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The Colorado Bureau of Investigation on Monday said Suzanne Morphew, a mom of two who went missing almost four years ago on Mother’s Day in 2020, died by homicide “in the setting of” drug intoxication.
Authorities announced last year that Morphew’s remains were located in the area of 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’s homicide occurred “by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication” — the same sedatives Barry Morphew previously told investigators he used to shoot deer in his yard with a tranquilizer gun, according to The Denver Gazette.
“The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and our law enforcement partners understand and appreciate the public interest surrounding this case,” said CBI Director Chris Schaefer. “The investigative team assembled to work 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 ATTORNEY SAYS
Suzanne Morphew, 49, went missing May 10 after leaving her Colorado home to go on a bike ride, her husband, Barry Morphew told authorities. In a phone interview with local media, Barry Morphew said authorities are trying to blame him for his wife’s disappearance after bungling the case. (Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office)
Iris Eytan, an attorney representing Barry Morphew said in a statement that for “the past four years the Morphews have agonized over Suzanne’s disappearance.”
“This included not only the pain of the loss of their wife and mother but also the false accusations and prosecution of Barry Morphew. The Morphews have prayed the authorities would remove their blinders and not only find Suzanne, but find the suspect responsible for her disappearance and murder,” Eytan said. “However, the Morphews are left with more questions than answers and a lack of justice for Suzanne, the family and the community.”
She added that the autopsy results confirm “that she put on her mountain bike clothes and was either getting ready for, or was already on her morning bike ride, when she was abducted, allegedly drugged, and buried 50 miles south of their home.”
Morphew’s remains were not “found anywhere in the vicinity of her home, the town nearby, or the county she lived in,” Eytan previously explained in an October 2023 statement.
Barry Morphew previously said investigators were trying to blame him for the May 10 disappearance of his wife, Suzanne. He was arrested Wednesday and is charged with first-degree murder. (Courtesy of Suzanne Morphew’s Family)
“[H]er remains were found in a shallow grave in a dry desert field of sagebrush and natural grasses. Contrary to prior accusations, her remains were not found in a rocky mountainous region near her home, not in a location that was a ‘difficult spot’ to get to,” Eytan said at the time.
SUZANNE MORPHEW’S HUSBAND, DAUGHTERS ‘STRUGGLING WITH IMMENSE SHOCK AND GRIEF’ AFTER REMAINS FOUND
Morphew’s bicycle was discovered in a ravine along Highway 50 and County Road 225 in Chaffee County, near her family’s Maysville home the same day she went missing. Barry said he was working in Broomfield, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, at the time.
Barry was initially accused of killing his wife when he was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in 2021 in connection with her disappearance and presumed death.
A year later, prosecutors dropped charges against Barry, saying they wanted more time to find his wife’s body. A judge accused 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley of procedural violations just before Barry was set to stand trial.
Authorities announced last week that Morphew’s remains were located in the area of Moffat, 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)
MISSING SUZANNE MORPHEW: NEWLY RELEASED DOCS REVEAL AFFAIRS, TROUBLED MARRIAGE BEFORE DISAPPEARANCE
Barry’s legal team filed a $15 million lawsuit against prosecutors and investigators in 2023, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
Investigators never found any traces of blood near the Morphew home in Maysville or in their family vehicles. Investigators did, however, find a partial DNA profile on Suzanne Morphew’s glovebox, which matched profiles developed in sexual assault cases out of Chicago, Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, CBI agent Joseph Cahill said during a hearing in 2021, as The Denver Postreported. Investigators also found “unknown male DNA … where her bike was parked, on her bike grips, handlebars, and bike seat,” Eytan said.
But “the authorities will not tell the Morphew family whether Suzanne’s bike clothes, collected seven months ago with her remains, have been tested for DNA,” the attorney continued.
“DNA left on her clothing by the murderer could bring justice for Suzanne, her family and the community. The authorities will also not provide the Morphew’s any information regarding whether they have performed any testing on the bullet that was collected with Suzanne’s remains,” Eytan said. “The authorities offered the victims, Barry, Mallory and Macy, the option to retrieve Suzanne’s remains, but they want to ensure the suspect is apprehended before they take what could be an important piece of evidence in the suspect’s prosecution.”
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The Suzanne Morphew murder case has become even more muddied after a Colorado attorney counsel accused 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley, who filed since-dropped murder charges against Suzanne’s husband, Barry Morphew, accused the DA of prosecutorial misconduct in an Oct. 30 complaint. (Chaffee County Sheriff)
Text messages from Suzanne and Barry that were unsealed in June 2023 suggest they were both having affairs just before her disappearance.
Four days before her disappearance, Suzanne sent Barry a text saying she was “done.” “I could care less what you’re up to and have been for years,” she wrote, adding that they needed to figure things out “civilly.”
No other arrests have been made in the case. The charges against Barry Morphew were dismissed without prejudice, so prosecutors can still decide to pursue charges against him. CBI continues to investigate Suzanne’s homicide.
“The family is quite skeptical about the integrity of this investigation as the very same investigators that concealed the unknown male DNA continue to be involved in this investigation and were present at the autopsy of Suzanne Morphew,” Eytan said in her statement. “The family asks for privacy and implores the authorities to look at the case with fresh eyes, follow all leads, conduct all forensic testing, and solve Suzanne’s murder.”
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to contact (719) 312-7530.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.
