Update: Suzanne Morphew

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2:01Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

2:34Today I'm bringing you an update on the case of Suzanne Morphew, who went missing in May of 2020. Her body was found in September 2023, and last month her autopsy results came back, ruling her death a homicide. I did two parts on this case back in November of 2023, and this is a case that truly has so many details that all play a pretty crucial role in this story. So if you're not familiar with Suzanne's case, I strongly recommend you go back and listen to those two episodes for a full picture leading up to this point. I am going to summarize the case before getting to the newest information, but again, if you want that most in-depth look, go back to those two episodes.

3:18That being said, let's dive in. This is the newest in the case of Suzanne Morphew. 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew was last seen alive on May 9, 2020, but she's known for going missing on Mother's Day, which was May 10 that year. Suzanne's husband and her daughters were all out of town and away from Suzanne that day, but when she wasn't answering calls or returning their texts, they became concerned. Now, just a little bit about Suzanne. She was born and raised in Indiana. She met her husband, Barry Morphew, when she was in high school, and he was a student at Purdue University. They got married in 1994 and had two daughters.

3:58In 2018, the Morphews moved to Colorado for a fresh start after their oldest daughter moved there to attend college. They ended up getting a house in Maysville. It's a really small town with a population of fewer than 150 people. It's just a few miles west of Salida. Barry Morphew got up between 4 and 5 a.m. and headed to Broomfield, Colorado for a landscaping project his company was set to begin. Broomfield's pretty far. It's about 150 miles from the Morphew's home and takes about three hours to get there. Both of Suzanne's daughters reached out to their dad saying that they tried to text Suzanne for Mother's Day and never heard back.

4:35By the time night came around, one of the girls reached out to a neighbor and asked her to check on Suzanne. but the neighbor didn't find her or her bike at home. Suzanne was known to frequently take mountain bike rides on trails near her home, so they thought she might just be on a ride. But after the hours began to pass with no sign of Suzanne, as she continued to not answer her phone, she was reported missing that night. Officers get to the Morphew home at about 7.30 and immediately begin searching for Suzanne. It didn't take them long to locate her blue Santa Cruz bike at the bottom of a hill near a ravine.

5:11But there was no sign of Suzanne with the bike or signs that any type of struggle had occurred. In fact, investigators say they immediately thought that the scene might have been staged because there was no physical evidence of a crash. At this point, Barry leaves Broomfield and comes back home to help with the search. But investigators say that he started making strange comments right off the bat. When seeing where Suzanne's bike was found, he suggested that maybe she was attacked by a mountain lion. And who knows, maybe it was just kind of something he blurted out in the moment, something he was afraid of, but like I said, there were no signs of blood or a struggle, and the investigators did find this strange, which is why I'm mentioning it.

5:53Police did track Suzanne's phone pretty much immediately, and found that it last pinged around 4.23am on May 10th. It was in a nearby area about 11.5 miles west of a cell tower in Poncha Springs, but now it appeared to be off. Investigators also searched the Morphew home and didn't find too much to be out of place, but a few things did stick out. There were no signs of forced entry, and the house was really well kept except for one of their daughter's beds being stripped. In the primary bedroom, an officer found a round of.22 caliber ammunition next to the bed, but it had not been fired. The next day, they found a high-powered rifle in a closet on the ground floor, and a 12-gauge shotgun lying against the wall in the garage, not secured in a safe.

6:42Now, I say that because I want you to keep it in mind for what we learn next. When Barry was interviewed the next day, he told investigators that he and Suzanne had a great evening the night before. He said they grilled steaks, had sex, and went to bed early. He explains that he left the house around 5am on the 10th and didn't speak to Suzanne before he left because she was sleeping. But it didn't take long for Barry to make his first discrepancy when talking to investigators. He admitted that he owned the firearms but said that they were all locked in a gun safe in the garage, which we know isn't true.

7:17Again, maybe not the biggest thing, but definitely a discrepancy that investigators are kind of logging in their heads at this point. And they also noticed something else about him, too. He had scratches on his arms and shoulders. Suzanne's daughters were also interviewed, and one of them said that both her mom and dad had felt unsafe in the relationship at some point. This daughter was asked if her mom would leave home because she felt unsafe, and she answered no, but later changed the answer to say that if her mom did leave, she wouldn't leave without immediately letting her and her sister know that she's okay.

7:54Which, from everything I could find about Suzanne, her personality, the way that she loved her kids, moving states to go be with her kid while she's going to college, it tracks. The next week, investigators found what they believe is Suzanne's teal bike helmet off of Highway 50 near the Morphew home. At this time, Barry posted a video online publicly pleading for her safe return. He also offered a$100 ,000 reward for information leading to Suzanne's whereabouts. This was matched by a family friend for a total of$200 ,000 in reward funds. By all appearances, Barry was trying to help find his wife.

8:33But as investigators began to speak with other people in Suzanne's life, they began to question her relationship with Barry. especially in the months and days leading up to her disappearance. Suzanne's sister, Melinda, shared a text Suzanne had sent her on May 8th, two days before she was reported missing. It read, quote, It's hard dealing with the harsh abrasiveness and having to show respect. He's also been abusive, emotionally and physically. There's so much. I went through a period of acceptance, and I feel more angry now. Anger at what I've allowed. End quote. Melinda says as soon as she found out Suzanne was missing, she knew Barry was responsible.

9:18Suzanne's best friend Sheila also shared a number of other messages from Suzanne that made investigators believe she wanted to leave Barry due to him being controlling and abusive. Now, police never recovered Suzanne's phone, but they were able to access her iCloud account. And one text message in particular really stood out to investigators. On May 6, Suzanne sent Barry a text message that investigators interpret as her saying she wanted a divorce. It said, quote, I'm done. I could care less about what you've been up to for years. We just need to figure this out civilly. End quote. They also found a note backed up to her iCloud on May 8, where she listed 50 grievances she had with Barry.

10:02I won't list them all, but a few of them said, P-H-Y-S abuse, which I'm assuming is physical abuse, verbal abuse, chase me around resort and threatened, not safe alone with you, can't be trusted, oppressive, took phone, slams on brakes when angry, gun, threatened to jump out of car, and shame and guilt daily for not meeting expectations. Suzanne suspected that Barry was cheating on her. Her friend Sheila told investigators that she even purchased a spy pen for Suzanne. Basically a pen that would record audio. Suzanne wanted to buy it herself, but was scared of Barry finding out. So, 10 days after Suzanne's disappearance, investigators find this device in Suzanne's closet.

10:50From it, they learn that Suzanne herself was having an affair with a man named Jeff. She had apparently recorded herself having some conversations with him. The problem was, they didn't know who Jeff was, and it would take some time to track him down. So while they're trying to find Jeff, they shift back to Barry. Through interviews, data on Barry's cell phone, his Ford F-350, and local security cameras, investigators were able to piece together a timeline for what he did on the day Suzanne went missing. And not all of it lined up with what Barry said happened. According to his phone and truck records, Barry arrived home on May 9th around 2.43pm.

11:29And at 2.47, his phone entered airplane mode, which had stayed in until 10.17 that night, when he powered it off. It turned back on at 4.23 a.m. They also began to compare the number of pings Barry's cell phone did receive during those specific hours. Before Suzanne went missing, between May 1st and May 8th, it only pinged in 0 to 2 locations during those same hours. but on the night of May 9th through May 10th, Barry's phone pinged in 210 locations. Data from Barry's truck also shows that between 321 and 348 a.m., his truck was at the Morphew residence, but over 80 events occurred, many of them being the doors of the truck opening and closing.

12:18Barry left his home around 5am on the morning of the 10th And investigators know that he turned left on Highway 50 When he would normally turn right to go to Broomfield He essentially drove in the direction of where Suzanne's bike helmet was found He did end up turning around and going to Broomfield Making one stop along the way at an RTD bus stop Where he threw away some garbage from his truck He arrived at the Holiday Inn in Broomfield around 8.15am Here, he threw away two white trash bags when he first got to the hotel He leaves the hotel about two hours later around 10.06 From here, he goes to a nearby McDonald's where security cameras saw him again throwing items away in two separate McDonald's trash cans He was seen on camera pushing something further down into one of those McDonald's trash cans Next, he heads to a men's warehouse store, where he throws more items away.

13:19He sits in the parking lot for about 40 minutes before going back to the Holiday Inn in a black t-shirt. He exits the room 20 minutes later in a white t-shirt. Then he heads to the job site, where he stays for about 30 minutes before going back to the Holiday Inn. When he gets back to the hotel, he throws away another white plastic bag and some black containers. If you didn't keep track, because I know it is kind of hard to keep track, that is a total of five different locations where he threw away various items from his truck. This was, of course, an immediate red flag to investigators. This episode of Voices for Justice is brought to you by Quince.

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15:58I am freaking out right now. I think I just peed a little. It's an absolute riot. And the only movie that can be described as So much weirder than the last time. What last time? It's the Frequel You ready? We've been waiting for That absolutely slays. Disney's Freakier Friday, now streaming on Disney+. Rated PG. Barry continued to do interviews with investigators in the months following Suzanne's disappearance. And they noted that his story changed drastically. I do detail these interviews pretty thoroughly in the first two episodes about this case, but one of the major things investigators noted was how quickly he switched from saying he had a perfect marriage to saying that he and Suzanne fought frequently due to her use of drugs and alcohol, which he disapproved of.

16:47Officers also noted that he seemed to change his story when presented with evidence that didn't match his original story. Police also interview one of Barry's co-workers to get a clearer picture of what he might be like in a professional environment. They interviewed Morgan Gentile, a contractor who was with Barry on May 9th and was part of the Broomfield assignment, and she revealed something pretty big. Morgan tells investigators that Barry was actually supposed to pick her up and take her to the job site in Broomfield on Sunday evening at 5.30pm, and never gave a reason as to why he went to Broomfield so early in the morning and didn't come get her.

17:27She also discusses a pretty chilling conversation between she and Barry on May 9th. She apparently made a comment to Barry asking if he knew that pigs could eat a whole human body in only two hours. And she says Barry responded that he could bury a body and it would never be found. Another piece of evidence that investigators believe is crucial is a plastic cap or needle sheath that they found in the dryer of the Morphew home. This was along with the sheets that had been stripped off one of the daughter's beds. They theorize that this came from a tranquilizer dart, and that Barry may have shot Suzanne with a tranquilizer before killing her.

18:05He did do a lot of hunting, and was known to use tranquilizer darts to shoot deer and other animals. And in the house, they find an empty new dart box, a hypodermic cover, a dart found in a box under a bench in the garage, and a new dart book. When asked, Barry said that he had not used tranquilizer darts since moving to Colorado, but he did use them in Indiana to shoot deer. Then, finally, we get to the point in the investigation where they identify Jeff, the Jeff that Suzanne was talking to on the spy pen. This ended up being Jeff Libler, a married man from Michigan. Now, he willingly provided DNA, phone records, and all the logins for his social media accounts.

18:49And pretty quickly, based on credit card data, they were able to determine that he was in Michigan when Suzanne went missing, and he was cleared as a suspect. But he also did support these claims that Barry was abusive and controlling. Now, a lot of people do want to know why Jeff didn't come forward right away, and I think it's a fair question. Jeff says that when he realized that Suzanne was missing, he knew Barry killed her. And he didn't come forward because he didn't want to hurt his family or Suzanne's family or tarnish Suzanne's image. But now that they know who Jeff is, they go back to Barry in January 2021.

19:26FBI agents sit down with him to tell him what they've uncovered about her affair. And when he's confronted about it, Barry says that he had no idea. He says that he wouldn't have had to suffer for nine months if he'd known. Now, it's kind of important to note that Suzanne had only been missing for seven months at this point, so maybe that was just a slip, maybe he wasn't paying attention, I don't know. But here's where it gets dicey, here's where it gets... I'll just say it, it gets weird. He says that Suzanne's disappearance was God's judgment on her for having an affair, and he implied that he now understood why God took Suzanne from him.

20:08While they have Barry, they also bring up the tranquilizer darts, but Barry says that this can be explained. He says he shot two deer on his Colorado property, but this contradicts his earlier statements that he had not used tranquilizers since living in Indiana. They also confronted Barry about his phone movements around the house after he arrived home on May 9th. These showed him running from porch to porch in like a Z-shaped pattern at a really fast rate. Barry explained this by saying that he shoots chipmunks. He says that he shot over 85 chipmunks on his property since moving to Colorado.

20:44Basically, he says that they got into his furnace and it cost him a lot of money to replace it. So they specifically ask if he was shooting chipmunks when he got home that day, and Barry says yes. This is the first time investigators had heard this alibi. But Barry is cooperative. The next day, he gives investigators the.22 caliber altered rifle that he claims he used to shoot chipmunks. But then Barry asks, quote, and what about immunity? Can you give me immunity if I sit and just open my life to you? End quote. And of course, agents want to know what he would be granted immunity for. And he responded, quote, I think in case somebody falsely convicts me.

21:27End quote. Now, they want to learn more about these tranquilizers, which chemicals he's using. And he answered that he uses Bam and Telazol. A veterinarian was interviewed about these chemicals. And she was shocked that a civilian could get Telazol, saying it was only used in veterinary medicine. She also said that she had heard of 1 one-hundredth of a dose of BAM being used to sedate a human, but a full dose would likely be fatal. By April 26, 2021, police say that they've gotten over 1 ,400 tips, each one of them investigated, and none of them provide a legitimate suspect other than Barry Morphew.

22:09So, on May 4th, 2021, nearly a year since Suzanne was last seen, Judge Patrick Murphy of Colorado's 11th Judicial District signed an arrest affidavit charging Barry with murder in the first degree, tampering with physical evidence, and attempting to influence a public servant. Now, I just want to say that in Colorado's 11th district, there is no grand jury used for indictments. Instead, an affidavit must provide sufficient evidence that the accused person has committed a crime. And on May 5th, Barry Morphew was arrested and booked into the Chafee County Jail. Here's what the prosecution believes happened.

22:47They say Barry came home on May 9th and found Suzanne outside sunbathing and talking to Jeff Libler. They believe he then chased her around the house with a tranquilizer gun, causing this strange pattern on his phone, and eventually shot her with the tranquilizer. They believe that in the hours that his phone was on airplane mode, that's when he disposed of Suzanne's body before heading to Broomfield to dispose of any evidence. On May 18th, Barry was also charged with possessing a short rifle, their band in Colorado, and for tampering with a deceased human body. By the first hearing in this case in July, things already started to become rocky for the prosecution.

23:27In this first hearing, the judge said that Barry's defense was lacking access to evidence that they were supposed to receive in June. Throughout these hearings, Barry's attorney, Iris Eaton, also said that DNA evidence was found inside Suzanne's bike helmet that didn't match Barry. It was also revealed that Barry's DNA was not a match on the needle sheath found in the dryer. Even more shocking, Eaton revealed that male DNA was found on the glove box of Suzanne's car. And this DNA profile partially matched a man accused of sexual assaults in three different cities. When called to the stand, Colorado Bureau of Investigation officer Joseph Cahill admitted that he did not follow up on these CODIS matches, and that CODIS matches should be followed up on as investigative leads.

24:15The prosecution fought back against this, saying it wasn't addressed because it was only a partial profile. But District Attorney Linda Stanley admitted in an official response that when the alert went out on June 2nd that the sample was a potential match to a serial sex offender, the forensics team did not do any work on it. Think what you want in this case, all of these clues, this evidence, it all needs to be followed up on. Now, despite this, once the four intense preliminary hearings were over, the judge ruled that Barry would stand trial for Suzanne's murder. The prosecution requested a$10 million bond, but the judge reduced it to$500 ,000 cash only.

24:56Barry posted the bail and was let out of jail on an ankle monitor. While Barry awaited trial, his defense team continued to file motions against the prosecution for discovery violations and for not taking the CODIS match seriously. The prosecution maintained that they didn't intentionally keep the CODIS information from the defense. Another hurdle came when Barry's friend, Shoshona Dark, was set to be a witness in the upcoming trial. She was facing charges for trespassing on the Morpheus former property at the time, so she hired a lawyer. Her lawyer was actually apparently a personal friend of the judge in this case, so he was asked to step down, which he did.

25:35At the beginning of 2022, a new judge was assigned to the case, and he was not as patient with the prosecution as the former judge had been. His first act in the case was to order the prosecution to turn over all police reports and videos from their 20-month investigation. Really, from here, the prosecution's case just continued to fall apart. The new judge ruled that he would not allow Sheila Oliver to testify about domestic violence between Barry and Suzanne. And things got even worse when one of the main investigators on the case, the same one who admitted to not following up on the CODIS matches, said he thought Barry's arrest was premature.

26:13In April, the judge issued a 20-page order, where he basically fried the prosecution for being sloppy and reckless. He also said that the prosecution's offenses were so brazen that he would not allow 14 of the state's 16 expert witnesses to testify. This seems like it was the final blow for this case, because on April 19, 2022, only nine days before the trial was set to begin, the state motioned to dismiss the charges without prejudice pending further investigation. The motion was granted, and charges against Barry Morphew were dropped. Now, dropping the charges without prejudice means that they can refile charges at a later date if more evidence is obtained.

26:58At this point, the state says that what they needed was Suzanne's body, and they said that they believed they were close to finding it. All they had to do was wait for the snow to melt so they could excavate an area. But as they were waiting for the snow to melt, Barry felt like he'd been wronged by the state of Colorado and District Attorney Stanley's team. In May 2023, he filed a$15 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Linda Stanley and her prosecutors, law enforcement officials including the Chafee County Sheriff John Speezy, and several current and former investigators with the CBI and FBI.