SALIDA — A judge ruled Friday there is enough evidence for the case to proceed against a southern Colorado man who was charged with first-degree murder nearly a year after his wife disappeared on Mother’s Day 2020.
Judge Patrick Murphy ruled Barry Morphew, 53, should stand trial for the presumed death of Suzanne Morphew, a 49-year-old mother of two daughters who was reported missing after she did not return from a bike ride near her home in the Salida area.
Barry Morphew, who is accused of killing his wife sometime between May 9 and May 10, 2020, posted a video on social media pleading for her safe return soon after she vanished. He was arrested May 5, 2021, amid what authorities described as an extensive and ongoing investigation that involved dozens of searches in Colorado and interviews of more than 400 people in multiple states.
Suzanne Morphew’s body has not been found.
During a preliminary hearing in August, investigators said Suzanne Morphew had an affair with a man for two years. Prosecutors also presented text messages between her and a friend from 2019 and 2020 in which she complained that her husband was picking fights and putting their children in the middle.
The arrest affidavit in the case has been sealed, and Morphew has not yet been asked to enter a plea.