Among the items found near the remains of slain Colorado mother Suzanne Morphew was “a weathered bullet,” but it’s not at all clear if the single piece of ammunition was connected with the murder.
Morphew, 52, disappeared on Mother’s Day 2020, after allegedly heading out for a bike ride in Chaffee County, as CrimeOnline reported. Her bike was later found down a steep ravine nearby with no signs of blood or extraordinary damage. Her husband, Barry Morphew, said he believed she was abducted.
But the investigation revealed that their marriage was in trouble and that both had apparently had affairs. Barry Morphew was eventually charged with his wife’s murder, but the charges were later dropped without prejudice, meaning they can be reinstated if evidence warrants.
Morphew, Suzanne No 23-1011 by Jacquelyn Gray
The autopsy on Suzanne Morphew’s remains was completed last month, and medical examiner’s determined that she was murdered and that she had animal tranquilizer in her system at the time she died. Investigators found a needle cap used with a tranquilizer gun in Barry Morphew’s dryer.
According to the autopsy report, three large paper bags containing bones, seven brown paper bags containing clothing, and seven envelopes containing other items were submitted for examination.
The bones found included a skull with mandible, sacrum, several ribs, a scapula, clavicle, right and left femura, tibiae, and fibulae, and several vertebrae. No soft tissue was present.
One envelope contained a medical port that was identified as belonging to Morphew, who was in remission from leukemia treatment.
The clothing in the brown paper bags — a balaclava, a leather work glove, a partial padded bra, a ripped “Crested Butte” hooded sweatshirt, a torn Nike tank top, Yeti shorts, and a fragment of fabric — remained in the custody of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, as did the other six envelopes, including the one that contained the “weathered bullet.”
There was no indication from any of the remains examined of a bullet wound.
The other five envelopes contained fabric fragments.
The coroner’s office was later given two other containers of “possible bones,” but those items “appear to have contained probable rocks.”
After examination by the doctors, all the items were returned to the coroner’s office and then back to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
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[Featured image: Suzanne Morphew/Facebook]
