Morphew murder case saw major developments | 2024: A LOOK BACK

Suzanne Morphew’s family hopes that 2025 would bring an arrest in the murder case, which seemed doomed when it was dismissed in April 2023.

The case continues to be investigated, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. 

This past year saw a major development when results of a long-awaited toxicology report on her remains were revealed.

A test found that Morphew had chemicals in her bones that do not appear naturally in humans, according to the CBI and the official autopsy report.

Butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine — the chemicals found in Morphew’s femur, according to the report — are used by biologists, wildlife officers and hunters to anesthetize large-sized animals, such as deer, bear, moose and horses.

The autopsy report, performed by the El Paso County Coroner’s office, found Morphew’s cause of death to be undetermined and the manner of death to be homicide.

The autopsy was finished on Sept. 27, 2023, just days after Morphew’s remains were discovered by accident by an investigative team from the CBI looking for a different person.

Results from Morphew’s autopsy took a long time to be released — seven months — as investigators waited for test results.

Butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine are the same substances that Suzanne’s husband, Barry Morphew, told investigators he routinely used to immobilize deer before he removed their antlers.

The initial investigation into Suzanne’s death centered significantly on her husband, whose 130-page arrest affidavit shed light on his involvement with the same tranquilizers found in Suzanne’s system.

Morphew was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Suzanne’s disappearance. However, all charges were dropped just days before his scheduled trial in 2022. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that charges could be refiled at a later date if new evidence was discovered.

The prosecution is now in the hands of a new district attorney.

Linda Stanley, the prosecutor who oversaw Barry Morphew’s arrest in May 2021, was disbarred after a two-week disciplinary hearing.

In an 83-page ruling, the state office that regulates attorney behavior said that Stanley “did not adequately supervise prosecution of the case,” made multiple extrajudicial statements to the media about the murder, which threatened to prejudice Morphew, and investigated the district judge presiding over the case without credible evidence to do so.

Three of the four counties in the 11th Judicial District — Fremont, Chaffee and Custer — filed a lawsuit against Stanley earlier this month, asking a judge to force her to return nearly $112,000 of taxpayers’ money that she used to pay her legal fees. 

Barry Morphew, 56, moved away from Colorado and, as next of kin, received the results of his wife’s autopsy report.

His team of attorneys recently met with CBI to learn of any new developments, which is customary in cold cases. Morphew and the couple’s two daughters did not attend the meeting, according to sources close to the investigation.

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