Barry Morphew murder case file released; reveals sparring between defense, prosecutors

He is expected to stand trial in May 2022

A Colorado judge publicly released the entire case file for Barry Morphew on Monday, which details the back-and-forth between prosecutors and defense lawyers over multiple issues, months before he is scheduled to stand trial for the disappearance of his wife. 

Morphew appeared in court Tuesday for a pre-trial hearing where a number of issues were likely to be discussed. The hundreds of pages of court documents outline a series of motions made by Chaffee County prosecutors and defense lawyers dating back to earlier this year.

Included was a list of hundreds of potential witnesses for Morphew's upcoming trial. The first two names that appear are Macy and Mallory Morphew, the daughters of Barry and Suzanne Morphew. Other names include officials with the local law enforcement, the FBI, Google, Facebook Security, and credit reporting companies. 

COLORADO JUDGE ALLOWS BARRY MORPHEW TO CONTINUE LIVING NEAR MARITAL HOME DESPITE GPS TRACKING ISSUES 

Barry and Suzanne Morphew. A Colorado judge on Monday released hundreds of pages containing the case file for Barry Morphew. (AP )

Four weeks have been set aside for the legal proceeding but defense lawyers have asked for an additional week so jurors can listen to dozens of hours of police interviews with Morphew. 

Morphew was arrested in May and is charged with first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, and other crimes in connection with the presumed death of Suzanne Morphew, who disappeared on Mother's Day 2020. 

Her body has not been found. Morphew has maintained his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. 

His attorneys requested limited media coverage of the case, according to the documents, which also show motions between prosecutors and the defense over DNA collected from the glove box of Suzanne Morphew's vehicle. 

The sample came through a database as a partial match for "single or multiple individuals across the country involved in sexual assault cases," defense attorneys wrote in an August letter. They said the sample belongs to a sex offender living in Arizona. 

The prosecution knew about the DNA results long before they informed the defense, Morphew's lawyers argued in the court documents. 

In this still image from video, Barry Morphew, center, appears in court in Salida, Colo., on May 6. On Monday, he was seen leaving a jail with his two daughters by his side. (KUSA via AP, Pool) (KUSA via AP, Pool)

Barry Morphew was released from the Chaffee County jail in September on a $500,000 bond. He was seen leaving the facility with his two daughters. 

In another motion, prosecutors requested a judge order Morphew to leave the residence of a couple who took him in after posting bond over concerns about him living near two potential witnesses he is not allowed to have contact with. 

In October, a judge ruled that he could live in an Airbnb rental home in the same neighborhood where he and his wife once resided, despite issues with his GPS monitoring reception in the area. He can continue living there as long as he reports to a nearby town so his GPS data can be downloaded. 

The defense has also requested limits on pre-trial publicity and possible sanctions against Linda Stanley, District Attorney for the 11th Judicial District, for giving media interviews. 

The defense also claimed that prosecutors have not given them access to evidence such as forensic images of Morphew's cell phone and recordings from a spy pen. 

Barry Morphew is charged with murdering his wife, Suzanne, though her body has still yet to be found.  (Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy of Suzanne Morphew's Family)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Investigators said that Suzanne Morphew planned to leave her husband and allegedly texted him days before she vanished that she was "done, let’s handle this civilly," according to an arrest affidavit. 

The affidavit said Barry Morphew refused to take a polygraph in the days after his wife vanished. He is expected to stand trial in May 2022. 

Load more..