The second day of preliminary hearings for the murder trial of Barry Morphew kicked off Tuesday detailing text messages missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew exchanged with both her husband and a longtime lover just days before her disappearance on Mother’s Day in 2020.
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Testimony from the Chaffee County Courthouse on Tuesday also revealed that Barry Morphew took his phone on and off airplane mode in the early morning hours that Mother’s Day — while he made several stops to throw out trash and check into a Holiday Inn Express in Bloomington, Colorado.
Google data unearthed by investigators showed Barry also showed up for a job for Garrett Construction and completed about 15 minutes of work, removing blocks from a retaining wall before leaving. He came to the site despite knowing that construction work could not be legally completed on a Sunday in the city of Bloomington, former FBI agent Johnny Grusing, the third witness called so far, testified.
The FBI also obtained surveillance video showing Barry carrying several bags to dumpsters at the motel. He also stopped to dispose of trash at a Men’s Warehouse and a bus stop. When asked by investigators, Barry said he threw out tranquilizer material. He admitted he owned guns for hunting.
In day two of Barry Morphew's preliminary hearing, prosecutors outlined his movements, and his wife's actions, in the days surrounding her disappearance.
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Prosecutors Outline Barry And Suzanne Morphew’s Movements On Days Around Her Disappearance
While Suzanne’s phone has not been found, investigators were able to recover documents from her iCould account. One of those documents was a list Suzanne made on May 8, entitled “grievances.” It included notes like “wedding ring,” which Barry allegedly took and melted at some point. She also noted women on Facebook, which Barry told her was good for business, as well as an incident in Mexico where Barry tried to take her phone away and look at it.
On the morning of May 6, Suzanne sent Barry a firm text which indicated she wanted to end the relationship. The text was found in Barry’s cache indicating it had been deleted. It read:
“I’m done I could care less what you’re up to and have been for years. We just need to figure this out civilly.”
Barry’s reaction involved threats of suicide: “When I’m dead which won’t be long, you guys will be taken care of,” and “I’m going to see my savior.”
On the morning of May 9, a day before Suzanne was reported missing, 59 communications were exchanged between Suzanne and Jeff Libler.
That afternoon, Suzanne was outside sunbathing and she snapped a photo of herself, smiling, and sent it to Jeff.
“We consider that photo her last proof of life,” former agent Grusing told the court.
Barry arrived home shortly after, that’s when all communications from Suzanne stopped — to anyone.
Investigators used GPS records and data from his Ford F350 to pinpoint his locations. Grusing showed a map of is cell phone pings around the house stating that they were all over the outside of the house, indicating he was chasing Suzanne while she was still conscious.
A retired FBI agent testified Tuesday about the location and status of Barry Morphew’s phone in the hours surrounding the disappearance of his wife, which included him dumping trash in five different locations in the Broomfield area.
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A retired FBI agent
testified Tuesday about the location and status of Barry Morphew’s phone in the hours surrounding the disappearance of his wife, which included him dumping trash in five different locations in the Broomfield area.
In the early-morning hours of May 10, a few hours before Barry Morphew left for Broomfield around 5 a.m.,
his truck doors opened and closed between 3:25 a.m. and 3:51 a.m., signifying someone was in the truck. Around the same time,
his phone’s location moved to near where his wife’s bicycle would later be found, Grusing said — though he added that service in the area meant the information was inconclusive. Suzanne Morphew’s phone, which has still not been found, last pinged at 4:23 a.m., he added.
Barry Morphew’s phone went into airplane mode around 4:31 a.m., the court was told, and pinged again just after 5:30 a.m. as Morphew was turning at Buena Vista as he headed toward Broomfield. He would text his mother a happy Mother’s Day a minute later, and just before 7 a.m., texted Suzanne to ask if she was awake yet. “Happy Mother’s Day. I love you,” he added, according to testimony.
Grusing said the data from the phone and truck, along with surveillance video, showed Barry Morphew appeared to go on five trash runs in the Broomfield that day – throwing things away at an RTD bus stop, a hotel where he checked in, a McDonald’s, a Men’s Warehouse and in another trash can near the Holiday Inn he’d checked in to.
When he was questioned about what he was throwing away, he gave conflicting stories, according to Grusing’s testimony. At the Men’s Warehouse, he spent 40 minutes in the parking lot.
Testimony also showed Tuesday that Barry Morphew did not leave his Broomfield hotel room between about 12:42 p.m. and 5:55 p.m. that day, despite telling a neighbor when they talked around 5:15 p.m. on May 10 that he was at the job site working, prosecutors said.
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