Barry Morphew extradited to Colorado to face murder charges in wife's 2020 disappearance

Fox News

6 days ago

Barry Morphew has been extradited from Arizona to Colorado following a grand jury indictment charging him with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, officials said Monday.
He left the 4th Avenue Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, and taken to the Alamosa County Jail in Colorado, the Twelth Judicial District Attorney's Office said Monday. Suzanne Morphew, 49, vanished during a bike ride on Mother's Day 2020. Barry Morphew was charged with murder in the first degree after deliberation on June 20.
He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. local time, officials said.
Morphew's attorney, David Beller, previously told Fox News Digital 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."
In 2023, Suzanne Morphew's remains were located by Colorado Bureau of Investigations agents during a search in Saguache County, located in the southwestern part of the state. Many of Suzanne Morphew's bones were "significantly bleached" when they were found, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say it's "unlikely" that her body decomposed to a skeleton at the location she was found.
Prosecutors said in a June 20 indictment that the chemicals Butorphanol, Azaperone and Medetomidine were found in Suzanne Morphew's bone marrow. They alleged that Barry Morphew used "BAM" deer tranquilizer to sedate and transport deer on his farm when he lived in Indiana.
According to the indictment, Barry Morphew admitted to using the BAM compound to tranquilize a deer from the breezeway of his house in April 2020.
Barry Morphew was also the only person with a prescription for the deer tranquilizer within the area of the state he lived in, according to prosecutors. The only two other entities with access to the BAM compound within the surrounding counties of Barry Morphew was Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the National Park Service, officials said.
"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 charged with murder in 2021, but the charges would later be dropped after prosecutorial misconduct. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning he could be re-charged later on.
Court documents indicate Suzanne Morphew wanted to leave her husband, but was waiting for the right time.