Found Deceased CO - BARRY ARRESTED AGAIN - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* *found in 2023* #116

[Diddian]

In the context of forensic anthropological investigations, "bleached" bones specifically refers to sun exposure and subsequent bleaching (lightening) of the bones. Bleaching on bones tells you that for some period of time, the bones were on the surface (as opposed to buried), were likely outdoors (or under a window that got sun exposure) and subject to UV radiation.

What do you make of bleaching of the bones combined with no evidence of insect activity?

 

[Momofthreeboys]

Bleach has been asked and answered in the first case. I don’t think bleach played a role then and I don’t think it played a role now. I think sun bleached…somewhere arid where no bugs or animals got to her.

 

[10ofRods]

In your opinion how long would she have been at the first location before being moved in order for there to be no signs she was decomposing at that second location? Is it safe to say how she was found is likely the same condition she was in when Barry moved her? Or maybe the better question is how long are bugs usually present before they aren't? I am trying to figure out if he moved her before he was arrested or after the charges were dropped after his first arrest. I am sure many things impact decomposition, but if you can give a general idea on this, I'd appreciate it. Would she be only bones after 1 year or would it take a bit longer like 2 years?

This is all so baffling!)

Too many variables to predict. If she was stowed in the snow, as some have thought, then it would take much longer. If she was placed somewhere that got warmer, then faster.

It seems probable that she was actually placed in the grave (described as 3 feet deep) and various events scattered her bones over (IIRC) 75 feet. Some were likely very small bones. Bugs and bacteria are present for as long as they can glean protein and nutrients from the body.

There would be very few insects out in that area, IMO. So I am assuming the majority of decomp (down to the final phase - which is skeletonization) took place elsewhere. Interesting theory about him waiting until he was out after his first arrest.

The area is generally dry, which speeds decomp. Summer and fall temps are fairly high, which speeds it up. If it were an non-air conditioned storage unit, I would think that would get very hot. She had to be sealed in something, though, or someone would have smelled something? Bacteria are already present in the body, to do their decomp work (which is the majority of the work) but insects can get through plastic bags.

In a hot humid climate, skeletonization can occur in less than 4 months (even in 2 months). In a dry, cold climate, it will be a year or more. I figure the general CO is dry and while cold in the winter, warm in the summer - so I'd think 6-12 months??

I'll ask some colleagues what they think. Size of the body matters somewhat, as well. Suzanne was small, so maybe more like 6-8 months.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Are those coolers really big enough to put a body in? I thought maybe something like a barrel or one of those containers for grit salt in the winter.

 

[10ofRods]

Yes.
The indictment just says the bones were bleached, not necessarily by the sun, but like you, that was the first thing I thought of.
Chemically bleaching makes sense.

It does make sense, given how much we've heard about bleach (Barry was picking up pool chemicals for the hot tub, supposedly, then the hotel bleach smell).

This whole discussion has made me ponder the possibility of sun bleaching. The bones were scattered across the dry, hot, fairly high altitude surface of that flat bottom (kind of a plain). The three foot deep grave would have been partly washed by seasonal rains (and there were a couple of years with lots of rain out that way). Then, wind would have blown across the sandy soil, and the bones would be exposed (but maybe not all of them?) Perhaps the forensics team can use those variables to figure out about how long she'd been at that grave site. The fact that the chemo port was still there makes me think she might not have been fully skeletonized at the time of her deposit there. OR, that Barry had her inside a game bag or even two zipper bags (which had to be disposed of somewhere) and simply dumped the contents into the grave without much thought to how they lay or that the port was still there. Then he tossed in some clothing.

IMO

 

[Cindizzi]

Thats a great thought. Frantically trying to defend herself, but becoming more impaired by the second from the BAM. Wasn’t the bedroom door frame damaged? Can’t remember if that was disproven or not?

Page 130 of the first arrest affidavit from 2021 states that the previous homeowner was interviewed about the damage. The picture is bad quality here but I remember a better color photograph was released at some point. Probably after the preliminary hearings.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases%20of%20interest/21CR78/21cr78%20Morphew%20Redacted%20Affidavit.pdf

 

[justtrish]

The broken door frame on the master bedroom has always haunted me. IMO, BM is full of rage.

Court Releases Photos of Tranquilizer Darts, Spy Pen, and Texts in Barry Morphew Murder Case

The long-discussed but heretofore-never-shared materials are key to the case against the husband accused of murdering his wife Suzanne Morphew.

lawandcrime.com

Me as well. I've always thought it was connected to that day. If he shot her with a dart from a distance and she ran into the house to the bedroom, then I think she shut the door and locked it. He was trying to get in. I do wonder if the bullet on the floor was from her trying to get a gun to protect herself from him. Maybe a bullet fell out then.

I also think she was put on the spare bed and later Barry washed those sheets because she had been on them after he tranquzlized her. Maybe while he was trying to decide what to do. I don't think she was dead then.

I also am bothered that 3 K9's alerted to decomposition on the flatbed trailer in his driveway and the bobcat bucket.

I don't know exactly what he did, but none of these things I've listed seem normal in light of her going missing from that house that day.

 

[BlackholeSeason]

What do you make of bleaching of the bones combined with no evidence of insect activity?

It's unclear to me what is meant by the lack of "insect activity" since I haven't seen the forensic anthropological report, but I would interpret that it means that there weren't any pupa casings from fly larvae present in the clothes or associated materials, which you might find even after a body has decomposed and skeletonized. The presence of pupa casings points to the fact that the body was deposited on the surface and was there long enough for flies to deposit eggs, for the eggs to hatch, and for the casings to remain behind. The presence of a buried body with 1) sun bleaching and 2) no pupa casings implies a secondary deposition, meaning the body decomposed in one location for a period of time, and then was removed and buried in a secondary location. This is just speculation on my part, since I don't know any particulars of the recovery.

 

[Chimera]

If Barry was worried about the BAM showing in her skin or hair, I wonder if he shaved her head after killing her ?
Seems so disrespectful to add that on top of the other horror of murder.
And hadn't she previously lost some hair from the cancer treatment, so that she owned a wig ?
Imo.

 

[K9Enzo]

Yes.
The indictment just says the bones were bleached, not necessarily by the sun, but like you, that was the first thing I thought of.
Chemically bleaching makes sense.

The part I read said “There was only a very small amount of desiccated soft tissue found on a few of the bones, and there was no hair mass located.” I don’t recall the indictment mentioning bleaching? imo

https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/Grand%20Jury%20Indictment.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

 

[Boxer]

Me as well. I've always thought it was connected to that day. If he shot her with a dart from a distance and she ran into the house to the bedroom, then I think she shut the door and locked it. He was trying to get in. I do wonder if the bullet on the floor was from her trying to get a gun to protect herself from him. Maybe a bullet fell out then.

I also think she was put on the spare bed and later Barry washed those sheets because she had been on them after he tranquzlized her. Maybe while he was trying to decide what to do. I don't think she was dead then.

I also am bothered that 3 K9's alerted to decomposition on the flatbed trailer in his driveway and the bobcat bucket.

I don't know exactly what he did, but none of these things I've listed seem normal in light of her going missing from that house that day.

The cell report path of running around after "chipmunks" ends at the Master Bedroom.

 

[10ofRods]

Are those coolers really big enough to put a body in? I thought maybe something like a barrel or one of those containers for grit salt in the winter.

Absolutely. The most common size is 62-65 inches (Suzanne was 63/5'3 inches; and with bent knees, it would be easy to contain her - it was more than deep enough). However, deer hunters with big pick-ups often get ones that are 70-72 inches. Also, no need to lay her in there flat, she was thin.

Early on, it was reported that there were missing coolers (plural) from the garage, but I do not have the news article in front of me, so IMO that was the case.

Anyway, he could get someone Suzanne's size in an even smaller one than 60 inches. The thing is, I am believing more and more that he had to think about time of day, which cooler, etc (and so far, we don't know when he purchased it).

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Absolutely. The most common size is 62-65 inches (Suzanne was 63/5'3 inches; and with bent knees, it would be easy to contain her - it was more than deep enough). However, deer hunters with big pick-ups often get ones that are 70-72 inches. Also, no need to lay her in there flat, she was thin.

Early on, it was reported that there were missing coolers (plural) from the garage, but I do not have the news article in front of me, so IMO that was the case.

Anyway, he could get someone Suzanne's size in an even smaller one than 60 inches. The thing is, I am believing more and more that he had to think about time of day, which cooler, etc (and so far, we don't know when he purchased it).

Thanks, they honestly didn't look that big to me in pictures.

 

[Hilt]

Me as well. I've always thought it was connected to that day. If he shot her with a dart from a distance and she ran into the house to the bedroom, then I think she shut the door and locked it. He was trying to get in. I do wonder if the bullet on the floor was from her trying to get a gun to protect herself from him. Maybe a bullet fell out then.

I also think she was put on the spare bed and later Barry washed those sheets because she had been on them after he tranquzlized her. Maybe while he was trying to decide what to do. I don't think she was dead then.

I also am bothered that 3 K9's alerted to decomposition on the flatbed trailer in his driveway and the bobcat bucket.

I don't know exactly what he did, but none of these things I've listed seem normal in light of her going missing from that house that day.

The cracked door frame….. (apologies if this ground has already been trod upon)

Below is exhibit 80 from the Preliminary Hearing, a picture of the master bedroom door jamb in Morphew home. Further below are images that popped up for a Google search of “door jamb crack from forced opening”. The longitudinal cracking at the striker plate is highly indicative of forcing a locked door open.

 

[Soulmagent]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed due to no link>

I remember right Chlorine is a heavy gas, ...
Anyway if there is ever a serious Chlorine leak , I have been advised to climb on a roof and wait it out.
I know a few class 3 Wastewater operators.
Chlorine
This line from the link above.
''Chlorine is turned into a liquid for storage and transport. When liquid chlorine is released, it quickly turns into a gas that stays close to the ground and spreads quickly''

 

[Whiteorchids]

@debrat007:

Page 6 of the 05/04/21 Warrant for Arrest of Defendent Upon Affidavit states that police found an unfired bullet next to the bed in the master bedroom.

View attachment 596971

And this 05/02/24 article about the coroner's report on Suzanne's remains states the following (as mentioned by @10ofRods in her recent post):

View attachment 596972

However, the 06/18/25 Grand Jury Indictment mentions no bullet at the Morphew residence or among Suzanne's remains.

Perhaps Suzannes bones showed no signs of a shooting. And who really wants to hear Barry chatter on about shooting poor, defenseless chipmunks.

The prosecution doesn't need a bullet to explain Suzanne's death, after all. Indeed, page 6 of the indictment states the following:

View attachment 596973

With the help of BAM, Barry could have killed his wife in the same way Chad Daybell killed his wife - by suffocating her.

IMO

This reminds me of that movie “What Lies Beneath” Husband Harrison Ford is a Dr who shoots his wife played by Michelle Pfifer with a tranquilizer that paralyzes her whole body, shes awake in a bath tub that’s slowly filling up with water about to drown because she can’t move her body to get out of the tub. Creepy movie that Dart gun with BAM makes me wonder if this happened to Suzanne.

 

[MrsWatson]

I'm very much looking forward to so many of our questions being answered when this finally goes to trial.

I don't think there is any chance of Barry taking a plea; he is going to claim total innocence and ride this all the way down, denying everything.

I think he believes that he, "a godly man", was entirely justified in killing Suzanne, punishing her for daring to live through a second bout of cancer and suspecting she was involved with someone else. That spoiled all his plans.

I'm very curious about the daughters' reactions, and the rumors that they were going to be at the press conference.

all moo

 

[Seattle1]

The part I read said “There was only a very small amount of desiccated soft tissue found on a few of the bones, and there was no hair mass located.” I don’t recall the indictment mentioning bleaching? imo

https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/Grand%20Jury%20Indictment.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Also, I've read about the recovery of "bleached bones" in numerous unrelated cases such as lost hikers. IMO, this is typical when describing aged remains exposed to sunlight, soil, minerals, etc. I'm sure we will learn at trial if bone bleaching here was of suspicious means.

From pg 5/10 of the Indictment:

 

[MassGuy]

If Barry was worried about the BAM showing in her skin or hair, I wonder if he shaved her head after killing her ?
Seems so disrespectful to add that on top of the other horror of murder.
And hadn't she previously lost some hair from the cancer treatment, so that she owned a wig ?
Imo.

I really don’t think he considered them finding that through toxicology. He would have assumed that once she decomposed, there was no way they’d be able to tell.

I sure as hell wasn’t expecting them to detect BAM. That was as big a shock to me as her body being found in the first place.

 

[Knox]

Page 130 of the first arrest affidavit from 2021 states that the previous homeowner was interviewed about the damage. The picture is bad quality here but I remember a better color photograph was released at some point. Probably after the preliminary hearings.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Chaffee/cases%20of%20interest/21CR78/21cr78%20Morphew%20Redacted%20Affidavit.pdf

View attachment 596986

Thank you for finding this, it makes that bullet found beside the bed even more suspect.

Barry never envisioned how big or detailed this investigation would become. I really think he thought the bike being found in that ravine would be the end of it. He could spin his story and play the poor widowed victim. I’ll never forget that video, I knew the minute I watched he was guilty!!