A grand jury handed down a first-degree murder charge against Barry Morphew and he was arrested in Arizona on Friday. 

He’s suspected of killing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who disappeared on Mother’s Day 2020. 

The charge, the latest in a years-long saga surrounding Suzanne’s disappearance and killing, was made by a grand jury in the 12th Judicial District.

Morphew’s bond was set at $3 million, cash only, according to court documents. 

At an evening news conference, 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly declined to elaborate beyond the indictment, saying only that her office never gave up on getting justice for Suzanne Morphew.

“We have worked very hard to move forward in this case,” Kelly said.

“The Twelfth Judicial District Attorney’s Office stands in solidarity with Suzanne’s family and the citizens of Chaffee and Saguache counties in pursuing the grand jury’s indictment,” Kelly said earlier in the release.

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Detectives found that Barry Morphew was living in Arizona under the alias of Lee Moore, according to the indictment.

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

“I’ve been patient with the investigation and I have great confidence in Anne Kelly and the rest of the prosecutorial team,” said Suzanne’s sister, Melinda Moorman Balzer.

Balzer said Kelly called the family and informed them of the arrest before sending the news release.

Morphew’s attorney, David Beller of Recht Kornfeld, told The Denver Gazette his client maintains his innocence.

“Yet again, the government allows their pre-determined conclusion to lead their search for evidence,” Beller said. “Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed and the outcome will not either.”

Morphew will appear in court in Arizona and be given the option of waiving the extradition to Colorado or contesting it, he said.

“Under the circumstances, he’s expected to waive,” Beller said. “We will then be at the mercy of the Colorado officials to transport him back to Colorado — presumably some time next week.”

This past year saw a major development in the case when results of a long-awaited toxicology report on Suzanne Morphew’s remains were revealed.

A test found that Morphew had chemicals in her bones that do not appear naturally in humans, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation 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 Colorado Bureau of Investigation looking for a different person.

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.

Even after her death, Suzanne’s Morphew’s remains revealed critical clues to investigators as to what happened to her. Authorities believe her remains were dumped in the Saguache County field long after she was killed, according to the indictment.

A botanist and entomologist and a board certified forensic anthropologist determined, the indictment said, that “there was a distinct lack of bug activity, which was inconsistent with the remains being decomposed at that location. There was also no sign of predatory behavior from animals in the location.”

Her bicycle clothes were also found with her remains and inconsistent with decomposition, the indictment noted. Further, the chemical composition that was found in Suzanne Morphew’s femur was so rare that only one other person besides Barry Morphew held a prescription for it, detectives said in the indictment.

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.

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.

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

Iris Eytan, Barry Morphew’s civil attorney who filed one of the complaints against the former prosecutors, said in a statement to The Denver Gazette on Friday: “In 2021, I had the honor of defending Barry’s innocence. Not only is he a loving father, but he was a loving husband.”

His cousin, Jason Morphew, disagreed.

“Barry was always a heartbreaker and he certainly broke mine. He was my childhood hero,” Jason Morphew told The Denver Gazette. “I hope the actions of the investigation today bring justice one step closer for Suzanne.”

The district will be assisted by the Boulder Country District Attorney’s office in Morphew’s prosecution, according to authorities.

Denver Gazette reporter Michael Braithwaite and the Associated Press contributed to this report.