Suzanne Morphew, a mother of two who disappeared nearly four years ago on Mother’s Day in 2020, died from a “drug-induced murder,” the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said Monday.
Authorities announced last year that Morphew’s remains were located in the area. Moffat, Colorado, in Saguache County — about 45 miles south of her home in Maysville, Colorado, where the 49-year-old mother was reported missing on May 10, 2020.
The Caffee County Medical Examiner determined that Morphew was murdered by “undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine intoxication.”
“The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and our law enforcement partners understand and appreciate the public interest associated with this case,” said CBI Director Chris Schaefer. “The investigative team assembled to work on this case continues to follow the evidence and only the evidence as we seek justice for Suzanne’s death.”
Suzanne Morphew’s remains found in ‘shallow grave’, husband’s lawyer says
Suzanne Morphew, 49, went missing after leaving her Colorado home to go on a bike ride on May 10, her husband Barry Morphew told authorities. In a phone interview with local media, Barry Morphew said authorities were trying to blame him for his wife’s disappearance after hushing up the case. (Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office)
“Morphew’s remains were not found anywhere near her home, the surrounding city or the county in which she lived,” Iris Ayton, a lawyer representing Morphew’s husband Barry Morphew and her family, said in an October 2023 statement. ”
“(His) remains were found in a shallow grave in a dry desert plain of sagebrush and natural grasses. Contrary to earlier allegations, his remains were not found in a rocky mountain area near his home, not in a location that ‘ Getting to the ‘hard spot,'” Eaton said at the time.
Suzanne Morphew’s husband, daughters ‘struggling with extreme shock and grief’ after remains found
Barry Morphew had previously said that investigators were trying to blame him for the disappearance of his wife Susan on May 10. He was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder. (Courtesy of Suzanne Morphew’s family)
Morphew’s bicycle was found the same day in a ravine at the corner of Highway 50 and County Road 225 in Chaffee County, near his family’s Maysville home. Went missing. Barry said he was working in Broomfield, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, at the time.
When Barry was charged he was initially accused of murdering his wife with murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with her disappearance and presumed death in 2021.
A year later, prosecutors dropped charges against Barry and said they wanted more time to find his wife’s body. Just before Barry was put on trial, a judge accused 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley of procedural violations.
Authorities announced last week that Morphew’s remains were located in the area of Moffatt, Colorado, in Saguache County — about 45 miles south of her home in Maysville, Colorado, where she was reported missing on May 10, 2020. (Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
Barry’s legal team filed a case $15 million lawsuit Against prosecutors and investigators in 2023, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
Investigators never found any trace of blood near the Morphew home in Maysville or in their family vehicles. However, investigators discovered partial dna profile On Suzanne Morphew’s glovebox, CBI agent Joseph Cahill said during a hearing in 2021 that it matched profiles developed in sexual assault cases in Chicago, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, The Denver Post reported. Barry’s DNA did not match that sample, his lawyers told KUSA-TV at the time.
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The Suzanne Morphew murder case has become even more complicated after a Colorado lawyer accused 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley, who dropped murder charges against Suzanne’s husband Barry Morphew, in an October 30 complaint against the prosecuting DA. Was accused of misconduct by the party. (Chaffee County Sheriff)
Susan and Barry’s text messages What was revealed in June 2023 showed that they were having an affair just before her disappearance.
Four days before her disappearance, Susan sent Barry a message saying she was “finished”. “I don’t care what you are doing and have been doing for years,” he wrote, adding that he needed to figure things out “in a civil manner.”
No other arrests have been made in the case. The charges against Barry Morphew were dismissed without prejudice, so prosecutors may still decide to pursue charges against him. CBI is continuing the investigation into Suzanne’s murder.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to contact them at (719) 312-7530.
