An Alamosa County judge Tuesday denied a request made by Barry Morphew’s attorneys to lower his $3 million cash-only bond, but modified it so bail can be secured with real estate equity rather than cash or posted through a bondsman.
Morphew faces a first-degree murder charge and is accused of killing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who went missing on Mother’s Day 2020. A grand jury indicted him in June, three years after the initial case against him was dropped because of prosecutorial issues with evidence.
If Morphew posts bond, he must remain in Colorado and will be ordered to wear a GPS monitor, Chief Judge Amanda Hopkins said. He can leave his home only for medical emergencies, medical appointments, meetings with his attorneys or to attend court.
“The factor that weighs perhaps the strongest against modification or reduction (of bond) is that Mr. Morphew does not have a single tie to this community that I’m aware of,” Hopkins said. “His family does not live here and he … says he does not have a single friend or business associate in the area at all.”
On Tuesday, Morphew sat quietly next to his attorneys, David Beller and Jane Fisher-Byrialsen, at the defense table for the approximately 45-minute hearing. He is being held at the jail in the small city of Alamosa, not far from where investigators found Suzanne Morphew’s skeletal remains along a dirt road in September 2023.
“I very much believe and Ms. Byrialsen very much believes that we have an innocent client that we are representing,” Beller said, asking the judge to lower Morphew’s bond to $500,000 cash only and remain living in his Arizona home.
He asked the judge to take Morphew’s “track record” of appearing at all of his previous court appearances and abiding by court orders when he was released on a $500,000 bond in the last case.
“The fact that Mr. Morphew’s bond is at $3 million and has been since June and Mr. Morphew has not been able to bond out, is an indication that the bond is set too high,” Beller said.
Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly said this case is very different from the 2021 case, which was “arguably entirely circumstantial” because investigators had not found Suzanne’s body.
“This case is very different,” Kelly said, asking the judge to keep the bond at $3 million.
Morphew’s use of an alias, Lee Moore, frequent travel to other states and lack of employment raised concerns for prosecutors, Kelly said.
“I agree with defense counsel — the defendant sits here innocent until proven guilty and I fully support that concept of our criminal justice system, but the court has to consider whether or not the defendant is a flight risk and in these circumstances in these very unique circumstances, a bond of $3 million cash only, consistent with other defendants in this jurisdiction, is appropriate,” Kelly said.
Morphew’s two daughters, who supported their father’s reduction in bond, were also in court Tuesday. Suzanne Morphew’s sister and brother, who appeared virtually, strongly opposed lowering the bond.
An autopsy report released in 2024 said Suzanne Morphew died of “unspecified means” but ruled her death a homicide. Her remains did not show any signs of trauma, but in her bone marrow, investigators found a drug cocktail used to tranquilize wildlife for which her husband had a prescription for, according to the grand jury indictment.
Morphew has maintained his innocence since his wife disappeared. He previously filed a $15 million lawsuit against county officials, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
Prosecutors previously charged Morphew with murder in May 2021, but dropped the case in 2022 just as he was about to stand trial.
A judge barred prosecutors from calling key witnesses in the 2021 case after the attorneys repeatedly failed to follow rules for turning over evidence in Morphew’s favor.
The current case is being prosecuted by a different prosecutor in a separate judicial district where Suzanne Morphew’s remains were found, about 40 miles south of the Morphews’ home.
Morphew’s next court hearing is set for Nov. 3.