April 30, 2024 • 43 mins
Mother's Day 2020: Mallory and Macy Morphew are on their way home from a camping trip.
They text their mother, wishing Suzanne Morphew a "Happy Mother's Day." When they don't get a reply, Mallory calls Morphew's neighbors, Martin and Jeanne Ritter, explaining she hasn't been able to reach her mother. Jeanne Ritter goes next door to look for Suzanne Morphew.
Martin Ritter calls Barry Morphew to tell him they can't find Suzanne. Barry Morphew tells Ritter to call 911. After three long years, Morphew's remains are found in Saguache County, in September 2023.
Suzanne Morphew's death has now been ruled a homicide by undetermined means. The toxicology report shows several drugs found in her system at the time of her death: Butorphanol, a synthetic opioid pain-killer, Azaperone, a sedative commonly used as a tranquilizer for pigs and elephants, and medetomidine, a sedative that can decrease an animal's heart rate, commonly used by veterinarians.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Tisha Leewaye - Friend of Suzanne Morphew
- Sheryl McCollum – Forensics Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder; Host of Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone7
- Chris McDonough – Director at the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room”
- Joe Scott Morgan – Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, “Blood Beneath My Feet,” and Host: “Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;” Twitter/X: @JoScottForensic
- Lauren Scharf- (CO) Journalist and Former Reporter/ X: @LaurenScharfTV
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Breaking news tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew goes missing on Mother's Day, seemingly
torn off her mountain bike to vanish into thin air,
but then her body found in a shallow grave miles
away in the last hours.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Suzanne Morpheus autopsy released.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Not only was Suzanne murdered, she was shot full of
animal tranquilizers before her death. Just what does the deadly
drug cocktail extracted from her bones reveal? Good evening, I'm
Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank
you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well, Suzanne.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
If anyone is out there, I can hear this that
has you. Please, We'll do whatever it takes to bring
you back. We love you when you miss you your girls,
even no questions asked, however much they want, I will
do whatever it takes to get you back from me.
(01:08):
I love you and I want you back.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Right, Okay?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Whoever took her shot or full of animal tranquilizers before
they killed her? I mean powerful animal tranquilizers. We've got
an all star panel makes sense of what we know.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But listen to this. Be torphinal A Zaperone.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Meta to my Dean They first identified her through her
dental records and the port she had on her body
she was in remission for cancer, then later DNA extractor
from her knee. I'm curious, was she wearing the clothes
that the medical examiner got already in bags?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Could we even tell? Were her bones so.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
In a state of de comp and completely skeletonize that
she was out of her clothes? What more are we
learning from this deadly drug cocktail? And according to experts
in the Colorado region, hunters do not hunt with animal tranquilizers.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
But guess who does use them? Barry Morphew.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
He says he uses animal tranquilizers to shoot deer to
get their antlers off of them, and that he may
have been using them to shoot chipmunks. Wow, what a
coinky dink because now his wife's body turns up, what's
left of it full of animal tranquilizers.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
But that's a whole other can of worms. Don't worry,
I'm going to open it in just a few moments.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Joining me high profile investigative journalist Lauren Sharf, and you
can find her at Lauren Sharf TV. Lauren, thank you
for being with us on the story from the very beginning,
I want to talk about how her body was found
and what the autopsy revealed.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
That was just released in the last hours. Let's start
with the autopsy.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Yeah, so they were just skeletal bones. There was no
actual tissue on the bones. It was scattered in Moffat, Colorado,
which is a desert area in Sawatch County. And there
was also a lot of clothing that was also found.
(03:35):
A padded bra a, ripped dark blue gray hooded sweatshirt,
a Nike tank top, yetti shorts, fabric fragments, there was
a ballclava, pink and light colored leather work gloves. So
there were other items besides skeletal remains that were there.
(03:55):
No shoes were found.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Oh, no shoes. I'm glad you mentioned that.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And I'm very intrigued by the balaclava that was found.
One of the head face coverings that we often see,
like on TV, terrorist serois wearing them where the only
thing you see are their eyes. Everything else is covered
and they typically come down over the neck and shoulders.
(04:19):
A pale patterned balaclava, a pink and light color leather
work glove, a light colored partial padded bra a ripped
dark blue gray hooded sweatshirt labeled crested butte, a torn
green Nike tank top, yetty shorts, and a fabric fragment.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
What can we deduce?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
All of the clothing and fabric fragment weathered and covered
in dirt. Very curious, joining me, as I said, an
all star panel to make sense of what we are learning.
You're seeing shot of Suzanne Morphew in life, and she
seems very happy with her husband and two adult daughters.
(05:05):
But all was not as it seems. Trouble was brewing
within the marriage. But before I get to that, I
want to focus on these meds, these tranquilizers in her system.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
And joining me is a renowned death.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Investigator, Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University, the
author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon and Starve.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And You Hit series Body Bags with Joe Scott Morgan.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Joe Scott in a nutshell because also joining me, Joe
Scott is a very dear friend of Suzanne Morphew's. You know,
hold on, I see Cheryl McCollum has popped up Joe
Scott Cheryl in honor of Suzanne Morphew.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I'm wearing my Justice for Suzanne T shirt that.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You and I got when we were out investigating and
beating the bushes and trying to find answers in Suzanne's murder.
Are you at all surprised her body was shot full
of animal trunk?
Speaker 6 (06:05):
Not at all.
Speaker 7 (06:06):
I think it was exactly what he said.
Speaker 8 (06:09):
He told people, I've got the dark gun, I've got
chemicals that I've got rid of, I've got needles, I've
got a cap that they found in the dryer. He
basically said it. He also told everybody that he was
running around the house hunting that could be leakage. He
has invoked this entire narrative and right down to her
(06:29):
having clothing on right that is not bedclothes, by the way,
and he said that's how we left her. It makes
complete sense to me that this was going to be
the result from her bone mare.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay, Cheryl McCollum and I trunked through. I can't even
tell you about the terrain that we I can't call
it hiking because it was slow going, looking and so
many spots hoping for the discovery of her body. The
(07:00):
discovery was made many miles from home in a shallow
grave Joe Scott Morgan. Back to you, Joe, Scott. Another
thing in this autopsy report is quote one weathered bullet. See,
I've got so many questions, Scott. Was the bullet in
the shallow grave? Were the bones in the shallow grave
(07:24):
where they scattered? Were the clothes still on the bones?
Six envelopes containing five fab brick fragments?
Speaker 1 (07:34):
What's that? Okay? Jump in.
Speaker 9 (07:36):
We have to understand if you look, if you look
at the autopsy report, Nancy, this is something fascinating, is
that this was not just a one day event where
they collected everything and put it in a single bag.
These bags are actually annotated to demonstrate that two of
them had been collected same day, labeled day one twice,
(07:56):
and then you have day two and day three where
they go out and they collect more remains. So that
gives you the understanding that these remains are shallow and
that they're probably scattered about. They even had some commingling,
apparently with animal skeletal remains out there as well, which
is kind of an herculean task on the part of
(08:19):
the anthropologist to delineate between these two items. So it
can be very confusing out there. And then and then
to top it all off, you have this weathered projectile
that's out there. I don't know, and this is going
to be fascinating to see as this plays out because
we don't have all of the reports. What does the
ballistic examination say about that round? What kind of weapon
(08:42):
platform is it associated with? Is it a twenty two
caliber or is it a seven point sixty two? We
have no idea. And also one more thing, Nancy, is
that we don't have any indication that a shellcasing, the
spent shellcasing was recovered, and that could be a big clue.
So yeah, lots of lots of evidence recovered out there,
(09:02):
not to mention the clothing. And there's still more analysis
I think to be done at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
A lot of analysis. And back to you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Cheryl McCollum joining US, founder director Cold Case Research Institute.
You can find her at Coldcasecrimes dot org, hit podcast
Zone seven and forensics expert.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Cheryl.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I've been pouring over this autopsy report. They didn't give
us much, but they gave me enough. Just hold on,
two and two still equals four?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Right? Or is everything completely upside down?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Because didn't Barry morph you say he was using an
animal trank gun at the time of her death.
Speaker 8 (09:41):
Correct, around the time she went missing. Correct, And Nancy,
here's the thing. They're not giving us a lot. That's
the right call. They're not going to tell us the caliber.
They're not going to tell us exactly the shape and
condition of that projectile.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
There was also one found.
Speaker 8 (09:57):
In the bedroom, on her side of the bed, on
the So do those two projectiles match.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
They're not going to disclose that yet.
Speaker 8 (10:05):
They're playing it close to the vest, which is what
they should do, so that when they go.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Hey, can everybody, can we just agree right now to
stop saying projectile? Okay, okay. If you're talking about a bullet,
say bullet. You're talking about a shell, say shell. If
you're talking about a trunk, leftovers of a trunk, say it. Okay,
now rephrase that and regular people talk. Cheryl, this goes
for you too, Joe Scott Morgan, Go ahead, Cheryl.
Speaker 8 (10:30):
So there's two bullets, one that was found with her
at the disposal site and one found in the bedroom.
We don't know if they match. And again, they shouldn't
tell us that yet. They've got people to interview. So
when they go and they say, hey, we found a bullet.
Is the person going to say, was it a twenty two?
And again go back to Barry's original statement when he
(10:54):
got out of the truck after he was told she
was missing, and he gets home and they say, hey,
we found her bike down this ravine. The first thing
he says was you think a mountain lion got her.
He's the one that keep referring to large animals. He's
the one that's using a tranquilizer for large animals.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
I mean, it's just an unbelievable story.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
You're absolutely right, Cheryl McCollum. Listen, crash.
Speaker 10 (11:19):
I mean the bike look the way it was laid,
that kind of looked like it, but.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
There's not really that much damage.
Speaker 11 (11:24):
A bike lion, yeah, lion.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I didn't see anything that.
Speaker 7 (11:31):
I didn't see anything, and they're not letting.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Us go over the site because they're getting a track.
Speaker 11 (11:38):
Jackson on the route.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I haven't seen anything really, but like people.
Speaker 10 (11:44):
You're lying, I didn't really know this, but I will lie.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I'm not like an extra tractor or something, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
A mountain lion, my rear end mountain lion. You know.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I could watch that bodycam video all day long and
then some Barry morphew, Suzanne's husband, jumps up and says
a mountain lion puts that out there. Now, just one
quick review, Joe Scott Morgan, tell me again about the
(12:19):
animal tranquilizer evidence found in Susanne's home. What was found?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Of course, this may be after a cleanup, but again
Barry Moore few is not a suspect and he has
not been named again for murder. Okay, tell me, Joe Scott.
Speaker 9 (12:41):
Yeah, what we're thinking about here, Nancy, is this is
a very lethal cocktail. And that's the way I like
to frame it this Bam. I think it's referred to
as this deer tranquilizer essentially that's being used. You've got
three components here, Nancy, and you'd mentioned him off the top,
and if you'll just permit me, I'll go through them
(13:03):
very very quickly. With the beutrophenol, that's actually an opiate
based drug. Okay, So you think about a synthetic heroin
like morphine, like a drug that kind of induces sleepiness,
it also impedes your breathing. And then you go to
the azipirone, which is interesting term here. It's a syenic
(13:27):
which means like based in serenity. You think about people
that take valume or any other kind of benzo, it's
going to calm you down. It's actually used with hogs,
with pigs to slow them down if they're very, very aggressive.
And then you come to the final one, which is
this meta midian, which is actually a precursor to anesthesia Nancy.
(13:52):
Anybody that's ever been through surgery and you've had anesthesia,
you know that kind of milky warmness that comes over
you when they give you that first rug, that first injection.
It kind of knocks your system down. That's what you're
talking about. Any one of these drugs, Nancy, is lethal
when you take it at a high dosage. You got
a combination of three here, and to me, this speaks volumes.
(14:15):
And the fact the fact that they extracted this from
the head of her femur is damning, damning evidence.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Now now why do you say that? And the fact
that they had to extract it from the head of
her femur. By the way, guys, femur is a leg bone.
Speaker 9 (14:29):
Go ahead, yeah, and literally where they took this from
Nancy is quite fascinating. We don't hear about this a
lot but they and all due respect here, but just
let me. They removed the head of the femur, which
is where it attaches into the hip, and that's one
of the densest areas of bone in the body. And
it's actually got vascular in there, like blood vessels, blood supply,
(14:53):
and they superheated it and extracted this this substance from
here and then they were able to break down into
its components. There's no soft tissue, Nancy. You don't have
organs to look at. You certainly don't have blood at
this point in tom and this is the only source
that you can get.
Speaker 12 (15:11):
Inside the Morphew residents, investigators find empty darts, a needle
used to inject tranquilizer chemicals into the darts, and a
dart gun in Morphuse gun Safe. Investigators also find a
needle cap used to cover the injecting needle in the
dryer at the Morphuse house, along with clothes and bedsheets
from one of the couple's daughters. Morphew tells investigators he
(15:32):
uses tranquilizers to shoot deer to harvest their antlers. Investigators
also find a twenty two caliber round next to Suzanne
Morphuse bed.
Speaker 13 (15:53):
Prosecutors theorize Barry Morphew kills Suzanne Morphew after he gets
home around two forty five On May the ninth, FBI
agent who reviewed evidence in the murder case against Barry
Morphew testified in court that Morphew appears to have been
chasing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, around their Colorado home the
day before Suzanne was reported missing. According to his cell
phone data, Morphew claims he was chasing chipmunks. Empty darts,
(16:16):
needles used to inject tranquilize their chemicals into darts, and
a dart gun are found in the house, and Morphew's safe.
A cap to a dart is found in the dryer.
After Suzanne vanishes, investigators take photos of injuries to Morphew's
hand and scratches that looked like they were made by
fingernails on his left arm.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Joining me as a special guest, Tish Leway, close friend
of Suzanne Morpheus, Tis, thank you for being with us. Hi,
Tis got a question for you when you heard the
autopsy results.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
What went through your mind?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Honestly, I was thinking that that's how it was going
to come back anyway from probably I don't know. A
couple months ago, right after they found her. I know,
I said, I have a feeling that the autopsy's going
to come back, and she was tranquilized. I have my
(17:13):
own theories of how it went down, but it didn't
surprise me, to be honest, the only thing that surprised
me is that they found something after three years.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Tish got a question for you.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Again, very more Few was charged in Suzanne's murder.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Those charges were dropped.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
He is at this moment no longer a suspect, no
longer a person of interest. The state asked for the
charges to be dropped when they were accused of not
handing over exculpatory or evidence that would prove innocence information
to the defense. The state asked for the charges to
be dropped, and that was done. They may be refiled.
(17:57):
As of right now tonight, Barry Moore Few is not
named as a person of interest or suspect in Susanne
Morphus's murder. That said, Tish, you stated that you had
your own theories. You are a very close friend, were
a very close friend of Suzanne Morphuse.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
What's your theory of, as you say, how it went down.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
This is what I've always said, I think he arrived
at two forty five.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I think he was.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
She was in the backyard, may have saw her on
the phone with Jeff Libbler, and I think that's where
he shot her with a tranquilizer gun. I think she
got up. I think she ran. I think that that's
all that pinging was, you know, her running and him
chasing her. I think she ran up to Mallory's room
(18:49):
and I think that's where he shot her again with
the tranquilizer gun. And I think that's where the dark
cap fell. And I think she was there for, you know,
however long until he was to put her body where
he put her. But I think that's why those sheets
and the cap gun.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I think it was just in a.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Hurry, you know, trying to and didn't notice the dark
cap that they found.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
In the dryer.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I mean, why would they find Mallory's sheets in the
dryer when she was in college.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
You know, that's a really good pointsh Leeway.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Friend of Suzanne Morpheus, because I have certain.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Sheets that I put on Lucy's bed because they match
her bedspread that she picked out, and certain pillowcases she likes.
Same thing with my son his her blue same thing
with my mom because her bed is a different size.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So that's a really good point.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Why would the adult daughter Mallory's sheets nobody else's. It's
not like it was a cleaning day for Suzanne Morphew.
Why would her sheets alone be and the washer dryer.
I haven't heard a single soul bring that up.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Now you know what else would be interesting to find out, Tish,
is if Mallory's bed, say, was a double or a
queen and Suzanne's bed was a king. Hypothetically speaking, I'd
be very curious to find that out.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But you say it was they were mallory sheets, right.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I'm pretty sure that's what was said. But that's been
my theory all along, that he as soon as he
got home.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I think she passed on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yes, when you say that he came home to whom
are you referring.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
When Barry came home?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Did you know that Susanne Moorephew?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Did you ever get information Suzanne Moorephew had gone to
a batter women's center for group therapy.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I did get information after she had went missing from
some people that were going to the same center.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
So another lady in the group told you she had
been going.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yes, Okay, I know the lady. I'm not going to
reveal that here. That's a whole other can of worms. Okay,
let me understand something.
Speaker 8 (21:16):
Two.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Chris McDonough joining me, who has been on the investigation
along with Eryl and myself.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Chris, thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Chris is the director at the Cold Case Foundation, former
homicide detective, has investigated over three hundred homicides, and the
host on YouTube of the interview room where I.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
First met him.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Chris, thank you for joining us again with this very
disturbing update on Susanne Morphew's autopsy results.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
There's so much to glean.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
From the three pages that we have obtained, and hey,
one of those pages is just the listing of five
different doctors.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
You don't normally see that.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Do You just got five different medical professional weigh in
on this.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Usually there's one name scribbled at the bottom.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Man, they did it. I'll hold on four pages. Four
pages and one is I noted five different experts weighing in.
But they had to bring in a forensic dentist. I
don't know if that's one of these. They had to
bring in a toxicologist because of all the drugs, and
I believe I've mastered their names beutorphenal A Zaparin and
(22:28):
meta to my dean, I think. But I'm just gonna
refer to it as the animal trenks. So Chris McDonough,
could we just and everybody on the panel again, we're
not having high tea at Windsor Castle with Charles and Camilla,
so jump in for Pete's sake. We've got one hour
to cover a major event in the law and in
(22:51):
criminal justice ad to getting justice for Suzanne. That's where
this T shirt says. And for me, it ain't just
a T shirt. It's not just a slogan I want it,
I want it again, barrymoreph you is not a suspect.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
So Chris mcdonnaugh add it up for me. Well, there's a.
Speaker 11 (23:10):
Couple of really interesting things going on here, Nancy. One
is that perimortem trauma, there's no indication of that. What
that means is there's no indication that the bones at
their soft you know when they're the softest ie are alive,
that there's any trauma to the bones. So that's the
first thing. And when the bullet is found, we have
(23:31):
to ask ourselves. Well, that means we may have to
exclude some type of weapon i e. A sharp instrument
and or even a gun. The second piece here is,
if this couldn't get any more sinister, is we have
to look at the fact that she has a medical
port still on her body and found in that grave.
(23:52):
So for me, as you know from an investigative position,
my first thought was did he inject directly into that
medical port and what Doc Morgan was talking about that
would give the type of density necessary to find it
four years later in the bones themselves.
Speaker 10 (24:15):
I want to give you a little brief recap of
what we've done since we received the call of Suzanne's
disappearance on Sunday. Just in the area and in the
general area. We've run foot searches using air support, canine support,
swift water support, and we've also utilized countless hours of
(24:36):
drone searches. We've used well over two hundred personnel and
over two thousand man hours have gone into this search.
But unfortunately we haven't found Suzanne yet, and as I
stated before, that is our top priority.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
You were hearing the Chaffy County Sheriff Cheryl McCollum. Do
you remember when we were out there last investigating and
there was still snow on the ground, and we stood there,
not too far from where Barry Morphy was then living,
and just looked around at that terrain, covered in snow,
(25:12):
covered in ice, and we thought, how in the h
E double l are.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
We gonna ever find Susanne Nancy.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
For everybody to understand, you take an airplane to Colorado,
and then you take a smaller airplane. Then you drive
several hours. I mean, you're in the middle of the
most gorgeous scenery, but you're in the middle of nowhere,
and there was so much terrain. There's mountains and creeks
and just this the snow banks. I know, at one point,
(25:49):
you know, several people were standing there and on the
other side you couldn't have seen them. I mean, the
snow banks were that high, they were almost seven feet
and you know, there was so much land wide open,
not a building on it, not a house anywhere near
that you could have in the cover of darkness or
in broad daylight, could have disposed of her body without
(26:12):
being seen.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
You know what, Let me just stop you right there.
How is everybody on this panel so calm? There are
way too many coincidences for me. Okay, number one, he
happened he Bury Moore few happens to conjure up.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
And out of town. Let me see the guests, please.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
An out of town trip the morning on Mother's Day
that Susanne moorefew goes missing, claiming he last saw her
at early early in the morning asleep in bed.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Okay, leaving on Mother's Day.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
None of his daughters are also gone, right, thank you,
Lauren Sharf.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
The one time the daughters are away camping, Nobody even
she's missing until they trying to call her on Mother's Day.
So she's talking to her boyfriend on the phone. Oh,
which reminds me to Tish Lee. Wait, did you you're
a stylist? Did you do the hair of Bary Morphy's girlfriend?
Speaker 3 (27:18):
No, but I did meet her in October of twenty
twenty when she came in to start tanning in the
salon that I had worked at. Her and actually Macy
and Mallory both they all came in about a week
within each other. It was yeah, it was very bizarre.
They were getting ready to go on that trip in
(27:39):
January to Mexico.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Okay, well, white, white, white.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
October twenty twenty, and Suzanne had gone missing May twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Is that right? Is that what you said?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
She went missing maya, twenty twenty. But the girlfriend came
into the tanning salon to start tanning in October of
twenty twenty, which was right about a week to two
weeks after Mallory and Macy had started coming into tan again,
and they were getting ready to go to Mexico for
(28:14):
their annual trip that they I guess they went to
every year, is my understanding.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Did the girlfriend go on the trip? I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
It was a weird coincidence that she came in right
after they started tanning.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I have never met her before.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I'm concerned about another coincidence, and that is, in six
months after Susanna is still missing, body not found, he's
already got a girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
That's a yes. Now did he already have a girlfriend
to your knowledge? Within six years? She said that.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
So when I first met her, we had kind of
heard this name that was out there. So when she
came into the tanning salon, we know exactly who she was.
The first couple time she came in, she didn't really
talk much about anything.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Well, let me just cut the chase for you. Was
she wearing some of Suzanne's jewelry?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Well, yeah, it was seen that it looked like her.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Don't need to say anything else.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, okay, that said as I was saying earlier, How
is everybody on the panel so calm? With all the coincidences?
You have him coming home. She's on the phone with
her boyfriend. She says to the friend, Oh, my.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Stars, Barry's here, gotta go bam. She goes missing.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
He has a hastily thrown together work trip out of
town on Mother's Day. Again, my rear end leaving for
a hastily throw together work trip out of town on
Mother's Day. He calls back, but when he can't get
her on the phone, when the daughters can't find her,
and has somebody else.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Call nine one pint one.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
She's full of animal trink and oh yeah, right before
she went missing, I was shooting an animal trank gun
darts and they were actually found in the home. And
there's a bullet by your bed. How did that get there?
The easter bunny just throws it by your bed. What
(30:16):
the woman's bones are scattered?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
She was murdered.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
I mean, help me out, people, am I the only
one seeing all these coincidences.
Speaker 11 (30:30):
Who was that?
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Is that jump in for peace? Christmas?
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Nancy?
Speaker 11 (30:34):
I mean, think about it, right, I mean, you're right
on target here. I mean, what a coincidence that this
guy used to own a deer farm and he used
to harvest deer antlers by utilizing the same exact chemicals
that are found inside of her body. And to your
what you said a moment ago a month before, when
he's asked by the FBI, hey, have you ever used
(30:56):
this stuff? He says, oh, yeah, all the time. I'm
very proficient in it, to the point where he tells
him even a little bit deeper of how he does it.
And that's why it's really interesting. Does he hit her
with a dart hypothetically that night, you know, the day
she disappeared, and then now that he has that part
from her cancer treatments on her body, does he utilize
(31:18):
that as a mechanism to go even further with his plot?
If he's the guy, right, and so I'm with you
on this one hundred percent, it is not lining up
for it.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I've got more.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I've got more, and I welcome everybody on this panel.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
If you have a thought put it out there.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Joe Scott Morgan is uncharacteristically quiet right now, But what
about this his self? A thank you, Jackie. His cell
phone pings where her helmet is found far far away. Oh,
I guess the mountain lion threw it out there where
he happened to be looking for. What was he looking
at deer that morning on his haytill he thrown together
(32:01):
out of townshrip? His cell phone pings right there. And
let me remind everybody, he's the one, Barry morriphu who
is not a suspect.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
He is the.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
One at the very beginning. He is the one that says, hey, neighbor,
can you go see if her mountain bike's there? Maybe
she went.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
For a ride.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
He might as well have said maybe a mountain lion
dragged her off. He's the one that introduces the whole
mountain bike ride theory out there, that's where it came from.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I mean, Cheryl McCollum, what do I have to do?
Speaker 8 (32:38):
Hit you over the head, Nancy, I've got more for you.
And this is the thing that has bugged me from
day one. They released a video where he is walking
law enforcement through the home. They say to him, Hey,
we need some clothing, maybe for tracking dogs or whatever.
Speaker 7 (32:52):
He opens the door and lets them in. This is the.
Speaker 8 (32:55):
First time he is entering the home since she goes missing.
He ain't looking around for nothing. He's not calling her name.
He doesn't say hey, in case she got hurt on
the bike, there was some horrible accident. Maybe she's upstairs.
There's a drinking glass on the counter. He doesn't refer
to it. He doesn't talk about it. He's not checking anything.
(33:17):
Let me tell you something, Nancy. If you were to
be missing and I go to your house and I
noticed the guinea pigs have not had their cage cleaned,
something happened to you before six point thirty in the morning.
Speaker 7 (33:31):
The next thing I'm going to look for is fat boy.
Has he been out? Is he and his crate still asleep?
Speaker 8 (33:37):
Something happened to you, And even I can pinpoint him.
Speaker 7 (33:41):
So this to me was critical.
Speaker 6 (33:43):
If you watch him.
Speaker 7 (34:14):
That maybe since you get that up to the road
and then take the seal on her, call the husband.
Speaker 11 (34:20):
Kind of bikes he had.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Slightly chippy money particulus.
Speaker 11 (34:33):
Can you try to call the husband and see what
type of fights she has?
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Body cam footage of the deputies actually finding Susanne Morphew's
bike out in the wilderness some distance away. How far
away was it, Joe Scott Morgan that her helmet was found,
and it is very Morphew not to suspect the husband
that started the whole line of investigation into the bike.
(35:01):
How far away was her helmet found? Do you recall,
Joe Scott, Yeah.
Speaker 9 (35:05):
We're looking at about a mile essentially. So how you know,
when you think about working and I came at this,
Nancy initially as yeah, it could be a you know,
a bicycle is struck by a vehicle. I've worked a
lot of those cases over over my career. But if
that's the case, how does the how does the helmet
wind up so far away from this bicycle? And also
(35:29):
how's the helmet off of the body. These things are
meant to protect the head and they're strapped onto the head.
So there are big, big questions here. And one point further,
I've seen big cat attacks from all over the world
as in depth investigation seminars, I've been to this sort
of thing. You know what. The one thing that really
(35:50):
stands out to me about this is that when you
have a big cat attack, you'll have drag marks. But
you know what else you got, You got blood trails,
because the way a cat attacks is they dig those
teeth in and they rip and then they carry off,
so you will have evidence of that. The fact that
he says this from Jump Street has always been puzzling
(36:12):
to me because this is a typical of what a
mountain lion would do. Generally you have to go through
under an outcropping or something. They always attack from the rear,
and there's nothing like this. You're going to tell me
that a mountain lion actually scurried up a bank and
waited for a bike.
Speaker 5 (36:29):
There was no sign of a struggle either or even
a nothing.
Speaker 9 (36:33):
I know that at all.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
Initial reports that it seemed stage at least what detectives said.
So like what you were saying, there was no blood
anywhere anything as far as broken limbs of trees and
things like that, that wasn't the case in this.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Bike.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And you know what's interesting about that location. To Cheryl McCollum,
you and I stood at the foot of that embankment
and we're looking up just the way that picture is
and try to imagine how her bike landed there. And
we looked and looked and looked, no damage to the
(37:10):
bike at all. The cell phone data in this case
will become very very critical of the case ever goes
to trial. Lauren Sharff, joining US former reporter and journalist
at Lauren Sharf TV. Lauren very quickly in a nutshell,
the cell phone data is very disturbing, explained.
Speaker 5 (37:33):
When he arrived at home, his cell phone pinged around
the house pretty sporadically and pretty quickly. His attorneys claim
that there's no way he could have gone through the
walls like that, But there's also a like a garage
underway where people can walk underneath.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
What does it tell you, Joe Scott?
Speaker 9 (37:53):
You know, look, these things are not as exacting as
the defense would like to, you know present. And this idea,
you know Lauren just mentioned with him walking through walls
and this sort of thing, that's absolutely ludicrous. You've already
got to sing narrow down. You know, he's moving through
the house and he's doing it quickly. So if they
(38:14):
want exactitude here, I don't know what to tell them
because you're not going to get much tighter than it
is right now.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Tis Leeway.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Susanne Morphy's a friend, what do you make of the
theory as shown by the cell phone data, that she
was being chased through the home with the Trent gun.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
I mean, that's just what I've always believed. When we
went to court and saw that data, I always thought
that he came home and that's what she was running
from him, to get away from him.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
Cheryl McCollum jump in the cell phone shows he's running
zigzag all over the yard in the house.
Speaker 7 (38:49):
He claims he was hunting chipmunks.
Speaker 8 (38:53):
If anybody has ever seen a little chipmunk run, First
of all, they're tiny, they dart and then they had
they have escape routes all the time. He's also running,
he must be a hell of a shot. No way
that's possible. It's not even large.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
I've Chrispin done what about it?
Speaker 11 (39:13):
Well, you know it's interesting in the autopsive report, right,
and I agree with what Doc and Cheryl and everybody
have sent here on this panel that you know he
he's out, you know, allegedly hunting these chipmunks. But here's
a problem that he has. At the dump site where
Suzanne has found there are human and non human bones.
(39:36):
I've asked myself if he has this pre incident behavior
of staging, even as this is an example of that,
what did he stage at the dump site and the
burial site? And now we see these non human bones
that are mentioned in the autopsic report. And my initial
thought process was, and I could be, you know, totally
(39:58):
wrong here, but you know, he's a hunter, and if
you're going to bury a human being, and you know
that animals are going to come to that gravesite at
some port, some point, and I've had many sites like
others where they're going to dig up that body, Well
why not place a carcass over the top of that body?
(40:20):
And now those animals have a food source and at
some point they're going to lose interest in that grave site,
and or if it was discovered by a human, they'll go, oh, well,
that's just a carcass over there, that's not a problem.
So I think that could be a very interesting piece
of this puzzle as it unfolds.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Lauren Sharoff joining us on investigative journalist on the case.
Isn't it true that very more for you not? A
suspect claimed that he had out all of his animal
trank peraphernalia and then threw it away right before Suzanne
went missing.
Speaker 5 (40:59):
Yeah, in April of twenty twenty one, when he's asked
by investigators about the tranquilizer chemicals, he said he typically
keeps him on his workbench in the garage and that
he might have thrown them away during his trip to
Broomfield the same weekend that Suzanne disappeared. And going back
to Chris McDonough's point about carcasses and things like that,
(41:23):
I've heard from a lot of people in town in
Moffatt and Swatch County that that area is a dumping
ground for such animals like he was describing.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
I also find it very curious that a thirty three
year wildlife officer expert Renzo del Piccolo, who retired from
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, insists that tranquilizers are not used
to hunt animals. They're only used by wildlife officials. Hunting
(41:57):
with tranquilizers is ill legal. Let's stop and remember American
hero Captain Benjamin Maulton just twenty seven, died in a
helicopter crash with four other marines feb seven, twenty twenty four.
He obtained the Sharpshooter Award the National Defense Service Medal.
(42:19):
He graduated second in his class from the Officer Candidate
School in the Navy. He leaves behind dog Buck, sisters
Fustine and Maxine, and loving parents Robin and Steve. American
hero Captain Benjamin Malton. Thank you to our guests, but
(42:39):
especially to you for being with us tonight. Nancy Gray
signing off, see you tomorrow night six and nine o'clock
sharp Eastern, and until then, good night for it
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Breaking news tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew goes missing on Mother's Day, seemingly
torn off her mountain bike to vanish into thin air,
but then her body found in a shallow grave miles
away in the last hours.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Suzanne Morpheus autopsy released.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Not only was Suzanne murdered, she was shot full of
animal tranquilizers before her death. Just what does the deadly
drug cocktail extracted from her bones reveal? Good evening, I'm
Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank
you for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well, Suzanne.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
If anyone is out there, I can hear this that
has you. Please, We'll do whatever it takes to bring
you back. We love you when you miss you your girls,
even no questions asked, however much they want, I will
do whatever it takes to get you back from me.
(01:08):
I love you and I want you back.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Right, Okay?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Whoever took her shot or full of animal tranquilizers before
they killed her? I mean powerful animal tranquilizers. We've got
an all star panel makes sense of what we know.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But listen to this. Be torphinal A Zaperone.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Meta to my Dean They first identified her through her
dental records and the port she had on her body
she was in remission for cancer, then later DNA extractor
from her knee. I'm curious, was she wearing the clothes
that the medical examiner got already in bags?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Could we even tell? Were her bones so.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
In a state of de comp and completely skeletonize that
she was out of her clothes? What more are we
learning from this deadly drug cocktail? And according to experts
in the Colorado region, hunters do not hunt with animal tranquilizers.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
But guess who does use them? Barry Morphew.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
He says he uses animal tranquilizers to shoot deer to
get their antlers off of them, and that he may
have been using them to shoot chipmunks. Wow, what a
coinky dink because now his wife's body turns up, what's
left of it full of animal tranquilizers.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
But that's a whole other can of worms. Don't worry,
I'm going to open it in just a few moments.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Joining me high profile investigative journalist Lauren Sharf, and you
can find her at Lauren Sharf TV. Lauren, thank you
for being with us on the story from the very beginning,
I want to talk about how her body was found
and what the autopsy revealed.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
That was just released in the last hours. Let's start
with the autopsy.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Yeah, so they were just skeletal bones. There was no
actual tissue on the bones. It was scattered in Moffat, Colorado,
which is a desert area in Sawatch County. And there
was also a lot of clothing that was also found.
(03:35):
A padded bra a, ripped dark blue gray hooded sweatshirt,
a Nike tank top, yetti shorts, fabric fragments, there was
a ballclava, pink and light colored leather work gloves. So
there were other items besides skeletal remains that were there.
(03:55):
No shoes were found.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Oh, no shoes. I'm glad you mentioned that.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And I'm very intrigued by the balaclava that was found.
One of the head face coverings that we often see,
like on TV, terrorist serois wearing them where the only
thing you see are their eyes. Everything else is covered
and they typically come down over the neck and shoulders.
(04:19):
A pale patterned balaclava, a pink and light color leather
work glove, a light colored partial padded bra a ripped
dark blue gray hooded sweatshirt labeled crested butte, a torn
green Nike tank top, yetty shorts, and a fabric fragment.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
What can we deduce?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
All of the clothing and fabric fragment weathered and covered
in dirt. Very curious, joining me, as I said, an
all star panel to make sense of what we are learning.
You're seeing shot of Suzanne Morphew in life, and she
seems very happy with her husband and two adult daughters.
(05:05):
But all was not as it seems. Trouble was brewing
within the marriage. But before I get to that, I
want to focus on these meds, these tranquilizers in her system.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
And joining me is a renowned death.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Investigator, Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University, the
author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon and Starve.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And You Hit series Body Bags with Joe Scott Morgan.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Joe Scott in a nutshell because also joining me, Joe
Scott is a very dear friend of Suzanne Morphew's. You know,
hold on, I see Cheryl McCollum has popped up Joe
Scott Cheryl in honor of Suzanne Morphew.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I'm wearing my Justice for Suzanne T shirt that.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You and I got when we were out investigating and
beating the bushes and trying to find answers in Suzanne's murder.
Are you at all surprised her body was shot full
of animal trunk?
Speaker 6 (06:05):
Not at all.
Speaker 7 (06:06):
I think it was exactly what he said.
Speaker 8 (06:09):
He told people, I've got the dark gun, I've got
chemicals that I've got rid of, I've got needles, I've
got a cap that they found in the dryer. He
basically said it. He also told everybody that he was
running around the house hunting that could be leakage. He
has invoked this entire narrative and right down to her
(06:29):
having clothing on right that is not bedclothes, by the way,
and he said that's how we left her. It makes
complete sense to me that this was going to be
the result from her bone mare.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay, Cheryl McCollum and I trunked through. I can't even
tell you about the terrain that we I can't call
it hiking because it was slow going, looking and so
many spots hoping for the discovery of her body. The
(07:00):
discovery was made many miles from home in a shallow
grave Joe Scott Morgan. Back to you, Joe, Scott. Another
thing in this autopsy report is quote one weathered bullet. See,
I've got so many questions, Scott. Was the bullet in
the shallow grave? Were the bones in the shallow grave
(07:24):
where they scattered? Were the clothes still on the bones?
Six envelopes containing five fab brick fragments?
Speaker 1 (07:34):
What's that? Okay? Jump in.
Speaker 9 (07:36):
We have to understand if you look, if you look
at the autopsy report, Nancy, this is something fascinating, is
that this was not just a one day event where
they collected everything and put it in a single bag.
These bags are actually annotated to demonstrate that two of
them had been collected same day, labeled day one twice,
(07:56):
and then you have day two and day three where
they go out and they collect more remains. So that
gives you the understanding that these remains are shallow and
that they're probably scattered about. They even had some commingling,
apparently with animal skeletal remains out there as well, which
is kind of an herculean task on the part of
(08:19):
the anthropologist to delineate between these two items. So it
can be very confusing out there. And then and then
to top it all off, you have this weathered projectile
that's out there. I don't know, and this is going
to be fascinating to see as this plays out because
we don't have all of the reports. What does the
ballistic examination say about that round? What kind of weapon
(08:42):
platform is it associated with? Is it a twenty two
caliber or is it a seven point sixty two? We
have no idea. And also one more thing, Nancy, is
that we don't have any indication that a shellcasing, the
spent shellcasing was recovered, and that could be a big clue.
So yeah, lots of lots of evidence recovered out there,
(09:02):
not to mention the clothing. And there's still more analysis
I think to be done at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
A lot of analysis. And back to you.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Cheryl McCollum joining US, founder director Cold Case Research Institute.
You can find her at Coldcasecrimes dot org, hit podcast
Zone seven and forensics expert.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Cheryl.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I've been pouring over this autopsy report. They didn't give
us much, but they gave me enough. Just hold on,
two and two still equals four?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Right? Or is everything completely upside down?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Because didn't Barry morph you say he was using an
animal trank gun at the time of her death.
Speaker 8 (09:41):
Correct, around the time she went missing. Correct, And Nancy,
here's the thing. They're not giving us a lot. That's
the right call. They're not going to tell us the caliber.
They're not going to tell us exactly the shape and
condition of that projectile.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
There was also one found.
Speaker 8 (09:57):
In the bedroom, on her side of the bed, on
the So do those two projectiles match.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
They're not going to disclose that yet.
Speaker 8 (10:05):
They're playing it close to the vest, which is what
they should do, so that when they go.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Hey, can everybody, can we just agree right now to
stop saying projectile? Okay, okay. If you're talking about a bullet,
say bullet. You're talking about a shell, say shell. If
you're talking about a trunk, leftovers of a trunk, say it. Okay,
now rephrase that and regular people talk. Cheryl, this goes
for you too, Joe Scott Morgan, Go ahead, Cheryl.
Speaker 8 (10:30):
So there's two bullets, one that was found with her
at the disposal site and one found in the bedroom.
We don't know if they match. And again, they shouldn't
tell us that yet. They've got people to interview. So
when they go and they say, hey, we found a bullet.
Is the person going to say, was it a twenty two?
And again go back to Barry's original statement when he
(10:54):
got out of the truck after he was told she
was missing, and he gets home and they say, hey,
we found her bike down this ravine. The first thing
he says was you think a mountain lion got her.
He's the one that keep referring to large animals. He's
the one that's using a tranquilizer for large animals.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
I mean, it's just an unbelievable story.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
You're absolutely right, Cheryl McCollum. Listen, crash.
Speaker 10 (11:19):
I mean the bike look the way it was laid,
that kind of looked like it, but.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
There's not really that much damage.
Speaker 11 (11:24):
A bike lion, yeah, lion.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I didn't see anything that.
Speaker 7 (11:31):
I didn't see anything, and they're not letting.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Us go over the site because they're getting a track.
Speaker 11 (11:38):
Jackson on the route.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I haven't seen anything really, but like people.
Speaker 10 (11:44):
You're lying, I didn't really know this, but I will lie.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I'm not like an extra tractor or something, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
A mountain lion, my rear end mountain lion. You know.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I could watch that bodycam video all day long and
then some Barry morphew, Suzanne's husband, jumps up and says
a mountain lion puts that out there. Now, just one
quick review, Joe Scott Morgan, tell me again about the
(12:19):
animal tranquilizer evidence found in Susanne's home. What was found?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Of course, this may be after a cleanup, but again
Barry Moore few is not a suspect and he has
not been named again for murder. Okay, tell me, Joe Scott.
Speaker 9 (12:41):
Yeah, what we're thinking about here, Nancy, is this is
a very lethal cocktail. And that's the way I like
to frame it this Bam. I think it's referred to
as this deer tranquilizer essentially that's being used. You've got
three components here, Nancy, and you'd mentioned him off the top,
and if you'll just permit me, I'll go through them
(13:03):
very very quickly. With the beutrophenol, that's actually an opiate
based drug. Okay, So you think about a synthetic heroin
like morphine, like a drug that kind of induces sleepiness,
it also impedes your breathing. And then you go to
the azipirone, which is interesting term here. It's a syenic
(13:27):
which means like based in serenity. You think about people
that take valume or any other kind of benzo, it's
going to calm you down. It's actually used with hogs,
with pigs to slow them down if they're very, very aggressive.
And then you come to the final one, which is
this meta midian, which is actually a precursor to anesthesia Nancy.
(13:52):
Anybody that's ever been through surgery and you've had anesthesia,
you know that kind of milky warmness that comes over
you when they give you that first rug, that first injection.
It kind of knocks your system down. That's what you're
talking about. Any one of these drugs, Nancy, is lethal
when you take it at a high dosage. You got
a combination of three here, and to me, this speaks volumes.
(14:15):
And the fact the fact that they extracted this from
the head of her femur is damning, damning evidence.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Now now why do you say that? And the fact
that they had to extract it from the head of
her femur. By the way, guys, femur is a leg bone.
Speaker 9 (14:29):
Go ahead, yeah, and literally where they took this from
Nancy is quite fascinating. We don't hear about this a
lot but they and all due respect here, but just
let me. They removed the head of the femur, which
is where it attaches into the hip, and that's one
of the densest areas of bone in the body. And
it's actually got vascular in there, like blood vessels, blood supply,
(14:53):
and they superheated it and extracted this this substance from
here and then they were able to break down into
its components. There's no soft tissue, Nancy. You don't have
organs to look at. You certainly don't have blood at
this point in tom and this is the only source
that you can get.
Speaker 12 (15:11):
Inside the Morphew residents, investigators find empty darts, a needle
used to inject tranquilizer chemicals into the darts, and a
dart gun in Morphuse gun Safe. Investigators also find a
needle cap used to cover the injecting needle in the
dryer at the Morphuse house, along with clothes and bedsheets
from one of the couple's daughters. Morphew tells investigators he
(15:32):
uses tranquilizers to shoot deer to harvest their antlers. Investigators
also find a twenty two caliber round next to Suzanne
Morphuse bed.
Speaker 13 (15:53):
Prosecutors theorize Barry Morphew kills Suzanne Morphew after he gets
home around two forty five On May the ninth, FBI
agent who reviewed evidence in the murder case against Barry
Morphew testified in court that Morphew appears to have been
chasing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, around their Colorado home the
day before Suzanne was reported missing. According to his cell
phone data, Morphew claims he was chasing chipmunks. Empty darts,
(16:16):
needles used to inject tranquilize their chemicals into darts, and
a dart gun are found in the house, and Morphew's safe.
A cap to a dart is found in the dryer.
After Suzanne vanishes, investigators take photos of injuries to Morphew's
hand and scratches that looked like they were made by
fingernails on his left arm.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Joining me as a special guest, Tish Leway, close friend
of Suzanne Morpheus, Tis, thank you for being with us. Hi,
Tis got a question for you when you heard the
autopsy results.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
What went through your mind?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Honestly, I was thinking that that's how it was going
to come back anyway from probably I don't know. A
couple months ago, right after they found her. I know,
I said, I have a feeling that the autopsy's going
to come back, and she was tranquilized. I have my
(17:13):
own theories of how it went down, but it didn't
surprise me, to be honest, the only thing that surprised
me is that they found something after three years.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Tish got a question for you.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Again, very more Few was charged in Suzanne's murder.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Those charges were dropped.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
He is at this moment no longer a suspect, no
longer a person of interest. The state asked for the
charges to be dropped when they were accused of not
handing over exculpatory or evidence that would prove innocence information
to the defense. The state asked for the charges to
be dropped, and that was done. They may be refiled.
(17:57):
As of right now tonight, Barry Moore Few is not
named as a person of interest or suspect in Susanne
Morphus's murder. That said, Tish, you stated that you had
your own theories. You are a very close friend, were
a very close friend of Suzanne Morphuse.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
What's your theory of, as you say, how it went down.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
This is what I've always said, I think he arrived
at two forty five.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I think he was.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
She was in the backyard, may have saw her on
the phone with Jeff Libbler, and I think that's where
he shot her with a tranquilizer gun. I think she
got up. I think she ran. I think that that's
all that pinging was, you know, her running and him
chasing her. I think she ran up to Mallory's room
(18:49):
and I think that's where he shot her again with
the tranquilizer gun. And I think that's where the dark
cap fell. And I think she was there for, you know,
however long until he was to put her body where
he put her. But I think that's why those sheets
and the cap gun.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I think it was just in a.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Hurry, you know, trying to and didn't notice the dark
cap that they found.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
In the dryer.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I mean, why would they find Mallory's sheets in the
dryer when she was in college.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
You know, that's a really good pointsh Leeway.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Friend of Suzanne Morpheus, because I have certain.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Sheets that I put on Lucy's bed because they match
her bedspread that she picked out, and certain pillowcases she likes.
Same thing with my son his her blue same thing
with my mom because her bed is a different size.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So that's a really good point.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Why would the adult daughter Mallory's sheets nobody else's. It's
not like it was a cleaning day for Suzanne Morphew.
Why would her sheets alone be and the washer dryer.
I haven't heard a single soul bring that up.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Now you know what else would be interesting to find out, Tish,
is if Mallory's bed, say, was a double or a
queen and Suzanne's bed was a king. Hypothetically speaking, I'd
be very curious to find that out.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
But you say it was they were mallory sheets, right.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I'm pretty sure that's what was said. But that's been
my theory all along, that he as soon as he
got home.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I think she passed on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yes, when you say that he came home to whom
are you referring.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
When Barry came home?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Did you know that Susanne Moorephew?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Did you ever get information Suzanne Moorephew had gone to
a batter women's center for group therapy.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I did get information after she had went missing from
some people that were going to the same center.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
So another lady in the group told you she had
been going.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yes, Okay, I know the lady. I'm not going to
reveal that here. That's a whole other can of worms. Okay,
let me understand something.
Speaker 8 (21:16):
Two.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Chris McDonough joining me, who has been on the investigation
along with Eryl and myself.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Chris, thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Chris is the director at the Cold Case Foundation, former
homicide detective, has investigated over three hundred homicides, and the
host on YouTube of the interview room where I.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
First met him.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Chris, thank you for joining us again with this very
disturbing update on Susanne Morphew's autopsy results.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
There's so much to glean.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
From the three pages that we have obtained, and hey,
one of those pages is just the listing of five
different doctors.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
You don't normally see that.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Do You just got five different medical professional weigh in
on this.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Usually there's one name scribbled at the bottom.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Man, they did it. I'll hold on four pages. Four
pages and one is I noted five different experts weighing in.
But they had to bring in a forensic dentist. I
don't know if that's one of these. They had to
bring in a toxicologist because of all the drugs, and
I believe I've mastered their names beutorphenal A Zaparin and
(22:28):
meta to my dean, I think. But I'm just gonna
refer to it as the animal trenks. So Chris McDonough,
could we just and everybody on the panel again, we're
not having high tea at Windsor Castle with Charles and Camilla,
so jump in for Pete's sake. We've got one hour
to cover a major event in the law and in
(22:51):
criminal justice ad to getting justice for Suzanne. That's where
this T shirt says. And for me, it ain't just
a T shirt. It's not just a slogan I want it,
I want it again, barrymoreph you is not a suspect.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
So Chris mcdonnaugh add it up for me. Well, there's a.
Speaker 11 (23:10):
Couple of really interesting things going on here, Nancy. One
is that perimortem trauma, there's no indication of that. What
that means is there's no indication that the bones at
their soft you know when they're the softest ie are alive,
that there's any trauma to the bones. So that's the
first thing. And when the bullet is found, we have
(23:31):
to ask ourselves. Well, that means we may have to
exclude some type of weapon i e. A sharp instrument
and or even a gun. The second piece here is,
if this couldn't get any more sinister, is we have
to look at the fact that she has a medical
port still on her body and found in that grave.
(23:52):
So for me, as you know from an investigative position,
my first thought was did he inject directly into that
medical port and what Doc Morgan was talking about that
would give the type of density necessary to find it
four years later in the bones themselves.
Speaker 10 (24:15):
I want to give you a little brief recap of
what we've done since we received the call of Suzanne's
disappearance on Sunday. Just in the area and in the
general area. We've run foot searches using air support, canine support,
swift water support, and we've also utilized countless hours of
(24:36):
drone searches. We've used well over two hundred personnel and
over two thousand man hours have gone into this search.
But unfortunately we haven't found Suzanne yet, and as I
stated before, that is our top priority.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
You were hearing the Chaffy County Sheriff Cheryl McCollum. Do
you remember when we were out there last investigating and
there was still snow on the ground, and we stood there,
not too far from where Barry Morphy was then living,
and just looked around at that terrain, covered in snow,
(25:12):
covered in ice, and we thought, how in the h
E double l are.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
We gonna ever find Susanne Nancy.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
For everybody to understand, you take an airplane to Colorado,
and then you take a smaller airplane. Then you drive
several hours. I mean, you're in the middle of the
most gorgeous scenery, but you're in the middle of nowhere,
and there was so much terrain. There's mountains and creeks
and just this the snow banks. I know, at one point,
(25:49):
you know, several people were standing there and on the
other side you couldn't have seen them. I mean, the
snow banks were that high, they were almost seven feet
and you know, there was so much land wide open,
not a building on it, not a house anywhere near
that you could have in the cover of darkness or
in broad daylight, could have disposed of her body without
(26:12):
being seen.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
You know what, Let me just stop you right there.
How is everybody on this panel so calm? There are
way too many coincidences for me. Okay, number one, he
happened he Bury Moore few happens to conjure up.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
And out of town. Let me see the guests, please.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
An out of town trip the morning on Mother's Day
that Susanne moorefew goes missing, claiming he last saw her
at early early in the morning asleep in bed.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Okay, leaving on Mother's Day.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
None of his daughters are also gone, right, thank you,
Lauren Sharf.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
The one time the daughters are away camping, Nobody even
she's missing until they trying to call her on Mother's Day.
So she's talking to her boyfriend on the phone. Oh,
which reminds me to Tish Lee. Wait, did you you're
a stylist? Did you do the hair of Bary Morphy's girlfriend?
Speaker 3 (27:18):
No, but I did meet her in October of twenty
twenty when she came in to start tanning in the
salon that I had worked at. Her and actually Macy
and Mallory both they all came in about a week
within each other. It was yeah, it was very bizarre.
They were getting ready to go on that trip in
(27:39):
January to Mexico.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Okay, well, white, white, white.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
October twenty twenty, and Suzanne had gone missing May twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Is that right? Is that what you said?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
She went missing maya, twenty twenty. But the girlfriend came
into the tanning salon to start tanning in October of
twenty twenty, which was right about a week to two
weeks after Mallory and Macy had started coming into tan again,
and they were getting ready to go to Mexico for
(28:14):
their annual trip that they I guess they went to
every year, is my understanding.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Did the girlfriend go on the trip? I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
It was a weird coincidence that she came in right
after they started tanning.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I have never met her before.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I'm concerned about another coincidence, and that is, in six
months after Susanna is still missing, body not found, he's
already got a girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
That's a yes. Now did he already have a girlfriend
to your knowledge? Within six years? She said that.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
So when I first met her, we had kind of
heard this name that was out there. So when she
came into the tanning salon, we know exactly who she was.
The first couple time she came in, she didn't really
talk much about anything.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Well, let me just cut the chase for you. Was
she wearing some of Suzanne's jewelry?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Well, yeah, it was seen that it looked like her.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Don't need to say anything else.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, okay, that said as I was saying earlier, How
is everybody on the panel so calm? With all the coincidences?
You have him coming home. She's on the phone with
her boyfriend. She says to the friend, Oh, my.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Stars, Barry's here, gotta go bam. She goes missing.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
He has a hastily thrown together work trip out of
town on Mother's Day. Again, my rear end leaving for
a hastily throw together work trip out of town on
Mother's Day. He calls back, but when he can't get
her on the phone, when the daughters can't find her,
and has somebody else.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Call nine one pint one.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
She's full of animal trink and oh yeah, right before
she went missing, I was shooting an animal trank gun
darts and they were actually found in the home. And
there's a bullet by your bed. How did that get there?
The easter bunny just throws it by your bed. What
(30:16):
the woman's bones are scattered?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
She was murdered.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
I mean, help me out, people, am I the only
one seeing all these coincidences.
Speaker 11 (30:30):
Who was that?
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Is that jump in for peace? Christmas?
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Nancy?
Speaker 11 (30:34):
I mean, think about it, right, I mean, you're right
on target here. I mean, what a coincidence that this
guy used to own a deer farm and he used
to harvest deer antlers by utilizing the same exact chemicals
that are found inside of her body. And to your
what you said a moment ago a month before, when
he's asked by the FBI, hey, have you ever used
(30:56):
this stuff? He says, oh, yeah, all the time. I'm
very proficient in it, to the point where he tells
him even a little bit deeper of how he does it.
And that's why it's really interesting. Does he hit her
with a dart hypothetically that night, you know, the day
she disappeared, and then now that he has that part
from her cancer treatments on her body, does he utilize
(31:18):
that as a mechanism to go even further with his plot?
If he's the guy, right, and so I'm with you
on this one hundred percent, it is not lining up
for it.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I've got more.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I've got more, and I welcome everybody on this panel.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
If you have a thought put it out there.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Joe Scott Morgan is uncharacteristically quiet right now, But what
about this his self? A thank you, Jackie. His cell
phone pings where her helmet is found far far away. Oh,
I guess the mountain lion threw it out there where
he happened to be looking for. What was he looking
at deer that morning on his haytill he thrown together
(32:01):
out of townshrip? His cell phone pings right there. And
let me remind everybody, he's the one, Barry morriphu who
is not a suspect.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
He is the.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
One at the very beginning. He is the one that says, hey, neighbor,
can you go see if her mountain bike's there? Maybe
she went.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
For a ride.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
He might as well have said maybe a mountain lion
dragged her off. He's the one that introduces the whole
mountain bike ride theory out there, that's where it came from.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I mean, Cheryl McCollum, what do I have to do?
Speaker 8 (32:38):
Hit you over the head, Nancy, I've got more for you.
And this is the thing that has bugged me from
day one. They released a video where he is walking
law enforcement through the home. They say to him, Hey,
we need some clothing, maybe for tracking dogs or whatever.
Speaker 7 (32:52):
He opens the door and lets them in. This is the.
Speaker 8 (32:55):
First time he is entering the home since she goes missing.
He ain't looking around for nothing. He's not calling her name.
He doesn't say hey, in case she got hurt on
the bike, there was some horrible accident. Maybe she's upstairs.
There's a drinking glass on the counter. He doesn't refer
to it. He doesn't talk about it. He's not checking anything.
(33:17):
Let me tell you something, Nancy. If you were to
be missing and I go to your house and I
noticed the guinea pigs have not had their cage cleaned,
something happened to you before six point thirty in the morning.
Speaker 7 (33:31):
The next thing I'm going to look for is fat boy.
Has he been out? Is he and his crate still asleep?
Speaker 8 (33:37):
Something happened to you, And even I can pinpoint him.
Speaker 7 (33:41):
So this to me was critical.
Speaker 6 (33:43):
If you watch him.
Speaker 7 (34:14):
That maybe since you get that up to the road
and then take the seal on her, call the husband.
Speaker 11 (34:20):
Kind of bikes he had.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Slightly chippy money particulus.
Speaker 11 (34:33):
Can you try to call the husband and see what
type of fights she has?
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Body cam footage of the deputies actually finding Susanne Morphew's
bike out in the wilderness some distance away. How far
away was it, Joe Scott Morgan that her helmet was found,
and it is very Morphew not to suspect the husband
that started the whole line of investigation into the bike.
(35:01):
How far away was her helmet found? Do you recall,
Joe Scott, Yeah.
Speaker 9 (35:05):
We're looking at about a mile essentially. So how you know,
when you think about working and I came at this,
Nancy initially as yeah, it could be a you know,
a bicycle is struck by a vehicle. I've worked a
lot of those cases over over my career. But if
that's the case, how does the how does the helmet
wind up so far away from this bicycle? And also
(35:29):
how's the helmet off of the body. These things are
meant to protect the head and they're strapped onto the head.
So there are big, big questions here. And one point further,
I've seen big cat attacks from all over the world
as in depth investigation seminars, I've been to this sort
of thing. You know what. The one thing that really
(35:50):
stands out to me about this is that when you
have a big cat attack, you'll have drag marks. But
you know what else you got, You got blood trails,
because the way a cat attacks is they dig those
teeth in and they rip and then they carry off,
so you will have evidence of that. The fact that
he says this from Jump Street has always been puzzling
(36:12):
to me because this is a typical of what a
mountain lion would do. Generally you have to go through
under an outcropping or something. They always attack from the rear,
and there's nothing like this. You're going to tell me
that a mountain lion actually scurried up a bank and
waited for a bike.
Speaker 5 (36:29):
There was no sign of a struggle either or even
a nothing.
Speaker 9 (36:33):
I know that at all.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
Initial reports that it seemed stage at least what detectives said.
So like what you were saying, there was no blood
anywhere anything as far as broken limbs of trees and
things like that, that wasn't the case in this.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Bike.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And you know what's interesting about that location. To Cheryl McCollum,
you and I stood at the foot of that embankment
and we're looking up just the way that picture is
and try to imagine how her bike landed there. And
we looked and looked and looked, no damage to the
(37:10):
bike at all. The cell phone data in this case
will become very very critical of the case ever goes
to trial. Lauren Sharff, joining US former reporter and journalist
at Lauren Sharf TV. Lauren very quickly in a nutshell,
the cell phone data is very disturbing, explained.
Speaker 5 (37:33):
When he arrived at home, his cell phone pinged around
the house pretty sporadically and pretty quickly. His attorneys claim
that there's no way he could have gone through the
walls like that, But there's also a like a garage
underway where people can walk underneath.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
What does it tell you, Joe Scott?
Speaker 9 (37:53):
You know, look, these things are not as exacting as
the defense would like to, you know present. And this idea,
you know Lauren just mentioned with him walking through walls
and this sort of thing, that's absolutely ludicrous. You've already
got to sing narrow down. You know, he's moving through
the house and he's doing it quickly. So if they
(38:14):
want exactitude here, I don't know what to tell them
because you're not going to get much tighter than it
is right now.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Tis Leeway.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Susanne Morphy's a friend, what do you make of the
theory as shown by the cell phone data, that she
was being chased through the home with the Trent gun.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
I mean, that's just what I've always believed. When we
went to court and saw that data, I always thought
that he came home and that's what she was running
from him, to get away from him.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
Cheryl McCollum jump in the cell phone shows he's running
zigzag all over the yard in the house.
Speaker 7 (38:49):
He claims he was hunting chipmunks.
Speaker 8 (38:53):
If anybody has ever seen a little chipmunk run, First
of all, they're tiny, they dart and then they had
they have escape routes all the time. He's also running,
he must be a hell of a shot. No way
that's possible. It's not even large.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
I've Chrispin done what about it?
Speaker 11 (39:13):
Well, you know it's interesting in the autopsive report, right,
and I agree with what Doc and Cheryl and everybody
have sent here on this panel that you know he
he's out, you know, allegedly hunting these chipmunks. But here's
a problem that he has. At the dump site where
Suzanne has found there are human and non human bones.
(39:36):
I've asked myself if he has this pre incident behavior
of staging, even as this is an example of that,
what did he stage at the dump site and the
burial site? And now we see these non human bones
that are mentioned in the autopsic report. And my initial
thought process was, and I could be, you know, totally
(39:58):
wrong here, but you know, he's a hunter, and if
you're going to bury a human being, and you know
that animals are going to come to that gravesite at
some port, some point, and I've had many sites like
others where they're going to dig up that body, Well
why not place a carcass over the top of that body?
(40:20):
And now those animals have a food source and at
some point they're going to lose interest in that grave site,
and or if it was discovered by a human, they'll go, oh, well,
that's just a carcass over there, that's not a problem.
So I think that could be a very interesting piece
of this puzzle as it unfolds.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Lauren Sharoff joining us on investigative journalist on the case.
Isn't it true that very more for you not? A
suspect claimed that he had out all of his animal
trank peraphernalia and then threw it away right before Suzanne
went missing.
Speaker 5 (40:59):
Yeah, in April of twenty twenty one, when he's asked
by investigators about the tranquilizer chemicals, he said he typically
keeps him on his workbench in the garage and that
he might have thrown them away during his trip to
Broomfield the same weekend that Suzanne disappeared. And going back
to Chris McDonough's point about carcasses and things like that,
(41:23):
I've heard from a lot of people in town in
Moffatt and Swatch County that that area is a dumping
ground for such animals like he was describing.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
I also find it very curious that a thirty three
year wildlife officer expert Renzo del Piccolo, who retired from
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, insists that tranquilizers are not used
to hunt animals. They're only used by wildlife officials. Hunting
(41:57):
with tranquilizers is ill legal. Let's stop and remember American
hero Captain Benjamin Maulton just twenty seven, died in a
helicopter crash with four other marines feb seven, twenty twenty four.
He obtained the Sharpshooter Award the National Defense Service Medal.
(42:19):
He graduated second in his class from the Officer Candidate
School in the Navy. He leaves behind dog Buck, sisters
Fustine and Maxine, and loving parents Robin and Steve. American
hero Captain Benjamin Malton. Thank you to our guests, but
(42:39):
especially to you for being with us tonight. Nancy Gray
signing off, see you tomorrow night six and nine o'clock
sharp Eastern, and until then, good night for it
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