SALIDA, COLORADO: Suzanne Morphew was a 49-year-old woman from Chaffee County, Colorado who went missing on Mother's Day, May 10, 2020. She was last seen by her husband, Barry Morphew, who claimed she had gone for a bike ride and never returned. Barry was accused of killing his wife in 2020 before charges against him were dropped in 2022.
It has been revealed that a spy pen recorder planted in Barry's truck has uncovered a disturbing similarity between her unsolved disappearance and a true crime podcast that he had been listening to. According to court documents, two months before Suzanne Morphew's disappearance, a recording pen was found in her husband's truck, which she apparently planted during his trip to Pueblo, Colorado, on March 22, 2020.
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The recording device captured Barry Morphew listening to several episodes of the Forensic Files podcast. The 55-year-old was specifically listening to episodes about the murders of Mary Lee Wilson in 1977, Donna Payant in 1981, and Vicki Lynne Hoskinson, who disappeared after riding her bike in Tucson, Arizona in 1984. Additionally, Barry was found to have listened to the Forensic Files episode about the disappearance of Walter Notheis Jr, who was the lead singer of the band 'Bob Kuban and the In-Men' in the 1960s. Notheis Jr went missing in 1983 while he was having an affair with a dancer named Suzanne, while he was still married to his second wife JoAnn. He was later found shot to death by JoAnn's lover, James Williams.
Where is Barry Morphew now?
Barry Morphew was arrested for first-degree murder in 2020. However, in a surprising turn of events, the prosecution filed to dismiss the case "without prejudice" weeks before his expected trial in 2022. This means that while the case is dismissed for now, it can be refiled in the future. The prosecution cited the inability to search for Suzanne as the reason for the dismissal, leaving the possibility of reopening the case if and when her body is found. Currently, Morphew is free and the case is not progressing.
Why is Barry Morphew back in the limelight?
On Tuesday, May 9, Barry filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking $15 million in damages, claiming that he was wrongly arrested, imprisoned, and prosecuted for the alleged murder of his wife Suzanne nearly two years ago. The lawsuit names 20 defendants, including the entire prosecution team headed by 17th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley, law enforcement officials such as Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze, Chaffee County, and numerous investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, some of whom are no longer employed by these organizations.
The 185-page complaint was filed by three law firms, Samler and Whitson, Eytan Law and Fisher and Byrialsen, as reported by The Sun. In a prepared statement, Attorney Jane Byrialsen said, "Barry Morphew's Constitutional Rights were trampled on, he and his daughters have suffered great harm, and we will not tolerate such abuses of power." According to the complaint, the investigators intentionally concealed and manipulated evidence to fit their theory that Barry Morphew killed his wife in a fit of anger over her affair and disposed of her body between May 9 and May 10. The lawsuit specifically targets several officers both in their personal and official capacities, as well as state law enforcement agencies. In addition to seeking a seven-figure settlement, Barry's lawyers are also requesting Stanley and other named prosecutors face punishment up to and including disbarment.
'It's all part of a fake show'
However, Suzanne's friends claimed that Barry's lawsuit is "all for show." "I think this lawsuit is crazy," said Tisha Leewaye, an owner of a local tanning shop who became friendly with the Morphews in 2019. "It's a show. It's all part of a fake show and it didn't surprise me one bit. Just because the charges were dropped, it doesn't mean that he's still not under investigation. It's still an open case. He's still a suspect. So for his attorney to say that he was falsely accused or whatever, it's all for show. They filed it right before the year anniversary of his wife going missing and - this is just my opinion - but Barry and his attorney decided to put themselves in the spotlight because they didn't want to make it about Suzanne."
When asked whether she believed the timing of the lawsuit to be coincidental, Leewaye responded, "No, I think it was done on purpose. How many months has [the case] been dropped and they choose to do it a week before the anniversary to put this spotlight on Barry? It's all about Barry, it's actually all about Suzanne. It shouldn't be about Barry. Suzanne is the victim here, not Barry. Barry is not a victim. But I'm hearing that stuff that was barred from being said in court might come out now because of this lawsuit," she added. "This lawsuit could backfire and make Barry look more guilty than he is."
