Suzanne Morphew, the Chaffee County woman whose remains were discovered in September more than three years after she went missing, died by homicide with a cocktail of drugs used to tranquilize animals found in her body, according to autopsy findings released Monday.
The details of the 49-year-old’s autopsy come two years after prosecutors dropped the murder charges they had filed against her husband, Barry Morphew, before his wife’s body was found.
No one is currently charged in the 2020 homicide and the investigation is ongoing.
The autopsy, led by El Paso County Deputy Coroner Dr. Emily Russell-Kinsley, revealed Suzanne Morphew died by “homicide by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine intoxication,” the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced. Evidence of those drugs was found in her bones, according to the report.
However, the coroner did not identify an exact cause of Morphew’s death in the report, obtained by The Denver Post through an open records request. The autopsy report also said there were no signs of trauma prior to her death.
“The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and our law enforcement partners understand and appreciate the public interest surrounding this case,” CBI Director Chris Schaefer said in a statement accompanying the release of the autopsy’s findings. “The investigative team assembled to work this case continues to follow the evidence and only the evidence as we seek justice for Suzanne’s death.”
The three drugs listed in the autopsy report can be compounded into an animal tranquilizer known as the BAM formulation, and that mixture is often used to sedate large game animals such as elk, deer and black bears. The drugs are controlled substances that must be prescribed by a veterinarian, but people can buy the formulation from specialized animal pharmacies for personal use to manage wildlife on farms and ranches and in forests.
During a search of the Morphews’ home after Suzanne’s 2020 disappearance, law enforcement officials reported finding a dart gun, empty darts and a needle used to inject tranquilizer chemicals into the darts, according to previous court testimony. They also found a cap used to cover the injecting needle in the clothes dryer at the house, along with bedsheets and clothes.
Barry Morphew told investigators he used the dart gun to tranquilize deer so that he could harvest their antlers.
Attorney raises questions about DNA, bullet
On Monday, Iris Eytan, one of Barry Morphew’s defense attorneys, said the dart gun was broken and locked in a gun cabinet when investigators found it.
Investigators need to focus on the people who have access to those drugs — veterinarians, wildlife officers, ranchers — rather than her client, Eytan said.
“My hope is investigators are tracking down veterinary records,” she said.
Suzanne Morphew’s bicycling clothes were found with her body, according to the autopsy report. A bullet also was found near her remains, Eytan said.
Eytan noted that investigators have not shared any details about the bullet, including whether it was intact. They also haven’t told the Morphew family whether or not the clothes have been tested for DNA, she said.
DNA testing is critical because investigators found male DNA on the glovebox of Suzanne Morphew’s car that corresponded with partial DNA profiles found in three unsolved sexual assaults in different states, Eytan said. They also found unknown DNA on Suzanne Morphew’s bicycle, she said.
“DNA left on her clothing by the murderer could bring justice for Suzanne, her family and the community,” Eytan said in an emailed statement. “The authorities will also not provide the Morphews any information regarding whether they have performed any testing on the bullet that was collected with Suzanne’s remains.”
Eytan also said a toxicology report showed caffeine in Morphew’s body, which is consistent with her habit of drinking coffee in the morning before her bike ride. A partially finished cup of coffee was found in the home after her disappearance.
Suzanne Morphew’s autopsy report results were shared with her family before they were announced Monday, CBI officials said.
Murder charges filed, then dropped
Suzanne Morphew disappeared from her home in Maysville in May 2020. Barry Morphew, 56, was charged with her murder in 2021, but prosecutors dropped all charges against him in 2022. He’s maintained his innocence and filed a $15 million lawsuit against prosecutors in early 2023, alleging a malicious prosecution.
Suzanne Morphew’s body was not found until September 2023, when CBI agents conducting an unrelated investigation discovered her remains near Moffat in Saguache County, about a 45-minute drive from the family’s home in Maysville, where she was last seen alive.
Morphew’s bones, clothing and a medical port used for chemotherapy treatment were found in a shallow grave, the autopsy report stated.
Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly, whose jurisdiction covers the location where the body was found, said in a statement that she is providing guidance to detectives but was unable to comment further because of the investigation.
“We will continue to follow the evidence and seek justice for Suzanne,” Kelly said.
The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office referred questions about the case to the CBI.
In the dropped murder case against Barry Morphew, prosecutors with 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley’s office alleged Barry Morphew killed his wife on the evening of May 9, 2020, after discovering her nearly two-year extramarital affair, then disposed of her body and staged a bike crash before leaving early the next day to work in Broomfield.
Barry Morphew maintained he left his wife asleep in bed on the morning she disappeared and has argued she was abducted or ran away.
The couple’s marriage was deeply troubled before Suzanne Morphew disappeared. She spoke to a close friend about divorce and said she did not feel safe alone with her husband. Prosecutors said Barry Morphew’s behavior on the day his wife disappeared was suspicious: he visited five different dumpsters and trash cans around Broomfield and deposited items. He later said he couldn’t remember what he’d thrown away.
Morphew also had scratches on his arm that appeared to be from fingernails, and the doors of his truck opened and closed around 3:30 a.m. on May 10, 2020. He did not report his wife missing; a neighbor started the search that eventually led to the discovery of Suzanne Morphew’s bike at the bottom of a steep ditch on County Road 225 and her helmet nearly a mile away.
Morphew’s defense attorneys focused on the male DNA found on the glovebox of Suzanne Morphew’s car that corresponded with partial DNA profiles found in three unsolved sexual assaults in different states. They pointed out that dogs trained to smell decomposing bodies did not alert to such evidence in Barry Morphew’s truck, and criticized the investigation into her disappearance as biased, flawed and too focused on Barry Morphew as the only suspect. The couple’s daughters stood by their father throughout the case.
Prosecutors never have said exactly how they believed Suzanne Morphew died. Investigators did not find her blood in their house or in Barry Morphew’s truck. Prosecutors focused on the tranquilizer gun and empty darts found in the home, but never explicitly claimed that was how Suzanne was killed. She was messaging her paramour on the afternoon of May 9, 2020, about being in love with him.
Stanley dropped all charges against Barry Morphew in April 2022 after prosecutors egregiously violated discovery rules and then-Fremont County District Court Judge Ramsey Lama blocked the prosecution from using most of its expert witnesses at trial as punishment.
At the time, prosecutors wrote in court filings they believed Suzanne Morphew’s body was hidden in a mountainous region and buried under five feet of snow. It was not.
On Monday, Barry Morphew’s attorneys once again criticized the investigators. Eytan said they offered to return Suzanne Morphew’s remains to her family for cremation or burial. But the family declined because they want to preserve any evidence that would help solve the crime.
“For the past four years, the Morphews have agonized over Suzanne’s disappearance,” Barry Morphew’s lawyers said in a statement. “This included not only the pain of the loss of their wife and mother, but also the false accusations and prosecution of Barry Morphew. The Morphews have prayed the authorities would remove their blinders and not only find Suzanne but find the suspect responsible for her disappearance and murder. However, the Morphews are left with more questions than answers and a lack of justice for Suzanne, the family and the community.”
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