SALIDA — Accused of murder, Barry Morphew walked into a Chaffee County courtroom flanked by his two adult daughters Tuesday for a three and a half hour hearing which had the judge exasperated over time spent on defense motions, which he called “old and a bit broad.”

For the half-day hearing in a tiny courtroom, Morphew’s attorney, Iris Eytan, interviewed several law enforcement witnesses to get to the bottom of what she says have been outrageous discovery violations by the prosecution. 

“Our goal is to thoughtfully call these witnesses about what has not been produced,” said Eytan, and then adding. “If they have been instructed not to produce. I believe it is fraud on the court.” 

She accused investigators and prosecutors of lying to the court and of hiding crucial evidentiary details from her team, specifically possible exculpatory information about a partial DNA profile which was found inside a Range Rover belonging to 49-year-old missing mom Suzanne Morphew.

The DNA profile, which, according to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic expert was a “match” to a sex offender in Arizona, was discovered from a swab to Mrs. Morphew’s glove box shortly after she went missing on Mother’s Day Weekend 2020.

The meetings Eytan was referring to happened this summer, but prosecutor Mark Hurlbert denied keeping Morphew’s defense team in the dark about their work identifying the DNA profile, “They had this information. There has been no hiding,” he said.

Barry Morphew, 54, sat quietly as his attorneys argued that prosecutors have not looked at any other suspects but him.

“There is a black hole of evidence that points away from Mr. Morphew,” said Eytan.  Morphew was arrested on May 5 of this year and held in jail on first-degree murder charges until he was released on $500,000 cash bond in September. He has maintained his innocence, flanked by the couple’s daughters and other family members who support him. Suzanne Morphew’s family has not been in the courtroom but instead chose to listen to the case unfold over Webex. 

For Tuesday’s hearing, Eytan had subpoenaed numerous law enforcement personnel who worked on the case to testify, but only got to three, all from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation: a DNA analyst, a forensic biologist, and CBI agent.

Former Deputy District Attorney Jeff Lindsey, who resigned from the case last month, was also scheduled to testify, but a glitch in the WebEx system resulted in audio issues so serious, it was impossible to understand him. District Judge Patrick Murphy called he hearing to a close.

“I have to shut this down,” he said, and ordered a continuation of the hearing for Dec. 14. Additional hearings were scheduled for Jan. 24, 25 and Feb. 1.