Unsealed court documents in Suzanne Morphew disappearance case detail affair, marital issues

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Details from newly released court documents in the Suzanne Morphew disappearance case shed light on her apparent rocky marriage with Barry Morphew.

Suzanne went missing on Mother's Day 2020. Her body has never been found.

Her husband, Barry, was subsequently charged with her murder. However, the case against him was dismissed without prejudice in April 2022.

Ahead of the dismissal, 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley filed a motion to introduce text messages from Suzanne as evidence in the case in March 2022.

Barry's defense attorney, Iris Eytan, filed a motion, requesting the court to limit public access to the evidence and seal the documents.

“The reason that an inflammatory, inadmissible document should not be accessible to the public is that this close to trial when juror summons, have already gone out, there is a substantial risk of tainting the jury pool,” the motion stated.

Stanley didn’t object, so the documents were sealed. At least eight other court documents were also sealed during proceedings, including jury questionnaires, a motion to prevent jury tampering due to the protests outside the courthouse, and multiple exhibits in the case.

Nearly a year after the case was dismissed without prejudice, 11th Judicial District Court Judge Amanda Hunter denied the motions to limit public access, unsealing the documents.

“While it may be legally possible for Mr. Morphew to be tried in this matter, whether and when he will be tried is a matter of speculation,” Hunter said in her court order. “The arguments advanced by Mr. Morphew that relate to the proximity of trial and the ability to impanel a jury are significantly weakened by the dismissal of charges.”

After a hearing Monday, some of the documents were released to the public.

One of the documents details the rocky relationship between Suzanne and Barry leading up to her disappearance, despite Barry adamantly denying any relationship or marital issues.

He told investigators, on the day the last time anyone heard from Suzanne, that the two had a “wonderful” evening together, “eating steaks, having sex, and going to bed early,” according to one of the prosecution’s unsealed court documents.

However, text messages from Suzanne to friends and her apparent lover depict a deteriorating relationship between the married couple. In fact, during the night when Barry said they had a wonderful evening, Suzanne was messaging Jeff Libler, who she was allegedly having an affair with.

“You’re the only real love I’ve known…the only love I want,” she told Libler through a message on LinkedIn.

In messages with her sister, Suzanne said Barry was abusive.

“It’s been hard dealing with the harsh abrasiveness and having to show respect,” Suzanne texted her sister. “He’s also been abusive, emotionally and physically. There’s so much. Hard to share it all and give you a clear picture.”

"These text messages are very damning and it just continues to raise questions as to why the prosecution decided to dismiss the case," said Jeremy Loew, a Colorado Springs defense attorney.

Just days before she disappeared, Suzanne texted Barry, “I’m done. I could care less what you’re up to and have been for years. We need to figure this out civilly.”

“These statements show that the victim had withdrawn from the Defendant for many months. That she was in love with another person, and therefore was not in love with her husband,” the prosecution stated in a court document.

The murder case against Barry Morphew was dismissed by the 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley without prejudice, meaning he would be tried again in the case. However, Morphew is trying to get a judge to dismiss the case with prejudice so he can avoid ever being prosecuted again.

Loew said while the release of these once sealed documents doesn't have a direct impact on the case itself, it could affect the dismissal of the case.

"The prosecution and law enforcement is essentially saying, 'Wait, hold up here. We still think this is the guy who did it. We don't think that you should be dismissing this case with prejudice. And, oh, by the way, here's some of the evidence that you and the public doesn't know about,'" Loew said.

During Monday’s hearing, 11th Judicial Deputy District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said investigators suspect they know where Suzanne Morphew’s body is located, according to the Denver Gazette.

"I think they're grasping at straws right now," Loew said. "If they know where the body is, go get the body for playing games."

Eytan, Morphew’s defense attorney, declined an interview but said the fact that the prosecution “now claims that it could be quick or take years to find Suzanne and that it could be Barry or someone else --- highlight the misconduct committed here and the lack of evidence they had when Barry was arrested and confined.”

13 Investigates reached out to Stanley for comment but we didn’t hear back.