Who is Barry Morphew, man charged with Colorado mom's murder
He said he was out of town for work when his wife disappeared
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barry Morphew, the husband of a Colorado woman who vanished nearly a year ago when she left her home for a bike ride, was charged Wednesday with murder and other crimes.
The 53-year-old faces charges of first-degree murder after deliberation, tampering with physical evidence and attempt to influence a public servant in connection with the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew.
She was reported missing on Mother's Day, May 10, last year by a concerned neighbor. Authorities said she left for a bike ride in Chaffee County and never returned.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MISSING COLORADO MOM SUZANNE MORPHEW'S FRIENDS AND FAMILY HOLD VIGIL NEARLY YEAR AFTER SHE VANISHED
The bicycle was later discovered on a rural trail not far from the home.
"Suzanne, if anyone is out there that can hear this that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back," Barry Morphew said in a tearful plea a week after his wife went missing. "We love you. We miss you. Your girls need you."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said was in Denver at the time of his wife's disappearance for a landscaping job. He also worked as a volunteer firefighter in Chaffee County. A co-worker told the Daily Mail that a hotel room booked by Morphew for May 10 smelled of bleach and had wet towels everywhere.
The Morphews have two daughters, Mallory and Macy. The couple married in 1994 and moved from Indiana to Salida, Colorado, in 2018. Suzanne taught at Hamilton Heights Middle School in Arcadia, Indiana, before the move, WISH-TV reported.
Morphew sold the family home in Salida for $1.6 million earlier this year, months after he put it up on the market, raising eyebrows from some. He said he wanted to sell the home because his daughters were scared to stay, believing it was where their mother was abducted and that strangers were roaming the property.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Human remains were later found near a plot of land he owned and sold in February.
Suzanne's brother, Andy Moorman, criticized his brother-in-law's demeanor following Suzanne's disappearance, including not participating in a large-scale search for her in September.
"I don't think she ever got on her bike. I think she probably died on May 9 and she was hidden somewhere that night. ... I'm afraid this is domestic abuse,' Moorman previously told FOX 31 Denver.
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Barry Morphew responded that Moorman had been a bad brother to his wife.
"I've spent many nights... [with] Suzanne crying on my shoulder, asking why her siblings refuse to show her love," Barry claimed to a local news outlet.