Colorado man charged again with first degree murder of wife who went missing in 2020
A Colorado man suspected of killing his wife was charged Friday for the second time with first degree murder in her 2020 death, the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office said in a release.
Barry Morphew was previously charged with first degree murder, among other charges, in May 2021 in the killing of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who was last seen on Mother's Day in 2020. But those charges were dropped without prejudice — meaning charges could be filed again at a later date — in April 2022 as prosecutors were closing in on finding the woman's remains.
Officials took Morphew into custody Friday in Arizona, the District Attorney's office said, but the office is working to extradite the man back to the San Luis Valley in Colorado.
It was not immediately clear whether Morphew is being held in jail or he has obtained legal representation.
Iris Eytan, the attorney who represented Morphew in the earlier charges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear if she is still representing him.
Suzanne Morphew was last seen on May 10, 2020, near County Road 225 and West Highway 50 in Maysville, about 100 miles west of Colorado Springs. She was on a bike ride at the time.
A 49-year-old mother of two, Suzanne Morphew was reported missing from her Chaffee County home that same day. Also that day, her mountain bike and helmet were discovered on the side of a county road in Salida, Colorado, near the family's home.
Her husband had repeatedly denied his involvement in her death and pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.
One week before Morphew was set to stand trial on the initial charge of first degree murder in his wife's disappearance, prosecutors dismissed the charges because they said they had zeroed in on an area where they believed her remains to be, but weather in the region was prohibiting officials from recovery efforts, slowing down the case.
Suzanne Morphew's remains were finally uncovered in September 2023, officials said at the time. They were found during an unrelated search near Moffat in Saguache County.
An April 2024 autopsy determined she died by homicide, which reported that drugs normally used as animal tranquilizers were found in her system.
Suzanne Morphew "died as a result of homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication," the El Paso County coroner's report, obtained by NBC News at the time, said.
"The drugs are marketed as a compound injectable chemical immobilizer for wildlife providing pharmacologically reversible analgesia, sedation, and immobilization," according to the report.
Prosecutors had said they believed Morphew used a tranquilizer gun in his wife's murder. They had also said he was the only one with motive to kill Suzanne Morphew, because she was having an affair, believed her husband was having one, too, and had plans to file for divorce.
Days before her disappearance, Suzanne Morphew texted her husband that their relationship was "done," according to the initial arrest affidavit from 2021.
"Let's handle this civilly," she said, according to the affidavit.
"It had become clear that Barry could not control Suzanne's insistence on leaving him, and he resorted to something he has done his entire life — hunt and control Suzanne like he had hunted and controlled animals," the affidavit said.
Morphew also filed a $15 million lawsuit against authorities who accused him of killing his wife in May 2023. At the time, the couple's daughters spoke in support of their father.
The District Attorney's office in the Friday release said the investigation into Suzanne Morphew's death has been ongoing.
"Federal, State and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne," said Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly.
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Colorado husband Barry Morphew seen in new mug shot after DA reveals shocking evidence in wife's murder
Colorado husband Barry Morphew was pictured in a new mugshot taken by officials in Arizona after he was indicted for the murder of his wife Suzanne. The 43-year-old mother of two vanished from the couple's stunning $1.5 million home in Marysville, 150 miles from Denver, in May 2020. Barry, 53, was charged on Friday. Barry Morphew was arrested in Cave Creek, Arizona on Friday and has been charged with first-degree murder. He was seen disheveled and bleary-eyed in a new mugshot by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office following his arrest. The landscaper's bail was set at $3 million, as investigators held a press conference Friday evening to release further details about the case. An indictment seen by revealed that Suzanne died with the presence of a powerful animal tranquilizer called butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (BAM) in her body. The charging document released Friday delivered an apparent smoking gun in theatrical style. 'Ultimately, the prescription records show that when Suzanne Morphew disappeared, only one private citizen living in that entire area of the state had access to BAM: Barry Morphew,' it said. A tranquilizer needle cap, darts and a tranquillizer gun were found in the couple's home during a law enforcement search conducted shortly after Suzanne vanished. Barry used BAM to hunt deer while in the couple's native Indiana. They moved to Colorado from the Hoosier State in 2018 and were having severe marital difficulties at the time of Suzanne's disappearance. The much-loved mom vanished while the younger of the couple's two daughter's Macy was away from the family home for a few days. Cops allege Barry killed Suzanne on the morning of May 9 2020, the day before her disappearance was reported. At a press conference on Friday night, District Attorney Anne Kelly declined to elaborate beyond what was contained in the indictment. She said only that her office never gave up on getting justice for Suzanne, adding: 'We have worked very hard to move forward in this case.' Morphew has maintained his innocence since his wife disappeared, and his attorney David Beller blasted the new indictment. He said: 'Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence. Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either.' Barry was first charged with murdering his wife in 2021, in the absence of his wife's body. But the case collapsed amid prosecutorial misconduct, with Macy and the couple's other daughter Mallory both standing by their father throughout. A new team of prosecutors began probing Barry again after Suzanne's body was discovered dumped along the side of a rural road in Saguache County, Colorado in September 2023 in a patch of wasteland known as 'The Boneyard.' That is about an hour's drive south of the Morphew residence. And more dramatic evidence revealed for the first time Friday revealed that Suzanne did not die where her body was found. Forensic experts said the lack of animal activity on Suzanne's body combined with the lack of decomposure of the cycling clothes she was wearing mean 'it was unlikely Suzanne decomposed from a fresh body to a skeleton at this location.' The charging document did not offer any further theories or evidence as to where investigators believe Suzanne was killed or where her body was initially concealed. No cause of death has been given because of how badly Suzanne had decomposed, but a coroner's report said she'd died with the BAM tranquilizer in her system. Suzanne was reported missing by her neighbor on Mother's Day 2020 after Mallory and Macy were unable to reach her on the phone. Her last communication with a friend was on May 9, the day investigators believe Barry killed her. Barry and Suzanne were alone at their home at the time of the disappearance. On May 6, Suzanne texted Barry saying: 'I'm done. I could (sic) care less what you're up to and have been for years. We just need to figure this out civilly.' Barry claimed he left home early on the morning of May 10 to go to work in the Colorado city of Broomfield, three hours from their home. He said that Suzanne was asleep in their bed, having told him she was planning a bike ride for her day. Investigators insist Suzanne had already been dead for hours at that point. Barry's phone entered and exited airplane mode several times over the next 24 hours, authorities said. The door of his truck was opened numerous times between 3.25am and 5am and was backed up into the home's garage at least once. Further arousing suspicion was Barry's activity in Broomfield. He claimed to have been on a landscaping job but spent a total of just 90 minutes on site and the rest in a cheap hotel room that cleaners reported stank of chlorine after he checked out. Barry was captured on surveillance making several trash runs at numerous locations around town, but appeared to be doing little work, police noted. Suzanne's disappearance was reported to police on the evening of May 10 - Mothering Sunday - after Macy and Mallory said they had been unable to contact their mother. Barry asked a neighbor to check on the house and then asked them to call the sheriff when the neighbor saw no trace of Suzanne. During a subsequent police interview, Barry claimed the couple's marriage was 'the best' and that they'd just had a 'wonderful weekend together.' But that was a lie; Suzanne had been having a two year affair with an old school friend called Jeff Libler and despised her husband, it is alleged. After cops began to search the property, they found Suzanne's bike abandoned down a steep embankment close to the family home. Police believe that scene was staged. Her helmet was discovered days later, roughly a mile away, at the side of a highway. The disappearance of an attractive, wealthy mother soon sparked a nationwide media frenzy. A tearful Barry even released a brief video appeal to the public asking for information. 'Suzanne, if anyone is out there that can hear this that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back,' Barry said. Meanwhile, a huge manhunt was launched, with authorities scouring rural terrain, diving in lakes, and deploying K9 units to find Suzanne - but there was no trace. When Barry was questioned by police two days after Suzanne disappeared, officers noted he had scratches on his hands and arms. A search of the Morphew home found a live .22 caliber bullet by Suzanne's bed, and a needle cap from a tranquilizer dart was found in the dryer, tangled up among washed bed sheets. Investigators also recovered empty tranquilizer darts, a needle used to inject tranquilizer chemicals into the darts, and a dart gun. Barry Morphew admitted to using a tranquilizer gun to shoot deer so he could harvest their horns, but said he was unsure how the cap got in the dryer, court records show. Barry, who owned a scruffy trailer park in Cave Creek, will now be extradited to the San Luis Valley in Colorado to face charges. His 'Stardust Trailer Park' billed itself a 'boutique community' offering short and long-term rentals, but had a dilapidated and depressing air when visited by in 2024. His daughters have yet to comment on the charges brought against their father. Suzanne's loved ones including her sister Melinda had previously condemned Barry over his alleged treatment of his wife and claimed Suzanne had feared for her safety. A friend called Sheila Oliver claimed Suzanne had complained of Barry shoving her into a closet and putting a gun to his head while screaming: 'Is this what you want?' 'Federal, State and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne,' Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly said Friday.
NBC News
9 hours ago
- NBC News
Colorado man charged again with first degree murder of wife who went missing in 2020
A Colorado man suspected of killing his wife was charged Friday for the second time with first degree murder in her 2020 death, the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office said in a release. Barry Morphew was previously charged with first degree murder, among other charges, in May 2021 in the killing of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who was last seen on Mother's Day in 2020. But those charges were dropped without prejudice — meaning charges could be filed again at a later date — in April 2022 as prosecutors were closing in on finding the woman's remains. Officials took Morphew into custody Friday in Arizona, the District Attorney's office said, but the office is working to extradite the man back to the San Luis Valley in Colorado. It was not immediately clear whether Morphew is being held in jail or he has obtained legal representation. Iris Eytan, the attorney who represented Morphew in the earlier charges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear if she is still representing him. Suzanne Morphew was last seen on May 10, 2020, near County Road 225 and West Highway 50 in Maysville, about 100 miles west of Colorado Springs. She was on a bike ride at the time. A 49-year-old mother of two, Suzanne Morphew was reported missing from her Chaffee County home that same day. Also that day, her mountain bike and helmet were discovered on the side of a county road in Salida, Colorado, near the family's home. Her husband had repeatedly denied his involvement in her death and pleaded not guilty to the initial charges. One week before Morphew was set to stand trial on the initial charge of first degree murder in his wife's disappearance, prosecutors dismissed the charges because they said they had zeroed in on an area where they believed her remains to be, but weather in the region was prohibiting officials from recovery efforts, slowing down the case. Suzanne Morphew's remains were finally uncovered in September 2023, officials said at the time. They were found during an unrelated search near Moffat in Saguache County. An April 2024 autopsy determined she died by homicide, which reported that drugs normally used as animal tranquilizers were found in her system. Suzanne Morphew "died as a result of homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication," the El Paso County coroner's report, obtained by NBC News at the time, said. "The drugs are marketed as a compound injectable chemical immobilizer for wildlife providing pharmacologically reversible analgesia, sedation, and immobilization," according to the report. Prosecutors had said they believed Morphew used a tranquilizer gun in his wife's murder. They had also said he was the only one with motive to kill Suzanne Morphew, because she was having an affair, believed her husband was having one, too, and had plans to file for divorce. Days before her disappearance, Suzanne Morphew texted her husband that their relationship was "done," according to the initial arrest affidavit from 2021. "Let's handle this civilly," she said, according to the affidavit. "It had become clear that Barry could not control Suzanne's insistence on leaving him, and he resorted to something he has done his entire life — hunt and control Suzanne like he had hunted and controlled animals," the affidavit said. Morphew also filed a $15 million lawsuit against authorities who accused him of killing his wife in May 2023. At the time, the couple's daughters spoke in support of their father. The District Attorney's office in the Friday release said the investigation into Suzanne Morphew's death has been ongoing. "Federal, State and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne," said Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
Husband re-arrested in the death of Suzanne Morphew, whose remains were found after 3-year search
The husband of Colorado woman Suzanne Morphew, whose remains were discovered over three years after she was reported missing on Mother's Day 2020, was arrested again Friday on suspicion of first-degree murder, authorities said. Barry Morphew was arrested Friday in Arizona after a Colorado grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday. His bond was set at $3 million, cash only, according to court documents. The district attorney's office said in a statement that it is seeking to bring him back to Colorado. Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence since his wife disappeared, and his attorney David Beller blasted the new indictment. 'Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence,' Beller said in a statement. 'Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either.' He was first arrested in his wife's death in May of 2021 on suspicion of first-degree murder, tampering with a human body and other offenses. But prosecutors dropped their case against him the following year just as he was about to stand trial. A judge barred prosecutors from calling key witnesses for repeatedly failing to follow rules for turning over evidence in Barry Morphew's favor. That included DNA from an unknown male that was found in Suzanne Morphew's SUV. At the time, prosecutors said they wanted more time to find her body. Barry Morphew has repeatedly maintained his innocence and previously filed a $15 million lawsuit against county officials, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights. The mystery surrounding Suzanne Morphew began on May 10, 2020, when the 49-year-old mother of two daughters, who lived near the small town of Salida, was reported missing on Mother's Day. Suzanne Morphew's mountain bike and helmet were soon found in separate spots not far from her home, but investigators suspected the bike had been purposefully thrown down into a ravine because there was no indications of a crash. A week after she went missing, Barry Morphew posted a video on Facebook pleading for her safe return. 'No questions asked, however much they want, I will do whatever it takes to get you back,' he said. When he was charged, the arrest affidavit laying out investigators' case against Barry Morphew said his wife insisted on leaving him. He later changed his statements as evidence in the case developed. Morphew, an avid hunter, did not initially tell investigators that he went out of his way as he left for work on Mother's Day, driving toward the place where his wife's bicycle helmet was eventually found. Later, he said he went that way because he had seen an elk cross the road, according to the initial arrest affidavit. After prosecutors dropped the charges against him, Barry Morphew's lawyers announced they had filed a complaint asking that the prosecutors be disciplined for allegedly intentionally withholding evidence in the case. Barry Morphew also filed a $15 million lawsuit against prosecutors and investigators, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights. However, the initial charges against Morphew were dismissed without prejudice, leaving the door open for prosecutors to pursue a case against him later. That happened after Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents stumbled upon Suzanne Morphew's skeletal remains in September 2023 in a shallow grave during an unrelated search near the small southern Colorado town of Moffat, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of the Morphews' home. A 2024 autopsy report released said Suzanne Morphew died of 'undetermined means" but ruled it a homicide. A cocktail of drugs that are used to tranquilize wildlife was found in one of her bones but there was no indication of trauma, the report said. A tranquilizer gun and accessories were found in the Morphews' home, according to investigators. ___ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Associated Press reporter Jaimie Ding in Seattle contributed.
