DENVER , CO - On Friday, June 20th, a Colorado husband was arrested again on a first-degree murder charge for his connection to the death of his wife, whose remains were discovered over three years after she was reported missing on Mother's Day 2020.
Authorities in Arizona arrested Barry Morphew after a Colorado grand jury returned an indictment on Wednesday, June 18th, three years after the initial case was dropped due to prosecutorial issues with evidence, KBTX reported.
Court documents state that Morphew's bond was set at $3 million and cash only. The district attorney's office said they are seeking to bring him back to Colorado.
A 2024 autopsy report of Suzanne Morphew said that she died of "unspecified means," but the death was ruled 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.
Investigators said that a tranquilizer gun and accessories were found in the Morphews' home.
Since her disappearance, Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence.
His attorney, David Beller, blasted the new indictment. "Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence," Beller said. "Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either."
Morphew was first charged with murder in May 2021, but prosecutors dropped that case the following year just before Morphew was about to stand trial.
A judge barred prosecutors from calling key witnesses for repeatedly failing to follow rules for turning over evidence in Morphew's favor, which included DNA from an unknown male that was found in Suzanne Morphew's SUV.
The judge agreed to drop the case against Morphew but allowed prosecutors the option of filing charges against him later. At the time, prosecutors said they wanted more time to find her body.
Morphew filed a $15 million lawsuit against county officials, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
He also filed a complaint asking that the prosecutors be disciplined for allegedly intentionally withholding evidence.
Morphew's previous attorney, Iris Eytan, said that prosecutors "fumbled" the case. "Not only is he a loving father, but he was a loving husband," Eytan said.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents stumbled upon Suzanne's skeletal remains in September 2023 in a shallow grave during an unrelated search near the small southern Colorado town of Moffat.
Most of her bones were recovered and many were "significantly bleached," court documents state.
Toxicology testing revealed that all three drugs in a sedative used for wildlife called "BAM" were in the bones.
The presence of a metabolite for one of the drugs, butorphanol, suggested the remains would not have been contaminated with BAM after death, according to court documents.
The coroner's office determined the cause of death was "homicide by unspecified means" through intoxication of the three drugs, butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine.
Barry Morphew allegedly obtained and filled several prescriptions for BAM while living in Indiana, shortly before moving his family to Colorado in 2018.
Morphew was a deer farmer in Indiana and allegedly told investigators he used BAM to tranquilize deer in Indiana and Colorado.
In the area surrounding their home in Colorado, no private citizens or businesses, only Colorado Parks and Wildlife and National Park Service officials, had obtained BAM between 2017 and 2020, records show.
No government officials reported missing BAM supplies.
"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 stated.
Suzanne was reported missing by her neighbor on Mother's Day 2020 after her two daughters were unable to reach her on the phone. Her last communication with a friend was on May 9, 2020, the day investigators believe Barry Morphew killed her, according to the Daily Mail.
Barry and Suzanne were alone at their home at the time of the disappearance.
On May 6, 2020, Suzanne texted Barry 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."
Barry claimed he left home early the morning of May 10, 2020, to go to work in the Colorado city of Broomfield, three hours from their home.
Barry's phone entered and exited airplane mode several times over the next 24 hours, authorities said.
The door of his truck was opened numerous times between 3:25 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and was backed up into the home's garage at least once.
While in Broomfield, he claimed to have been on a landscaping job, but spent a total of just 90 minutes on site and the rest in a cheap hotel room that cleaners reported smelled of chlorine after he checked out.
He was also captured on surveillance video making several trash runs at numerous locations around town.
Authorities in Arizona arrested Barry Morphew after a Colorado grand jury returned an indictment on Wednesday, June 18th, three years after the initial case was dropped due to prosecutorial issues with evidence, KBTX reported.
Court documents state that Morphew's bond was set at $3 million and cash only. The district attorney's office said they are seeking to bring him back to Colorado.
A 2024 autopsy report of Suzanne Morphew said that she died of "unspecified means," but the death was ruled 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.
Investigators said that a tranquilizer gun and accessories were found in the Morphews' home.
Since her disappearance, Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence.
His attorney, David Beller, blasted the new indictment. "Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence," Beller said. "Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either."
Morphew was first charged with murder in May 2021, but prosecutors dropped that case the following year just before Morphew was about to stand trial.
A judge barred prosecutors from calling key witnesses for repeatedly failing to follow rules for turning over evidence in Morphew's favor, which included DNA from an unknown male that was found in Suzanne Morphew's SUV.
The judge agreed to drop the case against Morphew but allowed prosecutors the option of filing charges against him later. At the time, prosecutors said they wanted more time to find her body.
Morphew filed a $15 million lawsuit against county officials, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
He also filed a complaint asking that the prosecutors be disciplined for allegedly intentionally withholding evidence.
Morphew's previous attorney, Iris Eytan, said that prosecutors "fumbled" the case. "Not only is he a loving father, but he was a loving husband," Eytan said.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents stumbled upon Suzanne's skeletal remains in September 2023 in a shallow grave during an unrelated search near the small southern Colorado town of Moffat.
Most of her bones were recovered and many were "significantly bleached," court documents state.
Toxicology testing revealed that all three drugs in a sedative used for wildlife called "BAM" were in the bones.
The presence of a metabolite for one of the drugs, butorphanol, suggested the remains would not have been contaminated with BAM after death, according to court documents.
The coroner's office determined the cause of death was "homicide by unspecified means" through intoxication of the three drugs, butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine.
Barry Morphew allegedly obtained and filled several prescriptions for BAM while living in Indiana, shortly before moving his family to Colorado in 2018.
Morphew was a deer farmer in Indiana and allegedly told investigators he used BAM to tranquilize deer in Indiana and Colorado.
In the area surrounding their home in Colorado, no private citizens or businesses, only Colorado Parks and Wildlife and National Park Service officials, had obtained BAM between 2017 and 2020, records show.
No government officials reported missing BAM supplies.
"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 stated.
Suzanne was reported missing by her neighbor on Mother's Day 2020 after her two daughters were unable to reach her on the phone. Her last communication with a friend was on May 9, 2020, the day investigators believe Barry Morphew killed her, according to the Daily Mail.
Barry and Suzanne were alone at their home at the time of the disappearance.
On May 6, 2020, Suzanne texted Barry 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."
Barry claimed he left home early the morning of May 10, 2020, to go to work in the Colorado city of Broomfield, three hours from their home.
Barry's phone entered and exited airplane mode several times over the next 24 hours, authorities said.
The door of his truck was opened numerous times between 3:25 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and was backed up into the home's garage at least once.
While in Broomfield, he claimed to have been on a landscaping job, but spent a total of just 90 minutes on site and the rest in a cheap hotel room that cleaners reported smelled of chlorine after he checked out.
He was also captured on surveillance video making several trash runs at numerous locations around town.
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