ALAMOSA, Colo. (Court TV) — A man charged with murdering his wife returned Tuesday to court, where a judge blasted him for allegedly fleeing a hit-and-run crash while out on bond, saying he had “no respect for any order of this court.”
Barry Morphew enters court for a bond hearing on Sept. 8, 2026. (Court TV)
Barry Morphew, 58, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Suzanne Morphew. Suzanne Morphew disappeared while out for a bike ride; Barry Morphew was arrested nearly a year later on charges that he killed her. Suzanne Morphew’s remains were found in 2023.
A judge initially set Barry Morphew’s bond at $3 million cash-only. That was later reduced to a $3 million surety bond, which he posted in September 2025, over prosecutors’ objections. On Aug. 26, 2026, prosecutors say the defendant hit a woman’s car and then drove off, refusing to give his name or any of his information to the other driver. A video of the interaction between drivers, initially shared with CBS News, showed that Barry Morphew was involved. In court on Tuesday, prosecutor Frederick Johnson said that Barry Morphew was served with a misdemeanor traffic summons for the incident.
After hearing about the alleged hit-and-run, prosecutors filed a motion to revoke the defendant’s bond. He was arrested — but the incident also revealed something else: While Judge Amanda Hopkins had never written a work exception into the defendant’s bond conditions, the surety company treated it as if he had. “I learned the GPS company had given Mr. Morphew a window of Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., for which he could be gone from his home and be anywhere in Denver, Castle Rock or Parker under the auspices of him being at work,” Hopkins said. “No one checked on him. No one verified where he was. No one asked any questions about what he was doing with his time.”
Jane Fisher-Bryialsen, Barry Morphew’s attorney, agreed that a bond modification was in order but asked the judge to leave the financial requirements unchanged. Fisher-Bryialsen proposed the defendant be on strict house arrest, leaving only for court hearings. “We would also agree that he should not operate a motor vehicle, but that he should be permitted to do so to come meet with us,” Fisher-Bryialsen said. “I guess Uber is an option, but that would be, I think, somewhat difficult, considering where the residence is.”
Barry Morphew (Boulder County Sheriff’s Office)
Johnson urged Hopkins to change the financial conditions of bail as well as impose strict house arrest, citing GPS data that showed that on the day of the hit-and-run, Barry Morphew had spent time at Denver International Airport. Johnson said that the data for Aug. 23-29 showed “very little work, if any.” Instead, Johnson said, “He goes to a steakhouse. He goes to Whole Foods. He’s walking around downtown Denver. He goes to a liquor store parking lot by Cherry Creek and he’s walking around Cherry Creek.”
Hopkins said on Tuesday that she had just received photos from the FBI showing Barry Morphew at the airport on Aug. 26. He appeared with an unidentified person, picked up one of his children and another unidentified person, then left. “I’ve received no information that Mr. Morphew is an Uber driver, and therefore he had no purpose in being at the airport that day,” Hopkins said. “Mr. Morphew has shown time and time again that he has no respect for any order of this court, and he is not going to comply with it if it is inconvenient to the lifestyle he wishes.”
Johnson had noted in his argument to Hopkins to raise bond that the defendant said on a recorded jail call that he planned to be out of jail by the weekend, despite the $3 million bond. Hopkins said she had heard the same: “Despite swearing on his March 4 application for court-appointed counsel that he has no assets, Mr. Morphew has bragged on a telephone call that is very clearly recorded at the jail that he will be out on his $3 million cash-only bond by this weekend.”
Hopkins set a $10 million cash-only bond; if he is released, he will have to wear a new GPS monitor with instructions that he cannot leave his home at all for any reason other than a medical emergency requiring an ambulance or to attend court.
Morphew’s next hearing is Nov. 3.
