Wealthy landscaper Barry Morphew set to attempt Bryan Kohbeger-style defense after being charged with wife's murder

Daily Mail​

25-07-2025

A wealthy landscaper charged with murdering his wife might try to use mystery DNA found at the scene to blame someone else for the killing, according to a legal expert.
Barry Morphew, 57, was accused of murdering his wife Suzanne, who disappeared on Mother's Day 2020 before her remains were found in 2023.
An autopsy report said Suzanne died of 'unspecified means' but ruled her death a homicide.
While her remains showed no signs of trauma, investigators found in her bone marrow a drug cocktail used to tranquilize wildlife that her husband had a prescription for, according to an indictment.
But former Colorado deputy district attorney Colin McCallin told Fox News that the alleged killer would likely use an 'alternate suspect' defense because unknown DNA was found in Suzanne's car after she vanished.
'I would expect the defense to advance any evidence they [have] relating to alternate suspect evidence,' the lawyer said.
He added: 'One of the things that has always permeated this case is the existence of these unknown DNA profiles that were found on some of the items of evidence that were found initially when she went missing, that pointed to maybe someone else being involved in this.'
Idaho quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger, 30, famously tried to invoke a similar defense strategy initially, but the move was rejected by the judge.
Kohberger's defense team pointed fingers at four people, whose identities were not revealed - three of them were 'socially connected' to the victims and a fourth had a 'passing connection.'
'Namely, the evidence is entirely irrelevant,' Judge Steven Hippler said in his ruling against the defense strategy, adding there was not a 'scintilla of competent evidence connecting them to the crime.'
Kohberger eventually pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole earlier this week.
In the Suzanne Morphew case, her husband was arrested on June 20 in Arizona after being newly indicted for his wife's killing.
His arrest came three years after the initial case against him was dropped because of prosecutorial issues with evidence.
Suzanne's remains were discovered accidentally as authorities were searching for another missing woman a year after prosecutors dropped their initial prosecution of Morphew.
Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence since his wife disappeared.
The mystery surrounding Suzanne Morphew began when the 49-year-old mother of two daughters was reported missing on Mother's Day 2020.
Her mountain bike and helmet were found in separate spots not far from her home, but investigators suspected the bike was purposefully thrown into a ravine because there were no indications of a crash.
A week after his wife went missing, Morphew posted a video on Facebook pleading for her safe return and the case quickly drew attention.
In May 2021, prosecutors charged him with murder. They subsequently dropped the case in 2022 just as Morphew was about to stand trial.
A judge had barred prosecutors from calling key witnesses after the attorneys repeatedly failed to follow rules for turning over evidence in Morphew's favor.
The latest case is being prosecuted by a different prosecutor in a separate judicial district where Suzanne's remains were found, a rural area about 40 miles south of the Morphews' home.
Investigators found at the site a port through which Suzanne Morphew could receive medicine to treat follicular lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that she had. They also found biking clothes similar to what she was known to wear.
Based on the condition of the remains and clothes, a forensic anthropologist theorized that the body likely decomposed elsewhere before being moved to the site, according to Morphew's new indictment.
Suzanne was reported missing by her neighbor on Mother's Day 2020 after her daughters 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 Morphew killed her.
Morphew and Suzanne were alone at their home at the time of the disappearance.
On May 6, Suzanne texted her husband 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.'
Suzanne had been having an affair with an old school friend called Jeff Libler.
Morphew 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 by that point.
Murphew is next in court on September 2.