ALAMOSA — The Colorado man accused of killing his wife and leaving her body in a remote field in the San Luis Valley entered a plea to a murder charge on Monday and the judge set a trial date for October.

Barry Morphew pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and 12th Judicial District Chief Court Judge Amanda Hopkins set a trial date for Oct. 13. Morphew arrived at the arraignment flanked by his two daughters, who have professed his innocence.

“Mr. Morphew does enter a not guilty plea,” said his attorney, David Beller.

Morphew was indicted by a 12th Judicial District grand jury in June. He was arrested in connection with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, June 20 in Gilbert, Arizona, during a traffic stop by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Suzanne Morphew, a mother of two, went missing after leaving their Salida-area home for a bike ride in 2020. Though Barry Morphew was initially charged in the crime, no body was found and charges against her husband were dropped.

But in 2023, human remains were found in rural Saguache County in the San Luis Valley that were identified as Morphew’s. According to a grand jury indictment, the bones tested positive for a wildlife tranquilizer for which Morphew had access, and that he is the only person in Colorado with access to it. Prosecutors allege he and Suzanne Morphew were in a combative relationship and that his phone was turned off for a long period the day she vanished.

Under questioning from the judge, Morphew also waived his right to a speedy trial, which is usually 180 days after being arraigned.

“There is a huge amount of information your attorneys have to go through to represent you and having a trial within 6 months would not give them the opportunity to represent you effectively,” Hopkins said.

Morphew has been out on $3 million bail set by the judge when he was extradited from Arizona. He wears an ankle monitor.

The case has garnered national media attention since Suzanne Morphew went missing, the sort of story tabloids and evening television crime shows love: A young woman missing in the heartland, the husband at the center of suspicion.

Beller estimated the trial could last about six weeks.

Former Denver Gazette reporter Carol McKinley contributed to this report.