Barry Morphew has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, as confirmed by the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Suzanne, 49, disappeared in 2020 from their home in the Colorado Rockies, and her body was only discovered in September 2023, according to The Denver Post. Barry Morphew was arrested this time around in Arizona and is facing a $3 million cash-only bail with the potential of life imprisonment without parole if convicted.
The new indictment, as KDVR reports, points to a sedative mix known as BAM found in Suzanne's system, a mixture that only Barry Morphew had a prescription for in the local area. Initially charged in 2021 before Suzanne’s body was found, the case against Barry collapsed due to prosecutorial misconduct, which led to the disbarment of 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley, and the charges at that time were dismissed. The indictment that accuses Barry alleges the body of Suzanne had been moved post-mortem, contradicted by evidence, such as the lack of animal predation and decomposition that would be expected if the remains had been left in the discovery site from the time of death.
The case has been closely followed, sparking widespread interest and becoming the subject of documentaries and podcasts. District Attorney Anne Kelly, overseeing the current case, has vowed dedication to "cold case homicides" and the pursuit of justice for victims. "Every unsolved murder is a tragedy, and we must never give up on our efforts to find answers in these cases," Kelly said, as per Denver7. This was echoed in the continued support provided to Kelly's office by the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office and other legal authorities.
Barry Morphew's legal team has steadfastly asserted his innocence throughout the ongoing legal saga. "Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence. Barry maintains his innocence. The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either," David Beller, Morphew’s attorney, firmly stated, as obtained by Denver7. Cell phone and telematics data, in the context of contradictions in Barry's account to law enforcement and evidence pointing towards a relocation of Suzanne’s body, have been central to the revival of the case against him.
