Barry Morphew, the man accused of killing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, appeared again in 12th Judicial District Court Tuesday where he was denied a lower bail, but the conditions of the $3 million cash-only bail were modified to a $3 million cash, surety, or property bond.
Appearing in street clothes and without handcuffs, Morphew sat with his attorneys who argued his bond should be lowered.
The defense had asked the court to lower the bond to $500,000. Instead Morphew would have to post bail equal to $300,000 to be released from custody. If he posts bail, Morphew will have to wear a GPS-monitor and must stay in Colorado.
“The evidence of Mr. Morphew’s innocence is substantial,” said David Beller, one of Morphew’s attorneys.
Beller argued that Morphew has complied with all orders of the court and has maintained constant contact with his counsel and prosecutors in the case since his initial arrest in 2021.
Beller also said that Morphew’s whereabouts were always known and though he had the legal right to leave the country and maintain anonymity if he chose, “Mr. Morphew did not do that. That is important because even when Mr. Morphew had absolutely zero ties to this jurisdiction, we have remained in contact with the prosecution that entire time.”
Beller said that if someone is unable to meet their bond then it is an indication to the court that the bond is set too high. 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly argued that bond was set at similar rates of other recent first-degree murder cases in the district.
Morphew’s two daughters asked the court to lower the bond, while Suzanne Morphew’s sister and brother made statements objecting to any modification of the bond.
“Ultimately in this case, your honor,” Beller said, “there is little to no justification, in my mind, as to the question if $500,000 was enough to ensure Mr. Morphew’s compliance and did in fact ensure his compliance without a single failure, why then is $3 million the appropriate amount to be set now?”
He said Morphew does not have the financial assets he had five years ago.
Beller also argued that the proper jurisdiction for Morphew to appear in court would be Saguache County, not Alamosa County.
Beller confirmed that soon after the charges were dropped from his first arrest, Morphew left Colorado and was living under his middle name, Lee.
The evidence has changed to the “slightest degree” with the discovery of Suzanne Morphew’s remains. “But importantly the substantive evidence and the problem the government has had in finding the proper person responsible for this offence…. The evidence itself has not changed, yet the theory of the government has and that has been ever evolving.”
Throughout the coming months, he told the court, the evidence of Morphew’s innocence will be evident.
Kelly said it “couldn’t be farther from the truth” that the evidence of the two cases are just slightly different. She said that compared to the case that was presented in 2021, this case has the evidence obtained from the discovery of Suzanne Morphew’s remains found in 2023 in Saguache County.
This is an entirely different case, she said. “This is an entirely different landscape.”
She noted that her office has been monitoring Morphew’s communications and said that Morphew has been able to conduct business and move money around while in jail.
The grand jury indictment was handed down in late June, charging Morphew with first-degree murder. Within the indictment, the probable cause for his arrest was the discovery of a chemical mixture of Butorphanol, Azaperone, and Medetomidine, known as BAM, in Suzanne Morphew’s bone marrow following an autopsy. Morphew was prescribed BAM in Indiana in 2018.
The autopsy conducted by the El Paso County Coroner’s office confirmed that Suzanne Morphew’s cause of death was determined to be “homicide by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication.”
Beller called the indictment a “cherry-picked piece of narrative” that has been created “exclusively” by Kelly and agents of her office. “By going through the grand jury there is no opportunity for the defense to be able to publicly rebut anything that has been said.”
The arguments made in the indictment are arguably and “laughably” wrong at some points, he said. The BAM found in Suzanne Morphew’s remains was in fact prescribed to Barry Morphew in Indiana in 2018 and Beller claims that Morphew hasn’t had access to BAM since then.
He said that during the original investigation in 2020-21, law enforcement did not find any BAM in the Morphew residence. Morphew is said to have used BAM while working on a deer farm in Indiana.
Chief District Judge Amanda Hopkins, who is presiding over the case, said there are a number of criteria she has to evaluate before determining a lower bond. She noted that there are several criteria in Morphew’s favor that would warrant lowering the bond, including the support of his family, namely his daughters and mother,and that Morphew does not have a criminal history.
She said she could not consider the original charges filed in the 11th Judicial District, because the charges were dropped. Hopkins said she does not believe Morphew will commit any offense if he is released and does not believe he would harass or intimidate anyone involved in the case.
However, the factors that went against his favor, Hopkins said, were Morphew’s ability to “pick up and go” and his ability to move around “under the radar.” But she did note that Morphew was consistent in his communication with counsel and that when he was arrested in Arizona law enforcement found him quickly and he did not deny his identity when arrested.
“Jail does not seem to be an impediment to his ability to earn a living,” she said, and that jail did not hinder him if he needed to get back to work to support a family.
The discovery of Suzanne Morphew’s remains puts Morphew “in a very different posture” then when his bail was set at $500,000 in 2021.
The fact that weighs most heavily on her decision, she said, was that Morphew does not have a single tie to the San Luis Valley, more specifically to the 12th Judicial District community that she is aware of, and has the ability to move around freely.
The modified bond would allow Morphew to be free from jail, but he would have to remain in Colorado and not leave for any reason.
A protection order was issued preventing any contact with victims of the case. Hopkins did not limit his contact with his daughters. The order prohibits Morphew from possessing firearms and ammunition and consuming alcohol and controlled substances.
Hopkins said with a modified bond order, Morphew would have $300,000 on the line and if he attempted to leave he would have a bail bondsman looking for him.
Defense is still going through discovery and asked for an additional status conference in 60 days. The prosecution said they are prepared to go to trial and expected the trial to last a month. Beller said that he was hesitant to go to trial while still going through terabytes of discovery.
Another status conference is set for Nov. 3.