Judge increases bond to $10M for Colorado man charged with killing his wife

Boulder County Sheriff’s Department

A judge increased bond for a Colorado man charged with killing his wife to $10 million Tuesday after authorities said he was a flight risk because he fled from a crash after picking up his daughter at the airport.

Barry Morphew had been free on a $3 million surety bond until the Aug. 26 crash in Denver led prosecutors to argue that Morphew wasn’t honoring the terms of his release.

His release terms included not traveling away from home except under specific circumstances, such as for work or a medical emergency, and having his location monitored by GPS, prosecutors said.

On Friday, Morphew was arrested and jailed in Boulder County on the order of Alamosa County District Judge Amanda Hopkins. The judge at the time amended his bond to $3 million cash only, meaning he would only be released by providing the full amount and not having the sum guaranteed by a bondsman.

Colorado murder suspect flees alleged hit-and-run

On Tuesday, Hopkins raised bond to $10 million cash after prosecutor Fred Johnson argued Morphew could easily have gotten onto a plane, flown to a city near the border and fled the U.S.

“We are very, very concerned he has just demonstrated what he’s going to do when push comes to shove,” Johnson told Hopkins in a hearing.

Morphew’s attorney, Jane Fisher-Byrialsen, pointed out in the hearing Morphew had yet to flee in his six years of off-and-on prosecution in his wife’s death. But Hopkins said Morphew had submitted no evidence for a legitimate reason for going to the airport.

Fisher-Byrialsen didn’t immediately respond to an email request seeking comment on the bond increase Tuesday.

Morphew has pleaded not guilty and faces trial next summer in the death of Suzanne Morphew, who disappeared in 2020 and whose skeletal remains were found off a dirt road in southern Colorado in 2023.

Charges against Barry Morphew were dropped by then, but he was charged again with first-degree murder in his wife’s death.

Investigators found no signs of trauma in Suzanne Morphew’s remains but say they found traces of a drug cocktail used to tranqulize wildlife in her bone marrow. Barry Morphew was the only person in the area other than wildlife officials with authorization to use the chemicals, prosecutors allege.

博尔德县警长办公室

周二，一名科罗拉多州男子被控杀害妻子，法官将其保释金提高至 1000 万美元。此前，当局表示，该男子在机场接女儿后发生车祸逃逸，有潜逃风险。

巴里·莫菲此前以 300 万美元的保释金获得自由，但 8 月 26 日在丹佛发生的车祸导致检察官认为莫菲没有遵守保释条款。

检察官表示，他的释放条件包括除工作或医疗紧急情况等特定情况外不得离开家，并且其位置将受到 GPS 监控。

周五，莫菲因阿拉莫萨县地区法官阿曼达·霍普金斯的命令被捕，并被关押在博尔德县监狱。当时，法官将他的保释金修改为300万美元现金，这意味着他必须全额支付保释金才能获释，而不能由保释人担保。

科罗拉多州谋杀嫌疑人涉嫌肇事逃逸

周二，霍普金斯将莫菲的保释金提高到1000万美元现金，此前检察官弗雷德·约翰逊辩称​​，莫菲很容易就能登上飞机，飞往边境附近的一个城市，然后逃离美国。

“我们非常非常担心，他刚刚已经表明了在关键时刻他会做什么，”约翰逊在听证会上对霍普金斯说。

莫菲的律师简·费舍尔-拜里亚尔森在听证会上指出，在莫菲断断续续因其妻子之死接受审判的六年间，他从未潜逃过。但霍普金斯表示，莫菲没有提供任何证据证明他前往机场的合理理由。

周二，费舍尔-拜里亚尔森没有立即回复就债券价格上涨事宜寻求置评的电子邮件请求。

莫菲否认有罪，将于明年夏天因苏珊娜·莫菲的死亡而受审。苏珊娜·莫菲于 2020 年失踪，她的遗骸于 2023 年在科罗拉多州南部的一条土路旁被发现。

当时对巴里·莫菲的指控已被撤销，但他又因妻子的死亡而被控一级谋杀罪。

调查人员在苏珊娜·莫菲的遗体上没有发现任何外伤痕迹，但称在其骨髓中发现了用于麻醉野生动物的混合药物痕迹。检方称，除野生动物官员外，巴里·莫菲是该地区唯一获准使用这些化学品的人。