He Said He Was Hunting Chipmunks — Prosecutors Say He Was Hunting His Wife as Daughters Fight for Suzanne Morphew’s Remains

Six years after her disappearance, Suzanne Morphew’s adult daughters are asking a judge to order investigators to return their mother’s remains so they can hold a memorial service.

Barry Morphew has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with his wife’s death.

Mallory and Macy Morphew filed a motion seeking the return of Suzanne Morphew’s remains after they were seized from Swan-Law Funeral Directors. Their attorney, Bert Nieslanik, described the removal as “outrageous, cruel and shocking to the conscience,” according to court documents. Investigators took the remains before the daughters could retrieve them for a memorial service.

The Chaffee County Coroner’s Office had released the remains to the funeral home in April 2024, where they had been stored for nearly two years, court records state. However, before the daughters could collect them, the investigation intervened without warning and prevented them from retrieving or burying their mother.

In their motion, the daughters argue that law enforcement violated their religious freedoms and their right to memorialize their mother in accordance with their faith.

Investigative sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Barry Morphew told authorities that Suzanne Morphew had wished to be cremated and have her ashes scattered in Florida. Investigators have raised concerns that cremation would prevent any additional forensic testing.

Neither Nieslanik nor Chaffee County Coroner Jeff Graf immediately responded to requests for comment.

As Suzanne Morphew’s lawful next of kin, Mallory and Macy Morphew are seeking control over her remains. Meanwhile, Swan-Law Funeral Directors said in an email that, due to the active investigation, it could not comment but is cooperating with authorities and hopes the matter will be resolved soon.

Critical Evidence in the Case

Suzanne Morphew’s remains became central evidence after they were discovered in a shallow grave in Saguache County in September 2023. According to a grand jury indictment, her bones — missing her feet — were found bleached and scattered in an open field. Law enforcement officers searching for a different body discovered them by accident.

The site was near Moffat, roughly 45 minutes south of the Morphew family home.

Toxicologists from the El Paso County Coroner’s Office conducted testing that will play a key role in determining how she died. An autopsy concluded she “died as a result of homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication.” The report noted it could be amended if additional information becomes available.

According to the indictment, toxicologists detected three chemicals in her femur associated with a regulated wildlife tranquilizer known as BAM. Prosecutors allege that, aside from employees of the National Park Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, only one other person in the area had access to BAM: Barry Morphew.

Arrests and Ongoing Proceedings

The nearly six years since Suzanne Morphew vanished have been deeply painful for her family.

Barry Morphew has been arrested and charged twice in connection with her death. The first case was dismissed in April 2022, shortly before trial, due in part to the absence of her body. After her remains were found, he was arrested again in Arizona.

In a victim impact statement filed in August 2025, David Moorman, Suzanne Morphew’s brother, urged the court not to grant bond to his former brother-in-law and asked for a life sentence if he is convicted.

Barry Morphew’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 13 and is expected to last four to five weeks. He has appeared in person at hearings in Alamosa County Court and pleaded not guilty in January.

Mallory and Macy Morphew have publicly supported their father throughout the case. Suzanne Morphew’s siblings, however, have expressed doubt about his innocence. He has consistently maintained that he did not kill his wife.

Despite the family’s disagreements, Suzanne Morphew’s siblings hope to receive a portion of her remains. They would like to bury her alongside their father at Park View Cemetery in Alexandria, Indiana, where she was raised.

Their father, Gene Moorman, died in November 2020, six months after his daughter’s disappearance. His gravestone bears a photograph of the two together and lists Suzanne Morphew’s birth date as April 30, 1971, with May 9, 2020, inscribed as her date of death.

Her sister, Melinda Moorman Balzer, called the discovery of Suzanne Morphew’s remains a miracle.

“I’m asking for another miracle,” Balzer said. “My family would eventually like to bring her home to Indiana where she belongs.”