by Robert Scott
He applied to become a deputy sheriff at the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) in the Blackfoot area. Despite squandering so many earlier opportunities, Gabe actually got the job. It looked like he was on his way to becoming a lawman.
As in most things, Gabe started off in fine form as a Bingham County deputy sheriff. He was always good at beginning things, but it remained to be seen if he could finish what he started.
Later on, the sheriff would say that Gabe had done a good job as a deputy and took his work seriously. He took orders well and followed procedures in a manner that was proficient and up to standards.
Then, in November 2005, daughter Kalea was born to Gabe and Jessica. Kalea was a beautiful baby. It seemed that at last the family could settle down to a comfortable and prosperous home life.
As he traveled the main highways and back roads of Bingham County, Gabe performed well at his job. Besides the largest city of Blackfoot, there were the small towns of Rockford, Aberdeen and Atomic City. The main thoroughfare through the county was I-15, but there were also US Highways 20 and 26, as well as numerous back roads. Agricultural land spread along the Snake River Plain and ranches farther away. The southwestern part of the county was dominated by a huge lava bed, with the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve on the distant horizon. Another large sector in the county was the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, which had its own law enforcement agency. It was a very different world from the tall pine forests and rocky seacoast of Bandon, Oregon.
As had happened in the past, Gabe’s fantasy life and real life began blending in disturbing ways. To people outside the sheriff’s office, he started circulating stories that his job as a deputy sheriff was only a cover for his “real job.” He was supposedly with a top secret unit of the air force that did “black ops” work. He claimed that he was sent out on dangerous overseas missions and even worked as an assassin, when necessary. He indicated that these might have been in the Middle East and other world hot spots. Gabe was never very specific about where he would go or what he would do there. It lent an air of mystery about his life; and he, of course, explained being nonspecific about details because of national security. It’s quite possible that Gabe was envious of the life that his big brother Jesse McCoy had lived in this regard, and, therefore, he started inventing these tales.
Jesse said later, “When Gabe became a police officer, we spoke all the time on the phone. We were still very close.” Gabe wasn’t telling Jesse these stories of black ops, with secret government groups, but apparently he started telling some fellow officers. The wool could not be pulled over their eyes so easily, and they derided and laughed at his stories. Unfortunately for Gabe, he half believed these stories himself. In some ways, he still felt inadequate compared to his older brother. These stories were one means of making him feel better about himself.
Gabe should have been happy with his new profession as a sheriff’s deputy, but that was not the case. “Good enough” was never enough for Gabe. He didn’t want to rise slowly through the ranks, like everyone else. He wanted to be a detective by 2007. He’d only been on the force for two years; and when a position came open in the detective division, Gabe applied for it.
A much more experienced officer was chosen by the sheriff. In disgust, Gabe resigned in a huff. Later he would concoct different stories of why he quit at that point. One of these stories was that he’d been on a raid with other officers and didn’t feel that they’d done it properly. He said he felt he’d been put at risk by their actions.
He went so far as to claim that he’d gone to the sheriff about this, and the sheriff had not backed him up on the matter. Feeling that his safety was at risk, Gabe said, he resigned from the sheriff’s office. Whether that happened or not could not be verified later.
Another story he put out was that he’d sustained a shoulder injury in the line of duty and could not return to work. As a result, he said, he was let go from the department. And in yet a third story, Gabe said he’d been offered a job at a police department in Anchorage, Alaska, a place where he’d always wanted to live. Later, after he’d resigned from the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, he claimed the job offer in Alaska fell through. In yet another story, he would recount that he was angered by the sheriff’s office’s treatment of inmates and alleged that the sheriff’s office was corrupt.
The Alaska story may have been partially true. Gabe did go up there and apply for a position in the Anchorage Police Department. He had the understanding that they were going to hire him. However, when he went back for a second interview, this did not transpire.
Most of his stories did not pan out. The sheriff of Bingham County said that Gabe had never come to him about other officers putting him at risk, and Gabe had never sustained a shoulder injury in the line of duty. What seems to have been the truth was that when Gabe did not immediately get what he wanted, he behaved like a spoiled toddler.
Another job had been squandered by Gabe Morris. Searching around Blackfoot, he was lucky to find a job opportunity in a short amount of time. This job was at Gold’s Gym as a trainer. Once again, it was a good start for Gabe. The owner liked him, and so did those whom he taught.
Owner Taylor Ball later said of Gabe, “He was very positive and outgoing. He made you feel really good about yourself. He was full of compliments.” In fact, Gabe was tailor-made as a personal trainer at a gym. He did have a winning personality, when he decided to let it shine. Likewise, he was muscular and fit, all of which was a good combination for a personal trainer at a gym.
Gabe liked his job at Gold’s Gym, and with good reason. He met a woman there named Brenda Owens (pseudonym), and she was very pretty. Gabe may have been married to Jessica, and had a young daughter at home, but Brenda was alluring and stoked his ego. Besides, it was still certainly galling to Gabe to be living in the Popes’ orbit. That was a constant reminder of all his failures.
It wasn’t long before the young, handsome former sheriff’s deputy had a lot of clientele—especially attractive young women—and Brenda certainly fell into that category. It’s not recorded now if Gabe let Brenda know if he was married or not. He was definitely less enthused about his life with Jessica after his BYU days. There had been too many false starts and disappointments in his life by now. In his mind, Jessica was part of that equation. Brenda, by comparison, was attractive and a boon to his ego and self-esteem. She may have been supposedly off limits by all the tenets of his faith, but she was also alluring and someone whom he wanted. They started a sexual relationship around this time.
Taylor Ball not only owned Gold’s Gym; he also had an American Family Insurance Agency as well. With Gabe’s often-winning nature and gift of talking easily to almost anyone, he seemed like a natural as an American Family Insurance agent. Gabe had the right touch, no matter the person with whom he was talking. It was more than just being a con man, he seemed to believe the things he was saying himself—even when they weren’t true, or at least only partially true. Con men are cynical by nature, and they see the rest of humanity as a bunch of suckers. Gabe, however, seemed to con himself into believing whichever persona he chose at the time. He was as persuaded as much as anyone else.
Gabe began working as an insurance agent, along with his Gold’s Gym training. Before long, he hired Brenda as an assistant in the insurance business. He had a lot more in mind for her than that, however. He wined and dined her, taking on the aspect of the big man around town. He even took trips to Las Vegas with her.
Gabe opened his own American Family Insurance Company office in Pocatello, Idaho, where Brenda resided. He began making a lot of excuses to Jessica about why he was staying late at the office or going on so many business trips. His new life seemed exotic and fast paced. The life with Jessica and Kalea was weighted down with drudgery and past failures.
Now smitten with Brenda, Gabe moved out of the house he shared with Jessica. Incredibly, she fell for his story that he was going to be away for a while on a secret black
ops mission. Even after all the deception and promises on Gabe’s part, Jessica still believed him and in him. In many ways, she believed in the aspect of what Gabe could be, rather than the Gabe who was right in front of her eyes.
Half brother Jesse recalled this period in Gabe’s life: “I started noticing a lot of changes in Gabe around this time. It was like night and day. Before, we had not kept anything from each other. I went up there to Idaho and was surprised to find he had quit the sheriff’s office and was working for an insurance agency. His marriage was rocky by that time.”
Gabe was doing everything he could to live the high life. He gained access to Brenda’s credit cards and began running up huge totals on them, unbeknownst to her. He purchased a very expensive BMW and a Mercedes as well, even though he couldn’t afford either car. When Brenda asked him how he could afford such vehicles, he lied and said that he was in a business venture with his stepfather, James Anstey. James had an antique store in Bandon, Oregon, and Gabe said that he was helping James sell expensive antiques. Gabe claimed that one sale alone was worth $50,000. Of course, it was all a fabrication on his part.
Gabe also told Taylor Ball that he worked in the very high end of antiques dealing and artwork. He seemed to imply that he had connections to the New York art scene. Gabe mentioned that he dealt art to “really wealthy people.” Gabe also claimed that he was getting huge commissions on these sales, which was another lie.
For all his effort at creating a façade as an upstanding, outgoing young man, Gabe could not keep his inner demons in check forever. There seemed to always be a hard, dark core about him. There was an inner anger, which was constantly smoldering. Taylor related that both he and Gabe were fans of martial arts. One time Gabe came up to Taylor and said that he was worried what might happen if he really got angry at someone. He might hurt them badly or even kill them.
Then Gabe showed Taylor a picture on his cell phone with himself covered in blood. He said that had happened when he’d gotten into a fight with some guy. According to Gabe, it was the other man’s blood. “I beat him up pretty badly,” Gabe claimed. And then he added, “I’m a bad man. I’m a good guy, but a bad man.” It may have been the one time that Gabe came closest to the mark in nailing down exactly who he was.
Casey Yeats became a good friend of Gabe’s during this time period. Gabe spun his stories to Casey about having only one more year left with his contract with the air force. He hinted about black ops operations and that he would be moving to South America soon. He even indicated that he wasn’t supposed to be in the United States at all, because he had missions elsewhere to perform. Gabe was such a convincing talker, he could get people to believe in very outrageous things. One thing that Casey added was that he did not see “a mean bone in Gabe’s body. I never saw him raise his voice or become angry.”
Gabe might have built up a framework of illusion for ordinary citizens about his supposed black ops, but he was flirting with disaster when it came to trying to fool an insurance company. Gabe’s concept of ethics was pretty much gone by this time. He was not only ripping off Brenda, but he was ripping off his American Family Insurance customers as well. He began charging some customers for extra services that they were not receiving. Apparently, Gabe was pocketing the extra money. Customers complained about the discrepancies, and the insurance company began an investigation of Gabe’s business practices.
CHAPTER 12
About this time, Gabe moved out on his own, down to Las Vegas. Jesse recalled that he got Gabe to stop off in Salt Lake City, where Jesse lived. Jesse explained, “The changes in Gabe by that time were profound. Mom and I talked about it by phone almost every day. We were both very concerned for Gabe’s well-being. We knew he wasn’t with the insurance company any more, but we didn’t know what was going on with him, or with him and Jessica.
“He wasn’t talking about black ops stuff to me, but it was stuff that would cause concern. On the phone he was maniacal on whatever he was talking about, and I couldn’t get a word in. I thought he might be bipolar. He would just go on and on about some subject.
“Around this time, he told me some story about his dad, Danny Morris, taking him out to the ocean to drown. He said Mom was sitting on the beach and let Danny do it. Gabe said he was left underwater and went to the bottom of the ocean and had a conversation with God. He said he knew he was special at that point. God gave him the power to breathe underwater. He said he started walking on the ocean bottom, right up to the shore. Both Mom and Danny were amazed when he showed up alive. I told Gabe, Mom would never let anything like that happen.”
Despite this story making no sense at all, Gabe started incorporating it into his belief system. Part of the dynamic was the feeling of being abandoned at a young age. The other dynamic was having special powers and a special relationship with God. If God had allowed Gabe to breathe underwater as a child and cheat death, what future miracles might be in store in his life?
One of the murkiest times in Gabe’s life occurred when he moved from Idaho to Las Vegas, Nevada. Not even his half brother Jesse was sure what he was doing down there. Jesse recalled that he helped Gabe move down to Las Vegas; and once he was down there, the only kind of “work” Gabe said he was doing was gambling.
Not too long after that, Gabe phoned Jesse and said he had some new “work.” According to Jesse later, “It was kind of like robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. He also said he was investing money, but he didn’t say how he was getting the money, or how he was even getting money to gamble. He kept alluding to doing ‘crooked stuff.’”
Just what this supposed “crooked stuff ” was, was fantastic. Gabe later said that he was hired as a bodyguard to protect high-class prostitutes. There was another story that he would break into very rich people’s homes and steal expensive items. In some stories, he gave some of his proceeds to the poor. In other tales, he just kept everything for himself, fencing many items for cash.
There was even one very murky story that he killed someone in Las Vegas. Or in a retelling of this, some bad guy killed someone close to Gabe and then was after Gabe as well. After a while, Gabe could not recount with any clarity what really happened, or if this had occurred at all. He was drinking heavily during this period of time and his thought processes were cloudy at best.
What Jessica remembered of this chaotic period was that “Gabe would call to talk to Kalea. And sometimes she would talk to him, and sometimes she wouldn’t. He would come up to Idaho and stay for a few hours, get mad at something, and then just leave. As far as what he did down there, I didn’t know. But he spent a ton of money in Las Vegas drinking and partying and whatever.” This last part, Gabe had to have told her. Jessica never went down to Las Vegas to be with him.
Perhaps knowing that he could be in real trouble, because of playing fast and loose with other people’s money—especially when it came to the insurance business—Gabe abandoned Brenda and told Jessica that he wanted to make their marriage work. He even said that his relationship with Brenda had not been sexual. Incredibly, Jessica believed him. She strongly wanted to have Gabe, herself and Kalea as a family, so she was ready to believe anything he told her.
In disgust, Jessica’s father later related, “He was able to sell her malarkey. She thought she could make a responsible, hardworking fella out of him. Those two characteristics never seemed to appear.”
More incredible news was right around the corner for the Popes. Brenda had found out where Gabe and Jessica were staying, which was the Popes’ residence. She called Bill Pope there. Brenda told him that Gabe had run up a bill of $30,000 on her credit cards without her permission. She described him as a liar and a cheat.
With this information, the Popes tried to talk Jessica out of taking Gabe back. They knew he was toxic and would one day drag her down with him in his wild and irresponsible schemes. However, more than anything else, Jessica wanted to keep the family together.
Bill said later, “She had all the faith in the wo
rld in God and ability to transform people. The subject of Gabe was kind of off limits in family discussions.”
Of course, when it came to God, Gabe had his own flights of fancy about his relationship with the Almighty. This concept did not seem to have a moral code that would be understandable to other people.
And then, for whatever reason, Gabe was the one who filed for divorce from Jessica. It happened in March 2009 at the Bingham County Court. He claimed “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce. Reluctantly, Jessica signed a settlement that required Gabe to pay $1,000 a month to her. He reported his income at the time as $48,000 a year. This came from working at Gold’s Gym and as an agent at the American Family Insurance Agency. It’s doubtful he reported the money he was skimming from that company. Jessica was to retain full custody of Kalea.
That should have been the end of it, but there was never a clean ending with Gabe. He changed his mind once again and the divorce was not finalized. Gabe moved back in with Jessica and Kalea. In desperation, he turned to the one source of income that he could still tap: Bill and Rita Pope.
CHAPTER 13
When Gabe had to convince someone, he could do a very good job of it. He told Bill Pope that if he could only get himself, Jessica and Kalea back to Oregon, he could go into business with James Anstey. Gabe swore he could make a good living doing that. It would keep his family together; it would help erase all his financial debts; it would give them a clean start.
As far as Jessica went, she believed things Gabe was telling her about why they were in such financial trouble. She said later, “He just started taking clients out to dinner (clients of the American Insurance Company). And he got the BMW. He said it would help him with getting more clients. And he said he was paying back the ROTC loan.” (Author’s note: He may not have been doing that repaying.) “He started using credit cards for everything—gas, food, everything. And he got business accounts for the women who worked for him at the life insurance agency. He bought cell phones for them and the accounts. It was all going on credit cards.
