A grand jury in Colorado has returned an indictment in opposition to Barry Morphew, charging him with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, officers introduced Friday.
Suzanne Morphew was reported lacking on Mom’s Day in Might 2020. Her stays had been found greater than three years later whereas investigators had been looking in an unrelated case. Her dying was subsequently dominated a murder.
Her husband, Barry Morphew, was charged along with her presumed homicide in 2021, however these prices had been dropped in April 2022 simply earlier than a trial was supposed to start.
The grand jury returned the indictment in opposition to Morphew on Wednesday. He was taken into custody in Arizona and shall be extradited to the San Luis Valley to face prices, in line with the Twelfth Judicial District Legal professional’s Workplace.
Suzanne Morphew is seen on this undated photograph launched by Chaffee County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Chaffee County Sheriff’s Workplace
“Federal, State and native regulation enforcement have by no means stopped working towards justice for Suzanne,” Twelfth Judicial District Legal professional Anne Kelly mentioned in a press release on Friday. “The Twelfth Judicial District Legal professional’s Workplace stands in solidarity with Suzanne’s household and the residents of Chaffee and Saguache Counties in pursuing the Grand Jury’s indictment.”
Barry Morphew was the final identified particular person to see his spouse alive, in line with the possible trigger assertion within the indictment.
The day she was reported lacking, he instructed police she had deliberate to go on a motorcycle trip whereas he was out of city on a piece journey, in line with the indictment. Her bike and helmet had been later positioned in separate places close to the house.
In early interviews with regulation enforcement following his spouse’s disappearance, Barry Morphew allegedly mentioned their marriage was “the perfect,” in line with the indictment. Although his statements had been “inconsistent with different witness accounts and proof positioned,” the indictment said, noting that Suzanne Morphew had “confided in people who she was sad within the marriage within the weeks and months resulting in her disappearance” and had mentioned plans to divorce her husband with an in depth buddy.
Investigators additionally uncovered a screenshot of a textual content message from Suzanne Morphew on her husband’s telephone that said, in line with the indictment: “I am finished. I may care much less what you are as much as and have been for years. We simply must determine this out civilly.” The screenshot was saved on Might 6, 2020 — 4 days earlier than she was reported lacking by a neighbor, in line with the indictment.
Suzanne Morphew’s physique was present in September 2023 close to the city of Moffat, lower than an hour south of the place she lived, in line with the indictment.
Her dying was decided to have been attributable to murder “by undetermined means within the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication,” in line with the post-mortem.
Legislation enforcement particularly requested that the coroner’s workplace take a look at for the presence of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine, which comprise a chemical combination generally known as BAM that’s used for sedating animals, in line with the indictment.
Previous to shifting to Colorado in 2018, Barry Morphew was a deer farmer in Indiana and used BAM to sedate and transport deer on his farm, in line with the indictment. He allegedly admitted to utilizing BAM in Colorado as not too long ago as April 2020 to tranquilize a deer on his property, in line with the indictment.
In accordance with the indictment, information of BAM prescriptions confirmed that Barry Morphew final bought BAM by prescription in March 2018, and that no particular person or enterprise within the Colorado area the place the Morphews lived and the place Suzanne Morphew’s stays had been discovered had bought BAM prescriptions from 2017 to 2020.
“Finally, he prescription information present that when Suzanne Morphew disappeared, just one personal citizen dwelling in that whole space of the state had entry to BAM: Barry Morphew,” the indictment said.
A mug shot of Barry Morphew, launched by the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Workplace on Might 5, 2021.
Chaffee County Sheriff’s Workplace
Barry Morphew has denied any involvement in his spouse’s dying.
“But once more, the federal government permits their predetermined conclusion to guide their seek for proof,” his legal professional, David Beller, mentioned in a press release to ABC Information on Friday. “Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not modified and the result won’t both.”
Barry Morphew and his daughters spoke to ABC News in Might 2023 after they filed a lawsuit in opposition to prosecutors, saying he was wrongfully charged.
“They have tunnel imaginative and prescient they usually checked out one particular person they usually’ve bought an excessive amount of delight to say they’re fallacious and look some other place,” he mentioned on the time. “I haven’t got something to fret about. I’ve finished nothing fallacious.”
