Loved ones of the murdered Colorado mom who vanished while on a Mother’s Day bike ride four years ago gathered to mourn, just days after an autopsy report ruled her death a homicide.
A few dozen friends and relatives gathered at the Poncha Springs Town Hall on Saturday morning to remember Suzanne Morphew, 49, whose remains were discovered in September.
But the fourth annual remembrance ceremony was bittersweet, as it came just days after an autopsy report ruled Morphew’s death a homicide in the presence of animal tranquilizers.
Butterfly decorations and small pouches of forget-me-not seeds adorned tables at the event. Attendees donned their black ‘Justice for Suzanne’ shirts, weeping quietly as they talked amongst themselves.
The original plan to plant a lilac tree near the site of Morphew’s remains was thwarted by snowfall. Morphew’s sister, Melinda, sent a letter in her absence that was intended to be read as guests rooted the tree in the San Luis Valley.
Friends and loved ones gathered at a memorial to honor the life of Suzanne Morphew, 49, who vanished while on a bike ride on Mother’s Day 2020
Butterfly decorations and small pouches of forget-me-not seeds decorated tables at the event
Attendees originally planned to plant a lilac tree at the site where Morphew’s remains were found in September 2023, but the plan was thwarted by snowfall
A few dozen people gathered to honor the life of the Colorado woman, just days after a completed autopsy report revealed her cause of death
In the letter, she recalled visiting the place where her sister’s remains were found.
‘For me, it was a day of some closure and peace where I no longer had thoughts of my sister being abandoned and left alone. She has been found,’ Melinda wrote.
‘I hope you all feel the same comfort today. The planting of this lilac tree is indeed a symbolic reminder of Suzanne, like the lilac was sweet in the fragrance of her life. Her temperament was breezy and light. She would have loved the choice of the lilac as her commemorative tree, she would have smiled with delight.”
It is unclear if Morphew’s daughters, Mallory and Macy, and husband Barry were present at Saturday’s ceremony.
However, the trio were spotted at a different event last week. An attendee told DailyMail.com that none of them spoke.
Mallory and Macy have been quiet other than reaffirming their support for their father, who once faced murder charges in connection to Morphew’s death.
The 49-year-old was last seen on Mother’s Day 2020. The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office said she went for a bike ride but never returned home.
In September 2023, agents with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation discovered Suzanne’s remains near Moffat, a remote town in Saguache County.
The remains of the Colorado woman (pictured with daughters Mallory and Macy) were found last September near the remote town of Moffat
Just last month, Morphew’s death was ruled a homicide caused by ‘butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication’
The 49-year-old’s daughters have remained quiet aside from supporting their father, 56-year-old Barry, who was cleared of charges in connection to his wife’s death in 2022
An autopsy report was completed this April. The document, reviewed by DailyMail.com, lists the final diagnosis of her death as ‘homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication’.
The report notes that the drugs ‘are marked as marketed as compounded injectable chemical immobilizer for wildlife providing pharmacologically reversible analgesia, sedation, and immobilization’.
A bullet was also found near her body, the report states.
Barry, 56, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection to his wife’s disappearance in May 2021. He told investigators that he frequently used the drugs mentioned in the autopsy report to sedate deer for his hunting business.
When detectives revealed that ‘a tranquilizer dart had been fired in or around the house,’ Barry said he would often shoot the deer from inside the house.
Investigators found empty darts, a dart package and a dart needle on the property during a May 2020 search. However, an affidavit makes note of a needle cap tucked between washed sheets in the dryer.
Barry claimed he last saw his wife on May 9, 2020, when he returned home from work. He denied using a tranquilizer gun that day and said he had ‘no idea’ how the needle cap wound up in the dryer.
The following day, Barry was on a business trip, where investigators alleged he made five trash runs.
The autopsy notes that Morphew’s death occurred under the intoxication of an ‘injectable chemical immobilizer for wildlife’
Barry was charged with first-degree murder after investigators found empty tranquilizer darts, a dart package, a dart needle and a needle cap in the dryer on the couple’s property
Prosecutors claimed Barry had shot his wife with a tranquilizer dart before chasing her around the house, based on cell data records that show him moving around outside
During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors asserted that Barry had loaded a syringe for a tranquilizer dart, put his phone on airplane mode and shot his wife.
Cell data records showed how he began ‘moving in a pattern around the outside of the house,’ most likely chasing Morphew around, they claimed.
However, his attorneys denied the allegations and filed a motion to dismiss the case. The charges were dropped days before the 56-year-old was set to stand trial that April.
However, the judge granted a request to dismiss the charges without prejudice – meaning they could be filed again at a later date.
Court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com showcase a marriage fraught with infidelity and strife.
Although Barry told investigators that he and his wife had a ‘wonderful’ evening before her disappearance – ‘eating steaks, having sex, and going to bed early’ – evidence in the affidavit tells a different story.
Four days before her disappearance on May 10, 2020, Morphew texted Barry letting him know that she wanted to end the marriage.
‘I’m done. I could care less what you’re up to and have been for years. We need to figure this out civilly,’ she wrote, according to the affidavit.
Morphew had been having an affair with Jeff Libler, an old high school friend, and was texting him the day before she was reported missing.
‘You’re the only real love I’ve known…the only love I want,’ the 49-year-old wrote in a message on LinkedIn.
Libler later told investigators that Morphew characterized her marriage as ‘not good, lots of fights, very argumentative’.
The murder charges were dropped days before the 56-year-old was set to stand trial – however, the judge granted a request to dismiss the charges without prejudice
Morphew (center) was having an affair with an old high school friend at the time of her disappearance, and claimed her relationship with Barry was ‘not good’
Prosecutors discovered three unknown DNA matches on the glove compartment of Morphew’s car, including a partial match to a man who was connected to sexual assault cases in other states. Barry’s DNA was not among them
The mother of two painted Barry as a controlling, abusive husband in messages with her sister, as well as in personal notes from her Apple account.
One uncovered note contained 60 ‘issues’ she had with Barry. These included ‘Phys abuse,’ ‘Not safe alone with you. Can’t be trusted,’ and ‘Your lack of control over me=insecurities=a sick relationship’.
Prosecutors claimed that Barry ‘initially represented to investigators…that his marriage with Suzanne was “perfect,” and she had no intention of leaving him’.
However, these statements were ‘proven to be false and misleading’ by the investigation, the affidavit states.
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Barry Morphew sneaks into memorial service for wife Suzanne after autopsy report confirmed she was murdered with a deadly cocktail of tranquilizers
Barry’s attorney, Iris Eytan, spoke at a press conference shortly after the charges were dropped.
“The prosecution was manufacturing a murder case. You’ve seen shows called ‘Making a Murderer?’ That’s what was happening here in this courtroom,’ Eytan said.
‘They absolutely dismissed this case at this point because they knew they were going to lose this trial and Mr. Morphew was going to be acquitted and exonerated.’
Prosecutors disclosed the finding of three unknown DNA matches on the glove compartment of Morphew’s car.
One was a partial match to an unknown man who was connected to sexual assault cases in other states. Barry’s DNA was not part of that sample.
However, the determination of Morphew’s death as a homicide could lay the grounds for charges to be filed against her husband once again.
The case is ongoing.