Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - DAMNING TEXTS: Suzanne Morphew Speaks from Beyond The Grave

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

Chaffee County Judge Ramsey Lama orders the release of several pieces of evidence from Barry Morphew's preliminary hearing. Included in this material are various texts, sent by missing mom Suzanne Morphew to her husband, her lover, her sister, and her best friend, that put their marriage into context. In the texts, Suzanne confides that she is scared to be alone with her husband and that he is a master manipulator who uses their children as a tool to hurt her. Also in the released documents are photos of Barry Morphew's guns, scratches on his body, and surveillance images from inside and outside the Broomfield hotel the husband was staying the day Suzanne went missing. Barry Morphew is facing multiple charges including first-degree murder.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Matthew Mangino - Attorney, Former District Attorney, Author: "The Executioner's Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States"  Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy), www.panthermitigation.com, Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrialDoc, Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect" Sheryl McCollum - Forensic Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips Carol McKinley - Enterprise Reporter, The Denver Gazette, DenverGazette.com, Twitter: @CarolAMcKinley Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Well, the plot is thickening. True words were never spoken. Of course, I'm talking about Barry Morphew and his missing wife, Suzanne Morphew. We've seen a lot of video of him going in and out of the courtroom, and he's always flanked by his two adult daughters. In the last hours, a treasure trove of evidence has been released by the state. What is it? Hundreds of documents. They are photos. And what I found really interesting are the photos that have been amassed from that Holiday Inn Express where he stayed the very same day that his wife goes missing on Mother's Day.

It shows him changing clothes for no reason. He had a lot of wardrobe changes that day. It shows him in and out of his favorite cowboy boots. Why? Why did he have to change clothes so often? Now, according to him, he was going to a work site on Mother's Day out of town. But yet, if the video is to be believed, he holed up in his room at the Holiday Inn Express for at least five hours going in and out, changing clothes.

Very, very unusual, but odd circumstances do not a murder case make. What else do we learn? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Very revealing are dozens and dozens and dozens of text messages his missing wife, Suzanne Morphew, sent to various people, specifically her friends, describing her relationship, how she says she is, quote, done, that she has gone round and round with more few about getting out, how he manipulates everything, getting the daughters on his side, how he threatens to jump out of the car and kill himself whenever they're talking about breaking up. She even reveals, and I quote, he doesn't mention how he has hurt me physically.

We now know that there is domestic abuse in the home. We see photos of inside the home taken by investigators, including the bedroom door to the master bedroom cracked. The siding of it cracked. Did he kick the door in trying to get her? We see how his cell phone, his data was pinging him all around the house, leading to the investigator's belief that he chased her through the home, ultimately shooting her with a dark gun to sedate her. I found very, very striking that on the day she goes out on her bike, all alone on Mother's Day, her two daughters are away. Her husband trumps up an out-of-town work trip that didn't exist. She's all alone. I looked at many photos of her on previous bike trips.

She was a big biker. She always has on her helmet and a pair of sunglasses and a camelback, you know, with water and whatever she would put in there. But on that day, that day of all days, when she goes missing, in her car in plain view, her pocketbook with all of her ID, credit cards, money, her sunglasses that she goes riding in, and her camelback. Why is that? I mean, I'm just telling you thoughts as they're coming to me. You know, if I were to take this to trial, this would all be a written out page after page after page of state's exhibit, when I'm going to enter it in, with which

witness, how I'm going to lay the foundation for it. But guess what? We're not in court. So we can talk about it freely with no objections. And what an all-star panel I've got to break it down and put it back together, making sense of this treasure trove of evidence we've just received. But before we get started with this panel, I want you to take a listen to Barry Morphew

as he begs for help finding his wife. Oh, Suzanne, if anyone is out there that can hear this, that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back. We love you. We miss you. Your girls need you. No questions asked. However much they want, I will do whatever it takes to get you back.

Suzanne, I love you, and I want you back so bad. However much it takes, whatever they want, isn't that odd that no one has ever sent a ransom note? Ever. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know. First of all, high-profile lawyer, former prosecutor, author of The Executioner's Toll, Matthew Mangino, joining us out of Lawrence County. Dr. Sherry Schwartz, renowned psychologist specializing in criminal behavior. As a matter of fact, that's one of her books, Criminal Behavior. Also, where law and psychology intersect.

And boy, do we need a shrink today, Dr. Sherry. Founder and director of the Cold Case Research Institute. I met Cheryl McCollum in the trenches, finding crime with me. She claims about 3 a.m. I don't know about that, but you can find her at coldcasecrimes.org. But first, to special guests joining us,

Carol McKinney, enterprise reporter with the Denver Gazette at denvergazette.com. Carol McKinley, Today, there is a hearing regarding change of venue of this case, but I want to get to the facts. I'm telling you, these photos and these texts are bombshells. What texts from Suzanne Morphew jump out at you the most? Well, there are, remember Suzanne Morphew's phone was never found. That's one of the things, we don't know what happened to it. But they were able to get texts from other people's phones. And that's what we see is the texts that they found on the phones of her best friend Sheila Oliver,

who she texted between March and April about 20 times, some really, really important messages before she went missing, and then the texts that were on Barry's phone. And then there's an important text that was downloaded from her iCloud, right? So the pivotal text, according to the prosecution, is one she wrote on May 6th at 10 o'clock in the morning. She was at a neighbor's house and this is the neighbor that eventually reported her missing. So she's at the house having coffee and cookies, you know, and she texts him that it's over. She says, we have to

resolve this civilly. He doesn't answer her. Through the prosecution, that's the most important text because that's when he decides to kill her, according to the district attorney's office, right? This is the one that sets him off. Because he swipes it. They were able to retrieve it from his phone, but he swiped it. It's not visible on the phone when they got his phone. Well, he texts back to her at about three in the afternoon that he's sorry. It's kind of a suicide sounding text. Oh, wait, wait.

Him and the suicide. Well, it sounds like it. You know, to Dr. Sherry Schwartz, joining me, forensic psychologist at panthermitigation.com. Dr. Sherry, you know, I've got so much to talk to you about. But can we talk about the fact, and I went through so much of this evidence. And I'm going to circle back to you, Mangino, because that's how a lot of lawyers lose their case. Because they don't take the time to sit down, as painful as it is, and go through page after page after document after

document because you never know what you're going to find. I'm going to circle back to you on that. But to you, Dr. Sherry Schwartz, I was reading one text where she writes about how she's bringing up the fact that she wants to split up. And he, as they're driving, opens up his, I guess his truck door and acts like he's going to jump out of it. Did he jump? No. Did he ever try to commit suicide? No. According to prosecutors, the only person he killed is her. Now, what is that master manipulation? And speaking of the word manipulation, all through her text, she talks about how he is manipulating their adult daughters. And we see him doing it right now.

They have fallen for his story, hook, line, and sinker. But let me first ask you, Dr. Sherry Schwartz, about people that threaten suicide when they're no more going to commit suicide than the man in the moon as an attempt to manipulate their partner into doing what they want them to do. That's exactly what that is, Nancy. It's master manipulation, and it plays on the person who you're threatening that you're going to commit suicide. It plays on their empathy, their emotions. This is a way to gain control over the other person and have them yield to your wants, your wishes, your demands. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Matthew Mangino joining us, former district attorney in Lawrence County. Matthew, you can lose a case if you do not study your documents. There's no question about that, Nancy. And there's a lot of information here, but it's all circumstantial. Oh, please, not with a circumstantial. You know, Matthew, where is it that you practice law? In western Pennsylvania. Okay, isn't it true in western Pennsylvania, I assume that you guys obey the U.S. Supreme Court,

and in one of their famous cases, which has been cited over and over and over. In fact, isn't it true, Matthew Mangino, that before a jury goes out to deliberate their case, after closing arguments, the judge then charges them on the law by which they are to judge the case. And in those jury charges, which are read verbatim so as not to make any mistakes, the judge says that circumstantial evidence is and can be as powerful as direct evidence. Isn't that true? No question about it. Okay. So then, yes.

So when you say it's just circumstantial evidence, poof! Right. But what we have to think about here is what the evidence that we don't have we don't have a weapon we don't have a body we don't have a cause of death what we have is a lot of strange conduct bizarre conduct maybe uh by barry more a few uh we have some, you know, scratches on his hands that certainly are something that the defense

has to be concerned about. But we also have some DNA evidence that indicates that a known sex offender, someone who has three sex offenses, that DNA was found in that person's vehicle. Where? This is vehicle. Where?

This is important. Where is the DNA? I believe it's on the hood of the vehicle. It's on the glove box. Okay, the glove box. It's on Suzanne's glove box. The glove box and the hood, which is highly indicative of someone who worked on the car getting documents or whatever may be in the glove compartment and opening and shutting the hood. Very significant. However, Cheryl McCollum, I disagree with Mangino.

I just would have disagreed before I read this treasure trove of evidence, but I really disagree now, knowing what we now know. I want you to hear Cheryl McCollum, Hour Cut 135 from KUSA. Right now, Barry Morphew, the man charged in the death of his wife, Suzanne, is still out on bond, awaiting the start of his murder trial in May. Meanwhile, the public is now able to see the evidence used in the preliminary hearing, pictures of Barry Morphew at a Broomfield Hotel with bags. The spy pen, investigators say, Suzanne put in Barry's truck because she suspected an affair, a suspicion that remains unfounded.

And the tranquilizer and darts prosecutors allege Barry shot Suzanne with before chasing her around the house. The evidence favoring the offense does not show up nearly as significantly. Nine News legal expert Scott Robinson says actually seeing the evidence leaves an impact on potential jurors. If they've seen the photos, if they've read the texts. Texts, including those from Suzanne to a friend, makes me wonder what the young me was thinking, one text reads. And also Cheryl McCollum, our cut 136 from KUSA. I want you to hear about the zigzag pattern that has been established by Barry Morphew's cell phone as if he's racing, chasing someone around the house. It's even timed. Listen. The photographs of Barry Morphew's travels, both around the house in a kind of a zigzag manner,

and his visits to trash receptacles day after is pretty suspicious. All in all, it really brings home the fact that this is a murder case concerning a woman who has disappeared under very suspicious circumstances. And Robinson says that's just it. Suspicious circumstances at this point, making the evidence he believes still balanced. After all, the prosecution has no murder weapon. They have no mode or method of murder. They have no body.

And as for jury selection, he says he has no doubt the judge will seat a jury. But it may be tough. High profile cases always pose a difficulty for a judge in finding jurors. But I have to admit, over the decades, I've been astonished how there are many people out there that pay absolutely no attention to the news. Well, thank God for those people. And another thing, why would you believe what people on the news say? They're all just regurgitating something else they've been told. Does anybody really trust the news say. They're all just regurgitating something else they've been told. Does anybody really trust the news? Back to you, Cheryl McCollum. I want you to take into account everything we're learning in this new treasure trove of evidence where you actually see the door

to the master bedroom cracked on one side. The previous owners say it wasn't like that when they sold the house. And not only that, the cell phone, the electronic data includes him running through the bedroom. And there's an unspent shell casing on her side of the bed. Why is that there? Why is the door kicked in apparently and then backed up by the data showing him running through the house after her? But what is striking you the most Cheryl McCollum? There are so many things that jump out at me, Nancy, but I think for me, there's two things

that go kind of together. It's the data that they've pulled from his truck, along with the videotapes that show him dumping trash at five different locations. So if he had a bunch of trash in his truck that he didn't want to take to the dump and have to pay to dispose of it, he would have gone to one dumpster and thrown it all in there. He wouldn't have gone out of his way and gone to the hotel, a McDonald's, a men's warehouse,

then to another dumpster at the hotel. That makes no sense to put that much effort into getting rid of something. Cheryl, I got news for you. If you look at all those photos, his truck is still filthy and full of trash. Of course. So he's not cleaning his truck out. And you know what it brings to mind, Cheryl McCollum? It brings to mind, and get a load of this, Mangino. I don't know if you remember

Fotis Dulos, the husband of the missing Connecticut mom of five, Jennifer Dulos, he and his girlfriend go all over town, and they're caught on camera, throwing out handful after handful after handful of evidence, sticking it down the drains, the sewage drains, the runoff water drains on the streets. And the cops go back and what do they find? Bloody clothes, rags, sponges, the blood matching up

to the missing mom, Jennifer Dulos. And here we see the same thing as Cheryl McCollum is pointing out. Barry Morphew going from dump to dump to receptacle to receptacle. That night, throwing out trash. Go ahead, Cheryl McCollum. Well, the other thing is the data from the truck. He was not counting on that. He had enough wherewithal to put his cell phone on airplane mode. He wasn't thinking about that computer.

Hey, Cheryl, when was the last time you put your cell phone on airplane mode? When I was actually on an airplane because they made me. Okay. You know, the last time I put my phone on airplane mode, when you and I, Cheryl McCollum and you, Medea, here in the studio with me, were in Aruba with Natalie Holloway's mother, retracing her steps to figure out what, if anything, we could learn. That was the last time I had my phone on airplane mode. That's the last time I did it.

When we were coming back from Aruba. Absolutely. But, you know, he told me. Why is his phone on airplane mode? What about that, Mangino? When do you put, don't, he told me. Why is his phone on airplane mode? What about that, Mangino? When do you put, don't lie, Mangino. When do you put your phone on airplane mode? Tell me, as God is your witness, Matthew Mangino, the last time you had your phone on airplane mode.

On an airplane. Tell it, Mangino. And you know everybody on that jury is going to say the same thing. Like for instance at night, I don't want the phone to wake up my husband or my children but I want to keep it on so I can see if some crazy thing happens and somebody texts me. I put it on silent. I put it on

airplane mode. You know it Mangino. If I was a defense attorney in this case I would be looking at a plea deal. History. No, his history with his son. If I was a defense attorney in this case, I would be looking at a plea deal. Barry Morphew's history. No, his history with his son. Maybe he puts his phone on airplane mode all the time.

We don't know that. Oh, you know what? I'm so glad you said that. I mean, Gina, I hope the prosecution is listening. Pass that on, Carol McKinley. They need to see how often he has put his phone on airplane mode. What were you about to say, Carol? Do you know how good these defense attorneys are who he's hired?

These defense attorneys are two of the top women in this state. It's not the region. Did you hear what I just said, Carol? To pass on to the prosecution to find out how often and the pattern of if there is one of Morphew putting his phone on airplane mode because I bet you he did not do it if at all before that day that mother's day Mother's Day. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Cheryl McCollum, how many times have I been told right to my face,

oh, these defense attorneys are good. Oh, they're really good. Oh, yeah. You're just going to toss the case and not try it? What about it, Cheryl? That's right. Well, not just that, Nancy. There are some things, I don't care how good they are, they can't undo. There are certain bells you can't unring, and one of them is when he lies.

He tells law enforcement that he went to bed at 8 o'clock. But yet the data from his truck shows that he put that car in reverse at 930 and moved it 96 feet closer to the house. Well, that's not a leap to think that's when he was probably loading up her body. I'm sorry. Who's that talking in the background? Is that Carol? Okay. Go ahead, Carol.

Yeah, but you don't know. That's important, cheryl but you know that you don't know who put that truck in reverse because because all you have is that that burla data you don't know who did it and that's what the defense is going to argue stop please correct stop stop stop stop matthew mcgino you're the veteran trial lawyer i only wish wish, I can only pray. I would sit in my seat and pray the defense try to jump up and say what Carol McKinley just said. That some other person came to where the car was parked, the truck was parked, and moved it in the middle of the night for no reason. No theft.

It wasn't stolen. no break-in, that would be so wonderful if the defense tried to throw up that argument McKinley just gave. Well, I mean, I think there are arguments that the defense can make. I mean, you've got to be very conscious. Well, that ain't one of them, brother. You've got to be conscious about what you're going to use and not necessarily what you're not going to use. But the other thing I say at this point, Nancy, is not so fast when we move to condemn Barry Morphy or to convict him. I mean, we know that the judge, after a four-day preliminary hearing, wasn't real impressed with the prosecution's case. And you know, as a prosecutor, in all of your experience,

you know, they had an affidavit of 130 pages in this case. What that tells me is that they're really trying to put something together that might not be there. You know, if I have a homicide case as a prosecutor, my affidavit is going to be as brief as it can possibly be. I've never seen a 130-page affidavit. So while there's some really interesting evidence here, some really bizarre conduct, strange conduct, there's some key pieces missing here. Like a body? So you want me to give him a gold star because he managed to get rid of the body? I mean, you know, Carol McKinley,ley enterprise reporter joining us from the denver gazette could you tell me about the various dumpsters and trash receptacles barry morphew went to the very same evening

suzanne morphew goes missing yeah i can he he went to it's it's odd that he decided to go to groomfield colorado that morning about three hours to the north near Denver, right? Uh-huh. There was, you have to have a permit to work on a Sunday in Broomfield. Apparently there was a landscaping wall he had a problem with. He told the people he'd fix it. But the job wasn't until that Monday. For some reason, he left early in the morning on Sunday, got up there about 8 and started dumping trash in different receptacles.

There were five trash dumps. That's what the FBI agent on the stand called it, the five dumps. One of them in particular was next to a McDonald's. And what he did, and we saw it, he got out of his car. There are still photos of this from surveillance. And pushed something way down into the trash can. Like he didn't just throw it on the top. He actually pushed it down.

The prosecution thinks that was the cell phone. Because it was small. But then there were some other dumps. In one, he had some hiking boots, I think. He had a planter that had a tree in it, like a landscaping tree, like a fir tree or something, so it was large. And then there were three other stops, but they weren't sure they were dumps because they weren't kind of right next to a dumpster but um the other good

surveillance video is in the hotel which was the holiday inn express where he went got in there in the eight o'clock hour sunday morning and is seen walking up and down the halls with different things in his hands the first run on that hotel surveillance video shows some clothing in his arms, something that's kind of a blue color. I was at the preliminary hearing, and during that hearing, the FBI agent was questioned about a blue shirt. Well, she was wearing a turquoise top to ride her bike a lot. She wore this turquoise top that matched her helmet. The defense attorney stood up and said, you don't know that's a shirt.

And so they had to say items of clothing. Those pictures are going to be important because you wonder what was he bringing into that hotel room and what did he take out and why did he leave so many times and why did he change clothes as he was making those runs to the to the trash dumps. Another unusual circumstance. Carol McKinley is bringing up his many, many wardrobe changes.

Hey, Nancy, can I jump in? Please do. Do you remember when Scott Peterson put himself at the marina because he said he went fishing? Mm hmm. the marina because he said he went fishing. Morphew tells police he took a left out of his driveway instead of a right, which he would normally take to go to this site to get to the highway. He went left. A mile down that road to the left is where her bike helmet was found. So again, he puts himself where a key piece of evidence is found. The bike helmet is nowhere near the bike. The bike looks obviously stays

down that little ravine like it's just tossed over and slid down and started resting on rocks. She ain't found at the bottom. So again, he's putting himself, in my opinion, somewhere very key that looks very damaging. Gosh, I hardly even know which way to turn. There's just so much. And as Matthew Mangino rightly points out, so much circumstantial evidence. Let me ask you this. Carol McKinley joining us from the Denver Gazette. Did he have a permit to work in Broomfield on Sunday? We don't know that.

That has not been brought up, but that's a great question. He did not work really on Sunday. The job wasn't supposed to start till Monday, and his workers didn't show up till that afternoon. You mean they showed up on Sunday or Monday? On Sunday after he asked them to come because he got the call from the neighbors that she was missing. Wait a minute.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Who got what call from the neighbors? Well, the daughters were on a camping trip that weekend. So for Mother's Day, they weren't home. They were on a camping trip, both of them. Who got the call from the neighbors? That's the question. The Ritters.

Jean and Martin Ritter are the nearest neighbors to the Morphe's, right? They live in a really, really remote area of Colorado, near Salida, Colorado, which is about two and a half hours. Okay, again, very, very simple. You said he got the call from the neighbors that she was missing. Who are you talking about? The neighbors called him. The Ritters. The Ritters called Barry Morphew, correct? At about five

o'clock on Sunday, he was supposedly at the landscaping wall. They called him and he told them to call 911. So they called 911. It was the daughters who asked the Ritters to check up on the house because Suzanne Mororky wasn't answering their happy Mother's Day phone calls. I want to circle back to what we are learning. You mentioned in one of his trips to dump sites, you mentioned hiking boots. What can you tell me about the hiking boots, Carol McKinley? Just that he brought them into the hotel room. You can see it on the hotel surveillance. And then you see him walking out to a dumpster with hiking boots in his hand. Why would he throw away his boots?

Dr. Sherry Schwartz, you know how long I've had my cowboy boots, my favorite pair. I guess, let's see, maybe 25 years. And I had to be talked out of wearing them down the aisle. So why is he throwing away his boots, Dr. Sherry, of all things? Well, that's not a good look, especially if those boots weren't falling apart at the seams. Right. So if you're throwing away hiking boots in the wake of your wife going missing, then that suggests that you have some reason to need to get rid of those boots. Like there could be blood on them. I'm speculating.

There's no evidence there was blood on the boots because they're gone. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I want you guys to listen to more of what we're learning. And then I want to circle back to you, Cheryl McCollum, on where her helmet was found as opposed to where the bike is, as opposed to where their home is. And the coincidence of Barry Morphew's car data and pings

showing him where the bike, where the helmet was discarded about a mile away. But first, take a listen to our cut 137, our friends at KUSA. For the first time, we're able to see some of the evidence that led to the arrest of Barry Morphew. This is the man accused of killing his wife in Chafee County. Suzanne Morphew has been missing since Mother's Day of 2020. A judge has ordered the release of some of the evidence.

This includes photos of Barry's hands, which appear to have scratch marks. Prosecutors say this may be from Suzanne trying to defend herself. The defense said scratches came from tree branches while he was looking for his wife. Prosecutors also believe Morphew may have used a tranquilizer dart, and they found a needle sheath in the dryer at the Morphew's home. Investigators say it fits a needle used to inject serum into a dart. Barry told investigators he's not sure how it got there. There are also text messages between Suzanne and Barry as well as Suzanne and a different man she was having an affair with. And also a portion of our cut 138k USA. New documents from the Barry Morphew case reveal at least 10 friends and family members

of his missing wife filed protective orders against him. So why is it 10 friends and family members of Suzanne Morphew's have filed protective orders against him? And isn't it true to you, Cheryl McCollum, that in her text messages to her friend Sheila, she stated that her own daughter said that, Mom, you need to file a protection order against Dad. You know, she had some concerns, obviously. She even mentioned to her sister that he was emotionally and physically abusive. So we know there were, you know, incidences of violence in the home prior to her going missing. And then there's other things he does, Nancy, that, you know, again, it's the totality of it. It's not one thing that's going to make you think there's a homicide. If you take everything together, when he tells the police, he set the alarm for 430 so

he could leave by five. But then his truck shows that he was leaving at 330. I mean, that's not a mistake you would make. If you got up at three o'clock in the morning, as opposed to 430, that's all the difference in the world. And then he makes all those stops where he's getting rid of things. Then he's got the spy pin that captures her affair, not his. The chipmunk chasing. Well, everybody in the world knows you ain't going to be able to chase no chipmunk. They're going to be able to outrun you, out zigzag you. And if you're trying to shoot an animal, you stand still. So everything he says is just suspect. When he's the one that entertains the idea that she was attacked by a mountain lion, even though there's zero evidence. There's no blood, there's no animal hair, and there's no body of Suzanne Morphew that's been ravaged by a mountain lion.

Like, none of it makes any sense. To you, Carol McKinley, regarding the location of the helmet, the helmet, my understanding, is about a mile away from where the bike was found that's right it was uh actually 0.8 nancy i had to look that up the other day but um barry morris you when he made that left cheryl and you're exactly right um he was going to go to broomfield colorado but to go to broomfield you have to take a right. Taking a left takes you further into the mountains. And what he said was that he saw a bunch of elk crossing and he wanted to make a note of where that was because he's a hunter. That's why he said he went to that location and made a U-turn because he realized, oh, I got to get back up to Broomfield and go to work.

And how close were his meanderings to where her helmet was found? Well, it was, her helmet was found as if it was thrown off the highway. Right. Is that the highway he was driving? The highway's right there. Yeah, the highway's right there. And the, and the, and the slope of the mountain is on the side of the highway. And the, the helmet is pretty far off the highway, but you could have thrown it. You know, it's not like way, way up in a remote area, but he made a U-turn. He said that, and, and, and it's right next to where the helmet was found because there's a mine up

there. There's an old, there are mines all through those mountains. And there's a mine and they talked about the mine and he made a U-turn at the mine and then went on his way to go to work that Sunday, morning Mother's Day. So, Matthew Mangino, let's take a look at what Carol McKinley is telling us from the Denver Gazette by his own words, and of course, caught by cell phone and car data. He goes that morning, of all mornings, and chases down some elk, according to him, at 3.30 in the morning,

and then he does a Yui right where the helmet would have been thrown, his missing wife's helmet. Well, Nancy, he would have a lot of explaining to do. You know, these actions by him

are unusual. They're bizarre. They're strange. They don't seem to add up. But here's the thing that we all know. He doesn't have to explain anything. The prosecution has to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's where I think the prosecution is not going to have an easy time. I mean, let's let's go back to the moving around to the dumpsters. You know, if I was defending this case, yeah, he dropped things in five different dumpsters. I know there was a year between her gone going missing and him being arrested. But what did you find? You didn't find anything in dumpsters.

You didn't find anything, you know, in the landfill if you went there and checked. I mean, so, yeah, we have all this moving around, but we have nothing to show for it. We have bizarre conduct, but we have nothing to show for it. So, well, I agree that there's a lot of explaining to do, the prosecution has the responsibility of explaining what happened to the jury. I don't have any problem with that. In fact, I would welcome that. It is the duty of the state to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond a mathematical certainty such as two and two equals four,

but to the point where the jury believes that that is what happened, that Barry Morphew murdered his wife because she, Suzanne Morphew, was leaving him, as she said in her text to her friend just before she went missing. Yes, no. Carol McKinley joining us from the Denver Gazette. Is it true that Barry Morphew that morning was calling and gathering up a construction crew on his way as he drove along. Is that correct? You know, I don't remember if it was on his way to Broomfield. What do you know, Cheryl McCollum? Yeah, I don't know that either, but I'll tell you what I do know, Nancy. Law enforcement has done 135 searches and they've talked to over 400 people and no other suspect has materialized. Well, of course, I take great heart in that, Cheryl McCollum,

but proving a murder case is not process of elimination. But I will tell you this. She says just before she dies that she is not safe alone with her husband, Barry Morphew. She says that he is a master of manipulation, that he can get his own daughters to believe him over her. I have very rarely, actually rephrase, I have never seen, Cheryl McCollum, a case where there is domestic violence, where the man is beating and threatening the woman. As she refers to him, Jekyll and Hyde, where the woman is then killed and it was anybody other than the abuser. Have you?

Absolutely not. So you would have me believe, Matthew Mangino, that after a long period of physical abuse, coincidentally on a day when the two girls were away on a hiking trip, a camping trip, on significantly Mother's Day, he hastily puts together a crew that morning, leaves at 3.30 in the morning, that that day of all days, an unknown individual take Suzanne Morphew and not

her abuser the last one known to be with her is that your theory somebody else did it well I mean if I'm representing Barry Morphew it is my theory in this situation that's a lot of

you know damning circumstantial evidence. But I would add that, as was said earlier, they interviewed 135, or they had 135 search warrants, or I don't know how many in the house we don't have any uh physical evidence uh in his vehicle or any place else that that implicates him i mean those things well that's you know the police work was really intense and involved other than the dart gun evidence in the dryer yeah okay a dart gun you know but where's the physical weapons? Where's her blood? Where's her, where's that, you know, she's moved from one place to another.

Well, we don't know that. And isn't it true that Mallory informs her father they could not find their mom? Barry Morphew speaks to a neighbor, asks him to check on Suzanne. He, I guess, is a clairvoyant because he asked the neighbor to see if the mountain bike is at the house. They find no sign of her or bike. He asked them to call police. And instead of heading home immediately, he drops off a shovel and other tools at a hotel where he had booked rooms for them and himself. And then around 6 p.m., he begins to drive home. Is that true?

Is that true, Cheryl? That's true. And Nancy, I want to point out one more thing. Sometimes, you know, you have to look at what the person does. Sometimes what they don't do is also very telling. Here it's Mother's Day. He doesn't stay home an extra hour or two and make her breakfast and bring her some flowers. He doesn't even call her during that day to say Happy Mother's Day. That to me is also very telling.

He texted her that morning. No, no, calls her. Calls her. He does not call her, which is what somebody would do to say, hey, you know, I just want to tell you, I appreciate those two lovely daughters you've given us. Happy Mother's Day. I'll be home at six. Let's go to dinner. He doesn't do that. What did the text say, Carol McKinley? I don't know exactly, but it was a happy Mother's Day text, and it was early in the morning on his way to Broomfield. He texted his mom, and he texted Suzanne at around the same time.

But then he texted her throughout the day. Cheryl, I didn't mean to interrupt you there. I'm sorry. No, you're fine. And that's important for people to know. I was just saying he didn't make a future plan with her about dinner. He didn't do something overtly for her on that day to mark it. A text message is a completely different form of communication.

Yeah, true. He did text her throughout the day saying, how are you, where are you? Yeah, and she never responded. Just like that. And she never responded to him, right? Right, exactly. We wait as justice unfolds

nancy grace crom story signing off goodbye friend this is an iheart podcast