Colorado prosecutors are facing new allegations related to the dismissed Barry Morphew murder case.
In 2021, Barry was charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife Suzanne Morphew in May 2020, but a judge dismissed the charges in April 2022.
Since then, the Colorado Supreme Court’s Office of Regulatory Counsel (OARC) has filed formal complaints against 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office prosecutors Robert Weiner and Mark Hurlbert, accusing them of withholding evidence in the Morphew case and plotting against District Judge Ramsey Lama in a text thread. .
“It was well known that prosecutors in the Morphew case abused their authority and power to wrongly accuse Mr. Morphew,” Iris Eytan, Barry’s attorney, told Fox News Digital. “But it is new news that these prosecutors also threatened the rule of law and our democracy by attempting to intimidate and threaten the presiding judge because of his rulings and sanctions for his pattern of misconduct.”
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“It was well known that prosecutors in the Morphew case abused their authority and power to wrongly accuse Mr. Morphew,” Iris Eytan, Barry’s attorney, told Fox News Digital. (Courtesy of Suzanne Morphew’s family)
Hurlbert, the lead prosecutor in the Morphew case, told FOX 31 Denver that his “only comment is that we deny the allegations and will file a response.”
Accusations against prosecutors
The complaints allege that Weiner and Hurlbert failed to turn over evidence in a timely manner, misrepresented facts in their pleadings, violated court orders, and attempted to intimidate Judge Lama in an “abuse of power.”
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A text thread between prosecutors cited as evidence in the complaint began in response to a debunked theory stemming from a crime podcast called “True Crime with Julez.” Podcast host Julez Wolf started a petition claiming that “Judge Lama’s ex-wife is an advocate for Suzanne Morphew and a victim of domestic abuse.” After 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley requested a criminal investigation into Lama’s conduct in the case, 11th Judicial District Criminal Investigator Andrew Corey found no “wrongdoing.”
A text thread between prosecutors cited as evidence in the complaint began in response to a debunked theory stemming from a crime podcast called “True Crime with Julez.” (OARC)
Lama’s wife told Corey that “no type of domestic abuse ever occurred in the relationship,” according to the complaint.
Stanley shared the petition with Weiner and Hurlbert in March 2022, writing, “You might want to read this…” Screenshots of text messages between the three prosecutors included in the complaint show that Stanley questioned the accuracy of the petition’s claims but suggested they investigate. Judge. “It could definitely explain why he hates us so much,” Stanley wrote of the judge.
“Shit! Let’s go after him!”
“Shit! Let’s go after him! He should have revealed this. We need to confirm this ASAP,” Weiner wrote.
OARC alleges that 11th Judicial District prosecutors involved in the Barry Morphew case failed to disclose evidence and conspired against the judge in the case. (OARC)
“Let’s drop your divorce case,” Weiner said of Lama in another text message, later adding, “He shouldn’t be in court.” Hurlbert called the judge “obviously biased.”
OARC does not comment on pending complaints.
Allegations against District Attorney Linda Stanley
The attorney filed a similar complaint against Stanley in October. The complaint accused Stanley of sharing information about the case with true crime podcasters.
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The complaint also alleges that the district attorney failed to share discovery, including DNA match evidence, with the defense in a timely manner, among other allegations of misconduct.
Morphew’s bicycle was discovered the same day he disappeared in 2020 in a ravine along Highway 50 and County Road 225 in Chaffee County, near his family’s home in Maysville. (FoxNews)
No signs of human remains or blood have ever been located near Morphew’s Maysville home or in his family vehicles. But DNA was found in Suzanne’s glove compartment.
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Partial profiling investigators were able to obtain matching profiles developed in sexual assault cases in Chicago, Phoenix, and Tempe, Arizona. Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Joseph Cahill said during a hearing in 2021, the Denver Post reported. Barry’s DNA did not match that sample, his attorneys told KUSA-TV at the time.
In September 2023, authorities located Suzanne Morphew’s remains in a “shallow grave” in a desert about 45 miles south of Maysville, Colorado. (Chaffee County Sheriff)
In a July interview with FOX 21 Colorado Springs, Stanley called the OARC investigation “a witch hunt.”
“I stand up for people all the time, every day.”
“I defend people all the time, every day. So not being able to defend myself was difficult,” he told the outlet. “Right now, the office is underfunded… If one person resigns, everything will go backwards, and that’s the kind of shoestring budget we have right now… But we have nothing but very, very experienced prosecutors in office and I’m very proud of it.”
The latest on the Suzanne Morphew murder case
In September 2023, authorities located Suzanne’s remains in a “shallow grave” in a desert about 45 miles south of Maysville while searching for another missing woman. Authorities have not named any other suspects in her murder since her husband’s case was dismissed nearly two years ago.
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Authorities announced that Morphew’s remains were located in the Moffat, Colorado area of Saguache County. She was reported missing on May 10, 2020. (Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
Morphew’s bicycle was discovered the same day he disappeared in 2020 in a ravine along Highway 50 and County Road 225 in Chaffee County, near his family’s home in Maysville. Barry said that at the time he was working in Broomfield, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.
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Text messages from Suzanne and Barrythat they had been married for 25 years, which were revealed in June 2023, suggest that they were both having affairs just before their disappearance.
Four days before her disappearance, Suzanne sent Barry a text telling him she was “done.” “I don’t care at all what you are doing and what you have been doing for years,” she wrote, adding that they needed to resolve things “civilly.”
In early 2023, Barry’s legal team filed a Demand for 15 million dollars against prosecutors and investigators, accusing them of violating their constitutional rights.
“Barry was the individual most scrutinized, dissected and surveilled, minute by minute, hour by hour, using police cameras placed in his home, wiretaps and GPS devices placed in his car, all during the period of his disappearance and the years that followed. “Eytan said in a statement at the time.
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“What you need to do instead of pointing the finger at Barry Morphew is to ask officials about the number of missing people and the number of human remains that have been recovered in or from Saguache County in the recent past,” Eytan continued.
Authorities ask that anyone with information about the case call 719-312-7530.