Barry Morphew arrested days after being ordered on house arrest for alleged hit-and-run
Barry Morphew is pictured in an earlier booking photo.
(CNN) — Murder suspect Barry Morphew was arrested on Thursday in Boulder, Colorado, according to CNN affiliate KCNC, days after his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run accident on August 26 in Denver, court records show.
The incident was reported by a “concerned citizen” who saw Morphew drive “aggressively prior to striking two vehicles,” Alamosa County District Judge Amanda Hopkins wrote in a court order.
One of the drivers took video of the interaction, Hopkins said, adding that she viewed part of the video that was included in a news report from KCNC.
“During the interaction, a person who is very clearly the Defendant refused to provide his name or identification and indicated … he does not have insurance. The Defendant offered the other driver $300 for the damage to her vehicle, which she refused, and he is seen buffing the scratches on the other driver’s vehicle with his hand and tshirt,” Hopkins wrote in the order.
The defendant fled, “almost striking another individual and driving over a curb to do so,” after the other driver rejected the cash offer and said she was calling police, according to the court order.
Morphew, who was out on $3 million bond after he was rearrested last year on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of his wife, Suzanne Morphew, allegedly violated the terms of his release, the judge said.
“Morphew’s release terms generally confine him to his home, with exceptions for medical care, legal matters and work,” the court order states.
GPS data requested by the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office showed Morphew left home and drove to Denver International Airport where it was “possible he was picking up his daughter,” his attorneys told the district attorney’s office.
Going to the airport for any purpose other than work constitutes a breach of his bond” and “also presents an extreme flight risk,” the district attorney’s office wrote in a court filing asking the judge to modify Morphew’s bond.
Morphew drove “in areas of hotels and a mall at various points in the day,” before GPS data pinpoints him “in the area of the alleged crash” in Denver, court documents show.
On Wednesday, Hopkins issued an order for Morphew to “remain in his home at all times, no exceptions.” Boulder County deputies arrested Morphew Thursday night for failing to comply with the order, according to KCNC.
Morphew has not been charged in connection with the Denver hit-and-run, KCNC said.
He was booked into the Boulder County Jail, The Associated Press reported, and a court filing shows he has a bond hearing scheduled on Tuesday.
CNN contacted Morphew’s attorneys for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The yearslong investigation into Suzanne Morphew’s death
Suzanne Morphew, 49, vanished while on a Mother’s Day bike ride in 2020 near Maysville, Colorado, about 110 miles away from Colorado Springs.
Barry Morphew was first charged with murder in connection with her disappearance in May 2021, but prosecutors dropped the case, saying they wanted more time to find Suzanne’s body.
Because the initial charges against Morphew were dismissed without prejudice, prosecutors could pursue a case against him later.
In 2023, the mother-of-two’s remains were found 50 miles away from where she was reported missing.
A 2024 autopsy report released by the El Paso County coroner said Suzanne Morphew death was a “homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication.”
The combination of the three drugs is often used to immobilize wildlife and can cause analgesia and sedation, the coroner’s office said.
A tranquilizer gun and accessories were found in the Morphews’ home, according to investigators.
Barry Morphew was arrested in Arizona after a Colorado grand jury returned an indictment in June 2025.
Morphew has maintained his innocence since his wife disappeared. He has pleaded not guilty and faces trial next summer in the death of his wife, according to The Associated Press.
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CNN’s Yan Kaner contributed to this report.
