Judge gives Barry Morphew a chance at pre-trial release

Barry Morphew may be released from jail while he awaits trial for the murder of his wife, Suzanne, but it won’t come cheap.

On Tuesday, the judge in the case modified his $3 million cash-only bond to allow him to post through a bail bondsperson, which would cost him $300,000 or 10 percent of the bond.

Anne Kelly, the 12th judicial district attorney, argued against any modification of the $3 million bond, saying that Suzanne’s family was opposed, that Barry was using an alias at the time of his arrest in Arizona earlier this year and has no community connections to Colorado anymore. He also has substantial funds at his disposal, she argued, making him a flight risk.

But Kelly conceded that Morphew did have the strong support of both his daughters in modifying his bond, and District Judge Amanda Hopkins said that weighed heavily in Morphew’s favor.

“No disrespect to any of the other individuals who are statutory victims in this case, but the two what I would consider most significant victims of this matter are strongly supportive of Mr. Morphew’s innocence and are strongly supportive of his release, and I do take that very seriously,” said Hopkins, in an Alamosa courthouse, where Morphew’s daughters were present. “Your opinion matters a great deal to me.”

Hopkins noted that Morphew has no “real criminal history.” And that even posting 10 percent of a $3 million bond through a surety would be a powerful incentive to show up for his future court dates.

“If Mr. Morphew posts bond through a surety and then absconds, he not only has $300,000 on the line, but there's also a bail bondsperson who would be tracking him down,” said Hopkins. “And if he chose to post a cash-only option, then he would have $3 million on the line.”

Morphew’s attorneys, in arguing for a modification of bond, said that he previously had a $500,000 bond when he was first arrested for the murder of Suzanne back in 2021. Those charges were eventually dropped, but Morphew complied with the conditions of the bond and appeared for all court hearings. They asked the court for a reduction in bond from $3 million to $500,000 cash-only bond he previously had.

Beller argued that not much has changed since Morphew was last arrested on these charges in 2021.

“We have an innocent client that we are representing,” said David Beller, Morphew’s attorney. “I say that not just constitutionally, your honor, and of course the court knows that there's a presumption of innocence, but also we have factual innocence.”

District attorney Kelly countered that much has changed since Morphew’s previous case: Suzanne’s remains were found, and investigators discovered the presence of animal tranquilizer in her bones, that Morphew was known to have access to.

Beller argued that Morphew was prescribed those tranquilizers in 2018 in Indiana, and law enforcement found none of the tranquilizer chemicals in his possession after Suzanne’s murder.

In modifying Morphew’s bond, Judge Hopkins said that, should he post bond, he would not be allowed to use aliases and would be subject to GPS monitoring.

Morphew was using the alias “Lee Moore” when he was arrested in Arizona in June, and his attorneys argued on Tuesday that was for “very obvious reasons.” Presumably because of the intense media attention on the case. 

Due to that media attention, Morphew was allowed to wear standard clothing to his hearing on Tuesday, rather than jail-issued clothes, to avoid biasing potential jurors in the community. He also had no visible restraints on him in the courtroom.

Suzanne Morphew disappeared on Mother’s Day 2020, and Barry was arrested in 2021 for her murder before a body had been located. The charges were dropped in part because the body had not yet been found, and because the prosecution, under then-DA Linda Stanley, had violated deadlines for producing evidence to Morphew’s defense attorneys.

If Morphew is able to post the 10 percent, or $300,000, through a surety, he will not get that money back, even if he complies with all orders of the court and appears at all hearings. That is a fee that the bail bondsperson would keep for risking the $3 million bond.