Found Deceased CO - BARRY ARRESTED AGAIN - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* *found in 2023* #117

[Knox]

It appears the BAM was the murder weapon, not used just for transport. There are many other ways he could knock her out.

Not disagreeing with you. But the ruling was homicide undetermined means under BAM intoxication - or something to that effect. So not exactly true as you worded it.

A vet toxicologist I saw on the news said, BAM has opiates in it which could depress/stop the breathing if enough was administered. But there’s just no way to tell if that happened with Suzanne.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Hopefully the telematics will help them locate where he hid her body. I am confused how her bones could be sun bleached but lack animal or insect damage. It only takes a few weeks for bones to start being bleached out by the sun but you'd think they would have found animal activity.

The GJ indictment basically says she decomposed somewhere else, due to the lack of evidence of insect activity (at that site) and lack of decomp evidence on the clothes. Wherever she was while decomposing, there would have been insect activity there (and that's also most likely where some of the bones were sun bleached) but there definitely wasn't any present at the location she was found.

Likewise a lack of decomp evidence on the clothes means, they were just dumped there with her.

 

[Skigh]

Or speculatively of course because I enjoy looking at both sides of a case always, that it was someone who knew Barry had BAM and stole it and killed his wife to hurt him. The idea that they researched it and who had it legally doesn't preclude that someone had it "illegally" direct from Barry's house.

How did this mysterious thief then leave the cap in the tumble dryer along with Barry's shorts?
Some one stole it is dead in the water before it even starts!!

 

[Ontario Mom]

And who else but BM would have her biking clothes and the motive to put them on her so that she is found with them? That her clothing was placed on her when she was moved is alone so very incriminating.

I'm trying to refresh myself on all the details by reading everything again and I'm not seeing anywhere that her bones were dressed in her clothes. Just that the clothes found with her had no signs of decomp so she wasn't wearing them when that happened.

 

[Magic8Ball]

I wonder where the foot bones are, and why they were not moved with the rest of her remains.

If where her remains were found is not the original body disposal site, there may very well have been animal predation that occurred at that first location.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Stomach-churning again but... did he have to cut off her feet to fit her in the coolers? (So sorry Suzanne :-( )

My guess would be, wherever she was while decomposing and having some of her bones sun bleached, is where animal predation happened with her foot bones. Barry just collected all he could find when he moved her to the location she was found.

 

[Tragg]

Does CO bond out first degree homicide charges?

ETA: No, they don't, so not an issue for Barry.

Amendment I: No bail for first degree murder in Colorado, explained

This amendment would allow judges to order defendants in first-degree murder cases to be held without bail until their trial.

www.cpr.org

In 2020 Colorado abolished capital punishment but did not consider the consequences of that change for the constitution's right to bail section, which had an exception for "a capital offense when the proof is evident or presumption great" that the defendant committed the crime.

The only capital offense under Colorado law had been First Degree Murder, and after the abolition of the death penalty about 500 people charged with that offense became eligible for bail. (IIRC, only a few rich ones actually made bail).

In 2024 the Colorado Constitution was amended to add the following subparagraph to the bail exception language of Article II section 19:

"(1)(d) For the offense of murder in the first degree, as defined by law, committed on or after the effective date of this subsection (1)(d), when proof is evident or presumption is great."

The 2024 amendment also added the bolded language to existing subsection 2 of Section 19:

"(2) Except in the case of a capital offense or murder in the first degree, if a person is denied bail under this section, the trial of the person shall be commenced not more than ninety days after the date on which bail is denied. If the trial is not commenced within ninety days and the delay is not attributable to the defense, the court shall immediately schedule a bail hearing and shall set the amount of the bail for the person."

If they apply to Morphew's 2020 offense, these changes would mean that Morphew is not automatically eligible for bail while the murder charge is pending. However, if - as in the previous proceeding - he requests bail and Kelly opposes the request on the basis of the above exception, then the judge must conduct a hearing and make a finding that "proof is evident or presumption great" that he committed the offense before denying bail under the new constitutional language above.

If Morphew's request for bail is contested we will get both a preview of the prosecution's evidence and Morphew's financial capacity to make bail, either using his own resources or his family's. We may get a clue as to whether the daughters are still with him, if he asks them to post as surety the property he has transferred to them since the 11th JD charges were dismissed.

IIUC, Suzanne was killed before the effective date of the death penalty abolition, so his offense is technically a "capital offense" and the old bail exception rule would apply IMHO - as would the death penalty.

This could be interesting from "the get go".

(edited to add death penalty comment)

 

[Curiousobserver]

The GJ indictment basically says she decomposed somewhere else, due to the lack of evidence of insect activity (at that site) and lack of decomp evidence on the clothes. Wherever she was while decomposing, there would have been insect activity there (and that's also most likely where some of the bones were sun bleached) but there definitely wasn't any present at the location she was found.

Likewise a lack of decomp evidence on the clothes means, they were just dumped there with her.

I am trying to understand how or why Barry would go to where he had hidden his wife's body and where she HAD decomposed and removed those remains to hide them again. He got away with hiding those remains the first time, why risk that someone was watching him and hide them a second time?

 

[Megnut]

Dispersed bones, in direct Colorado sunlight -- no surprise if they're sunbleached. But I f even one bleached bone was still barried, the sun didn't do it; Barry did.

I believe those bones were bleached chemically. There's a sad theme here. Employing harsh chemicals to accelerate death then decomp. Not years, not months.

Whatever it was, it didn't destroy the very marrow of once vibrant, one very much alive Suzanne.

I can't wait for Barry to revisit the scenes of his life from May 9, 2020, as they flash before his eyes in the form and manner of photographs and testimony. It'll be like old home week for him, only he won't be running the show anymore. BarryM v. The Truth.

The truth will prevail.

JMO

 

[Skigh]

I am trying to understand how or why Barry would go to where he had hidden his wife's body and where she HAD decomposed and removed those remains to hide them again. He got away with hiding those remains the first time, why risk that someone was watching him and hide them a second time?

The fear of them being found ,perhaps in a cooler belonging to him,might have been greater than the fear of retrieving them and burying them elsewhere.
Though, as previously said ,he could have scattered her remains in places they would not be found ,so placing them where he did could indicate he wanted her remains found .

 

[VacationMode]

In 2020 Colorado abolished capital punishment but did not consider the consequences of that change for the constitution's right to bail section, which had an exception for "a capital offense when the proof is evident or presumption great" that the defendant committed the crime.

The only capital offense under Colorado law had been First Degree Murder, and after the abolition of the death penalty about 500 people charged with that offense became eligible for bail. (IIRC, only a few rich ones actually made bail).

In 2024 the Colorado Constitution was amended to add the following subparagraph to the bail exception language of Article II section 19:

"(1)(d) For the offense of murder in the first degree, as defined by law, committed on or after the effective date of this subsection (1)(d), when proof is evident or presumption is great."

The 2024 amendment also added the bolded language to existing subsection 2 of Section 19:

"(2) Except in the case of a capital offense or murder in the first degree, if a person is denied bail under this section, the trial of the person shall be commenced not more than ninety days after the date on which bail is denied. If the trial is not commenced within ninety days and the delay is not attributable to the defense, the court shall immediately schedule a bail hearing and shall set the amount of the bail for the person."

These changes mean that Morphew is not automatically eligible for bail while the murder charge is pending. However, if - as in the previous proceeding - he requests bail and Kelly opposes the request on the basis of the above exception, then the judge must conduct a hearing and make a finding that "proof is evident or presumption great" that he committed the offense before denying bail under the new constitutional language above.

If Morphew's request for bail is contested we will get both a preview of the prosecution's evidence and Morphew's financial capacity to make bail, either using his own resources or his family's. We may get a clue as to whether the daughters are still with him, if he asks them to post as surety the property he has transferred to them since the 11th JD charges were dismissed.

This could be interesting from "the get go".

@Tragg This doesn't mention a GJ though, do they still do the PEPG with their indictment?

 

[MrsWatson]

Thank you, @Tragg, for that breakdown of the stature.

That could indeed be a very interesting hearing!

 

[Tragg]

@Tragg This doesn't mention a GJ though, do they still do the PEPG with their indictment?

Good question! The GJ's indictment is based on a finding of probable cause: the standard of "proof evident or presumption great" is higher and the judge must make the finding.

 

[Megnut]

I am trying to understand how or why Barry would go to where he had hidden his wife's body and where she HAD decomposed and removed those remains to hide them again. He got away with hiding those remains the first time, why risk that someone was watching him and hide them a second time?

Theory

He intended to barry her in the first location but was interrupted. Had to pivot and pick a new place to barry her, all that first night. He's off grid for 4+ hours... maybe he slept, maybe whatever he did was elaborate and time consuming but he stuck clo,se to home, I now think. If not in the direct vicinity of PP, then the construction site (housing development).

Why move her again? Lack of confidence in the location. Overthinking it, needing her found to further his $15M lawsuit scheme, to stage with biking attire (which he no longer had so improvised), thought leaving her in a known boneyard was better than wherever he had barried her, who can know really.

But I think LE's searches were on target. I think they found some/several of the places where she used to have been.

IMO Barry originally tried to stage an alibi. When that crumbled fast, he began staging his innocence.

He is not a good stager.

He's sloppy.

But we already knew that; we've seen his truck.

JMO

 

[Seattle1]

Not exactly. A couple of sources (upthread) mention how the context of the arrest will be an issue at trial.

IMO.

This makes no sense to me as out-of-state warrants are very common: BM was indicted, a warrant for his arrest was issued, and the DA followed procedure where AZ DPS arrested BM on the outstanding felony warrant near the town Civic Center. Hours later, BM's extradition hearing was held and recorded -- his civil rights were not violated!

What Happens if You Have a Warrant in Another State? - Gurion Legal

If you have a warrant in another state, you could be arrested if law enforcement finds out, especially during a routine stop. It’s important to take care of

gurionlegal.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1936251803303322053

 

[Diddian]

Hopefully the telematics will help them locate where he hid her body. I am confused how her bones could be sun bleached but lack animal or insect damage. It only takes a few weeks for bones to start being bleached out by the sun but you'd think they would have found animal activity.

I agree. The only way I could see SM's bones being bleached out by the sun without there also being evidence of insect and animal activity is if SM's body was first disposed of some other way and then after all soft tissue was gone, the remains were moved to where they were not buried but instead exposed to sunlight before they were later moved to where they were shallowly buried (or it could be that the remains were moved to Moffat and left exposed and then were later revisited to bury them or at least move soil over them.

 

[Tragg]

I am trying to understand how or why Barry would go to where he had hidden his wife's body and where she HAD decomposed and removed those remains to hide them again. He got away with hiding those remains the first time, why risk that someone was watching him and hide them a second time?

My speculation is that he placed Suzanne in a cooler and put her in a mine pit - not a deep one but located high on a nearby mountain peak. When word reached him that LE was searching mines he needed to get her out of the incriminating cooler and into another location that would align more with his abduction narrative.

He seems to have taken the opportunity to add articles of clothing. Interesting that they didn't include her lycra cycling outfit. Maybe that went into a dumpster on Mother's Day 2020. All MOO.

 

[MassGuy]

Or speculatively of course because I enjoy looking at both sides of a case always, that it was someone who knew Barry had BAM and stole it and killed his wife to hurt him. The idea that they researched it and who had it legally doesn't preclude that someone had it "illegally" direct from Barry's house.

If you have a grudge, you go after the person you have a grudge against; you don't do someone like Barry a favor.

If you steal the BAM and then use it, then the body should be there.

She showed no sign of life after Barry arrived home that afternoon, and her phone went dark within minutes of his going dark- hers forever.

You cannot separate Barry from this on that alone, and that's ignoring everything else that would take me hundreds and hundreds of words to write.

 

[Diddian]

Theory

He intended to barry her in the first location but was interrupted. Had to pivot and pick a new place to barry her, all that first night. He's off grid for 4+ hours... maybe he slept, maybe whatever he did was elaborate and time consuming but he stuck clo,se to home, I now think. If not in the direct vicinity of PP, then the construction site (housing development).

Why move her again? Lack of confidence in the location. Overthinking it, needing her found to further his $15M lawsuit scheme, to stage with biking attire (which he no longer had so improvised), thought leaving her in a known boneyard was better than wherever he had barried her, who can know really.

But I think LE's searches were on target. I think they found some/several of the places where she used to have been.

IMO Barry originally tried to stage an alibi. When that crumbled fast, he began staging his innocence.

He is not a good stager.

He's sloppy.

But we already knew that; we've seen his truck.

JMO

I would love it if LE managed to find some/several of the places where SM's remains once had been.

They could illustrate it like those old Family Circle cartoons where a dotted line shows all the places the young child distractedly visited after being called home for dinner.

Barry Lee: adult toddler.

 

[303gmf]

He BAM'd her so he could transport her prior to her death to prevent LE from tracking or detecting decomp. She wasn't killed in the home.

I’ve wondered if he stored her in the hot tub with chemicals used up on hand first while he figured out his next step.
Rewatched the early Tyson Draper video of him wet and exerting himself in the creek, many questions !