A Colorado judge in Chaffee County released court documents Monday in connection with the disappearance and presumed murder of Suzanne Morphew.
The newly-released documents show hundreds of witnesses who have been listed in the case, including Barry and Suzanne Morphew’s two daughters, as well as Jeff Libler, a man identified as Suzanne’s high school friend who she began secretly dating after she moved to Colorado with her husband in 2018.
Court documents also indicate that at least 10 of Suzanne Morphew’s friends and loved ones filed a restraining order against Barry Morphew after Suzanne disappeared. Two of her close friends said they felt unsafe after Suzanne confided in them about her failed marriage with Morphew.
Suzanne’s brother and sisters also filed a restraining order against Morphew, as well as one of his employees.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Morphew is currently facing first-degree murder charges for the death of his wife, Suzanne, who has been missing since May 2020. Police arrested Morphew a year later in May 2021, but he subsequently made bail in September.
Also in September, Judge Patrick Murphy announced that the murder case will go to trial.
The recently-released court documents reveal that Morphew didn’t want to take a polygraph test, allegedly claiming that not only were the results unreliable but also inadmissible in court.
There was also a discrepancy over DNA found in Suzanne’s vehicle, according to the documents. Morphew’s defense team argued that the DNA belonged to a man convicted of sexual assault in other states.
The defense team added that the prosecution knew about the possible DNA evidence link, along with other pieces of evidence in the case, such as forensic images, but never shared the findings. The prosecution said the evidence was turned over to a forensics team.
In October, Morphew’s defense team filed an “intent to sue” law enforcement and the prosecution. The defense claimed that Morphew would have been cleared had all evidence been shared.
The defense is now pushing to get the case dismissed against Morphew based on “discovery and pretrial publicity issues,” The Denver Gazette reports.
Read the full documents below.
Read CrimeOnline’s complete coverage of the Suzanne Morphew disappearance and murder investigation here.
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[Feature Photo: Barry and Suzanne Morphew/Facebook]
