Latest news with #TwelfthJudicialDistrictAttorney'sOffice
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Yahoo
The missing person case that gripped Colorado
The case of a Colorado woman who disappeared on Mother's Day in 2020 that drew the attention of true crime podcasters across the country and programs like '48 Hours' is back in the news. A grand jury in the state's Twelfth Judicial District returned an indictment last week charging Barry Morphew, 57, with the first-degree murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew. This is the second time Barry Morphew has been charged in the death of his wife. Prosecutors dropped the charges in 2022 without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled. 'Federal, state and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne,' Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly said in a statement. 'The Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office stands in solidarity with Suzanne's family and the citizens of Chaffee and Saguache counties in pursuing the grand jury's indictment.' Investigators had not found Suzanne Morphew's body the first time Barry Morphew was charged. The investigation captivated the central Colorado community of about 20,000 people, generating more than 1,400 tips and involving 70 officers from the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. 'Cold-case homicides are tremendously difficult. They're difficult for the families of the victims and the communities who wait patiently for answers. While it may seem at times that the world forgets about these victims, I can assure you that my law enforcement partners and Colorado's law enforcement community do not forget,' Kelly said at a news conference last week. A neighbor reported Suzanne Morphew missing to police at 5:46 p.m. on May 10, 2020. The last known person to see her alive was her husband, according to the indictment. Barry Morphew told police that she was still asleep in bed when he left their home near Salida at 5 a.m. that morning for a pre-planned work trip in Broomfield where he checked into a hotel. Investigators say he spent little time at the job site during the day. 'Instead, besides two brief visits to the job site area, electronic evidence and cameras from businesses showed him driving around to various locations and discarding unknown items in separate trash cans,' according to the indictment. Per the indictment, Barry Morphew deleted a May 6 text chain with Suzanne Morphew, though a screen shot of one message from her remained reading, 'I'm done. I could care less what you're up to and have been for years. We just need to figure this out civilly.' Suzanne Morphew's last known communication was a text message sent at 2:11 p.m. on May 9 to a man out of state with whom she was having an affair. Barry Morphew arrived home about a half hour after the message was sent and his cell phone was turned off for the next nearly eight hours, the indictment says. The neighbor called Barry Morphew around 5 p.m. on May 10 and told him that his daughters were concerned because they couldn't reach Suzanne Morphew on her cell phone all day, according to the indictment. He told the neighbor to check the house and look for her bike. When they couldn't find her or the bike, he told the neighbor to call the sheriff. Officers responded to the home 45 minutes later. The home was locked, Suzanne Morphew and her bike were gone. Her bike was located less than a mile from the house and her bike helmet was found a mile and a half away from the house just off a highway. In September 2023, Suzanne Morphew's remains were found in and around a shallow grave in Saguache County, Colorado near Highway 17, less than an hour south of her home. The majority of her bones were recovered and were 'significantly bleached,' according to the indictment. In addition to her bones, police recovered a cancer port and items of clothing, including biking clothes Suzanne was known to wear. But, according to the indictment, a forensic anthropologist determined that it was unlikely her body decomposed at that site and the decomposition was 'inconsistent' with her wearing the bike clothing at the time. During an autopsy, the El Paso County coroner's office found the presence of a chemical mixture known as BAM — butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine in Suzanne Morphew's remains. It listed her manner and cause of death as: 'Homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine intoxication.' According to the indictment, Barry Morphew used BAM to sedate and transport deer on his farm in Indiana prior to moving to Colorado in 2018. He also used BAM in Colorado as recently as April 2020, to tranquilize a deer in the breezeway of his home. Records show Barry Morphew last bought a BAM prescription in March 2018 and no other private citizens or private businesses in any of the surrounding counties had purchased the drugs from 2017-2020, the indictment says. '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.' Barry Morphew's attorney said the new case isn't unlike the previous one. 'Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence,' said attorney David Beller in a statement, per Colorado Public Radio. 'Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed and the outcome will not either.' An attorney who represented Barry Morphew also continues to believe he is innocent. 'Not only is he a loving father, but he was a loving husband,' said Iris Eytan, who defended him in 2021. 'I've handled thousands of cases, and I've never seen prosecutors mishandle a case so recklessly. This case was fumbled so terribly, three prosecutors were penalized. After Barry's case was rightly dismissed, I dedicated the second half of my career to ensure what happened to Barry doesn't happen to another innocent person,' she told Colorado Public Radio. A state disciplinary board disbarred Colorado's 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley in November 2024 for actions she took in the Morphew case, including making improper statements to the media that it said 'threatened to prejudice the defendant and undermine the public's interest in justice,' per The Washington Post. The board also said Stanley did not supervise the prosecution of the case properly. The Morphew's children have stood by their father. Barry Morphew sued the district attorney for malicious prosecution, a case that was dismissed by a federal judge who found that while the original prosecution was flawed, it wasn't malicious, per Colorado Public Radio.
NBC News
20-06-2025
- 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.
New York Post
20-06-2025
- New York Post
Barry Morphew, husband of Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew, charged with wife's murder 5 years after she vanished on Mother's Day weekend
The husband of Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew was arrested and charged with killing his wife more than five years after her sudden and mysterious disappearance, prosecutors announced. Barry Morphew, 56, was taken into custody in Gilbert, Arizona, on Friday after a grand jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge in the death of his 49-year-old wife, who was last seen on May 10, 2020, according to the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office. 5 Suzanne Morphew went missing after going for a bike ride. AP Advertisement 'Federal, State and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne.' District Attorney Anne Kelly said in a statement. 'The Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office stands in solidarity with Suzanne's family and the citizens of Chaffee and Saguache Counties in pursuing the Grand Jury's indictment.' 5 Barry Morphew was charged with killing his wife before the case was dropped. AP Advertisement Suzanne Morphew never returned home after going for a bike ride on Mother's Day, while her husband was reportedly out of town on a business trip. Her remains were discovered three years later during a search in Moffat, a town about 45 miles south of the Maysville home she shared with her husband and two daughters. 5 Attorney Iris Eytan suggested that Suzanne Morphew's 2020 death could be connected to other unsolved cases in Saguache County, Colorado. Denver7 Barry, who has consistently maintained his innocence, was initially charged in May 2021 with his wife's presumed death after quickly emerging as the prime suspect. Advertisement 5 Bary Morphew has denied any involvement in Suzanne Morphew's death. Morphew Family But a judge dismissed the case less than a year later. Barry and Suzanne's two adult daughters have remained by their dad's side, insisting over the years that they 'never had a shred of doubt' that he was innocent. 5 The Morphews' two daughters, pictured, have stood by their father. AP Advertisement Prosecutors are now working to extradite the accused killer back to San Luis Valley.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Yahoo
Grand jury indicts Suzanne Morphew's husband for murder in her death
A grand jury in Colorado has returned an indictment against Barry Morphew, charging him with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, officials announced Friday. Suzanne Morphew went missing on a bike ride on Mother's Day in May 2020. Her remains were found more than three years later while investigators were searching in an unrelated case. Her death was subsequently ruled a homicide. MORE: Suzanne Morphew, mother who went missing on bike ride, died by homicide: Autopsy Her husband, Barry Morphew, was charged with her murder in 2021, but those charges were dropped in April 2022 just before a trial was supposed to begin. The grand jury returned the indictment against Morphew on Wednesday. He was taken into custody in Arizona and will be extradited to the San Luis Valley to face charges, according to the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office. 'Federal, State and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne," Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly said in a statement on Friday. 'The Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office stands in solidarity with Suzanne's family and the citizens of Chaffee and Saguache Counties in pursuing the Grand Jury's indictment.' Suzanne Morphew's body was found in September 2023 near the town of Moffat, about 90 minutes south of where she lived. Her death was determined to have been caused by homicide "by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication," according to the autopsy. MORE: Remains of Suzanne Morphew found 3 years after her disappearance Barry Morphew has denied any involvement in his wife's death. He and his daughters spoke to ABC News in May 2023 after they filed a lawsuit against prosecutors, saying he was wrongfully charged. "They've got tunnel vision and they looked at one person and they've got too much pride to say they're wrong and look somewhere else," he said at the time. "I don't have anything to worry about. I've done nothing wrong."
20-06-2025
Grand jury indicts Suzanne Morphew's husband for murder in her death
A grand jury in Colorado has returned an indictment against Barry Morphew, charging him with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, officials announced Friday. Suzanne Morphew went missing on a bike ride on Mother's Day in May 2020. Her remains were found more than three years later while investigators were searching in an unrelated case. Her death was subsequently ruled a homicide. Her husband, Barry Morphew, was charged with her murder in 2021, but those charges were dropped in April 2022 just before a trial was supposed to begin. The grand jury returned the indictment against Morphew on Wednesday. He was taken into custody in Arizona and will be extradited to the San Luis Valley to face charges, according to the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office. 'Federal, State and local law enforcement have never stopped working toward justice for Suzanne," Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly said in a statement on Friday. 'The Twelfth Judicial District Attorney's Office stands in solidarity with Suzanne's family and the citizens of Chaffee and Saguache Counties in pursuing the Grand Jury's indictment.' Suzanne Morphew's body was found in September 2023 near the town of Moffat, about 90 minutes south of where she lived. Her death was determined to have been caused by homicide "by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication," according to the autopsy. Barry Morphew has denied any involvement in his wife's death. He and his daughters spoke to ABC News in May 2023 after they filed a lawsuit against prosecutors, saying he was wrongfully charged. "They've got tunnel vision and they looked at one person and they've got too much pride to say they're wrong and look somewhere else," he said at the time. "I don't have anything to worry about. I've done nothing wrong."
