Judge Amanda Hopkins raised Barry Morphew's cash bond to $10 million after prosecutors argued he demonstrated flight risk by leaving the scene of an Aug. 26 crash following a trip to pick up his daughter. Morphew, who has pleaded not guilty, faces trial next summer in the disappearance of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, whose skeletal remains were found in 2023. Investigators reported traces of a wildlife tranquilizer in the victim's bone marrow and prosecutors say Morphew was the only non-official person in the area authorized to use those chemicals.
Judge Raises Cash Bond To $10 Million After Colorado Man Leaves Crash Scene, Prosecutors Say Flight Risk
Boulder County sheriff's deputies arrested Barry Morphew, on an outstanding Alamosa County warrant Thursday night in unincorporated Boulder County. - Boulder County Sheriff's Department
A Colorado judge on Tuesday raised the cash bond for Barry Morphew to $10 million after prosecutors argued he showed he was a flight risk by leaving the scene of a crash following a trip to pick up his daughter at the airport.
Morphew had been released on a $3 million surety bond until an Aug. 26 crash in Denver prompted prosecutors to say he was not complying with the conditions of his release. Those conditions prohibited travel away from home except for limited reasons—such as work or a medical emergency—and required GPS monitoring of his whereabouts.
On Friday, Alamosa County District Judge Amanda Hopkins ordered Morphew taken into custody and jailed in Boulder County. At that hearing, Hopkins converted his bond to $3 million cash only, meaning any release would require posting the full amount personally rather than using a bondsman.
At a subsequent hearing on Tuesday, Hopkins increased the bond to $10 million cash after prosecutor Fred Johnson argued Morphew could have boarded a plane, flown to a border city and left the country.
"We are very, very concerned he has just demonstrated what he's going to do when push comes to shove," Johnson told the judge.
Defense attorney Jane Fisher-Byrialsen responded that Morphew had not fled during six years of intermittent prosecution related to his wife's death. Hopkins, however, noted Morphew provided no evidence to justify his trip to the airport on the day of the crash.
Fisher-Byrialsen did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment about the bond increase.
Charges and Investigation
Morphew has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial next summer in the death of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who vanished in 2020. Skeletal remains later identified as Suzanne's were discovered along a dirt road in southern Colorado in 2023.
Earlier charges against Barry Morphew were dismissed, but he was later indicted again on a first-degree murder charge in connection with Suzanne Morphew's death. Investigators reported no obvious signs of trauma on the remains but said they found traces of a drug mixture used to tranquilize wildlife in the victim's bone marrow. Prosecutors allege Barry Morphew was the only person in the area, apart from wildlife officials, authorized to handle those chemicals.
The bond increase leaves Morphew in custody for now as the case moves toward trial next year.
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