Barry Morphew seen for first time after jail booking, maintains innocence in wife’s death

Barry Morphew’s lawyer said his client “maintains his innocence” after Morphew was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Suzanne Morphew.

He was arrested near Phoeniz, Arizona, Friday after a grand jury indictment for allegedly killing his wife, who vanished during a Mother’s Day bike ride in 2020. Morphew waived his extradition hearing during a court appearance Monday.

Morphew’s attorney, David Beller, told Fox News Digital Morphew “maintains his innocence.”

“Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence,” Beller said. “The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either.”

Suzanne Morphew and Barry Morphew (Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)

The remains of Suzanne Morphew were found by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations in 2023 in Saguache County in the southwestern part of the state.

Barry Morphew is being held in jail in Mariacopa County, Arizona, while he awaits extradition to Colorado.

“Waive,” Morphew said in court when asked if he’d like an extradition hearing.

According to a copy of the grand jury indictment, many of Suzanne Morphew’s bones were found “significantly bleached” when her remains were found in 2023. According to the indictment, prosecutors say it’s “unlikely” her body would have decomposed to a skeleton at the location she was found.

The chemicals that comprise butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine (BAM) were found inside Suzanne Morphew’s body, prosecutors said. According to the indictment, Barry Morphew used “BAM” as a tranquilizer to sedate and transport deer on his deer farm.

Suzanne Morphew’s bike was found on the day she went missing in 2020 along a ravine along Highway 50 and County Road 225 in Chaffee County. At the time, Barry Morphew was working in Broomfield, Colorado.

Text messages exchanged between Barry Morphew and Suzanne Morphew suggest there was an affair before she went missing.

Four days before she disappeared, Suzanne Morphew sent her husband a text that said she was “done.”

“I could care less what you’re up to and have been for years,” she said, adding they needed to “civilly” figure things out.

In this still image from video, Barry Morphew, center, appears in court in Salida, Colo., May 6. (KUSA via AP, Pool)

Barry Morphew filed a $15 million lawsuit in 2023 against prosecutors and investigators, alleging they violated his constitutional rights.

“Barry was the most scrutinized, dissected, surveilled individual, minute by minute, hour by hour, using law enforcement cameras posted by his home, phone taps and GPS devices placed on his car – all during the time frame of her disappearance and the years following,” Iris Eytan, Barry Morphew’s former lawyer, said at the time.

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.