SALIDAThe missing wife of a Chaffee County man had a two-year extramarital affair before she disappeared in May 2020, a sheriff’s investigator testified Monday.
The testimony came during the first day of a preliminary hearing for Barry Morphew, 53, who is accused of killing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, 49. Suzanne disappeared from the family’s home near Maysville in May 2020. She was reported missing by a neighbor on Mother’s Day 2020, prompting an extensive, yearlong search before authorities charged her husband in May 2021. Her body has not been found.
Chaffee County Sheriff’s Commander Alex Walker testified during cross-examination that Suzanne Morphew had a two-year extramarital affair. She was in frequent contact with her lover and met up with him at least six times in cities across the U.S., Walker testified.
Walker also testified on cross examination that Suzanne kept a “spy pen” — a voice-activated device that looked like a normal pen but actually recorded audio and video — because she feared her husband was having an affair.
Walker said investigators found no evidence that Barry Morphew was having an affair, although the pen did record conversations that Suzanne Morphew had with her lover, whom she referred to in the recordings only as “Jeff.” Authorities identified the man in November 2020. He did not come forward on his own after Suzanne disappeared, but did speak willingly with investigators after he was identified, Walker testified on cross examination.
Monday’s preliminary hearing is offering the first look at the evidence against Barry Morphew, which has been kept secret since he was arrested. Investigators filed a 130-page affidavit detailing the case, but it was sealed by 11th Judicial District Chief Judge Patrick Murphy, who in June denied a request from The Denver Post and a group of media outlets to make the document public, citing concerns about Morphew’s right to a fair trial.
Murphy ruled the affidavit would be released seven days after Morphew’s four-day preliminary hearing, which is set for Monday, Tuesday, and Aug. 23 and 24.
In addition to first-degree murder, Morphew is accused of destroying, mutilating, concealing, removing or altering his wife’s body in an attempt to avoid arrest, as well as possessing an illegal short rifle and attempting to influence public servants. In the 2020 presidential election, Morphew filled out his wife’s mail-in ballot, voting for Donald Trump. He is charged with forgery in that case, which is separate from the murder case.
Morphew told investigators that he last saw his wife at about 5 a.m. on May 10, 2020, when he left their home to go to Broomfield for a landscaping job. He said she was sleeping and he did not wake her, Walker testified. He later said he texted her around 7:30 a.m. to wish her a happy Mother’s Day, and became concerned when she did not respond.
Walker testified that Suzanne’s cellphone was last active at 4:23 a.m. May 10. He also testified Monday that investigators did not find any of Suzanne’s blood inside the family’s home or inside Morphew’s truck.
Suzanne’s mountain bike was found in rough terrain at the bottom of a steep ditch off County Road 225 in the evening of May 10, 2020. Morphew drove back to Chaffee County that night and went to the scene, where he asked if it appeared she had crashed.
When a deputy said it didn’t look that way, Morphew suggested she may have been attacked by a mountain lion, video shows.
In court Monday, Barry Morphew wore a gray striped suit and blue medical mask. He sat quietly, occasionally whispering with his attorneys or pointing to papers in front of him. When his attorney, Dru Nielsen, talked about him describing Suzanne as his “angel” and a “special, wonderful person,” he appeared to become emotional and dabbed his eyes with a tissue.
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August 09, 2021 at 11:29PM
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