Judge in Barry Morphew case to announce bail decision
Barry and Suzanne Morphew moved to Colorado in 2018 from Indiana. Two years later, she went missing. Law enforcement says she's not alive and has yet to find her remains.
Morphew family
Accused murderer Barry Morphew will find out Friday whether he’ll be offered bail or stay in jail to face trial in the 2020 Mother’s Day disappearance of his wife, Suzanne.
Attorneys on both sides were frustrated when Chaffee County Judge Patrick Murphy announced three weeks ago that his ruling on Morphew’s future would not be immediate.
“I’d rather make my decision correctly rather than quickly,” Murphy told the courtroom.
Morphew’s body doubled over, his head between his hands as he heard the announcement.
Morphew’s two daughters, who sat just rows behind him for all four days of hearings, left the courtroom in tears.
In addition to the murder charge Morphew, 53, faced charges of evidence tampering and attempting to influence a public servant in his 49-year-old wife’s disappearance.
“I wonder if the judge is struggling with the premeditated murder count,” said Craig Silverman, a Colorado trial lawyer and former Denver chief deputy district attorney. “I would not be surprised if the judge now puts a bail on the case.”
Prosecutors outlined most of their case last month over four days of hearings as the father of two, always dressed in a suit and tie, listened with interest.
During breaks, he turned, pulled his mask down, and voiced messages to his family, who took up an entire row behind him. His oldest daughter was away at college during the two years the Morphews lived in Maysville, east of Monarch Pass. Their youngest daughter lived in the million-plus dollar home with the couple and according to text messages Suzanne sent a friend outlined in court, encouraged her to leave the marriage.
The hearings gave onlookers a sordid glimpse into the Morphew’s private lives through text messages between Barry, Suzanne and her lover of two years, Jeff Libler, a married father of six she met in high school. The pivotal text, prosecutors claim, was a message Suzanne sent to Barry on May 6, 2020, four days before she was reported missing.
“I’m done I could care less what you’ve been up to for years,” prosecutors say she wrote. “We just need to figure this out civilly.”
Morphew responded later that day according to evidence at the hearing.
“I promise you are wrong about all the crazy thoughts about me,” he wrote. “Only a fool would stray from an angel like you. When I’m dead, which won’t be long, you guys will be taken care of.”
What happened on Mother’s Day
Neighbors reported that Mrs. Morphew was missing from the family’s remote mountain home on May 10, 2020. Her bicycle was not in the garage, and she had not answered her daughters’ Mother’s Day messages.
During hearings, prosecutors alleged Barry Morphew murdered his wife because he suspected she was going to leave him for another man. They brought out their case through testimony from investigators from the FBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Chaffee County Sheriffs Office.
Prosecutors surmised in court that they believe Morphew killed Suzanne sometime between May 9, 2020 or the next day, after catching her texting a lover while sunbathing.
According to prosecutors, Suzanne Morphew sent a final “proof of life” bikini selfie to her lover Jeff Libler at 2:07 pm on the 9th. Around thirty minutes later, Telematix data showed that Barry Morphew pulled up in the driveway in his truck after running work errands.
Investigators believe that Morphew then chased his frightened wife around the house, paralyzed her using a tranquilizer dart and then dumped her body later that night. Former FBI Agent Jonny Grusing told the court that Morphew’s phone went into airplane mode from 10:17 pm until 4:30 am, which he said was “…six hours we don’t know what happened.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jeff Lindsey asked Grusing if this was enough time to dispose of a body. “Yes,” Grusing said, “He would have had six hours. That would be three hours round trip.”
Barry’s Story
Morphew’s attorneys argued strongly his truck never left the driveway and it was impossible for to physically drag his wife’s body through steep, rocky terrain in the dark.
Law enforcement searched for Suzanne’s body in abandoned silver mines, in lakes, undernearth concrete foundations and an Excel pipe, but found no trace.
Denver defense attorneys Iris Eytan and Dru Nielsen have suggested that she’s not dead, but ran to await her lover in Ecuador. Barry Morphew himself suggested early on that she may have been killed and dragged off by a mountain lion.
In an effort to establish doubt, Eytan and Nielsen have raised questions in the case including unidentified male touch DNA found on the glovebox of Suzanne’s Range Rover which matched that of a sex offender, a visit Barry Morphew made to a hot tub company the afternoon that prosecutors say he killed her, and two May 9, 2020 mystery pings on her phone, one incoming and one outgoing, at 12:01 a.m. and 2:17 a.m.
Neither Suzanne’s body nor her cellphone have been found.
Sheriffs deputies discovered her mountain bike with colored pedals down a hill near the family home the day she was reported missing. Aside from twisted front handle bars, the bicycle was undamaged. Her turquoise bike helmet turned up less than a mile away on May 15, 2020.
According to evidence at the hearings, Morphew told investigators that he and Suzanne had argued recently, but the night of May 9th they shared a steak dinner and had sex before he said he left her at around 5 am sleeping soundly in their bedroom. A landscaper, Morphew drove to Broomfield on May 10, 2020, he told them, to do a job.
Prosecutors hammered on inconsistent statements they claim Morphew made throughout their investigation, saying police found the remnants of one steak, one plate, and one knife. They also noted that Morphew made multiple trash runs to public receptacles once he got to Broomfield.
An Epic Battle
If Judge Murphy sends the case to trial, the majority of the attorneys in the courtroom will be women, including 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley.
“It will be an epic battle of accomplished female attorneys. Stanley is no shrinking violet,” noted Silverman.
Suzanne Morphew’s side of the family has stayed away from the courtroom, choosing to listen to court proceedings on a live stream created for them. They have stated publicly that they believe Barry killed her.
Morphew, who has not given an interview since his arrest May 5, has steadfastly denied his involvement in his wife’s death.