A former Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent who was integral in the early months of Barry Morphew’s trial resigned last month, further complicating an already complicated, high-profile murder trial.

Joseph Cahill stepped down from the CBI on Dec. 8, just two days before an internal affairs investigation involving an incident in which his personal weapon went off in his home while he was off duty, according to a document obtained by The Gazette.

Barry Morphew, 54, was arrested May 5 on suspicion of the murder of his wife, 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew, almost a year after her disappearance. She was reported missing on Mother’s Day 2020 from their home east of Monarch Pass.

Barry Morphew was released on bail Sept. 20. His attorneys have argued that prosecutors can’t prove Suzanne Morphew is dead, much less that her husband killed her. Her body hasn’t been found.

A Dec. 17 Brady letter written by CBI Director John Camper addressed to 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley explained the Cahill incident, which involved “the accidental discharge of former Agent Cahill’s personal weapon while at home in an off-duty capacity, … unrelated to any criminal cases to which he was assigned.”

A Brady letter is a document that questions an officer’s credibility, should the person be called to testify at trial, explained Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

“There is data called a ‘Brady list’ that DAs and law enforcement agencies compile on officers who are deemed untrustworthy for one reason or another. These are issues that could affect their credibility in court.”

Cahill participated in interviews with Barry Morphew in the year leading up to his arrest May 5. The former agent was the last witness to testify at the end of a grueling four-day evidentiary hearing last August. He took the stand to explain how detectives investigated an unknown touch DNA profile found on the glovebox of Suzanne Morphew’s Range Rover.

Investigators searched the vehicle May 19, 2020, just over a week after Susan Morphew was reported missing. That’s when they swabbed the glovebox for prints and DNA.

According to information divulged in court hearings, the glove box DNA was a mixed partial sample of three profiles, including Suzanne Morphew, one of the Morphew daughters and a third person. The third profile is still unknown and contained markers similar to profiles found in three sex assault cases in Arizona and Chicago through the Combined DNA Index System.

It’s unclear to whom the profiles belong, whether there is enough of a profile to identify a close match, or whether the profiles have been thoroughly investigated. The defense team said Barry Morphew’s DNA has been excluded from the glove box sample; however, the unknown touch profile was not found anywhere else but on the glove box. 

Former 17th Judicial District Attorney Bob Grant said the glove box DNA is important for reasonable doubt, though it is only one piece of the puzzle.

“This is a difficult prosecution case, but not in terms of probable cause,” Grant said. “Ultimately it’s the jury who has to make the decision as to the importance of the science.” 

According to investigative sources, there is a mountain of evidence in the case, including tens of thousands of pages of discovery and 20 hours of interviews with Barry Morphew before he was arrested. 

Called to the stand to testify in Monday’s hearing was former district attorney investigator Alex Walker, who now works for the Chaffee County sheriff. 

Barry Morphew is set to go to trial in May. The couple’s two adult daughters were in court Monday, as they have been for every hearing since his arrest. 

Morphew’s attorneys argued during the first day of a two-day hearing that the prosecution had not shared evidence in a timely manner. 

Eleventh Judicial District Judge Ramsey Lama — who is new to the case, having been recently assigned to it — ordered prosecutors to turn over the internal affairs and resignation materials regarding Cahill. 

Defense attorneys claim they didn’t receive the information about the DNA in time to prepare for the preliminary hearing. Prosecutors said they handed over all of the evidence in time.

Eleventh Judicial District Judge Patrick Murphy recused himself from the case last month because of a longtime friendship he has with an attorney representing Barry Morphew’s girlfriend, Shoshona Darke.