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CBS News
02-07-2025
- CBS News
Barry Morphew appears in Colorado courtroom on new charges of killing his wife Suzanne
Barry Morphew appeared in a Colorado courtroom on Tuesday for the first time since he was arrested a second time on suspicion of murdering his wife Suzanne. Suzanne Morphew was reported missing in Chaffee County on Mother's Day in 2020 and her skeletal remains were found off a dirt road in Saguache County on 2023. Barry Morphew in court on Tuesday. CBS Morphew made his first appearance in Alamosa County Court in handcuffs and an orange and white jail jumpsuit. One of his daughters blew him a kiss when he walked into the courtroom, and the man accused of killing her mother gave her a big smile. It was a brave look for a man who has been pulled back into the justice system for Suzanne's murder. He was arrested on June 20 in Arizona and extradited to Colorado this week. Tuesday consisted of mostly standard courtroom proceedings. Morphew waived his right to be advised of his legal rights and was not asked to speak. Twelfth District Attorney Anne Kelly will prosecute the case. The earlier case against Barry Morphew, which was thrown out, was prosecuted by the disgraced and disbarred former 11th Judicial District DA Linda Stanley. The initial case against him was dropped in 2022 because of prosecutorial issues with evidence. Morphew's legal representation includes David Beller and Jane Fisher-Byrialsen. CBS "It is our understanding that we will be appointed on to continue our representation of Mr. Morphew," Beller said in the courtroom. The defense is already looking to put an end to the case. They submitted a challenge to the probably cause in the case. The prosecution said it was ready for that move, and they expect this case to move past it. Barry Morphew's bond remains set at $3 million, with the possibility it could be changed before the next scheduled court date in early September. In the months between now and then, evidence the prosecution has assembled will be reviewed. Suzanne Morphew's remains were discovered accidentally as authorities were searching for another missing woman a year after prosecutors dropped their initial prosecution of Morphew. A 2024 autopsy report said Suzanne Morphew 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 the indictment. Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence since his wife disappeared. Beller and Fisher-Byrialsen did not return telephone and email messages seeking comment. Beller has previously criticized prosecutors for allowing "their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence." At Morphew's request, Chief Judge Amanda Hopkins agreed to appoint the state-funded public defender's office to represent him because he is in jail. However, Beller said the state public defender's office has a conflict of interest preventing it from representing Morphew and he expects Fisher-Byrialsen and himself to ultimately be appointed to represent Morphew by another state office that pays private attorneys to defend people who can't be represented by the public defender's office. Morphew, who owned a landscaping company when his wife disappeared, was represented by a different private attorney the first time he was prosecuted. Morphew sold the family home in the mountains near Salida, Colorado, for $1.6 million in 2021. According to jail records, Morphew is self-employed and his home address is in Noblesville, Indiana. File photo of Barry and Suzanne Morphew CBS The mystery surrounding Suzanne Morphew began when the 49-year-old mother of two daughters was reported missing in 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, Barry Morphew posted a video on Facebook pleading for her safe return and the case quickly drew attention. At the site where Morphew's remains were discovered, investigators found 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.
CBS News
21-06-2025
- CBS News
Suzanne Morphew death: Colorado DA set to prosecute Barry Morphew says investigators "never stopped fighting for justice for Suzanne"
The Colorado district attorney who will be prosecuting the new case against Barry Morphew in the killing of his wife Suzanne says she's proud of the work that led to this week's grand jury indictment. Barry Morphew was arrested in Arizona on Friday, two days after the indictment was handed down, on a first degree murder charge and will be extradited to southern Colorado. His bond was set at $3 million. A booking photo of Barry Morphew was taken on June 20, 2025, in Arizona. Maricopa County "I look forward to having our team present this case in court," Anne Kelly, the district attorney in Colorado's 12th Judicial District. Suzanne Morphew was 49 when she went missing on Mother's Day in 2020 in Chaffee County. Her remains were found in Saugauche County three years later. In between those dates, her husband Barry Morphew was arrested and tried on a murder charge but his case was dismissed because of prosecutorial issues with evidence. A 2024 autopsy report said Suzanne Morphew died of "unspecified means" but ruled it a homicide. While there was no indication of trauma in her remains, a drug cocktail used to tranquilize wildlife was found in one of her bones, the report said. A tranquilizer gun and accessories were found in the Morphews' home, according to investigators. The couple were parents to two sisters. Kelly said in a news conference Friday evening that Barry Morphew will be tried in Alamosa County. She referred to the death as a cold case and answered a question about why it has taken this long for a new case against Barry Morphew to take shape. "We as prosecutors in Colorado and law enforcement in Colorado, we are very dedicated to making sure that we don't forget the victims of cold case homicides, but we also understand that it is so important to make sure that we have done everything we can to bring a case to court, and we are proud of the work that we've done," Kelly said. "Every victim of homicide, murder in Colorado deserves that kind of attention, deserves that kind of work from law enforcement, and I would say that having the opportunity to work on these cases and to bring justice for these victims has been very important to me." Suzanne Morphew Suzanne Morphew/Facebook Kelly said Suzanne "has been in the hearts and minds of the people of Chaffee County" since her disappearance. "Law enforcement, the Chaffee County community and Colorado as a whole has never stopped fighting for justice for Suzanne," Kelly said. 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." Iris Eytan, who was Morphew's attorney in 2021 but no longer represents him, said prosecutors "fumbled" the original case. "Not only is he is a loving father, but he was a loving husband," Eytan told The Associated Press on Friday.
