uploaded their podcast on the case to youtube and 4 or 5 years ago a woman posted in the comment section "Charles morgan was my father, there is more to this and my family than was ever let out" i clicked on the profile and there were videos of bake sales in Tucson. she could be lying, but i think it's still true. theres something missing from this case and family. when many people talk about this case, they mention the mob, but the mob doesn't send you home with strange chemicals in your throat, you cross the mob and you simply disappear.

I understand that Chuck would have wanted to protect his wife, but if your husband or wife went missing like that you'd ask them nothing? not one thing? even where they were? Ruth was that passive and disinterested? then you've got the strange chemical in his throat? it just seems kind of silly and implausable at times.

I just don't know if i believe everything that Ruth Morgan said.

I've studied this case for many years, i've read just about anything and everything there is, i've always had a theory, and infact i'm not saying it's true it's just something i think should be put out there. but when we watch a segment on UM theres usually 2 or 3, even more people that tell the story, a few family members- co-workers, police... the problem with this story is that everything is told to us by Ruth Morgan and ONLY Ruth Morgan. now she seemed believable on UM, theres nothing really there to suggest she's lying. but however if you discard everything that Ruth says then all you have is a dead man in the desert.

Theres no green eyes, no bible verses, no coming home with his hands tied. it's simply a dead man in the desert. and although i'm not saying she lied. i think it's an important thing to remember.

Green eyes is key if all this is true, what i always found very interesting is the fact that "green eyes" called Ruth "Ruthie" which suggests an amount of familarity between the two, did they know each other? did Chuck talk enough about his wife to green eyes that she felt confident enough to call her that?

The bible quote is very interesting, it talks about being close to God when you're young and life is easy, and how people come looking for him near death when life becomes harder and they are scared of "terrors on the highway" which fits, i mean Chuck was coming to the end of his life and he was scared of something, thats why he bought a gun and a bullet proof vest. but what if the number, not the words are more important to someone who could understand it all?

Trace evidence uploaded their podcast on the case to youtube and 4 or 5 years ago a woman posted in the comment section "Charles morgan was my father, there is more to this and my family than was ever let out" i clicked on the profile and there were videos of bake sales in Tucson. she could be lying, but i think it's still true. theres something missing from this case and family. when many people talk about this case, they mention the mob, but the mob doesn't send you home with strange chemicals in your throat, you cross the mob and you simply disappear.

I understand that Chuck would have wanted to protect his wife, but if your husband or wife went missing like that you'd ask them nothing? not one thing? even where they were? Ruth was that passive and disinterested? then you've got the strange chemical in his throat? it just seems kind of silly and implausable at times.

I just don't know if i believe everything that Ruth Morgan said.

My theory was also that Ruth had lied, but then I started thinking "why?" Why would she lie?

Regarding your take on "Green Eyes" and why she used the name "Ruthie" is because I think everything she said was written by Charles. I believe that Charles got "Green Eyes" to read his suicide note over the phone to Ruth, which explains the "Ruthie". Green Eyes was probably some woman he found outside and gave her $50 to read his suicide note over the phone to his wife

My theory was also that Ruth had lied, but then I started thinking "why?" Why would she lie?

Regarding your take on "Green Eyes" and why she used the name "Ruthie" is because I think everything she said was written by Charles. I believe that Charles got "Green Eyes" to read his suicide note over the phone to Ruth, which explains the "Ruthie". Green Eyes was probably some woman he found outside and gave her $50 to read his suicide note over the phone to his wife


mmmm you do know what message she gave to her right? the message she gave was "chuck is ok.." followed by the bible verse what kind of suicide note is "i'm ok" !? makes no sense! and theres nothing in the bible verse that talks about death in that manner.

You ask why would Ruth Morgan lie? well unsolved mysteries is full of people who lie, cheat, steal and kill, she wouldn't be the first nor would she be the last to plot to have her husband killed or simply lie for whatever reason, although i don't know if i believe she's lying, i just think it's not something we shouldn dismiss.

I can't remember where i read it, but a motel worker in tucson claimed that around the dates that charles went missing, both times he stayed at this motel with a woman. i don't know how much you've read on the case, but someone claiming to be green eyes later got in touch with the police saying she had been with charles and he had shown her thousands of dollars that he was going to give to a contract killer to get him off his back.

She wasn't some random person (if she indeed exists) who read a suicide note, and no suicide note would read "i'm ok"

mmmm you do know what message she gave to her right? the message she gave was "chuck is ok.." followed by the bible verse what kind of suicide note is "i'm ok" !? makes no sense! and theres nothing in the bible verse that talks about death in that manner.

You ask why would Ruth Morgan lie? well unsolved mysteries is full of people who lie, cheat, steal and kill, she wouldn't be the first nor would she be the last to plot to have her husband killed or simply lie for whatever reason, although i don't know if i believe she's lying, i just think it's not something we shouldn dismiss.

I can't remember where i read it, but a motel worker in tucson claimed that around the dates that charles went missing, both times he stayed at this motel with a woman. i don't know how much you've read on the case, but someone claiming to be green eyes later got in touch with the police saying she had been with charles and he had shown her thousands of dollars that he was going to give to a contract killer to get him off his back.

She wasn't some random person (if she indeed exists) who read a suicide note, and no suicide note would read "i'm ok"

what she said could indeed be constructed as a suicide/good-bye note. here's the passage, take special note of the bolded:

“Men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road. Remember him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

You're focusing too much on the "Charles is okay". That was probably said to keep her from freaking out

but when we watch a segment on UM theres usually 2 or 3, even more people that tell the story, a few family members- co-workers, police... the problem with this story is that everything is told to us by Ruth Morgan and ONLY Ruth Morgan

I can't remember where i read it, but a motel worker in tucson claimed that around the dates that charles went missing, both times he stayed at this motel with a woman. i don't know how much you've read on the case, but someone claiming to be green eyes later got in touch with the police saying she had been with charles and he had shown her thousands of dollars that he was going to give to a contract killer to get him off his back.

So someone other than Ruth had something to say then?

Theres no green eyes, no bible verses, no coming home with his hands tied. it's simply a dead man in the desert. and although i'm not saying she lied. i think it's an important thing to remember.

In your above quote you mentioned that "Green Eyes" talked to the police and said that Charles showed her a case full of money, and that a motel worker saw them together. You've greatly contradicted yourself.

i don't think you've read what i've written.

i've just put 2 theories out there, that maybe ruth made it all up. the other things i've mentioned are documented in many newspapers and podcasts about the case. not something i've just invented. but if you think that a suicide note would read "ruthie i'm ok" and someone would pay a stranger 50 bucks to read that to someone as a way of ending his life, then i can see i'm talking with someone who really isn't capable of offering me anything inteligent. thanks anyway

but if you think that a suicide note would read "ruthie i'm ok" and someone would pay a stranger 50 bucks to read that to someone as a way of ending his life, then i can see i'm talking with someone who really isn't capable of offering me anything inteligent. thanks anyway


First of all I already knew that you were mentally impaired when you kept focusing on the "charles is okay" instead of the bible quote and his subsequent suicide. And to highlight how even more impaired mentally you are, Green Eyes referred to Ruth as "Ruthie" why would she do that on her own accord if she didnt know her?

Its obvious to anyone with even a drop of common sense that Charles had Green Eyes read it as a "goodbye" as he commited suicide shortly after. But youre probably not bright enough to understand the bible quote, so thats why you keep bringing up "charles is okay"

And your little theory that took you years to come up with was already discussed in this thread. I previously mentioned that its possible Ruth was lying about something, so sorry to burst your little bubble but your "theory" isnt original

:eek::eek::eek: good lord, what did i just read…

:eek::eek::eek: good lord, what did i just read…

stop trying to re-ignite the drama :lol::lol:

Doug Johnston should have been a standalone segment not associated with this one, Casolaro, or Devereaux. In fact, IMO, at the insistence of Devereaux that his murder was somehow a botched hit intended for him, this is a big reason as to why his murder remains unsolved to this day.

Doug Johnston should have been a standalone segment not associated with this one, Casolaro, or Devereaux. In fact, IMO, at the insistence of Devereaux that his murder was somehow a botched hit intended for him, this is a big reason as to why his murder remains unsolved to this day.

agreed. I wonder what was the motive behind Johnston's murder?

Doug Johnston should have been a standalone segment not associated with this one, Casolaro, or Devereaux. In fact, IMO, at the insistence of Devereaux that his murder was somehow a botched hit intended for him, this is a big reason as to why his murder remains unsolved to this day.

I’m not so sure about that. Devereaux didn’t officially consider himself the original target until several months into the Johnston investigation. Yes, he brought up the car coincidence the following day but was told by Phoenix PD that it probably meant nothing and they weren’t interested. So you essentially have police doing their own investigation outside of Devereaux and there’s nothing to indicate that ever changed.

Johnston’s murder largely remains unsolved because he had no known enemies, was happy and there were no witnesses.

I’m not so sure about that. Devereaux didn’t officially consider himself the original target until several months into the Johnston investigation. Yes, he brought up the car coincidence the following day but was told by Phoenix PD that it probably meant nothing and they weren’t interested. So you essentially have police doing their own investigation outside of Devereaux and there’s nothing to indicate that ever changed.

Johnston’s murder largely remains unsolved because he had no known enemies, was happy and there were no witnesses.

Deveraux was the reason the Johnston case was featured on UM. It was the main reason it received publicity. The local press (https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/123309127/) seemed to only show interest when the case could be framed as a potential "botched hit". I did find this tidbit from that article interesting, however:

The file on Doug Johnston compiled by the Phoenix police homicide detail summarizes simply: death unknown. A 35-year-old computer technician, Johnston was shot once in the back of the head as he sat in his beat-up Toyota station wagon in the 2200 block of West Northern Avenue while awaiting the start of a midnight work shift one night in May 1990. Police had suspected a possible suicide, committed because of a stack of debts estimated at $14,000. The problem was, the pistol used was never found. And the likelihood that the right-handed Johnston would shoot himself behind the left ear seemed implausible.

Johnston's widow, Denise, for one, believes Devereux. "Doug had no enemies," she said. "He also wouldn't have killed himself, because he was happy and finally getting a steady income to pay off his loans. "As far-fetched as the professional-hit suggestion sounds, I really do believe in it."

I always have gotten this weird vibe that there is something more to Johnston's death that we aren't being told about. Don't you think his wife and family would still be shouting from the rooftops that he couldn't have possibly committed suicide because the gun was never found? Instead, they talk about how he was "happy" and had a new job that he was excited about.

Just saw the Charles Morgan segment...wow what a loaded segment.

I will admit that even before he died I was wondering if he was just mentally off and faked the kidnapping, and then maybe the death was a suicide, but looking at all the information together I have a very hard time believing it was not a hit of some kind.
My guess is the local sheriff department ruled it a suicide because they were told to do so.

Frankly, none of the details in this really seem surprising or odd to me either. Might have had some involvement with the government as he claimed to his wife, which was naturally denied by the officials after he turned up dead, nothing unusual there.

The two men that ransack the house looking for something, presumably end up with that letter he told his father about that never materialized. Its possible it was an FBI "bag job", as they would not want to really identify themselves in that case. Or it was two men impersonating the FBI which is also a possibility. I could see either a criminal organization or the FBI wanting the letter destroyed, though the latter would be somewhat more likely to know of its existence in the first place.

I also find what the sheriff department lieutenant said telling, that some of the men involved in investigating fled the country due to what they found. That would indicate, at the very least, a severe lack of faith in the ability of even federal agencies to protect them. In my mind this lends some credence to the idea that Charles was working for the government and seeing how his case was handled persuaded those men to leave themselves.

Stevie Wonder could see that Charles Morgan's death was a professional hit. Now whether he was mixed up with the Mob is up for debate, but the fact remains someone wanted him dead and got the job done.

I also have never heard in my life of someone going to work to blow their brains out in the parking lot and magically the gun disappears.

I absolutely believe it was a botched hit and they got the wrong guy. Devereaux was very smart to go on television without cloaking his identity and bring attention to the fact there was a hit on his life it probably saved him.

What no one considered if the fact that in the Charles Morgan case it could have been the other party he was working for that 86'd him not necessarily the Mob.

I guess I am stating the obvious here - but if they are suggesting that Doug Johnston killed himself - then they are also suggesting that someone randomly walked up to his car and saw him dead and decided to take the gun.

I know there are dumb criminals but I don't buy that one is going to decide to take possession of a gun that they can clearly see was just used in a shooting death.

I guess I am stating the obvious here - but if they are suggesting that Doug Johnston killed himself - then they are also suggesting that someone randomly walked up to his car and saw him dead and decided to take the gun.

I know there are dumb criminals but I don't buy that one is going to decide to take possession of a gun that they can clearly see was just used in a shooting death.

It has happened (https://www.news-gazette.com/news/police-looking-for-gun-in-apparent-suicide/article_7a00e648-7754-579b-bc21-edddaecd0ce3.html) before.

It has happened (https://www.news-gazette.com/news/police-looking-for-gun-in-apparent-suicide/article_7a00e648-7754-579b-bc21-edddaecd0ce3.html) before.

Who's to say that one was actually a suicide either...

Who's to say that one was actually a suicide either...

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I contend that there is more to the Doug Johnston story than UM led on, which would have supported a suicide as opposed to the mistaken hit angle that they went with. For one, the cops believed suicide was possible despite the gun being missing. The UM website has removed any mention of Doug in both the Charles Morgan and Danny Casolaro writeups on their main website. Nothing is being done to investigate his case as a potential murder. No family members have publicly decried the investigation in the years since his death. After the recent Tara Calico revelation (about the cops finding the girl in the photo in Florida working at a flea market), it would not shock me if the cops located the gun used in the Johnston homicide and have closed the case, which is why it was scrubbed from UM's website.

After the recent Tara Calico revelation (about the cops finding the girl in the photo in Florida working at a flea market

They found her!?

They found her!?

According to a former undersheriff, he said that they got a bunch of tips from people in Florida, flew to Florida and found the girl working at a flea market selling stuffed animals.

They found her!?

Allegedly. I for one don't find this story so convincing, partially due to the timing, and partially due to the fact that it has no corroborating statements.

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I contend that there is more to the Doug Johnston story than UM led on, which would have supported a suicide as opposed to the mistaken hit angle that they went with. For one, the cops believed suicide was possible despite the gun being missing. The UM website has removed any mention of Doug in both the Charles Morgan and Danny Casolaro writeups on their main website. Nothing is being done to investigate his case as a potential murder. No family members have publicly decried the investigation in the years since his death. After the recent Tara Calico revelation (about the cops finding the girl in the photo in Florida working at a flea market), it would not shock me if the cops located the gun used in the Johnston homicide and have closed the case, which is why it was scrubbed from UM's website.

I will agree with you that UM may have left out some information, for one reason or another.

I don't however believe that there is any significance in their modifications to their website. Censorship on their website and the re-released episodes is seemingly random, and probabally dictated more by SLAPP threats than anything else.

Allegedly. I for one don't find this story so convincing, partially due to the timing, and partially due to the fact that it has no corroborating statements.

Law enforcement in New Mexico believe she was killed shortly after leaving her home for a run.

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I contend that there is more to the Doug Johnston story than UM led on, which would have supported a suicide as opposed to the mistaken hit angle that they went with. For one, the cops believed suicide was possible despite the gun being missing. The UM website has removed any mention of Doug in both the Charles Morgan and Danny Casolaro writeups on their main website. Nothing is being done to investigate his case as a potential murder. No family members have publicly decried the investigation in the years since his death. After the recent Tara Calico revelation (about the cops finding the girl in the photo in Florida working at a flea market), it would not shock me if the cops located the gun used in the Johnston homicide and have closed the case, which is why it was scrubbed from UM's website.

If it wasn't the gun that was found, then it might've been some sort of embarrassing/damning information that sealed it up. Whatever it was, it had to have enough weight to it to cause the police to close the case & his family to not bring it up again (by that token, it wouldn't surprise me at all if pressure from the police and/or his family caused UM to scrub their site, old eps etc)

If it wasn't the gun that was found, then it might've been some sort of embarrassing/damning information that sealed it up. Whatever it was, it had to have enough weight to it to cause the police to close the case & his family to not bring it up again (by that token, it wouldn't surprise me at all if pressure from the police and/or his family caused UM to scrub their site, old eps etc)

Or they knew from the outset it was a hit, and like the other 2 cases they ruled it a suicide because they were told to do so. And, unlike the other cases, they stuck to that story and closed the case.
Likewise, the family knew it was better not to ask too many questions and went along with it. Either the police or the family may have had it scrubbed from the site out of a desire to distance themselves from it.

Or they knew from the outset it was a hit, and like the other 2 cases they ruled it a suicide because they were told to do so. And, unlike the other cases, they stuck to that story and closed the case.
Likewise, the family knew it was better not to ask too many questions and went along with it. Either the police or the family may have had it scrubbed from the site out of a desire to distance themselves from it.

The problem with this though, is that for it to be true, you'd have to assume that Charles Morgan was murdered and most of what Don Devereux said was true. I don't buy into either of those conclusions.

I don't know why Doug Johnston died. I think whatever it was though, was entirely separate from the Morgan case. As for Don Devereux, I think he's a tin-foil-hat type who took the two coincidental points (of Johnston driving a similar car and dying right across the street from his house) and used them to advance his own bats*it crazy theories.

The problem with this though, is that for it to be true, you'd have to assume that Charles Morgan was murdered and most of what Don Devereux said was true. I don't buy into either of those conclusions.


I would consider Devereux's claims hard to believe if they were standing on their own terms.
However, both information provided in the segment, and more general knowledge of history tend to make them more credible.

In the segment, we are told that more than one LE officer fled the continental United States after their involvement with this case. People do not flee the country if the find a suicide. They flee if their lives are threatened by organizations or entities that reach throughout the US.

That Devereux was told by inside sources that it was a botched hit does not sound that hard to believe, knowing that the sources he referred to would quite possibly have access to such information.

And of course the Morgan case is filled with strange elements that point to anything but suicide. What about the "FBI agents" that ransacked his house after he died? The only innocuous explanation for that is that his widow made the entire thing up for some purpose. Or the letter he told his father about which never materialized?

I would consider Devereux's claims hard to believe if they were standing on their own terms.
However, both information provided in the segment, and more general knowledge of history tend to make them more credible.

In the segment, we are told that more than one LE officer fled the continental United States after their involvement with this case. People do not flee the country if the find a suicide. They flee if their lives are threatened by organizations or entities that reach throughout the US.

That Devereux was told by inside sources that it was a botched hit does not sound that hard to believe, knowing that the sources he referred to would quite possibly have access to such information.

And of course the Morgan case is filled with strange elements that point to anything but suicide. What about the "FBI agents" that ransacked his house after he died? The only innocuous explanation for that is that his widow made the entire thing up for some purpose. Or the letter he told his father about which never materialized?

Here's how I see it going down.

Charles Morgan was into some shady stuff - money laundering or whatever - and got in over his head (and I think his wife had at least peripheral knowledge of it). Maybe he ended up seeing/hearing something he shouldn't have, or maybe the ringleaders of this shady stuff decided he had become a risk. Either way, someone involved in this decided Morgan had to be eliminated.

Either Morgan found out his number was up or someone tipped him off. Eventually though, Morgan decides to hatch a plot to kill himself and make it look like a murder.....not only to convince the powers that be that he's no longer a threat, but also to ensure his family's safety and that they'd receive his life insurance payout.

About the LEOs skipping the country? Given the era and locale, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume some would be corrupt and I think that's what it was. If any actually *did* flee the country as suggested, I think they were in on the same shady stuff Morgan was. They saw the house of cards start to crumble and decided to disappear, using 'fear' as a convenient cover story.

As to the purported FBI agents that showed up at his place, I doubt they were actually FBI - I think they were either associates of Morgan or goons that worked for his handlers. They were simply there to make sure that he didn't have any kind of incriminating or otherwise suspicious evidence that the authorities could eventually discover (this would also explain Morgan's car getting broken into while in a police impound yard)

Here's how I see it going down.

Charles Morgan was into some shady stuff - money laundering or whatever - and got in over his head (and I think his wife had at least peripheral knowledge of it). Maybe he ended up seeing/hearing something he shouldn't have, or maybe the ringleaders of this shady stuff decided he had become a risk. Either way, someone involved in this decided Morgan had to be eliminated.

Either Morgan found out his number was up or someone tipped him off. Eventually though, Morgan decides to hatch a plot to kill himself and make it look like a murder.....not only to convince the powers that be that he's no longer a threat, but also to ensure his family's safety and that they'd receive his life insurance payout.

About the LEOs skipping the country? Given the era and locale, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume some would be corrupt and I think that's what it was. If any actually *did* flee the country as suggested, I think they were in on the same shady stuff Morgan was. They saw the house of cards start to crumble and decided to disappear, using 'fear' as a convenient cover story.

As to the purported FBI agents that showed up at his place, I doubt they were actually FBI - I think they were either associates of Morgan or goons that worked for his handlers. They were simply there to make sure that he didn't have any kind of incriminating or otherwise suspicious evidence that the authorities could eventually discover (this would also explain Morgan's car getting broken into while in a police impound yard)

Not sure how killing yourself is supposed to protect your family, with you out of the way there is no reason for them to not kill them as well if they suspect they have any knowledge that might come to light (which is exactly what happened).

I suppose the LE officials may have been corrupt too, but if that was the case they likely did not have to flee the US, resigning would likely have been plenty. Apparently this corruption never came to light either, they are not wanted but fled of their own accord. But that entire explanation does not seem much more satisfactory to Occam's Razor than that they were afraid of what they found and left.

I have doubts they were FBI either, though they certainly might have been. And we are told that the FBI initially said they looked into the case, only to later deny it.

I think I found the location of the spot written on the back of Chuck's $2 bill found on him. The bill shows a road identified as "Robles Junction" converging with another road written down as "Arivaca Road". "Buenos Aires" is also written down near the circled spot on the hand drawn map. This (https://www.google.com/maps/@31.6468,-111.4986317,3a,49y,294.44h,79.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_6sQyiJ4jb7dI2d7mV3ZjQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu) spot is at the intersection of Arivaca Sasabe Rd and S Sasabe Rd. Robles Junction is found at the beginning (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Robles+Junction,+Three+Points,+AZ+85735/@32.0766599,-111.3151413,1184m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x86d5cfb4d15be4a1:0x61a7d26c5a1bc658!8m2!3d32.0773005!4d-111.3117701!16s%2Fm%2F0660py8?entry=ttu) of S Sasabe Rd. Also, the $2 randomly has "Buenos Aires" written near the circle; and as you can see there is a sign at this intersection pointing in the direction of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. IMO, this is the general area of where he was going on the night of his death.