Barry Morphew used fake name, lived with woman until arrest in wife’s murder case exposed him: police
True Crime Barry Morphew used fake name, lived with woman until arrest in wife’s murder case exposed him: police
A newly released arrest report alleges authorities also found an AR-15-style rifle and silencer in Morphew's safe
By
Adam Sabes Fox News
Published
June 24, 2026 3:45pm EDT close 
Video Arizona bar manager says he knew Barry Morphew as 'Bruce'
Charlie Loots, bar manager at Harold's Cave Creek Corral, told Fox News Digital he didn't know Barry Morphew by his first name, and knew him as "Bruce."
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!Barry Morphew allegedly used a fake name while living in Arizona before his arrest in his wife's murder case, even moving in with a woman for a month while concealing his true identity, according to a newly released arrest report.
Morphew was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder in the first degree after deliberation on June 20, 2025, in relation to the death of his wife, 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew, who was also the mother to two daughters. She disappeared on Mother's Day in 2020 in Colorado, where the couple lived. Barry Morphew was arrested in Goodyear, Arizona, nearly 11 hours from where his wife went missing.
He's due in court on Wednesday afternoon for a status conference before his trial in October.
A newly released arrest report obtained by Fox News Digital through a public records request alleges that Morphew was using the alias "Lee Moore" while he was living in Arizona, and states that he moved in with a woman around a month before the arrest.
BARRY MORPHEW EXTRADITED TO COLORADO TO FACE MURDER CHARGES IN WIFE'S 2020 DISAPPEARANCE
Barry Morphew enters a court in Alamosa, Colo., on July 1, 2025. An undated photo shows Suzanne Morphew provided by deputies. (Chaffee County Sheriff's Office and Pool via KRDO)
Fox News Digital isn't naming the woman, as she hasn't been charged with a crime. The woman told troopers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety that she had only known Morphew as "Lee Moore." She said he began living with her on May 1, 2025, and moved in much of his personal property. Barry Morphew and the unidentified woman met in late December 2024.
On June 15, for unknown reasons, the woman said that Morphew revealed his actual identity and claimed his wife, Suzanne Morphew, was "abducted" in Colorado, the arrest report stated.
According to an arrest report, authorities found an AR-15-style rifle and a silencer inside Morphew's safe that was at the house he was living in.
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Notably, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation first reached out to the Arizona Department of Public Safety in February, asking them to keep tabs on Morphew's movements as a grand jury indictment was expected. A warrant was also obtained to place a GPS tracking device on his truck.
BARRY MORPHEW MAY USE MYSTERY DNA FOR DEFENSE IN WIFE’S MURDER: FORMER PROSECUTOR
Barry Morphew's booking photo was taken at the Alamosa County Jail. (Alamosa County Sheriff's Office)
As Fox News Digital has previously reported, Morphew paid property taxes for a property at the Stardust Trailer Park in Cave Creek, Arizona, and was self-employed.
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One restaurant employee in Cave Creek, Arizona, told Fox News Digital he knew Morphew by an entirely different name: Bruce.
Charlie Loots, bar manager at Harold's Cave Creek Corral, told Fox News Digital that he didn't know Morphew's real name until June 20, when news reports began to surface about murder charges relating to Suzanne Morphew's death.
Barry Morphew appears in court in Salida, Colo., on May 6. He was later seen leaving jail with his two daughters by his side. (KUSA/AP Pool)
"I was shocked that, again, I mean, I was very caught off guard about all of it," Loots said. "I spent, honestly, as soon as I found about it, I spent like two hours reading articles about it. I was like, I was so intrigued, because I was, like, this s--- doesn't happen," he said.
Loots said he began seeing Morphew, or Bruce, as he knew the murder suspect, after the coronavirus pandemic. He said Morphew's go-to drink was beer, often switching between Miller Lite and Coors Light, adding that he was at the bar on June 13, exactly one week before his arrest.
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Prosecutors wrote in the June 2025 indictment that the chemicals butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine were found in Suzanne Morphew's bone marrow. They alleged that Barry Morphew used "BAM" deer tranquilizer to sedate and transport deer on his farm when he lived in Indiana. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder.
BARRY MORPHEW ACCUSED OF WIFE SUZANNE’S MURDER: SEE HOW THE 5-YEAR COLORADO MURDER MYSTERY UNRAVELED
Suzanne Morphew, 49, went missing after leaving her Colorado home for a bike ride on May 10, 2020. Her remains were later discovered. (Chaffee County Sheriff's Office)
Morphew was also the only person with a prescription for the deer tranquilizer within the area of the state he lived in, prosecutors said. The only two other entities with access to the BAM compound within the surrounding counties were Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the National Park Service, officials said.
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"Ultimately, the prescription records show that when Suzanne Morphew disappeared, only one private citizen living in that entire area of the state had access to BAM: Barry Morphew," the indictment states.
Morphew's attorney, David Beller, previously told Fox News Digital Morphew "maintains his innocence."
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"Yet again, the government allows their predetermined conclusion to lead their search for evidence," Beller said. "The case has not changed, and the outcome will not either."
Fox News Digital reached out to Morphew's lawyer for comment.
Adam Sabes is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @asabes10.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
