Judge grants motion to dismiss charges in Suzanne Morphew case

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Case update: On June 20, 2025, Barry Morphew was arrested in Arizona 2 days aft a helium was indicted connected first-degree execution charges successful the lawsuit of his wife's death. This was the 2nd clip Barry Morphew has been arrested and charged successful Suzanne Morphew's death.

In a high-profile lawsuit that has already seen galore and sometimes unusual twists and turns implicit the past 3 years, including important judicial sanctions, a justice agreed to disregard each charges against Barry Morphew, without prejudice, conscionable 9 days earlier helium was to basal proceedings for the first-degree execution of his woman and parent of their 2 daughters, Suzanne Morphew.

Prosecutors, who tin re-file charges successful the future, filed a question to disregard the indictment minutes earlier a pre-trial league connected April 19, 2022, with D.A. Linda Stanley penning they request to analyse further and judge "we are adjacent to discovering the victim's body." Stanley besides cited the court's determination to exclude "several cardinal adept witnesses initially endorsed. Without this important grounds and without the victim's body, the People cannot determination guardant astatine this clip successful bully faith."

"First I privation to accidental that Mr. Morphew not lone was presumed guiltless and inactive is presumed innocent, helium is innocent," Morphew's attorney, Iris Eytan, said astatine a property league aft the charges were dropped. In effect to the State pointing to the request to find Suzanne's body, she said, "Forever they person stated that they don't request a assemblage — that a assemblage is irrelevant. But you request to know, that successful this case, determination has been not a azygous ounce of carnal grounds that has been recovered connecting Mr. Morphew to this … alleged crime."

Since Barry Morphew's arrest, his defence attorneys had asked Judge Ramsey Lama, multiple times, to disregard the charges against him. Over the past respective months, they pressed the justice to contented terrible sanctions connected the prosecution for failing to crook implicit perchance exculpatory grounds up of trial. And the justice imposed damaging sanctions, including barring 11 of their 16 endorsed adept witnesses — among others, experts successful DNA, conveyance information and a compartment telephone information analyst, arsenic punishment for violating find rules. In all, the Court excluded 14 of the prosecution's adept witnesses. The justice recovered that DA Stanley and her squad repeatedly missed deadlines and failed to crook implicit important information, writing, "The People's actions magnitude to negligent and arguably, reckless disregard" for their find obligations.

In earlier filings, prosecutors said that the Court did not find willful misconduct associated with immoderate find violations, noting "ultimately the sanctions imposed greatly harm the People's case, tantamount to dismissal, for precocious disclosures that were not greatly prejudicial, but alternatively method successful nature."

"48 Hours" analogous Peter Van Sant updates the lawsuit successful "The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing is What It Seems," airing Saturday, July 1 astatine 10/9c connected CBS and streams connected Paramount+.

When Suzanne Morphew, a Colorado parent of 2 girls, vanished connected Mother's Day successful May 2020, authorities wondered if she'd been abducted oregon if her hubby Barry — whom she had threatened to divorcement — mightiness person killed her.

Investigators ne'er expected the lawsuit would person truthful galore bizarre twists and turns and yet impact a chipmunk alibi, a tranquilizer gun, a "talking" truck, enigma DNA and a spy pen close retired of a James Bond film.

"This lawsuit is incredibly unique," says Aya Gruber, a instrumentality prof astatine the University of Colorado astatine Boulder. "When you started to excavation a small spot deeper, thing is what it seems."

Gruber studied thousands of pages of nationalist documents from the prosecutor, investigators and defence attorneys.

Suzanne was reported missing connected May 10, 2020. She'd been unsocial that time due to the fact that her daughters, Macy, 16, and Mallory, 20, were disconnected connected a church-sponsored camping travel and planned to instrumentality location aboriginal that Mother's Day.

At the aforesaid time, Barry Morphew told investigators helium had near the location aboriginal successful the greeting to thrust to a occupation tract immoderate 3 hours away. He said the past clip helium saw his woman of 25 years was erstwhile she was sleeping successful their bed.

After Suzanne was officially reported missing by a neighbor, investigators began to analyse Barry's story. Friends and relatives told investigators that the matrimony was troubled, and agents recovered a deleted substance from Suzanne to Barry connected his telephone that read: "I'm done. I could attraction little what you're up to and person been for years. We conscionable request to fig this retired civilly."

Evidence successful the Suzanne Morphew lawsuit

But 10 days aft Suzanne disappeared, agents were pulled successful a antithetic absorption erstwhile they recovered a alleged spy pen belonging to Suzanne. The spy pen has a agelong artillery beingness and is designed to look and constitute similar an mean pen.

But it has 1 other feature: it is voice-activated and records conversations. Suzanne had acquired it, she told a friend, due to the fact that she suspected Barry was having an matter and she hoped to usage the pen to stitchery evidence. But the program backfired.

Investigators listened to what the pen had recorded and, though determination was nary grounds of Barry having an affair, they accidental they heard "intimate" conversations betwixt Suzanne and idiosyncratic named Jeff.

It was different twist successful a lawsuit filled with them.

Without knowing who Jeff was oregon his determination erstwhile Suzanne went missing, they could not destruct him arsenic a idiosyncratic oregon interest. It took FBI agents six months earlier they uncovered his identity: Jeff Libler, a antheral some Suzanne and Barry knew from their Alexandria, Indiana, precocious school. Jeff and Suzanne had had a one-time fling aft graduation, and she'd reached retired to him successful 2018 aft the Morphews moved to Colorado with a Facebook connection that work simply: "Howdy stranger."

"And from that infinitesimal they had talked astir each azygous time nonstop," said Ashley Franco, a newsman for KKTV, the CBS affiliate successful Colorado Springs, who has covered the communicative from the beginning.

That was capable to ignite a astir two-year emotion affair. Jeff had a woman and six children. He lived successful Michigan and claimed to beryllium determination with his household connected the time Suzanne vanished.

Agents yet discovered the lovers had spoken to each different for dozens of hours, often communicating via concealed accounts connected WhatsApp and LinkedIn. Jeff besides admitted that they met for romanticist rendezvous successful New Orleans, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Indiana.

After Suzanne disappeared successful May 2020, Jeff did not interaction authorities. Instead, agents say, helium deleted the accounts wherever helium had communicated with Suzanne.

"What helium did was delete each his societal media accounts that helium had utilized to pass with Suzanne," says Gruber. "He's got a batch to suffer if revelations of this matter travel out."

Jeff reportedly told agents helium did not privation to tarnish Suzanne's memory, but helium besides told them helium disquieted that he'd suffer his wife, children and job. He besides disquieted helium mightiness beryllium considered a suspect. "He asks the agents, 'Am I a target?'" says Gruber.

After agents confronted him, helium did cooperate, providing a illustration of his DNA and passwords to the deleted accounts. Investigators yet were capable to retrace the couple's steps and recovered texts by tapping into the iCloud accounts of Jeff and Suzanne.

Jeff was capable to supply receipts for a location goods store he'd visited successful Michigan connected the time Suzanne vanished and helium was yet cleared.

Investigators inactive had their suspicions astir Barry Morphew. They ne'er uncovered immoderate grounds that helium was having an affair, but investigators recovered his actions connected that Mother's Day play to beryllium suspicious.

They asked Barry wherefore his telephone seemed to beryllium pinging each astir his location connected the time earlier Mother's Day and helium told them helium indispensable person been retired shooting chipmunks, which helium said were a changeless nuisance astatine the house.

It was possibly the world's archetypal chipmunk alibi, but Barry stood by it, saying he'd changeable 85 chipmunks successful the 2 years helium owned that Colorado house.

"And past that confession to shooting chipmunks becomes a large portion of incriminating grounds against him," says Gruber.

Van Sant asked why. "Because [agents are] saying, 'Well, you know, present he's admitting to having tally astir the house. And this is simply a ridiculous explanation, truthful it indispensable beryllium the mentation of a blameworthy person,'" says Gruber.

What's more, determination was nary grounds of immoderate chipmunk shootings astir the location and neighbors did not callback proceeding immoderate benignant of disturbance during that play of time.

Cases sometimes crook connected the smallest of things and, successful this case, agents seized upon conscionable specified a tiny item.

Agents had recovered a tiny wide integrative headdress successful the family's dryer that they believed was from a syringe utilized to inject chemicals into a tranquilizer dart. Barry acknowledged helium knew however to inject chemicals into a dart and that he'd changeable galore cervid for trophies and truthful helium could get their antlers. His store was filled with cervid heads and a heap of antlers. However, determination was nary moving tranquilizer weapon recovered successful the location and authorities accidental Barry's DNA was not connected that integrative cap.

Even so, investigators developed a mentation that Barry had changeable Suzanne with a tranquilizer weapon and past chased her astir the location earlier she passed out. They recovered a doorway framework that was breached and suspected determination had been a confrontation.

Agents besides tapped into a caller investigative instrumentality called integer conveyance forensics. They pulled information from his Ford truck's galore computers and got the motortruck to "talk" to them. They learned that erstwhile Barry said helium was sleeping, the truck's doors were opening and closing.

He was arrested and charged with first-degree execution and different crimes successful May 2021. Suzanne's assemblage has not been recovered and prosecutors presume she is dead. Barry yet pleaded "not guilty."

But astatine the eleventh hour, determination was 1 much twist revealed for the archetypal clip publically astatine a preliminary proceeding to find if determination was capable grounds for probable cause.

Prosecutors admitted astatine a proceeding held successful the summertime of 2021 that their ain forensics squad had uncovered DNA grounds that threatened to destruct their lawsuit against Barry. State technicians had recovered DNA connected the mitt compartment of Suzanne's car that partially matched an chartless antheral connected to 3 unsolved intersexual battle cases successful 3 antithetic cities.

Barry Morphew and Jeff Libler were excluded from that DNA illustration which meant determination was a accidental Suzanne had fallen into the hands of a intersexual predator. "This DNA find is truthful significant," Gruber said. "All of a sudden, the seemingly implausible becomes much possible."

Judge Patrick Murphy wwas candid successful his appraisal of the case, saying it could spell either mode earlier a jury. He recovered capable probable origin to enactment it implicit for proceedings but ordered that Barry beryllium released connected $500,000 bond, observing that helium thought determination was not "a just likelihood" that Barry would beryllium convicted by a jury. Barry entered a plea of not blameworthy to the charges.

Barry Morphew raised the enslaved wealth and is escaped awaiting trial. Judge Murphy disqualified himself due to the fact that of a imaginable struggle of involvement involving a witness, and Judge Ramsey Lama was appointed successful January 2022. Morphew's trial, which was moved from Chaffee to Fremont County, Colorado, was scheduled to statesman connected April 28.

Then, connected April 19, Stanley and her squad filed the question to driblet each charges, without prejudice, until they stitchery much evidence. But Morphew's attorney, Iris Eytan, argued that the lawsuit should beryllium dismissed with prejudice truthful that it cannot be refiled. The tribunal dismissed the charges without prejudice.

At the property league extracurricular court, Eytan made it wide her sentiment that her lawsuit should ne'er person been charged.

"These charges were mendacious from the opening … The prosecution was manufacturing a execution case," she said. "You've seen shows called 'Making a Murderer?' That's what was happening present successful this courtroom … They perfectly dismissed this lawsuit astatine this constituent due to the fact that they knew they were going to suffer this proceedings and Mr. Morphew was going to beryllium acquitted and exonerated."

"Barry Morphew loves Suzanne Morphew," Eytan said. "He loves her and helium misses her and helium wants to cognize wherever Suzanne Morphew is. It's a large question people … Definitely determination was not immoderate evidence, adjacent adjacent to convicting him of execution of his wife."

As investigators proceed searching for Suzanne Morphew's body, focusing connected a "remote and mountainous portion adjacent the Morphew residence," arsenic the DA wrote successful her motion, waiting for 5 feet of snowfall to melt earlier they tin safely excavate the area, Barry Morphew, alongside his daughters, walked retired of the Fremont County courthouse a escaped man. With each charges against him dropped, his enslaved is lifted, his GPS ankle show removed, and his passport returned. And astir 1,000 radical who had been summoned to look for assemblage enactment are released.

In May 2023, Barry Morphew filed a $15 cardinal national civilian rights suit against prosecutors and instrumentality enforcement officials stating helium was wrongfully arrested, jailed and prosecuted.

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