Colorado man who was free on bond in wife's alleged killing is jailed after hit-and-run

Barry Morphew leaves a Fremont County court building in Canon City, Colo., with his daughters, Macy, left, and Mallory, after charges against him in the presumed death of his wife were dismissed on April 19, 2022. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP, File)

BOULDER, Colo. — A man in Colorado who had been free on US$3 million bond in his wife’s alleged killing was arrested Friday after prosecutors said he got in a hit-and-run crash with two other vehicles in Denver.

Barry Morphew was booked into the Boulder County Jail. Alamosa County District Judge Amanda Hopkins set a hearing to discuss Morphew’s bond Tuesday, online records show.

Under the terms of his bond set last year, Morphew was not supposed to travel away from home in southern Colorado except for work and other limited circumstances.

He got into the crash involving two other vehicles during a trip to Denver International Airport on Aug. 28, possibly to pick up his daughter, prosecutors said in a court filing.

“To go to the airport for any purpose other than work constitutes a breach of his bond,” read the filing by District Attorney Anne Kelly.

Morphew’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment Friday.

Morphew has pleaded not guilty and faces trial next summer in the death of his wife, who disappeared in 2020.

Suzanne Morphew’s skeletal remains were found off a dirt road in southern Colorado in 2023. By then, charges against Barry Morphew had been dropped, but he was charged again with first-degree murder in his wife’s death and arrested.

Investigators found no sign of trauma in Suzanne Morphew’s remains but allegedly found traces in her bone marrow of a drug cocktail used to tranquilize wildlife. Barry Morphew was the only person in the area other than wildlife officials with authorization to use the chemicals, prosecutors allege.

---

The Associated Press