Suzanne Morphew's body was moved after she was murdered, per indictment

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Sneak peek: The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems

Sneak peek: The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems 03:33

Barry Morphew, a longtime fishy successful his wife's disappearance and murder, was arrested successful Arizona connected June 20, 2025, 2 days aft helium was indicted connected a first-degree execution complaint successful the lawsuit of his woman Suzanne Morphew's death. This was the 2nd clip Barry Morphew has been arrested and charged successful her death. The archetypal charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning authorities reserved the close to complaint him again.

barry-morphew3.jpg Barry Morphew successful a confederate Colorado courtroom connected July 1, 2025. CBS

The latest expansive assemblage indictment reveals caller details that are astonishing adjacent to those who've been pursuing the lawsuit since Suzanne Morphew disappeared connected Mother's Day, 2020. Barry Morphew has agelong stated helium had thing to bash with his wife's murder, and the couple's 2 big daughters person stood by their father.

After the archetypal charges against Barry Morphew were dismissed, authorities continued to hunt for her assemblage and connected September 22, 2023, Suzanne Morphew's remains were found successful and astir a "shallow, clandestine sedate … little than an hr southbound of the Morphew residence," according to the indictment.

Suzanne Morphew shallow sedate  In 2023, much than 3 years aft she was reported missing, investigators discovered Suzanne Morphew's skeletal remains successful a shallow sedate during an unrelated search. The determination — a distant country known arsenic "the boneyard" adjacent the municipality of Moffat, Colorado — was little than an hr southbound of the Morphew home. KKTV

"The bulk of her bones were recovered," the indictment states, and a board-certified anthropologist, a botanist, and an entomologist were brought successful to analyse the remains and concluded that "it was improbable Suzanne decomposed from a caller assemblage to a skeleton astatine this location." 

Dan "Dan R" Ridenour, who lives successful the Salida country of Colorado wherever the Morphews lived erstwhile Suzanne Morphew went missing, is the quality manager and operations manager of the Heart of the Rockies Radio. He told "48 Hours" that it was hard to marque consciousness of the indictment's allegations against Barry Morphew. "Why would helium bash that?" Ridenour asked. "Why would helium determination the body?"

For 1 thing, Ridenour noted that Barry Morphew has been nether dense scrutiny since Suzanne Morphew was reported missing. "There is not a much recognizable look successful Salida than Barry Morphew," Ridenour said. "He's going to instrumentality that accidental and thrust 70 miles to the southbound and excavation a shallow grave? There are excessively galore questions."

But the indictment is unequivocal: Suzanne Morphew's bones were moved to that determination aft her assemblage had decomposed elsewhere, meaning it had to person been moved astatine slightest doubly aft her murder. "She was not initially killed successful the San Luis Valley," Ridenour said. "She was moved there. That was not her archetypal grave."

In addition, tests revealed that successful Suzanne Morphew's bony marrow, the main toxicologist recovered a substance of 3 chemicals known arsenic BAM. The compound is utilized to tranquilize wildlife and, the indictment noted, that Barry Morphew has admitted utilizing those drugs to tranquilize deer. He had adjacent admitted to authorities that, 1 period earlier Suzanne Morphew disappeared, helium had utilized those chemicals to tranquilize a cervid adjacent the breezeway of the Morphew residence.

The chemic compound takes respective minutes to origin "sedation" the indictment states and tests recovered "that [Suzanne's] decease was not contiguous pursuing BAM vulnerability due to the fact that Suzanne Morphew's assemblage had begun to metabolize the cause earlier she died."

morphews.jpg File photograph of Barry and Suzanne Morphew CBS

Authorities person agelong suspected that Barry Morphew chased Suzanne Morphew astir their location aft someway injecting her with the BAM compound. According to texts, Suzanne Morphew had told Barry Morphew she wanted to divorcement "civilly" and it was aboriginal revealed she was having a two-year matter with a erstwhile schoolmate.

The indictment links Barry Morphew to purchases of the BAM compound which is simply a highly controlled drug. It concludes: "The medicine records amusement that erstwhile Suzanne Morphew disappeared, lone 1 backstage national surviving successful that full country of the authorities had entree to BAM: Barry Morphew."

"48 Hours" analogous Peter Van Sant updates the lawsuit successful "The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing is What It Seems," airing Saturday, July 5 astatine 9/8c connected CBS and streaming connected Paramount+.

"This lawsuit is incredibly unique," says Aya Gruber, present a instrumentality prof astatine the University of Southern California School of Law. "When you started to excavation a small spot deeper, thing is what it seems."

Gruber studied thousands of pages of nationalist documents from the prosecutor, investigators and defence attorneys.

Suzanne Morphew was reported missing connected May 10, 2020. She'd been unsocial that time due to the fact that her daughters, Macy, 16, and Mallory, 20, were disconnected connected a church-sponsored camping travel and planned to instrumentality location aboriginal that Mother's Day.

After Suzanne Morphew was officially reported missing by a neighbor, investigators began to analyse Barry Morphew's story. Friends and relatives told investigators that the matrimony was troubled, and agents recovered a deleted substance from Suzanne to Barry connected his telephone that read: "I'm done. I could attraction little what you're up to and person been for years. We conscionable request to fig this retired civilly."

Evidence successful  the Suzanne Morphew lawsuit  Evidence successful the Suzanne Morphew case 24 photos

But 10 days aft Suzanne Morphew disappeared, agents were pulled successful a antithetic absorption erstwhile they recovered a alleged spy pen belonging to Suzanne. The spy pen has a agelong artillery beingness and is designed to look and constitute similar an mean pen.

But it has 1 other feature: it is voice-activated and records conversations. Suzanne Morphew had acquired it, she told a friend, due to the fact that she suspected Barry Morphew was having an matter and she hoped to usage the pen to stitchery evidence. But the program backfired.

Investigators listened to what the pen had recorded and, though determination was nary grounds of Barry Morphew having an affair, they accidental they heard "intimate" conversations betwixt Suzanne Morphew and idiosyncratic named Jeff.

It was different twist successful a lawsuit filled with them.

Without knowing who Jeff was oregon his determination erstwhile Suzanne Morphew went missing, they could not destruct him arsenic a idiosyncratic oregon interest. It took FBI agents six months earlier they uncovered his identity: Jeff Libler, a antheral some Suzanne and Barry Morphew knew from their Alexandria, Indiana, precocious school. Libler and Suzanne Morphew had had a one-time fling aft graduation, and she'd reached retired to him successful 2018 aft the Morphews moved to Colorado with a Facebook connection that work simply: "Howdy stranger."

"And from that infinitesimal they had talked astir each azygous time nonstop," said Ashley Franco, a erstwhile newsman for KKTV, the CBS affiliate successful Colorado Springs, who has covered the communicative from the beginning.

That was capable to ignite a astir two-year emotion affair. Libler had a woman and six children. He lived successful Michigan and claimed to beryllium determination with his household connected the time Suzanne Morphew vanished.

Agents yet discovered the lovers had spoken to each different for dozens of hours, often communicating via concealed accounts connected WhatsApp and LinkedIn. Libler besides admitted that they met for romanticist rendezvous successful New Orleans, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Indiana.

After Suzanne Morphew disappeared successful May 2020, Libler did not interaction authorities. Instead, agents say, helium deleted the accounts wherever helium had communicated with Suzanne Morphew.

"What helium did was delete each his societal media accounts that helium had utilized to pass with Suzanne," said Gruber. "He's got a batch to suffer if revelations of this matter travel out."

Libler reportedly told agents helium did not privation to tarnish Suzanne Morphew's memory, but helium besides told them helium disquieted that he'd suffer his wife, children and job. He besides disquieted helium mightiness beryllium considered a suspect. "He asks the agents, 'Am I a target?'" said Gruber.

After agents confronted him, helium did cooperate, providing a illustration of his DNA and passwords to the deleted accounts. Investigators yet were capable to retrace the couple's steps and recovered texts by tapping into the iCloud accounts of Libler and Suzanne Morphew.

Libler was capable to supply receipts for a location goods store he'd visited successful Michigan connected the time Suzanne vanished and helium was yet cleared.

Investigators inactive had their suspicions astir Barry Morphew. They ne'er uncovered immoderate grounds that helium was having an affair, but investigators recovered his actions connected that Mother's Day play to beryllium suspicious.

Morphew spot   Cellphone records look to amusement Barry Morphew's telephone pinging each astir the location connected May 9. When asked astir this antithetic telephone activity, Barry Morphew told investigators helium was moving astir the spot shooting chipmunks, which helium says were a changeless nuisance. Chaffee County District Court

They asked Barry Morphew wherefore his telephone seemed to beryllium pinging each astir his location connected the time earlier Mother's Day and helium told them helium indispensable person been retired shooting chipmunks, which helium said were a changeless nuisance astatine the house.

It was possibly the world's archetypal chipmunk alibi, but Barry Morphew stood by it, saying he'd changeable 85 chipmunks successful the 2 years helium owned that Colorado house.

"And past that confession to shooting chipmunks becomes a large portion of incriminating grounds against him," said Gruber.

Van Sant asked why. "Because [agents are] saying, 'Well, you know, present he's admitting to having tally astir the house. And this is simply a ridiculous explanation, truthful it indispensable beryllium the mentation of a blameworthy person,'" Gruber replied.

What's more, determination was nary grounds of immoderate chipmunk shootings astir the location and neighbors did not callback proceeding immoderate benignant of disturbance during that play of time.

Cases sometimes crook connected the smallest of things and, successful this case, agents seized upon conscionable specified a tiny item.

Agents had recovered a tiny wide integrative headdress successful the family's dryer that they believed was from a syringe utilized to inject chemicals into a tranquilizer dart. Barry Morphew acknowledged helium knew however to inject chemicals into a dart and that he'd changeable galore cervid for trophies and truthful helium could get their antlers. His store was filled with cervid heads and a heap of antlers. However, determination was nary moving tranquilizer weapon recovered successful the location and authorities accidental Barry's DNA was not connected that integrative cap.

Even so, investigators developed a mentation that Barry Morphew had changeable Suzanne Morphew with a tranquilizer weapon and past chased her astir the location earlier she passed out. They recovered a doorway framework that was breached and suspected determination had been a confrontation.

Agents besides tapped into a caller investigative instrumentality called integer conveyance forensicsThey pulled information from his Ford truck's galore computers and got the motortruck to "talk" to them. They learned that erstwhile Barry Morphew said helium was sleeping, the truck's doors were opening and closing.

He was arrested and charged with first-degree execution and different crimes successful May 2021. Barry yet pleaded not guilty.

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