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Night Watch: Tranquilized on Mother’s Day: New Charges in the Suzanne Morphew Case
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Foreign hey everyone, it's Katie. If you're loving Crime House Daily, you need to check out Crimes of, the newest show from Crime House. Crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season from Crimes of the paranormal, unsolved murders, mysterious disappearances, and more. Their first season is Crimes of Infamy, the true stories behind Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. Crimes of is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or find them on YouTube at Crime House Studios. New episodes out every Tuesday. This is Crime House.
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Investigators found part of a tranquilizer dart inside the house of a husband accused of murdering his wife. We began with a major development of the death of Suzanne Morphew. Her husband Barry Morphew, charged with her murder again. Her remains were later found a year ago in Saguache county, which eventually leads to Barry Morphew's grand jury indictment.
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When Suzanne Morphew disappeared on Mother's Day in 2020, authorities thought she might have been kidnapped. But a recovered bike, chipmunks, a spy pen, and a secret love affair pointed them in a completely different direction. Hi, I'm Katie Ring, a true crime analyst, self defense instructor, and a fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening, and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on the biggest cases. Every night, Nightwatch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily wherever you get podcasts, leave A review hit five stars and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For video, check out our YouTube channel, Rimehouse Daily. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Tonight, we're going all in on the case of Barry Morphew. He's the man charged with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Morphew. Authorities think he used a tranquilizer dart to kill his wife. His charges were dropped because of bad moves by the lead prosecutor and she was just disbarred. But Barry was rearrested this summer. Here's what led up to this devious case.
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Tonight we're digging into the story of Barry Morphew, a landscaper in Colorado who was charged with the murder of his wife. After Suzanne Morphew disappeared on Mother's Day in 2020, her case quickly turned into a homicide investigation and the authorities were certain that all signs pointed to Barry. They were all set to take him to trial, but the prosecutors made some huge mistakes that led to Barry's case being dropped. In fact, it was recently announced that Linda Stanley, the lead prosecutor on this case at the time, was was disbarred by the Colorado Supreme Court for statements she made to news outlets that played a part in this case being dismissed the first time around. However, a massive twist in the case meant they got a second chance to take him to trial, and his case is tentatively scheduled to go back to court in the summer of 2026. To get you caught up, let's go back to where it all started. Suzanne was born in the small town of Alexandra, Indiana on April 30, 1971. She was the youngest of four kids and it seemed like she had a safe and happy childhood. Suzanne was popular in high school and was described by one of her friends as, quote, the definition of a person who is beautiful inside and out. She had a beautiful smile, a huge heart and was a great listener, all characteristics that caught the attention of the high school's star baseball player and her future husband, Barry Morphew. Barry was a few years older than Suzanne and was drafted into the MLB by the Toronto Blue Jays straight out of high school. He plays for about a year, but things don't work out after he is injured and decides to enroll at Purdue University, where he reconnects with Suzanne. On August 5, 1994, shortly after graduating and earning her degree, Suzanne and Barry got married and focused on making a life together. Suzanne worked as a middle school teacher and Barry started a landscaping business Within a few years, they decided to have kids. Their daughter Mallory, was born on the Fourth of July in 1999, and her little sister Macy arrived four years later. Suzanne and Barry raised their kids in Indiana. But in 2018, when Mallory leaves for college in Colorado, the rest of the family moves there, too. On the exterior, the Morphews look like a happy couple, and the change of scenery is viewed as a way to keep the family close together. But privately, Barry and Suzanne's marriage is on the rocks, and this move is also a chance at a fresh start. After settling in the picturesque town of Salida, Barry starts a new landscaping business, and they seem happy to enjoy everything Colorado has to offer. Suzanne is an avid mountain biker, and the terrain is perfect for long rides. Barry loves to hunt, and their property is so big that he can hunt deer without leaving home. But he uses unconventional methods. Sometimes he shoots his prey with tranquilizer darts and harvests their antlers while they're unconscious. Now, this type of hunting can be extremely dangerous and deadly for the animals. In fact, it's illegal in a number of jurisdictions, including the one where the Morphews lived. It doesn't seem like Barry got into trouble for it, but he's clearly pushing boundaries in more ways than one. Despite enjoying everything Colorado has to offer, the couple is still having troubles. Suzanne tells her friends that they are having financial problems and that she also suspects that Barry is having an affair. Suzanne toughs it out for a couple of years, but eventually she can't handle it anymore. On May 6, 2020, Suzanne sends Barry a text that says, quote, I'm done. I could care less what you're up to and have been for years. We just need to figure this out civilly. Their marriage seems to be at a breaking point. And four days later, on Mother's Day, Barry wakes up before dawn and drives to a job site in Broomfield, Colorado, about 150 miles from where he and Suzanne live. Later that day, their daughters, Malorie and Macy, call Suzanne to wish her a happy Mother's Day. But she doesn't pick up, which is not like her. After a while, Mallory calls Barry and tells him they can't get through to Suzanne. He doesn't seem too worried, but around 6pm Barry contacts a neighbor and asks them to check if Suzanne's mountain bike is gone. The neighbor reports back that both Suzanne and her bike are nowhere to be found. After hearing this news, Barry doesn't hesitate. He tells the neighbor to call 911, then jumps in his truck and begins the long drive back to Salida. Police begin searching for Suzanne, and within a couple of hours, they find Suzanne's mountain bike in a ravine on the side of the road. They fear she had a terrible accident, but they can't find Suzanne. And oddly, the bike doesn't seem to be damaged. It looks more like someone dumped it. Then a few days later, investigators find Suzanne's helmet off the side of the road about a mile from where her bike was. Meanwhile, officers search the Morphews home. They find Susanne's sunglasses and a water pack in her car, but her cell phone is nowhere to be found. With no body, no clothing, no blood, and no sign of an accident or struggle at the scene, it's looking increasingly unlikely that Suzanne had a bad biking accident. So the police turn their suspicions to the likeliest suspect, Barry. But he's not acting like someone who just killed his wife. In the days and weeks after Suzanne's disappearance, Barry is completely cooperative with and gives between 30 and 40 interviews to authorities, from the local police to the FBI. Without ever asking for a lawyer. Barry says that he and Suzanne actually had a romantic evening on Saturday, May 9, before he turned in early around 8pm he set his alarm for 4:30 the next morning and left the house for his job site around 5. According to Barry, the last time he saw his wife was when she was asleep in bed as he headed out. But investigators find a lot of reasons to doubt this version of events. And as officers start gathering evidence, they find a lot of things that don't look good for Barry Morphew. A message from McAfee.
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@Mintmobile.Com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com After Suzanne Morphew disappears on May 10, 2020, investigators suspect that her husband Barry might be involved. During a search of the Morphew's home, officers discover a clear plastic cap in the Morphew's dryer. The kind of cap you would find on a syringe used to fill a tranquilizer dart. The authorities think that Barry might have gone home on May 9, gotten into a fight with Suzanne and shot her with a tranquilizer gun. They confront Barry with this evidence and he comes clean the that he's broken the law. But it has nothing to do with Suzanne. He admits that he illegally hunts deer with tranquilizers and harvest their antlers to sell. It's an excuse. But that's not the only strange thing that the police have found. They also present Barry with some strange data from his cell phone. It shows that on the afternoon of May 9, it pinged all over the house in quick spots succession. Almost like he was chasing someone. They think it shows that he chased Suzanne around the house after he tranquilized her again. Barry says he was running around the house with a gun, but it was to shoot chipmunks. He claims they're a constant nuisance, but there's no sign of the animals anywhere on the property. Adding to the state's case is a crack in the frame of the Morphew's bedroom door. Barry says he has no idea how it got there, but authorities point to it as a sign of a struggle. And these aren't the only questionable parts of Barry's story. Even though he claims to have been in bed at 8pm his truck's computer shows that around 9:30, someone moved it 96ft closer to the house. Then around 3:30am about an hour before Barry said he woke up, the someone opened and closed the truck's doors, which authorities believe was Barry disposing of his wife's body. And while Barry was telling the truth about going to that job site out in Broomfield the next day, he did some strange things on the way. Security cameras in Broomfield caught him making a bizarre series of stops, throwing items away in five different trash cans and dumpsters around town. Barry claimed that he would throw away trash from work himself because he didn't want to pay for garbage services. But according to Investigators, he was disposing of anything that could tie him to his wife's murder. Investigators are putting together a pretty solid case. But something's still Suzanne's body. Even after months of searching, there's no sign of her or what exactly happened to her. Although murder cases are much easier, when you have a body, you don't need one to charge Someone. And the DA of Colorado's 11th district thinks they have enough to take Barry down. Exactly one year after Suzanne Morphew was reported missing, police arrived to arrest her husband and charge him with her murder. But it turns out Barry wasn't the only man who might have had motive to murder his wife. Investigators find some odd evidence in the Morphew's bedroom. A spy pen. It contains a voice activated recorder designed to turn on and capture the voices of anybody who starts talking nearby. When Suzanne suspected Barry of having an affair, she had purchased a spy pen and left it in their closet to catch him in the act. But in a bizarre twist, the only affair she successful successfully documented was her own. Audio recovered from the pen reveals an ongoing relationship with a man named Jeff Libler, who is married with six kids. He lives in Michigan, but he's from the same town in Indiana as Barry and Suzanne. Jeff and Suzanne had actually dated in high school, and in 2018, she'd reached out to him. Shortly after moving to Colorado, they begin a two year affair that included secret meetups, vacations, and a mountain of almost daily text messages, including 59 of them on May 9, 2020, the day they suspect Suzanne was killed. Jeff went to great lengths to keep their relationship secret. But was he willing to kill Suzanne to keep anyone from finding out? It's suspicious, especially because he didn't come forward when he heard the news. But he was in Michigan with his family when Suzanne disappeared, so his alibi was airtight. But when authorities find male DNA on the glove box in Suzanne's car, a third potential suspect enters the investigation. Because the DNA is not a match for Jeff or Barry. It does, however, match an unknown male, One who has committed a series of sexual assaults throughout the southwest. This is information that could sink the prosecution's case, but it is not initially disclosed to the defense. But they find out about the DNA while questioning a cbi, a Colorado Bureau of Investigations agent. In the hearing, they argue that the prosecution doesn't have enough evidence to charge their client. The judge doesn't drop the case, but he is furious with Linda and her team for all of the discovery violations and reprimands them by excluding almost all of their key witnesses from testifying. This would absolutely tank their case. So nine days before he is supposed to go on trial, the lead prosecutor asked the judge to drop the charges. This was a huge embarrassment for the prosecution. Barry goes on to sue for damages in civil court, and the lead prosecutor, Linda Stanley, is eventually disbarred for her misconduct and mishandling of this case. For a while, it was looking like Suzanne Morphew's case may never be officially solved. But luckily, the DA did do one thing right. When she asked for their case against Barry to be dismissed, she requested it be done without prejudice, meaning they could decide to charge him again at a later date. And in the fall of 2023, they finally find the one thing they've been looking for Suzanne's remains.
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In September 2023, investigators finally located Suzanne Morphew's body, and it was completely by chance. During an unrelated search about an hour south of the Morphew's home, investigators discovered the skeletal remains of an adult woman in a shallow grave. Based on the lack of insect and animal activity around the body, it appears that she was killed somewhere else, then later buried there. It's a mysterious situation, but due to proximity, investigators wonder if these could be the remains of Suzanne Morphew. And testing confirms that it was. The remains revealed something else as well. Her bones contained traces of a chemical mixture known as known as bam, which is often used to sedate deer and other large animals. It's clear this was no accident. In a report released in April 2024, the coroner lists Suzanne's manner of death as a homicide. And because of where the body was found, the case moves from the Colorado's 11th Judicial District to the 12th. A new set of prosecutors immediately get to work on the case, and as part of their investigation, the they pull prescription receipts for everyone in that part of the state to see who had access to the tranquilizer that was in Suzanne's system. BAM is a controlled substance, so it's mostly used by veterinarians, park rangers, and other people who work with wildlife. But private citizens can request to buy it too, and the only person in that part of the state who has it is Barry Morphew. Armed with this information, the police are able to get an arrest Warrant and on June 20, 2025, Barry Morphew is apprehended outside of Phoenix, Arizona and charged again with first degree murder. He's extradited to Colorado, where his bail is currently set at $3 million. At the time of this recording, it seems like he'll actually make it to trial this time, which is expected to happen sometime in the summer of 2026. I can't imagine what his daughters are going through. It's a terrible situation to be in. You never want to believe that your father is capable of something like this, but you do want justice for your mother. Their family has already been torn apart, and no matter what happens next, those wounds will only deepen. As of now, Mallory and Macy are standing by their father. Hopefully he'll get his day in court so there can be an answer one way or another. His next status conference is set for November 2025, which is an opportunity for both sides to update the judge on the case's progress and bring up any potential issues. As always, we'll be sure to bring you all of the updates. What did you think of today's case? Drop your theories in the comments and follow us at crimehouse24.7 on TikTok and Instagram @ and subscribe on YouTube @Crime House Daily. For ad free listening, join Prime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You stay curious and I'll stay on the case. See you next time.