Colorado dad charged with murdering wife found her texts with lover, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors say infidelity may have played a role in the 2020 disappearance of 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew, as her husband faces trial for her murder. ABC News’ Megan Tevrizian has the details.Suzanne and Barry Morphew's marriage was at the center of testimony during the second day of the 53-year-old father's preliminary hearing in Salida, Colorado, Tuesday. Prosecutors said that the couple was feuding two days before Suzanne, a 49-year-old mother of two, went missing.
Investigators say they were paying close attention to Barry Morphew’s statements early on. He told law enforcement that he left for work that Mother’s Day morning at 5 a.m. But the arrest affidavit states that based on Barry Morphew's Telematics report on his truck, law enforcement alleges"from 2:47 p.m. May 9 until 5:37 a.m. May 10, he took steps to dispose of evidence of Suzanne’s disappearance and death.
At one of the sites, prosecutors said, Morphew can be seen carrying a camouflage jacket and an empty tree or bush container to a dumpster. At another, authorities said he's seen pushing trash into a bin with both hands. When investigators asked him what he was throwing out, he said that at one of the trash sites, he was getting rid of wrappers, according to prosecutors. At other times, they said he told them he couldn't remember what he threw out.
Authorities say in early interviews, Barry Morphew told police Suzanne Morphew was his “angel” since she was 17 years old -- that they’d been together for 32 years and said they “love each other to death.” The temperatures that day were barely above freezing. Authorities said they found her undamaged turquoise helmet a few days later, nearly a mile away from the bike.
Harris said Morphew and Libler had been carrying on an affair for one and a half to two years and had amassed hundreds of hours of secret phone calls, WhatsApp and Linkedin communications.Libler, a married father of six, did not come forward voluntarily after her disappearance, Harris said. Investigators did not interview him until November 2020, six months after Suzanne Morphew went missing.