February 1, 2022 • 43 mins
Chaffee County Judge Ramsey Lama orders the release of several pieces of evidence from Barry Morphew's preliminary hearing. Included in this material are various texts, sent by missing mom Suzanne Morphew to her husband, her lover, her sister, and her best friend, that put their marriage into context. In the texts, Suzanne confides that she is scared to be alone with her husband and that he is a master manipulator who uses their children as a tool to hurt her.
Also in the released documents are photos of Barry Morphew's guns, scratches on his body, and surveillance images from inside and outside the Broomfield hotel the husband was staying the day Suzanne went missing. Barry Morphew is facing multiple charges including first-degree murder.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Matthew Mangino - Attorney, Former District Attorney, Author: "The Executioner's Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States"
- Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy), www.panthermitigation.com, Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrialDoc, Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect"
- Sheryl McCollum - Forensic Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
- Carol McKinley - Enterprise Reporter, The Denver Gazette, DenverGazette.com, Twitter: @CarolAMcKinley
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Well, the plot is thickening.
True words were never spoken, of course. I'm talking about
Barry Morphew and his missing wife, Suzanne Morphew. We've seen
(00:27):
a lot of video of him going in and out
of the courtroom, and he's always flanked by his two
adult daughters. In the last hours, a treasure trove of
evidence has been released by the state. What is it
hundreds of documents, They are photos And what I found
(00:48):
really interesting are the photos that have been amassed from
that holiday in Express where he stayed the very same
day that his wife goes missing on Mother's Day. It
shows him changing clothes for no reason. He had a
lot of wardrobe changes that day. It shows him in
(01:10):
and out of his favorite cowboy boots. Why why did
he have to change clothes so often? Now, according to him,
he was going to a work site on Mother's Day
out of town. But yet, if the video is to
be believed, he hold up in his room at the
(01:34):
Holiday and Express for at least five hours, going in
and out changing clothes. Very very unusual, but odd circumstances
do not a murder case make? What else do we learn?
I mean it see Grace. This is Crime Stories, thank
(01:55):
you for being with us here at Fox Nation. In
series one eleven, very revealing are dozens and dozens and
dozens of text messages his missing wife is in Morphew
sent to various people, specifically her friends, describing her relationship.
How she says she is quote done, that she has
(02:19):
gone round and round with Morphew about getting out, how
he manipulates everything, getting the daughters on his side, how
he threatens to jump out of the car and kill
himself whenever they're talking about breaking up. She even reveals
and I quote he doesn't mention how he has hurt
(02:40):
me physically. We now know that there is domestic abuse
in the home. We see photos of inside the home
taken by investigators, including the bedroom door to the master
bedroom cracked, the signing of it cracked. Did he kick
the door in trying to get her? We see how
(03:05):
his cell phone his data was pinging him all around
the house, leading to the investigator's belief that he chased
her through the home, ultimately shooting her with a dark
gun to sedate her. I found very very striking that
on the day she goes out on her bike all
(03:26):
alone on Mother's Day, her two daughters are away, her
husband trumps up and out of town work trip that
didn't exist. She's all alone. I looked at many photos
of her on previous bike trips. She's a big biker.
She always has on her helmet and a pair of
(03:47):
sunglasses and her camelback, you know, with water and whatever
she would put in there. But on that day, that
day of all days, when she goes missing in her
car in plain view, her pocketbook with all of her
ID credit cards and money, her sunglasses that she goes
(04:09):
writing in, and her camelback, why is that? I mean,
I'm just telling you thoughts as they're coming to me.
You know, if I were to take this to trial,
this would all be or written out page after page
after page of state's exhibit. When I'm going to enter
it in with which witness, how I'm going to lay
the foundation for it. But guess what, we're not in court,
(04:33):
so we can talk about it freely with no objections,
and what an all star panel. I've got to break
it down and put it back together, making sense of
this treasure trove of evidence we have just received. But
before we get started with this panel, I want you
to take a Listen to Bury Morphew as he begs
for help finding his wife. Oh, Susan, if anyone is
(04:56):
out there, I could hear this that has you. Please.
We'll do whatever it takes to bring you back. We
love you, we miss you, your girls and needs muss,
no questions asked, however much they want, I will do
whatever it takes to get you back. I love you,
(05:20):
however much it takes, whatever they want. Isn't that odd?
And no one has ever sent a ransom note ever?
With me and all star panel to make sense of
what we know. First of all, high profile lawyer, former prosecutor,
author of the Executioner's Toll, Matthew Mangino joining us out
(05:40):
of Lawrence County. Doctor Sherry Schwartz, renowned psychologists specializing in
criminal behavior. As a matter of fact, that's one of
her books, Criminal Behavior, Also for law and Psychology intersected. Boy,
do we need a shrink today? Doctor Sherry, founder and
director of the Coldcase Research Institute. I met Cheryl McCollum
(06:01):
and the trenches finding crime with me, she claims about
three am. I don't know about that, but you can
find her at Coldcase Crimes Dot org. But first two
special guests joining us. Carol McKinney, Enterprise reporter with the
Denver Gazette at Denver Gazette dot com. Carol McKinley. Today
(06:22):
there is a hearing regarding change of venue of this case.
But I want to get to the facts. I'm telling
you these photos and these texts are bob shells. What
texts from Susanne Morphew jump out at you the most?
Well there are Remember, Susanne Morphew's phone was never found.
(06:44):
That's one of the things. We don't know what happened
to it. But they were able to get texts from
other people's phones. And that's what we see is the
texts that they found on the phones of her best friend,
Sheila Oliver, who she texted between March and April about
twenty times, some really really important messages before she went missing.
(07:05):
And then the text that were on Berry's phone. And
then there's an important text that was downloaded from her
eye cloud. Right. So the pivotal text, according to the prosecution,
is one she wrote on Mate six, at ten o'clock
in the morning, she was at a neighbor's house. And
this is the neighbor that eventually reported her missing. So
(07:26):
she's at the house having coffee and cookies, you know,
and she texts him that it's over. She says, we
have to resolve this civilly. He doesn't answer her to
the prosecution. That's the most important text because that when
he decides to kill her. According to the District Attorney's office, right,
(07:46):
this is the one that sets them on because she
swipes it. They're able to retrieve it from his phone,
but he swiped it. It's not visible on the phone
when they got his phone. Well, he texts back to
her at about three in the afternoon that he's sorry,
it's kind of a suicide sounding tom oh cool. Wait
(08:08):
wait him and the suicide, well, it sounds like it,
you know. To doctor Sherry Schwartz joining me forensic psychologist
at panther Mitigation dot com. Doctor Sherry, you know, I
got so much to talk to you about, but can
we talk about the fact and I went through so
much of this evidence and I'm going to circle back
(08:30):
to you, Mangino, because that's how a lot of lawyers
lose their case, because they don't take the time to
sit down, as painful as it is, and go through
page after page after document after document, because you never
know what you're going to find. I'm going to circle
back to you on that. But to you, doctor Sherry Schwartz,
(08:50):
I was reading one text where she writes about how
she's bringing up the fact that she wants to split up,
and he, as they're driving, opens up his I guess
his truck door and acts like he's gonna jump out
of it. Did he jump? No? Did he ever try
to commit suicide? No? According to prosecutors, the only person
(09:14):
he killed is her. No. What is That's master manipulation
And speaking of the word manipulation all through her text,
she talks about how he is manipulating their adult daughters,
and we see him doing it right now. They have
fall over his story hook line and sinker. But let
me first ask you, doctor Sherry Schwartz, about people that
(09:36):
threaten suicide when they're no more going to commit suicide
than the man in the moon, as an attempt to
manipulate their partner into doing what they want them to do.
That's exactly what that is, Nancy. It's master manipulation, and
it plays on the person who you're threatening that you're
going to commit suicide. It plays on their empathy, their emotions.
(10:00):
There's a way to gain control over the other person
and have them yield your wants, your wishes, your demands.
Time stories with Nancy Grace Matthew Mangino joining US former
(10:24):
district attorney in Lawrence County. Matthew, you can lose a
case if you do not study your documents. There's no
question about that, Nancy. And there's a lot of information here,
but it's all circumstantial. Please not with a circumstantial you know, Matthew,
(10:45):
where is it that you practice law in Western Pennsylvania? Okay?
Isn't it true in Western Pennsylvania? I assume that you
guys obey the US Supreme Court and in one of
their famous cases, which has been side it over and
over and over. In fact, isn't it true, Matthew Mangino
that before a jury goes out to deliberate their case,
(11:08):
after closing arguments, the judge then charges them on the
law by which they are to use, by which they
are to judge the case. And in those jury charges
which are read verbatim so as not to make any mistakes,
the judge says that circumstantial evidence is and can be
as powerful as direct evidence. Isn't that true, no question
(11:34):
about it? Man? So then yes, so when you say,
is just circumstantial evidence, right? But what we have to
think about here is what the evidence that we don't have.
We don't have a weapon, we don't have a body,
we don't have a cause of debt. What we have
is a lot of strange conduct, bizarre conduct, maybe by
(11:55):
Barry More Aphew. We have some you know, scratch is
on his hands, that certainly or something that the defense
has to be concerned about. But we also have some
DNA evidence that indicates that a known sex offense or
someone who has three sex offend, that DNA was found
(12:17):
in that person's v vehicle. Where this is important. Where's
the DNA? I believe it's on the what is the vehicle?
It's on the glove flies Okay, the gloves, the glove
box in the hood, which is highly indicative of someone
who worked on the car getting documents or whatever may
(12:43):
be in the glove compartment and opening and shutting the hood.
Very significant. However, Cheryl McCollum, I disagree with Mangino. I
just would have disagreed before I read this treasure travel
of evidence. But I really disagree. Now, knowing what we
now know, I want you to hear Cheryl McCollum our
(13:03):
cut one three five from KUSA right now. Barrymorephew, the
man charged in the death of his wife Susanne, is
still out on bond, awaiting the start of his murder
trial in May. Meanwhile, the public is now able to
see the evidence used in the preliminary hearing, pictures of
Barrymorephew at a Broomfield hotel with bags the spy pen.
Investigators say Susanne put in Barry's truck because she suspected
(13:26):
an affair, a suspicion that remains unfounded, and the tranquilizer
in darts prosecutors allege Barry shot Suzanne with before chasing
her around the house. You have fast does not show
up nearly as significantly. Nine News legal expert Scott Robinson
says actually seeing the evidence leaves an impact on potential
jurors if they've seen the photos, if they've read the texts. Texts,
(13:50):
including those from Susanne to a friend makes me wonder
what the young mee was thinking one text reads and
also Cheryl McCollum our one our cut one three six
from KUSA. I want you to hear about the zigzag
pattern that has been established by Barry Morphu's cell phone,
(14:11):
as if he's racing chasing someone around the house. It's
even timed. Listen the photographs of Barry Morphu's travels both
around the house in a kind of a zigzag manner
and his visits trash receptacles day after is pretty suspicious
all at all. It really brings home the fact that
(14:32):
this is a murder case concerning a woman who has
disappeared under very suspicious circumstances. And Robinson says that's just it,
suspicious circumstances at this point, making the evidence he believes
still balanced. After all, the prosecution has no murder weapon,
they have no motor method of murder, they have no body.
(14:53):
And as for jury selection, he says he has no
doubt the judge will see a jury, but it may
be tough. My profile cases always posed difficulty for a
judge and finding jurors. But I have to admit, over
the decades, I've been astonished how there are many people
out there that pay absolutely no attention to the news. Well,
thank god for those people. And another thing, why did
(15:14):
you believe what people on the news say. They're all
just regurgitating something else they've been told. Does anybody really
trust the news? Back to you, Cheryl McCullum, I want
you to take into account everything we're learning in this
new treasure show of evidence where you actually see the
(15:38):
door to the master bedroom cracked on one side the
previous owner stay, it wasn't like that when they sold
the house. And not only that, the cell phone the
electronic data includes him running through the bedroom and there's
(15:59):
ann shell tasting on her side of the bed. Why
is that there? Why is the door kicked in apparently,
and then backed up by the data showing him running
through the house after her. But what is striking you that,
my Cheryl McCollums. There are so many things that jump
(16:21):
out at me, Nancy, but I think for me, there's
two things that go kind of together. It's the data
that they've pulled from his truck along with the videotapes
that show him dumping trash at five different locations. So
if he had a bunch of trash in his truck,
then he didn't want to take to the dump and
have to pay the dispose of it. He would have
(16:42):
gone to one dumpster and thrown it all in there.
He wouldn't have gone out of his way and gone
to the hotel, a McDonald's, a men's warehouse, then to
another dumpster at the hotel. That makes no sense to
put that much for you. If you look at all
those photos, struck is still filthy and full of trash,
(17:03):
so e's not clear it struck out and you know
it brings to mind, Cheryl McCollum, it brings to mine,
and get a load of this Mangino. I don't know
if you remember Fotus Dulos, the husband of the missing
Connecticut mom of five, Jennifer Dulos. He and his girlfriend
(17:24):
go all over town and they're caught on camera throwing
out handful after handful after handful of evidence, sticking it
down the drains, the sewers, drains, the runoff water drains,
on the hot on the streets, and the cops go
(17:46):
back and what do they find. Bloody clothes, rags, sponges,
the blood matching up to the missing mom, Jennifer Dulos.
And here we the same thing as Cheryl McCollum's pointing out,
Barry more for you, going from dump to dump to
(18:07):
receptacle to receptacle that night, throwing out trash go ahead,
Cheryl McCollum. Well, the other thing is the data from
the truck. He was not counting on that he had
enough wherewithal to put his cell phone on airplane mode.
He wasn't thinking about that computer. When was the last
time you put your cell phone on airplane mode? When
(18:28):
I was actually on an airplane because they made me, okay,
you know the last time I put my phone on
airplane mode? When you and I Cheryl McCollum, and you
Medea here in the studio with me, or in Aruba,
was Atlie Halloway's mother, retracing our steps to figure out what,
if anything we could learn. That was the last time
(18:49):
I had my phone on airplane mode? That's the one
were coming back from Aruba. Absolutely, but you know he
on airplane mode? What about that, Mangino, When do you
put don't lie, Mangino, when do you put your phone
on airplane mode? Tell me, as God as your witness,
(19:09):
Matthew Mangino, the last time you had your phone on
airplane mode on an airplane? Talent Mangino, And you know
everybody on that jury is gonna say the same thing, like,
for instance, at night, I don't want the phone to
wake up my husband or my children, but don't want
to keep it on so I can see if some
crazy thing happens, if somebody texts me, I put it
(19:30):
on silent. I'm put it on airplane mode. You know it, Mangino.
If I was a the face attorney in this case,
I would be looking at a play deal history. No,
his history with the sun. Maybe he puts his phone
on airplane mode all the time. We want to know that.
Oh you know what, I'm so glad you said that, Mangino.
(19:50):
I have the prosecution is listening pass out on care
on mccanley. They need to say how often he has
put his phone on airplane were you what were you
about to say? Carol? Do you know how good these
defense attorneys are who he's hired. These defense attorneys are
two of the top women in the state. It's not
(20:12):
the region. Did you hear what I just said, Carol?
To pass on to the prosecution to find out how
often and the pattern of if there is one of
Morphew putting his phone on airplane mode, because I bet
you he did not do it. If at all before
(20:34):
that day, that Mother's day Time stories with Nancy Grace,
(20:55):
Cheryl McCall him, how many times have I been told,
right in my face? Oh, these defense attorneys are good.
Oh they're really good. Oh yeah, you're just gonna toss
the case and not try it. What about it, Sheryl? Try? Well,
not just that, Nacy know well them thinks. I don't
care how good they are. They can't undo. There's certain
veils you can't unwring, and one of them is when
(21:17):
he lies. He tells law enforcement that he went to
bed at eight o'clock, but yet the data from his
truck shows that he put that car in reverse at
nine thirty and moved at ninety six feet closer to
the house. Well, that's not a leap to think that's
what he unstably loading up her body. I'm sorry, who's
that talking in the background, Carol? Okay, go ahead, Carol. Yeah.
(21:39):
But but you don't know. But that's important though, Cheryl.
But you know that you don't know who put that
truck in reverse, because because all you have is that
that barrel of data, you don't know who did it.
And that's what the defense is going to argue you
stop playing corrects up that morning, Matthew Mangino, you're the
bad one trial wayer. I only wish I can only
(22:00):
pray I was sitting my seat and pray. The defense
trying to jump up and say what Carol McKinley just
said that some other person came to where the car
was parked, destrut was parked and moved it in the
middle of the night for no reason. No theft wasn't stolen,
(22:22):
no break in. That would be so wonderful. As the
defense tried to throw up that argument, McKenley just gave well,
I mean, I think there are arguments that the defense
can make. I mean, you've got to be very glad
on you one of them. Brother. You got to be
conscious about you know, what you're going to use and
necessarily what you're like going to use. But the other
(22:42):
thing I say at this point, Nancy is not so
fast when when we moved to condemned Barry Morphy or
to convict him, I mean, we know that the judge
after a four gates wominary hearing, wasn't real impressed with
the prosecution's case. And you know, as across the U
in all of your experience. You know that they had
(23:03):
an affidavit about one hundred and thirty pages in this case.
What that tells me is that they're really trying to
put something together that might not be there. Um. You know,
if I have a homicide case as a prosecutor, my
HALFI David, is going to be as brief as it
can possibly be. It's I've never seen one hundred and
thirty page affidavit. So well, there's some really interesting evidence here,
(23:26):
you know, some really bizarre conduct, strange conduct. You know,
there's some key pieces missing here. This is my combody.
So you want me to give him a gold star
because he managed to get rid of the body? I mean,
you know, Karen McKinley, Enterprise reporter joining us from the
Denver Gazette, could you tell me about the various dumpsters
(23:47):
and trash receptacles. Barry Morphy went to the very same evening,
Susanne Morphy guys missing, Yeah, I can. He went to
It's odd that he decided to go to Broomfield, Colorado.
That ball about three hours to the north near Denver.
Right there was you had to have a permit to
work on a Sunday in Broomfield. Apparently there was a
(24:09):
landscaping wall he had he had had a problem with.
He told the people he'd fixed it, but the job
wasn't until that Monday for some reason. He left early
in morning on Sunday, got up there about eight and
started dumping trash in different receptacles. There were five trash dumps,
(24:31):
that's what the FBI agent on the stand called it,
the five dumps. One of them in particular, was next
to him McDonald and what he did, and we saw it.
He got out of his car, there are still photos
of this from surveillance and pushed something way down into
the trash can, Like he didn't just throw it on
the top, He actually pushed it down. The prosecution thinks
(24:54):
that was the cell phone because it was small. But
then there were some other dumps. In one he had
some hiking boots. I think he had a planter that
had a tree in it, like a landscaping tree, like
a fir tree or something, so it was large. And
then there were three other stuffs, but they weren't sure
(25:15):
they were dumps because they weren't kind of right next
to a dumpster. But the other good surveillance video is
in the hotel which was a holiday in Express where
he went got in there in the eight o'clock hour
Sunday morning, and his scene walking up and down the
halls with different things in his hands. The first run
(25:38):
on that hotel surveillance video shows some clothing in his arms,
something that's kind of a blue color. I was at
the preliminary hearing, and during that hearing, the FBA agent
was questioned about a blue shirt. Well, she was wearing
a turquoise top to ride her bike a lot. She
(25:58):
wore that she wore this turfuoise top that matched her helmet.
The defense attorney stood up and said, you don't know
that's the shirt, and so they had to say items
of clothing. Those pictures are going to be important because
you wonder what was he bringing into that hotel room
and what did he take out, and why did he
leave so many times? Or why did he change clothes
(26:20):
as he was making those runs to the trash dumps
Another unusual circumstance. Carol McKinley is bringing up his many
many wardrobe changes. Hey, Nancy, can I jump in? Do
you remember when Scott Peterson put himself at the marina
because he said he went fishing. More few tells police
(26:40):
he took a left out of his driveway instead of
a right, which he would normally take to go to
this site to get to the highway. He went left
a mile down that road. To the left is where
her bike helmet was found. So again he puts himself
where a key piece of evidence is found. The bike
helmet is nowhere near the bike. The bike looks obviously
(27:01):
stays down that little ravine like it's just tossed over
and slid down and started resting on rocks. She ain't
found in the bottom. But again he's putting himself, in
my opinion, somewhere very key. That looks very damaging. Gosh,
I hardly even know which way to turn. There's just
so much and as Matthew me and Jane rightly points out,
(27:24):
so much circumstantial evidence. Let me ask you this, Carol
McKinley joining us from the Denver Gazette. Did he have
a permit to work in Broomfield on Sunday? We don't
know that, I bet has not been brought up, but
that's a great question. He did not work really on Sunday.
(27:45):
The job wasn't supposed to start till Monday, and his
workers didn't show up till that afternoon. You mean they
showed up on Sunday or Monday. On Sunday after he
asked them to come because he got the call from
the neighbors that she was missing. Wait a minute, wait, wait,
who got what call from the neighbors. Well, the daughters
(28:07):
were on a camping trip that weekend, so four Mothers Day,
they weren't home. They were on a camping trip, both
of them. Who got the call from the neighbors, that's
the question. The Ritters, Jean and Martin Ritter, are the
nearest neighbors to the Morphy's right. They live in a
really really remote area of Colorado near Salida, Colorado, which
is about two and a half hours. Okay, again, very
(28:29):
very simple. You said he got the call from the
neighbors that she was missing. Who are you talking and
called him? The Ritters called Barry Morphee. Correct, at about
five o'clock on Sunday. He was supposedly at the landscaping wall.
They called him and he told them to call nine
(28:51):
one one, So they called nine one one. It was
the daughters who asked the Ritters to check up on
the house because Susanne Morphy wasn't answering their happy Mother's
Day phone calls. I want to circle back to what
we are learning. You mentioned in one of his trips
to dump sites, you mentioned hiking boots. What can you
(29:13):
tell me about the hiking boots, Carol McKinley, Just that
he brought him into the hotel room. You can see
it on the hotel surveillance, and then you see him
walking out to a dumpster with hiking boots in his hand.
Why would he throw away his boots? Start to Sherry Schwartz.
You know how long I've had my cowboy boots, my
(29:34):
favorite pair. I guess, let's see, maybe twenty five years,
and I had to be talked out of wearing them
down the aisle. So why is he throwing away his boots,
Doctor Sherry? Of all things, well, that's not a good look,
especially if those boots weren't falling apart at the seams. Right. So,
(29:56):
if you're throwing away hiking boots in the wake of
your wife going missing, then that suggests that you have
some reason to need to get rid of those boots. Right.
There could be blood on them. I'm speculating there's no evidence.
There were blood on the there was blood on the boots.
Because they're gone crime stories with Nancy Grace, I want
(30:34):
you guys to listen to more of what we're learning,
and then I want to circle back to you Cheryl
McCallum on where the helmet, her helmet was found as
opposed to where the bike is, as opposed to where
their home is, and the coincidence Barry Morphew's car data
and pains showing him where the bike where the helmet
(30:59):
was discard arted about a mile away. But first take
a listen to our cut one three seven our friends
at KUSA. For the first time, we're able to see
some of the evidence that led to the arrest of
Barry Morphew. This is the man accused of killing his
wife in Chaffee County. Susanne Morphew has been missing since
Mother's Day of twenty twenty. A. George A judge excuse me,
(31:21):
has ordered the release of some of the evidence. This
includes photos of Barry's hands which appear to have scratch marks.
Prosecutors say this may be from Susanne trying to defend herself.
The defense said scratches came from tree branches while he
was looking for his wife. Prosecutors also believed Morphew may
have used a tranquilizer dart, and they found a needle
sheaf in the dryer at the Morphu's home. Investigators say
(31:42):
it fits a needle used to inject sirium into a dart.
Barry told investigators he's not sure how it got there.
There are also text messages between Susanne and Barry, as
well as Susanne and a different man she was having
an affair with, and also a portion of our cut
one three eight KUSA. New documents from the Very Morphew
case reveal at least ten friends and family members of
(32:05):
his missing wife filed protective orders against him. So why
is it ten friends and family members off Susanne Morpheus
have file protective orders against him? And isn't it true
to use Cheryl McCullum that in her text messages to
her friends Sheilla she stated that her own daughter said that, Mom,
(32:30):
you need to file a protection order against dad. You
know she had some concerned obviously, she even mentioned to
her sister that he was emotionally and physically abusive, So
we know there were you know, incidents. Is a violence
in the home prior to her going missing, and then
there's other things he does, and then see that you
(32:50):
know again is the totality of it. It's not one
thing that's going to make you think there's a homicide
if you take everything together. When he tells the police,
he said the alarm for four thirties till he could
leave by five, But then his truck shows that he
was leaving at three thirty. I mean, that's an not
a mistake you would make if you've got up at
three o'clock in the moat in a morning as opposed
(33:11):
to four to thirty. That's all the difference in the world.
And then he makes all those scots where he's getting
rid of things. Then he's got the spy pen that
captures her affair, not his. The chipmunk chasing what everybody
in the world knows. You ain't gonna be able to
chase no chipmunk. They're gonna be able to outrun you,
out zigzag you. And if you're trying to shoot an animal,
you stand still. So everything he says is this suspect.
(33:34):
When he's the one that entertains the idea that she
was attacked by a mountain line, even though there's zero evidence.
There's no blood, there's no animal hair, and there's no
body of Suzanne Moorephew, that's been ravaged by a mountline.
Like none of it makes any sense too, you, Cheryl McKinley.
Regarding the location of the helmet, the helmet, my understanding
(33:59):
is about a mile away from where the bike was found.
That's right. It was actually point eight Nancy. I had
to look that up the other day. But very morphew
when he made that left, Cheryl, and you're exactly right.
He was going to go to Broomfield, Colorado, but to
go to Broomfield yet to take a right, taking a left,
(34:21):
take ship further into the mountains. And what he said
was that he saw a bunch of elk crossing and
he wanted to make a note of where that was
because he's a hunter. That's that's why he said he
went to that location and made a U turn because
he realized, oh, I got to get back up to
Broomfield and go to work. And how close were his
meanderings to where her helmet was found? Well, it was
(34:43):
her helmet was found as if it was thrown off
the highway, right is that the highway he was driving
the highways right there, Yeah, the highways right there in
the slope of the mountain is on the side of
the highway. And the helmet is pretty far off the highway,
but could have thrown it, you know, it's not like
way way up in a remote area. But he made
(35:05):
a U turn, he said. And and it's right next
to where the helmet was found, because there's a mine
up there. There's an old There are mines all through
those mountains, and there's a mine. And they talked about
the mine, and he made a U turn at the
mine and then went on his way to go to
work that Frinday morning, Mother's Day. So Matthew and Gino,
let's take a look at what Carol McKinley is telling
(35:27):
us from the Denver Gazette by his own words and
of course caught by cell phone and car data. He
goes that morning of all mornings, and chases down some elk,
according to him, three thirty in the morning, and then
(35:48):
he does a ue right where the helmet would have
been thrown, his missing wife's helmet. Well, he would have
a lot of blaming to do, you know, these actions
by him are unusual, they're they're bizarre, they're they're strange,
(36:09):
they don't seem to add up. But here's the thing
that we all know. He doesn't have to explain anything.
The prosecution has to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
And then that's where I think the prosecution is not
going to have an easy time of it. I mean,
let's let's go back to the to the moving around,
to the dumpsters. You know, if I was defending this case, yeah,
(36:32):
he dropped things in five different dumpsters. I know there
was a year between her going missing and him being arrested.
But what did you find that You didn't find anything
in dumpsters? You didn't find anything, uh, you know in
the landfill if you went there and checked. I mean, so, yeah,
we have all this moving around, but we have nothing
(36:53):
to show for it. We have bizarre conduct, but we
have nothing to show for it. So well, I agree
that there's a explaining to do. The prosecution has the
responsibility of explaining what happened to the jury. I don't
have any problem without In fact, I would welcome that
it is the duty of the state to prove the
(37:14):
case beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond a mathematical certainty,
such as two and two equals four, but to the
point where the jury believes that that is what happened.
That Barrymorephew murdered his wife because she, Susanne Moorephew, was
leaving him, as she said in her text to her
(37:36):
friend just before she went missing. Yes, no, Carol McKinley
joining us from the Denver Gazette. Is it true that
Barrymorephew that morning was calling and gathering up a construction
(37:57):
crew on his way as he drove along. Is that correct?
You know, I don't remember if it was on his
way to Broomfield. What do you know, Cheryl McCollum. Yeah,
I don't know that either. About Hey, what I do know, Nancy?
Law enforcement has done one hundred and thirty five churches,
and they've talked over four hundred people, and no other
(38:19):
suspect has material life. Well, of course I take great
heart in that, Cheryl McCollum. But proving a murder case
is not process of elimination. But I will tell you this.
She says just before she dies, that she is not
safe alone with her husband, Barry Morphew. She says that
(38:46):
he is a master of manipulation that he can get
his own daughters to believe him over her. I have
very rarely actually rephrase, I have never seen Cheryl McCollum
a case where there is domestic violence where the man
(39:09):
is beating and threatening the woman as she refers to
him Jacqueline Hyde, where the woman is then killed, and
it was anybody other than the abuser? Have you absolutely not?
So you would have me believe Matthew Mangino that after
(39:33):
a long period of physical abuse, coincidentally on a day
when the two girls were away on a hiking trip,
a camping trip, on significantly Mother's Day, he hastily puts
together a crew that morning leaves at three thirty in
the morning that that day, of all days, an unknown
(39:57):
individual it takes is in Morphew and not her abees
or the last one known to be with her. Is
that your theory? Somebody else did it? Well? I mean,
if I'm representing Barry Morphew, it is my theory. And
this is erosion. You know, that's a lot of you know,
(40:20):
damning circumstantial weapon. But but but I would add that,
as we said earlier, you know, they interviewed one hundred
and thirty five or than one hundred and thirty five
search warrants or or you know, I don't know how
many volumes of pages of interviews. We don't have any
blood in the house. We don't have any physical evidence
(40:43):
in his vehicle or any place else that implicates him.
I mean those things, well, that's you know, the police
work was really intense and involved other than the dart
gun evidence in the dryer. Yeah, okay, at dart gun,
you know, but where's the weapons, where's her blood, where's
her where's that you know she's going? Well, we don't
(41:07):
know that. And isn't it true that Mallory informs her
father they could not find their mom? Mary Moore few
speaks to a neighbor asked him to check on Suzanne.
He I guess is a clairvoyant, because he asked the
neighbor to see if the mountain bike is at the house.
They find no sign of her or bike. He asked
(41:29):
them to call police, and instead of heading home immediately,
he drops off a shovel and other tools at a
hotel where he had booked rooms for them and himself,
and then around six pm he begins to drive home.
Is that true? Is that true, Cheryl, that's true. And Nancy,
(41:51):
I want to point out one more thing. Sometimes, you know,
you have to look at what the person does. Sometimes
what they don't do is also very telling. Here it's
some mother's day. He doesn't stay home an extra hour
or two and make her breakfast and bring her some flowers.
He doesn't even call her during that day to say
happy Mother's Day. That to me is oh, yeah, very hell.
(42:13):
He texted her that morning. No, no called her, calls herkner.
He does not call her, which is what somebody would
do to say, Hey, you know, I just want to
tell you I appreciate those two lovely daughters you've given us.
Happy Mother's Day. I'll be home at six, let's go
to dinner. He doesn't do that. What did the text say,
(42:34):
Carrol Mhinley, He just I don't know exactly, but it
was a happy Mother's Day text and it was early
in the morning on his way to Broomfield. He texted
his mom and he texted Suzanne at around the same time,
but then he texted her throughout the day. Cheryl, that
didn't mean to interrupt you there. I'm sorry, No, you're fine,
and I supportant for people to know. I was just
saying he didn't make a future plan with her about dinner.
(42:57):
He didn't do something overtly for her on that day
to market. A text message is a completely different form
of communication. Yeah. True, he did text her throughout the
day saying how are you, Where are you? You know
she never responded. That's like that, and she never responded
to him, right right, exactly, We wait as justice un falls.
(43:22):
Nancy Grace comes story, signing off goodbye friend.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Well, the plot is thickening.
True words were never spoken, of course. I'm talking about
Barry Morphew and his missing wife, Suzanne Morphew. We've seen
(00:27):
a lot of video of him going in and out
of the courtroom, and he's always flanked by his two
adult daughters. In the last hours, a treasure trove of
evidence has been released by the state. What is it
hundreds of documents, They are photos And what I found
(00:48):
really interesting are the photos that have been amassed from
that holiday in Express where he stayed the very same
day that his wife goes missing on Mother's Day. It
shows him changing clothes for no reason. He had a
lot of wardrobe changes that day. It shows him in
(01:10):
and out of his favorite cowboy boots. Why why did
he have to change clothes so often? Now, according to him,
he was going to a work site on Mother's Day
out of town. But yet, if the video is to
be believed, he hold up in his room at the
(01:34):
Holiday and Express for at least five hours, going in
and out changing clothes. Very very unusual, but odd circumstances
do not a murder case make? What else do we learn?
I mean it see Grace. This is Crime Stories, thank
(01:55):
you for being with us here at Fox Nation. In
series one eleven, very revealing are dozens and dozens and
dozens of text messages his missing wife is in Morphew
sent to various people, specifically her friends, describing her relationship.
How she says she is quote done, that she has
(02:19):
gone round and round with Morphew about getting out, how
he manipulates everything, getting the daughters on his side, how
he threatens to jump out of the car and kill
himself whenever they're talking about breaking up. She even reveals
and I quote he doesn't mention how he has hurt
(02:40):
me physically. We now know that there is domestic abuse
in the home. We see photos of inside the home
taken by investigators, including the bedroom door to the master
bedroom cracked, the signing of it cracked. Did he kick
the door in trying to get her? We see how
(03:05):
his cell phone his data was pinging him all around
the house, leading to the investigator's belief that he chased
her through the home, ultimately shooting her with a dark
gun to sedate her. I found very very striking that
on the day she goes out on her bike all
(03:26):
alone on Mother's Day, her two daughters are away, her
husband trumps up and out of town work trip that
didn't exist. She's all alone. I looked at many photos
of her on previous bike trips. She's a big biker.
She always has on her helmet and a pair of
(03:47):
sunglasses and her camelback, you know, with water and whatever
she would put in there. But on that day, that
day of all days, when she goes missing in her
car in plain view, her pocketbook with all of her
ID credit cards and money, her sunglasses that she goes
(04:09):
writing in, and her camelback, why is that? I mean,
I'm just telling you thoughts as they're coming to me.
You know, if I were to take this to trial,
this would all be or written out page after page
after page of state's exhibit. When I'm going to enter
it in with which witness, how I'm going to lay
the foundation for it. But guess what, we're not in court,
(04:33):
so we can talk about it freely with no objections,
and what an all star panel. I've got to break
it down and put it back together, making sense of
this treasure trove of evidence we have just received. But
before we get started with this panel, I want you
to take a Listen to Bury Morphew as he begs
for help finding his wife. Oh, Susan, if anyone is
(04:56):
out there, I could hear this that has you. Please.
We'll do whatever it takes to bring you back. We
love you, we miss you, your girls and needs muss,
no questions asked, however much they want, I will do
whatever it takes to get you back. I love you,
(05:20):
however much it takes, whatever they want. Isn't that odd?
And no one has ever sent a ransom note ever?
With me and all star panel to make sense of
what we know. First of all, high profile lawyer, former prosecutor,
author of the Executioner's Toll, Matthew Mangino joining us out
(05:40):
of Lawrence County. Doctor Sherry Schwartz, renowned psychologists specializing in
criminal behavior. As a matter of fact, that's one of
her books, Criminal Behavior, Also for law and Psychology intersected. Boy,
do we need a shrink today? Doctor Sherry, founder and
director of the Coldcase Research Institute. I met Cheryl McCollum
(06:01):
and the trenches finding crime with me, she claims about
three am. I don't know about that, but you can
find her at Coldcase Crimes Dot org. But first two
special guests joining us. Carol McKinney, Enterprise reporter with the
Denver Gazette at Denver Gazette dot com. Carol McKinley. Today
(06:22):
there is a hearing regarding change of venue of this case.
But I want to get to the facts. I'm telling
you these photos and these texts are bob shells. What
texts from Susanne Morphew jump out at you the most?
Well there are Remember, Susanne Morphew's phone was never found.
(06:44):
That's one of the things. We don't know what happened
to it. But they were able to get texts from
other people's phones. And that's what we see is the
texts that they found on the phones of her best friend,
Sheila Oliver, who she texted between March and April about
twenty times, some really really important messages before she went missing.
(07:05):
And then the text that were on Berry's phone. And
then there's an important text that was downloaded from her
eye cloud. Right. So the pivotal text, according to the prosecution,
is one she wrote on Mate six, at ten o'clock
in the morning, she was at a neighbor's house. And
this is the neighbor that eventually reported her missing. So
(07:26):
she's at the house having coffee and cookies, you know,
and she texts him that it's over. She says, we
have to resolve this civilly. He doesn't answer her to
the prosecution. That's the most important text because that when
he decides to kill her. According to the District Attorney's office, right,
(07:46):
this is the one that sets them on because she
swipes it. They're able to retrieve it from his phone,
but he swiped it. It's not visible on the phone
when they got his phone. Well, he texts back to
her at about three in the afternoon that he's sorry,
it's kind of a suicide sounding tom oh cool. Wait
(08:08):
wait him and the suicide, well, it sounds like it,
you know. To doctor Sherry Schwartz joining me forensic psychologist
at panther Mitigation dot com. Doctor Sherry, you know, I
got so much to talk to you about, but can
we talk about the fact and I went through so
much of this evidence and I'm going to circle back
(08:30):
to you, Mangino, because that's how a lot of lawyers
lose their case, because they don't take the time to
sit down, as painful as it is, and go through
page after page after document after document, because you never
know what you're going to find. I'm going to circle
back to you on that. But to you, doctor Sherry Schwartz,
(08:50):
I was reading one text where she writes about how
she's bringing up the fact that she wants to split up,
and he, as they're driving, opens up his I guess
his truck door and acts like he's gonna jump out
of it. Did he jump? No? Did he ever try
to commit suicide? No? According to prosecutors, the only person
(09:14):
he killed is her. No. What is That's master manipulation
And speaking of the word manipulation all through her text,
she talks about how he is manipulating their adult daughters,
and we see him doing it right now. They have
fall over his story hook line and sinker. But let
me first ask you, doctor Sherry Schwartz, about people that
(09:36):
threaten suicide when they're no more going to commit suicide
than the man in the moon, as an attempt to
manipulate their partner into doing what they want them to do.
That's exactly what that is, Nancy. It's master manipulation, and
it plays on the person who you're threatening that you're
going to commit suicide. It plays on their empathy, their emotions.
(10:00):
There's a way to gain control over the other person
and have them yield your wants, your wishes, your demands.
Time stories with Nancy Grace Matthew Mangino joining US former
(10:24):
district attorney in Lawrence County. Matthew, you can lose a
case if you do not study your documents. There's no
question about that, Nancy. And there's a lot of information here,
but it's all circumstantial. Please not with a circumstantial you know, Matthew,
(10:45):
where is it that you practice law in Western Pennsylvania? Okay?
Isn't it true in Western Pennsylvania? I assume that you
guys obey the US Supreme Court and in one of
their famous cases, which has been side it over and
over and over. In fact, isn't it true, Matthew Mangino
that before a jury goes out to deliberate their case,
(11:08):
after closing arguments, the judge then charges them on the
law by which they are to use, by which they
are to judge the case. And in those jury charges
which are read verbatim so as not to make any mistakes,
the judge says that circumstantial evidence is and can be
as powerful as direct evidence. Isn't that true, no question
(11:34):
about it? Man? So then yes, so when you say,
is just circumstantial evidence, right? But what we have to
think about here is what the evidence that we don't have.
We don't have a weapon, we don't have a body,
we don't have a cause of debt. What we have
is a lot of strange conduct, bizarre conduct, maybe by
(11:55):
Barry More Aphew. We have some you know, scratch is
on his hands, that certainly or something that the defense
has to be concerned about. But we also have some
DNA evidence that indicates that a known sex offense or
someone who has three sex offend, that DNA was found
(12:17):
in that person's v vehicle. Where this is important. Where's
the DNA? I believe it's on the what is the vehicle?
It's on the glove flies Okay, the gloves, the glove
box in the hood, which is highly indicative of someone
who worked on the car getting documents or whatever may
(12:43):
be in the glove compartment and opening and shutting the hood.
Very significant. However, Cheryl McCollum, I disagree with Mangino. I
just would have disagreed before I read this treasure travel
of evidence. But I really disagree. Now, knowing what we
now know, I want you to hear Cheryl McCollum our
(13:03):
cut one three five from KUSA right now. Barrymorephew, the
man charged in the death of his wife Susanne, is
still out on bond, awaiting the start of his murder
trial in May. Meanwhile, the public is now able to
see the evidence used in the preliminary hearing, pictures of
Barrymorephew at a Broomfield hotel with bags the spy pen.
Investigators say Susanne put in Barry's truck because she suspected
(13:26):
an affair, a suspicion that remains unfounded, and the tranquilizer
in darts prosecutors allege Barry shot Suzanne with before chasing
her around the house. You have fast does not show
up nearly as significantly. Nine News legal expert Scott Robinson
says actually seeing the evidence leaves an impact on potential
jurors if they've seen the photos, if they've read the texts. Texts,
(13:50):
including those from Susanne to a friend makes me wonder
what the young mee was thinking one text reads and
also Cheryl McCollum our one our cut one three six
from KUSA. I want you to hear about the zigzag
pattern that has been established by Barry Morphu's cell phone,
(14:11):
as if he's racing chasing someone around the house. It's
even timed. Listen the photographs of Barry Morphu's travels both
around the house in a kind of a zigzag manner
and his visits trash receptacles day after is pretty suspicious
all at all. It really brings home the fact that
(14:32):
this is a murder case concerning a woman who has
disappeared under very suspicious circumstances. And Robinson says that's just it,
suspicious circumstances at this point, making the evidence he believes
still balanced. After all, the prosecution has no murder weapon,
they have no motor method of murder, they have no body.
(14:53):
And as for jury selection, he says he has no
doubt the judge will see a jury, but it may
be tough. My profile cases always posed difficulty for a
judge and finding jurors. But I have to admit, over
the decades, I've been astonished how there are many people
out there that pay absolutely no attention to the news. Well,
thank god for those people. And another thing, why did
(15:14):
you believe what people on the news say. They're all
just regurgitating something else they've been told. Does anybody really
trust the news? Back to you, Cheryl McCullum, I want
you to take into account everything we're learning in this
new treasure show of evidence where you actually see the
(15:38):
door to the master bedroom cracked on one side the
previous owner stay, it wasn't like that when they sold
the house. And not only that, the cell phone the
electronic data includes him running through the bedroom and there's
(15:59):
ann shell tasting on her side of the bed. Why
is that there? Why is the door kicked in apparently,
and then backed up by the data showing him running
through the house after her. But what is striking you that,
my Cheryl McCollums. There are so many things that jump
(16:21):
out at me, Nancy, but I think for me, there's
two things that go kind of together. It's the data
that they've pulled from his truck along with the videotapes
that show him dumping trash at five different locations. So
if he had a bunch of trash in his truck,
then he didn't want to take to the dump and
have to pay the dispose of it. He would have
(16:42):
gone to one dumpster and thrown it all in there.
He wouldn't have gone out of his way and gone
to the hotel, a McDonald's, a men's warehouse, then to
another dumpster at the hotel. That makes no sense to
put that much for you. If you look at all
those photos, struck is still filthy and full of trash,
(17:03):
so e's not clear it struck out and you know
it brings to mind, Cheryl McCollum, it brings to mine,
and get a load of this Mangino. I don't know
if you remember Fotus Dulos, the husband of the missing
Connecticut mom of five, Jennifer Dulos. He and his girlfriend
(17:24):
go all over town and they're caught on camera throwing
out handful after handful after handful of evidence, sticking it
down the drains, the sewers, drains, the runoff water drains,
on the hot on the streets, and the cops go
(17:46):
back and what do they find. Bloody clothes, rags, sponges,
the blood matching up to the missing mom, Jennifer Dulos.
And here we the same thing as Cheryl McCollum's pointing out,
Barry more for you, going from dump to dump to
(18:07):
receptacle to receptacle that night, throwing out trash go ahead,
Cheryl McCollum. Well, the other thing is the data from
the truck. He was not counting on that he had
enough wherewithal to put his cell phone on airplane mode.
He wasn't thinking about that computer. When was the last
time you put your cell phone on airplane mode? When
(18:28):
I was actually on an airplane because they made me, okay,
you know the last time I put my phone on
airplane mode? When you and I Cheryl McCollum, and you
Medea here in the studio with me, or in Aruba,
was Atlie Halloway's mother, retracing our steps to figure out what,
if anything we could learn. That was the last time
(18:49):
I had my phone on airplane mode? That's the one
were coming back from Aruba. Absolutely, but you know he
on airplane mode? What about that, Mangino, When do you
put don't lie, Mangino, when do you put your phone
on airplane mode? Tell me, as God as your witness,
(19:09):
Matthew Mangino, the last time you had your phone on
airplane mode on an airplane? Talent Mangino, And you know
everybody on that jury is gonna say the same thing, like,
for instance, at night, I don't want the phone to
wake up my husband or my children, but don't want
to keep it on so I can see if some
crazy thing happens, if somebody texts me, I put it
(19:30):
on silent. I'm put it on airplane mode. You know it, Mangino.
If I was a the face attorney in this case,
I would be looking at a play deal history. No,
his history with the sun. Maybe he puts his phone
on airplane mode all the time. We want to know that.
Oh you know what, I'm so glad you said that, Mangino.
(19:50):
I have the prosecution is listening pass out on care
on mccanley. They need to say how often he has
put his phone on airplane were you what were you
about to say? Carol? Do you know how good these
defense attorneys are who he's hired. These defense attorneys are
two of the top women in the state. It's not
(20:12):
the region. Did you hear what I just said, Carol?
To pass on to the prosecution to find out how
often and the pattern of if there is one of
Morphew putting his phone on airplane mode, because I bet
you he did not do it. If at all before
(20:34):
that day, that Mother's day Time stories with Nancy Grace,
(20:55):
Cheryl McCall him, how many times have I been told,
right in my face? Oh, these defense attorneys are good.
Oh they're really good. Oh yeah, you're just gonna toss
the case and not try it. What about it, Sheryl? Try? Well,
not just that, Nacy know well them thinks. I don't
care how good they are. They can't undo. There's certain
veils you can't unwring, and one of them is when
(21:17):
he lies. He tells law enforcement that he went to
bed at eight o'clock, but yet the data from his
truck shows that he put that car in reverse at
nine thirty and moved at ninety six feet closer to
the house. Well, that's not a leap to think that's
what he unstably loading up her body. I'm sorry, who's
that talking in the background, Carol? Okay, go ahead, Carol. Yeah.
(21:39):
But but you don't know. But that's important though, Cheryl.
But you know that you don't know who put that
truck in reverse, because because all you have is that
that barrel of data, you don't know who did it.
And that's what the defense is going to argue you
stop playing corrects up that morning, Matthew Mangino, you're the
bad one trial wayer. I only wish I can only
(22:00):
pray I was sitting my seat and pray. The defense
trying to jump up and say what Carol McKinley just
said that some other person came to where the car
was parked, destrut was parked and moved it in the
middle of the night for no reason. No theft wasn't stolen,
(22:22):
no break in. That would be so wonderful. As the
defense tried to throw up that argument, McKenley just gave well,
I mean, I think there are arguments that the defense
can make. I mean, you've got to be very glad
on you one of them. Brother. You got to be
conscious about you know, what you're going to use and
necessarily what you're like going to use. But the other
(22:42):
thing I say at this point, Nancy is not so
fast when when we moved to condemned Barry Morphy or
to convict him, I mean, we know that the judge
after a four gates wominary hearing, wasn't real impressed with
the prosecution's case. And you know, as across the U
in all of your experience. You know that they had
(23:03):
an affidavit about one hundred and thirty pages in this case.
What that tells me is that they're really trying to
put something together that might not be there. Um. You know,
if I have a homicide case as a prosecutor, my
HALFI David, is going to be as brief as it
can possibly be. It's I've never seen one hundred and
thirty page affidavit. So well, there's some really interesting evidence here,
(23:26):
you know, some really bizarre conduct, strange conduct. You know,
there's some key pieces missing here. This is my combody.
So you want me to give him a gold star
because he managed to get rid of the body? I mean,
you know, Karen McKinley, Enterprise reporter joining us from the
Denver Gazette, could you tell me about the various dumpsters
(23:47):
and trash receptacles. Barry Morphy went to the very same evening,
Susanne Morphy guys missing, Yeah, I can. He went to
It's odd that he decided to go to Broomfield, Colorado.
That ball about three hours to the north near Denver.
Right there was you had to have a permit to
work on a Sunday in Broomfield. Apparently there was a
(24:09):
landscaping wall he had he had had a problem with.
He told the people he'd fixed it, but the job
wasn't until that Monday for some reason. He left early
in morning on Sunday, got up there about eight and
started dumping trash in different receptacles. There were five trash dumps,
(24:31):
that's what the FBI agent on the stand called it,
the five dumps. One of them in particular, was next
to him McDonald and what he did, and we saw it.
He got out of his car, there are still photos
of this from surveillance and pushed something way down into
the trash can, Like he didn't just throw it on
the top, He actually pushed it down. The prosecution thinks
(24:54):
that was the cell phone because it was small. But
then there were some other dumps. In one he had
some hiking boots. I think he had a planter that
had a tree in it, like a landscaping tree, like
a fir tree or something, so it was large. And
then there were three other stuffs, but they weren't sure
(25:15):
they were dumps because they weren't kind of right next
to a dumpster. But the other good surveillance video is
in the hotel which was a holiday in Express where
he went got in there in the eight o'clock hour
Sunday morning, and his scene walking up and down the
halls with different things in his hands. The first run
(25:38):
on that hotel surveillance video shows some clothing in his arms,
something that's kind of a blue color. I was at
the preliminary hearing, and during that hearing, the FBA agent
was questioned about a blue shirt. Well, she was wearing
a turquoise top to ride her bike a lot. She
(25:58):
wore that she wore this turfuoise top that matched her helmet.
The defense attorney stood up and said, you don't know
that's the shirt, and so they had to say items
of clothing. Those pictures are going to be important because
you wonder what was he bringing into that hotel room
and what did he take out, and why did he
leave so many times? Or why did he change clothes
(26:20):
as he was making those runs to the trash dumps
Another unusual circumstance. Carol McKinley is bringing up his many
many wardrobe changes. Hey, Nancy, can I jump in? Do
you remember when Scott Peterson put himself at the marina
because he said he went fishing. More few tells police
(26:40):
he took a left out of his driveway instead of
a right, which he would normally take to go to
this site to get to the highway. He went left
a mile down that road. To the left is where
her bike helmet was found. So again he puts himself
where a key piece of evidence is found. The bike
helmet is nowhere near the bike. The bike looks obviously
(27:01):
stays down that little ravine like it's just tossed over
and slid down and started resting on rocks. She ain't
found in the bottom. But again he's putting himself, in
my opinion, somewhere very key. That looks very damaging. Gosh,
I hardly even know which way to turn. There's just
so much and as Matthew me and Jane rightly points out,
(27:24):
so much circumstantial evidence. Let me ask you this, Carol
McKinley joining us from the Denver Gazette. Did he have
a permit to work in Broomfield on Sunday? We don't
know that, I bet has not been brought up, but
that's a great question. He did not work really on Sunday.
(27:45):
The job wasn't supposed to start till Monday, and his
workers didn't show up till that afternoon. You mean they
showed up on Sunday or Monday. On Sunday after he
asked them to come because he got the call from
the neighbors that she was missing. Wait a minute, wait, wait,
who got what call from the neighbors. Well, the daughters
(28:07):
were on a camping trip that weekend, so four Mothers Day,
they weren't home. They were on a camping trip, both
of them. Who got the call from the neighbors, that's
the question. The Ritters, Jean and Martin Ritter, are the
nearest neighbors to the Morphy's right. They live in a
really really remote area of Colorado near Salida, Colorado, which
is about two and a half hours. Okay, again, very
(28:29):
very simple. You said he got the call from the
neighbors that she was missing. Who are you talking and
called him? The Ritters called Barry Morphee. Correct, at about
five o'clock on Sunday. He was supposedly at the landscaping wall.
They called him and he told them to call nine
(28:51):
one one, So they called nine one one. It was
the daughters who asked the Ritters to check up on
the house because Susanne Morphy wasn't answering their happy Mother's
Day phone calls. I want to circle back to what
we are learning. You mentioned in one of his trips
to dump sites, you mentioned hiking boots. What can you
(29:13):
tell me about the hiking boots, Carol McKinley, Just that
he brought him into the hotel room. You can see
it on the hotel surveillance, and then you see him
walking out to a dumpster with hiking boots in his hand.
Why would he throw away his boots? Start to Sherry Schwartz.
You know how long I've had my cowboy boots, my
(29:34):
favorite pair. I guess, let's see, maybe twenty five years,
and I had to be talked out of wearing them
down the aisle. So why is he throwing away his boots,
Doctor Sherry? Of all things, well, that's not a good look,
especially if those boots weren't falling apart at the seams. Right. So,
(29:56):
if you're throwing away hiking boots in the wake of
your wife going missing, then that suggests that you have
some reason to need to get rid of those boots. Right.
There could be blood on them. I'm speculating there's no evidence.
There were blood on the there was blood on the boots.
Because they're gone crime stories with Nancy Grace, I want
(30:34):
you guys to listen to more of what we're learning,
and then I want to circle back to you Cheryl
McCallum on where the helmet, her helmet was found as
opposed to where the bike is, as opposed to where
their home is, and the coincidence Barry Morphew's car data
and pains showing him where the bike where the helmet
(30:59):
was discard arted about a mile away. But first take
a listen to our cut one three seven our friends
at KUSA. For the first time, we're able to see
some of the evidence that led to the arrest of
Barry Morphew. This is the man accused of killing his
wife in Chaffee County. Susanne Morphew has been missing since
Mother's Day of twenty twenty. A. George A judge excuse me,
(31:21):
has ordered the release of some of the evidence. This
includes photos of Barry's hands which appear to have scratch marks.
Prosecutors say this may be from Susanne trying to defend herself.
The defense said scratches came from tree branches while he
was looking for his wife. Prosecutors also believed Morphew may
have used a tranquilizer dart, and they found a needle
sheaf in the dryer at the Morphu's home. Investigators say
(31:42):
it fits a needle used to inject sirium into a dart.
Barry told investigators he's not sure how it got there.
There are also text messages between Susanne and Barry, as
well as Susanne and a different man she was having
an affair with, and also a portion of our cut
one three eight KUSA. New documents from the Very Morphew
case reveal at least ten friends and family members of
(32:05):
his missing wife filed protective orders against him. So why
is it ten friends and family members off Susanne Morpheus
have file protective orders against him? And isn't it true
to use Cheryl McCullum that in her text messages to
her friends Sheilla she stated that her own daughter said that, Mom,
(32:30):
you need to file a protection order against dad. You
know she had some concerned obviously, she even mentioned to
her sister that he was emotionally and physically abusive, So
we know there were you know, incidents. Is a violence
in the home prior to her going missing, and then
there's other things he does, and then see that you
(32:50):
know again is the totality of it. It's not one
thing that's going to make you think there's a homicide
if you take everything together. When he tells the police,
he said the alarm for four thirties till he could
leave by five, But then his truck shows that he
was leaving at three thirty. I mean, that's an not
a mistake you would make if you've got up at
three o'clock in the moat in a morning as opposed
(33:11):
to four to thirty. That's all the difference in the world.
And then he makes all those scots where he's getting
rid of things. Then he's got the spy pen that
captures her affair, not his. The chipmunk chasing what everybody
in the world knows. You ain't gonna be able to
chase no chipmunk. They're gonna be able to outrun you,
out zigzag you. And if you're trying to shoot an animal,
you stand still. So everything he says is this suspect.
(33:34):
When he's the one that entertains the idea that she
was attacked by a mountain line, even though there's zero evidence.
There's no blood, there's no animal hair, and there's no
body of Suzanne Moorephew, that's been ravaged by a mountline.
Like none of it makes any sense too, you, Cheryl McKinley.
Regarding the location of the helmet, the helmet, my understanding
(33:59):
is about a mile away from where the bike was found.
That's right. It was actually point eight Nancy. I had
to look that up the other day. But very morphew
when he made that left, Cheryl, and you're exactly right.
He was going to go to Broomfield, Colorado, but to
go to Broomfield yet to take a right, taking a left,
(34:21):
take ship further into the mountains. And what he said
was that he saw a bunch of elk crossing and
he wanted to make a note of where that was
because he's a hunter. That's that's why he said he
went to that location and made a U turn because
he realized, oh, I got to get back up to
Broomfield and go to work. And how close were his
meanderings to where her helmet was found? Well, it was
(34:43):
her helmet was found as if it was thrown off
the highway, right is that the highway he was driving
the highways right there, Yeah, the highways right there in
the slope of the mountain is on the side of
the highway. And the helmet is pretty far off the highway,
but could have thrown it, you know, it's not like
way way up in a remote area. But he made
(35:05):
a U turn, he said. And and it's right next
to where the helmet was found, because there's a mine
up there. There's an old There are mines all through
those mountains, and there's a mine. And they talked about
the mine, and he made a U turn at the
mine and then went on his way to go to
work that Frinday morning, Mother's Day. So Matthew and Gino,
let's take a look at what Carol McKinley is telling
(35:27):
us from the Denver Gazette by his own words and
of course caught by cell phone and car data. He
goes that morning of all mornings, and chases down some elk,
according to him, three thirty in the morning, and then
(35:48):
he does a ue right where the helmet would have
been thrown, his missing wife's helmet. Well, he would have
a lot of blaming to do, you know, these actions
by him are unusual, they're they're bizarre, they're they're strange,
(36:09):
they don't seem to add up. But here's the thing
that we all know. He doesn't have to explain anything.
The prosecution has to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
And then that's where I think the prosecution is not
going to have an easy time of it. I mean,
let's let's go back to the to the moving around,
to the dumpsters. You know, if I was defending this case, yeah,
(36:32):
he dropped things in five different dumpsters. I know there
was a year between her going missing and him being arrested.
But what did you find that You didn't find anything
in dumpsters? You didn't find anything, uh, you know in
the landfill if you went there and checked. I mean, so, yeah,
we have all this moving around, but we have nothing
(36:53):
to show for it. We have bizarre conduct, but we
have nothing to show for it. So well, I agree
that there's a explaining to do. The prosecution has the
responsibility of explaining what happened to the jury. I don't
have any problem without In fact, I would welcome that
it is the duty of the state to prove the
(37:14):
case beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond a mathematical certainty,
such as two and two equals four, but to the
point where the jury believes that that is what happened.
That Barrymorephew murdered his wife because she, Susanne Moorephew, was
leaving him, as she said in her text to her
(37:36):
friend just before she went missing. Yes, no, Carol McKinley
joining us from the Denver Gazette. Is it true that
Barrymorephew that morning was calling and gathering up a construction
(37:57):
crew on his way as he drove along. Is that correct?
You know, I don't remember if it was on his
way to Broomfield. What do you know, Cheryl McCollum. Yeah,
I don't know that either. About Hey, what I do know, Nancy?
Law enforcement has done one hundred and thirty five churches,
and they've talked over four hundred people, and no other
(38:19):
suspect has material life. Well, of course I take great
heart in that, Cheryl McCollum. But proving a murder case
is not process of elimination. But I will tell you this.
She says just before she dies, that she is not
safe alone with her husband, Barry Morphew. She says that
(38:46):
he is a master of manipulation that he can get
his own daughters to believe him over her. I have
very rarely actually rephrase, I have never seen Cheryl McCollum
a case where there is domestic violence where the man
(39:09):
is beating and threatening the woman as she refers to
him Jacqueline Hyde, where the woman is then killed, and
it was anybody other than the abuser? Have you absolutely not?
So you would have me believe Matthew Mangino that after
(39:33):
a long period of physical abuse, coincidentally on a day
when the two girls were away on a hiking trip,
a camping trip, on significantly Mother's Day, he hastily puts
together a crew that morning leaves at three thirty in
the morning that that day, of all days, an unknown
(39:57):
individual it takes is in Morphew and not her abees
or the last one known to be with her. Is
that your theory? Somebody else did it? Well? I mean,
if I'm representing Barry Morphew, it is my theory. And
this is erosion. You know, that's a lot of you know,
(40:20):
damning circumstantial weapon. But but but I would add that,
as we said earlier, you know, they interviewed one hundred
and thirty five or than one hundred and thirty five
search warrants or or you know, I don't know how
many volumes of pages of interviews. We don't have any
blood in the house. We don't have any physical evidence
(40:43):
in his vehicle or any place else that implicates him.
I mean those things, well, that's you know, the police
work was really intense and involved other than the dart
gun evidence in the dryer. Yeah, okay, at dart gun,
you know, but where's the weapons, where's her blood, where's
her where's that you know she's going? Well, we don't
(41:07):
know that. And isn't it true that Mallory informs her
father they could not find their mom? Mary Moore few
speaks to a neighbor asked him to check on Suzanne.
He I guess is a clairvoyant, because he asked the
neighbor to see if the mountain bike is at the house.
They find no sign of her or bike. He asked
(41:29):
them to call police, and instead of heading home immediately,
he drops off a shovel and other tools at a
hotel where he had booked rooms for them and himself,
and then around six pm he begins to drive home.
Is that true? Is that true, Cheryl, that's true. And Nancy,
(41:51):
I want to point out one more thing. Sometimes, you know,
you have to look at what the person does. Sometimes
what they don't do is also very telling. Here it's
some mother's day. He doesn't stay home an extra hour
or two and make her breakfast and bring her some flowers.
He doesn't even call her during that day to say
happy Mother's Day. That to me is oh, yeah, very hell.
(42:13):
He texted her that morning. No, no called her, calls herkner.
He does not call her, which is what somebody would
do to say, Hey, you know, I just want to
tell you I appreciate those two lovely daughters you've given us.
Happy Mother's Day. I'll be home at six, let's go
to dinner. He doesn't do that. What did the text say,
(42:34):
Carrol Mhinley, He just I don't know exactly, but it
was a happy Mother's Day text and it was early
in the morning on his way to Broomfield. He texted
his mom and he texted Suzanne at around the same time,
but then he texted her throughout the day. Cheryl, that
didn't mean to interrupt you there. I'm sorry, No, you're fine,
and I supportant for people to know. I was just
saying he didn't make a future plan with her about dinner.
(42:57):
He didn't do something overtly for her on that day
to market. A text message is a completely different form
of communication. Yeah. True, he did text her throughout the
day saying how are you, Where are you? You know
she never responded. That's like that, and she never responded
to him, right right, exactly, We wait as justice un falls.
(43:22):
Nancy Grace comes story, signing off goodbye friend.
Host
Nancy Grace
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