Barry Morphew to appear in court after grand jury indictment charging him with wife's murder
Officials said Barry Morphew will appear in court on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. local time in Alamosa, Colorado. Barry Morphew was charged with murder in the first degree after deliberation on June 20 after the state convened a grand jury. He was extradited from Arizona on Monday, and is now at the Alamosa County Jail.
Barry Morphew's attorney, David Beller, told Fox News Digital that Morphew "maintains his innocence."
"Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence," Beller said. "The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either."
Suzanne Morphew went missing on Mother's Day in 2020 and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation located her remains in 2023 during a search in Saguache County. A significant number of her bones were "significantly bleached" when they were found, according to the indictment.
In the June 20 indictment, prosecutors said that the chemicals butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine were found in Suzanne Morphew's bone marrow. These chemicals, prosecutors said, compromise a deer tranquilizer known as "BAM."
According to prosecutors, Barry Morphew used the "BAM" deer tranquilizer to sedate and transport deer on his farm when he lived in Indiana. The indictment states that he was the only individual with a prescription for the deer tranquilizer within the area of Colorado he lived in.
"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," the indictment states.
Barry Morphew was initially charged with the murder of Suzanne Morphew in 2021, but those charges were dropped after prosecutorial misconduct. In that case, the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning he could be re-charged.
Court documents indicate Suzanne Morphew wanted to leave her husband, but was waiting for the right time.
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