For the first time since charges were filed against 53-year-old Barry Morphew for allegedly killing his wife Suzanne, prosecutors outlined their investigation.
Barry Morphew was in court Monday, August 9th, for day one of a scheduled 4-day preliminary hearing.
49-year-old Suzanne Morphew has been missing since May 10, 2020 from the Maysville area after going out for a bike ride and never returning. Her body has yet to be found.
Almost a year to the day following her disappearance, Barry Morphew was arrested and charged with first degree murder after deliberation, tampering with physical evidence, and an attempt to influence a public servant.
In a separate case, he is charged with forgery after he allegedly submitted a mail ballot in Suzanne’s name in last year’s presidential election.
The first witness called to the stand was Commander Alex Walker with the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, who outlined the beginning of the missing person case. Walker said Morphew’s daughter, Mallory, was unable to get a hold of Suzanne to wish her a happy Mother’s Day.
A deputy was able to locate Suanne’s bicycle in the area of Highway 50 and County Road 225. The deputy noted that there was no blood, skid marks, brake marks, damage to the bicycle and there were no signs of struggle.
It was revealed that investigators found Suzanne’s helmet south of Highway 50 about a mile away from her bicycle on May 15.
No blood connected to Suzanne was found in the Morphew home, and investigators didn’t find any blood throughout the investigation.
More than 110 search warrants were issued, with the first one on May 11 for the Morphew home and vehicles.
According to Walker, Suzanne suspected Barry was having an affair. Walker told defense attorneys that Barry wasn’t having an affair, that in fact, it was Suzanne who was having an affair. Walker said Suzanne was having a two-year affair with Jeff Libler and they met up several times in cities across the US authorities didn’t learn about the affair until November 2020, six months after Suzanne went missing. The two went to high school together in Indiana. Libler did not come forward on his own after Suzanne disappeared but spoke willingly with investigators after he was identified.
Monday’s preliminary hearing is offering the first look at the evidence against Barry Morphew. The 129-page arrest affidavit has not been made public and remains sealed. Judge Patrick Murphy has ruled that the affidavit would be released seven days after Morhew’s hearing, which would be August 31.
In court, investigators said that Morphew took steps to get rid of evidence in the early morning hours on May 10, the day Suzanne went missing. This assertion was based on activity from Morphew’s cell phone and truck. There was some talk about the accuracy of this data in the courtroom.
Morphew told investigators that he last saw his wife at about 5 am on May 10, 2020, when he left home to go to Broomfield for a landscaping job. Barry told investigators that he texted her at 7:30 am that morning to wish her a happy Mother’s Day and became concerned when she did not respond to that text or others throughout the day. He never called 911 or reported his wife missing. Walker testified that a neighbor took those steps. Walker also stated that Suzanne’s cellphone was last active at 4:43 am May 10 and that no blood was found inside the family’s home or inside Morphew’s truck and that the family’s home surveillance system was not working when Suzanne disappeared. Missing cords from the surveillance system were found and DNA tested. Barry and his two daughters were excluded and there was strong support for the inclusion of Suzanne.
FBI Special Agent Kenneth Harris was the second person to take the stand as a witness.
Harris discussed several conversations, and text messages, between Suzanne and her best friend Sheila Oliver. According to Harris, Oliver told him that back in 2018, Barry allegedly pushed Suzanne into a closet, put a gun to his head, and asked her if this is what she wanted.
Texts between Suzanne and Oliver in 2019 indicate Suzanne wanted to wait until her daughter was out of the house and on her own before going through a divorce.
According to Harris, Suzanne wanted to be married to Libler, and Barry had no knowledge of the affair.
Investigators never found Suzanne’s phone or the charger she leaves plugged in next to her bed. Detectives had to use what was backed up on iCloud as well as records from the phone company to retrieve key data.
The court is not live streaming the hearing to the public via WebEx. However, the Court is live streaming the proceedings in the main hall of the Chaffee County fairgrounds.
Barry Morphew will be back in front of District Judge Patrick Murphy today, August 10th,, August 23rd and 24th.
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