Cooking breakfast with her mother-in-law and drinking coffee in her scenic Colorado backyard, this is tragic Suzanne Morphew pictured in the gray ‘Crested Butte’ hoodie in which she died – 20 months before she was killed.
An autopsy report obtained by DailyMail.com reveals the murdered mom’s remains were found with the loungewear, which she was photographed wearing during a family visit to her home in on August 10, 2018, and were reduced to bones.
The report, which was signed off by five doctors on April 15, says Suzanne’s corpse was in such poor condition when it was found in a remote field 50 miles south of Salida last September, she was initially labeled a Jane Doe.
It says her remains arrived in three paper bags that also contained some animal bones, dirt, and a fragment of wood.
A ‘pink and light color’ work glove was also found near her body, as was a ‘pale patterned balaclava’ and a ‘weathered’ bullet. A purple ‘medical port’ covered in dirt was also recovered at the scene. Suzanne was in remission after suffering from leukemia.
Suzanne Morphew is seen sporting the gray Crested Butte hoodie she was wearing when she was murdered, in a photo of her cooking breakfast with her mother-in-law Shirley, in her Salida, Colorado home in August 2018
The unearthed photos were taken during a visit from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law Kelly Gillen (left) almost two years before Suzanne went missing on Mother’s Day 2020
Suzanne’s skeletal remains were finally discovered in September 2023, with an autopsy confirming she was murdered. Her husband Barry Morphew (pictured together) was arrested and charged with her death in a case that fell apart before it could go to trial
Those bones included her skull, several vertebrae, and ribs, and her thigh bones – one of which was retained for the toxicology tests that revealed the 49-year-old had been tranquilized with a cocktail of veterinary medications prior to her death.
Along with her skeletal remains, detectives from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations also collected seven paper bags of clothing from the remote field in Moffat where she was discovered, which included the ‘ripped dark blue/gray’ Crested Butte hoodie, a bra, a torn green Nike tank top and a pair of Yeti shorts.
The report also notes that Kim Look, a forensic odontologist – which specialize in identifying victims via their teeth – was present at the autopsy and goes on to say that three of Suzanne’s teeth were sent away for DNA analysis.
The new details of the tragic mother-of-two’s chilling end come days after she was memorialized by husband Barry, now 56, and daughters Mallory and Macy at an intimate celebration of life at the Trinity Baptist Church in Westgate, Indiana.
Guests at the invite-only event included Barry’s older sister Kelly Gillen, who is seen with Suzanne in her garden during the 2018 visit, and his mother Shirley who was photographed cooking breakfast with her during the same trip.
An autopsy report obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com reveals Suzanne’s hoodie was found among her remains which had been reduced to bones
Also included was Suzanne’s friend Holly Wilson who made a lengthy speech, despite providing cops with damning evidence during their investigation into the cancer survivor’s murder.
Wilson told police that she had had a conversation with Barry during which he accused her of having sex with another man, telling her: ‘If I find him, I will shoot off his balls and shove them down his throat.’
She also told investigators she did know of the affair Suzanne was having with married dad-of-six Jeff Libler and said Suzanne had confided in her that she wanted to marry her Michigan-based former high school sweetheart but intended to wait for her daughters to leave home before getting a divorce.
Suzanne, who would have turned 53 two weeks ago, vanished from her home in Salida on May 10, 2020, with neighbors raising the alarm after her daughters were unable to get in touch with her to wish her a happy Mother’s Day.
In May 2021, Barry was arrested and charged with her murder but the case collapsed before it made it to trial and he is now suing Chaffee County for $15million in damages over the botched prosecution.
The slain mom is seen posing with her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and two daughters in her hot tub, in a social media photo
Friends and family of Suzanne Morphew gathered at an Indiana church for a celebration of life ceremony over the weekend
Friends and family fathered on Saturday at the Baptist Trinity Church in Westfield, Indiana
Nonetheless, the case against him was dismissed without prejudice which means the charges could be re-filed should cops uncover incriminating evidence against him.
Although the long-running case remains unsolved, the discovery of animal tranquilizer drugs in Suzanne’s bone marrow echoes a theory advanced by the prosecution in arguments made during the pretrial hearing – that Barry had used the drugs to knock out his wife before killing her in a jealous rage.
During their investigation cops discovered an empty animal tranquilizer cartridge tangled up among bedsheets in the dryer of the Morphew’s $1.5million Colorado home and noted that Barry had what appeared to be scratches on his forearms in the days after his wife’s disappearance.
Although Barry had appeared on video making tearful appeals for his wife’s return in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance, as DailyMail.com revealed at the time, police were instantly suspicious with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and local cops seen searching the couple’s luxury home in the days after she vanished.
Also arousing suspicion were Barry’s movements on the night she vanished, including vehicle tracking data showing his truck being moved in the early hours of the morning and, as DailyMail.com first reported in 2021, that he left a hotel room in Broomfield, Colorado, reeking of bleach and filled with shredded mail later the same day.
Suzanne Morphew’s remains were found in the fall. Cadaver dogs are pictured at the scene where Chaffee County Sheriff’s officers, FBI and CBI were searching in Colorado
During a series of hearings in September 2021, prosecutors revealed that the Morphew’s ostensibly happy marriage was a sham – with Suzanne enjoying a two-year affair while Barry had a profile on extramarital dating site Ashley Madison.
Texts between the couple and included in prosecution evidence showed a series of explosive rows and one text from Suzanne telling her husband ‘I’m done’.
Other texts, between Suzanne and her friend Sheila Oliver, shed further light on the volatile marriage with the murdered mom telling her friend Barry had once shoved her into a closet and, on another occasion, had put a gun to his head while asking ‘is this what you want?’
Since his release from the Chaffee County Jail, Barry has moved away from Colorado, as have his daughters who continue to support their father and did publicly throughout the botched prosecution.
Suzanne’s murder currently remains unsolved although the Colorado Bureau of Investigation released a statement following the announcement of the autopsy results in which they said they would continue to work on the case.