Morphew changed details tied to wife's disappearance, warrant says
Sep. 27—ANDERSON — During numerous interviews with law enforcement officials about the disappearance of his wife, Barry Morphew repeatedly changed his story.
Suzanne Murphew, a former resident of Alexandria, was reported missing by a neighbor on Mother's Day 2020. The 49-year-old mother of two daughters did not return from a bike ride near her home in the Salida, Colorado, area.
A Colorado judge has ruled that Barry Morphew, 53, can go to trial on a murder charge. He was released Monday after posting a $500,000 bond.
"In recent months, following the presentation of evidence by FBI agents to Barry, he has changed critical details about his activities," the 130-page arrest warrant reads.
Investigators with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation believe Morphew killed his wife on May 9, 2020, after she asked for a divorce.
"Barry's statements about his actions on the days before and after Suzanne's disappearance have been proven to be false and misleading by this investigation," the court record states.
"Barry knowingly destroyed evidence that his relationship with Suzanne was deteriorating and that he was involved in her disappearance and homicide," the document continues. "He took steps to dispose of evidence in Suzanne's disappearance and death, create a false alibi for himself and create a crime scene."
According to the warrant for his arrest, Suzanne Morphew sent a text stating, "done, let's handle this civilly".
Barry Morphew told investigators the marriage was perfect and that the night before she disappeared they shared a steak dinner.
During questioning, Morphew couldn't describe the meal; investigators only found one set of dirty dishes.
Morphew claimed to have awakened to his alarm at 4:30 a.m. on the day she disappeared, but no alarm had been set on his phone.
He said Suzanne was in bed at the time, and he could hear her snoring as he left for a job in Broomfield.
Morphew's cellphone was placed on airplane mode from 2:47 p.m. May 9 to 5:37 a.m. the following day.
Investigators determined that Morphew stopped at numerous locations on Mother's Day, and surveillance video shows him disposing of items in trash bins.
He also initially denied turning onto a Colorado highway in close proximity to where Suzanne's bicycle helmet was found.
Morphew said he turned on the road to observe a bull elk, but investigators determined it was before sunrise.
When investigators told Barry Morphew in January that his missing wife had a nearly 2-year-long affair before she vanished, he mused that her disappearance might be some form of divine intervention, according to the arrest warrant.
"Maybe in God's eyes this was his way of resolving something," Morphew told investigators, according to the affidavit. "...I've had a very hard time understanding why God did this... But if I would have known this from the beginning, I wouldn't had to suffer for nine months, not knowing why God did what he did."
Morphew admitted to walking around the couple's Colorado property with a gun the day before his wife disappeared, claiming he was shooting chipmunks.
But the gun he provided to investigators had not been fired recently.
Investigators believe Morphew shot his wife with a tranquilizer gun he'd used to sedate deer. A needle cap used with a tranquiller gun was found in the dryer of the house.
"By around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9th, it had become clear that Barry could not control Suzanne's insistence on leaving him, and he resorted to something he had done his entire life — hunt and control Suzanne like he had hunted and controlled animals," the affidavit reads.
Three days after Suzanne disappeared, Barry Morphew refused to take a polygraph test, telling investigators he "'didn't want to do anything that wasn't 100% accurate,'" the affidavit reads. But when a friend also encouraged him to take a polygraph, Morphew gave a different answer, according to the affidavit.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
