Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson. This week on Pushing Up Lilies, we’re heading to Colorado to revisit the chilling disappearance of Suzanne Morphew, the mom who vanished during a bike ride on Mother’s Day 2020. For years, her case remained a heartbreaking mystery, until now. A newly released autopsy report reveals Suzanne’s death was ruled a homicide caused by intoxication from a bizarre mix of drugs-chemicals typically used to sedate wildlife. We’ll dive into what those substances are, what this means for the investigation, and why this new information raises even more questions than answers. Grab your favorite blanket and a strong cup of coffee, this case is stranger than fiction. Let’s dig in. * Listener discretion is advised.
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Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I'm your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine tingling, unusual and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
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Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, we're back again with another episode and another reminder to please go online and order your tickets for our first annual Pushing Up Lilies murder mystery.
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01:28
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I know every day people tell me forensics is my dream job. Your job is my dream job. It's the one I always thought I wanted, and life just happened and things didn't work out the way they were supposed to.
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I mean, I don't believe... that I believe that things always work out the way they're supposed to but I also believe that you can pivot at any point in your life if you decide that it's not going the direction you want it to.
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02:51
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03:35
Just a little quick reminder this week I want to talk a little bit about a 49-year-old mother of two. She disappeared in May of 2020 during a bike ride in Chafee County on Mother's Day. Suzanne more few seem to have vanished into thin air.
03:56
Her husband Barry, as husbands always do, made emotional pleas for her return and he offered a hundred-thousand-dollar reward for information on her whereabouts. He also just to get the compassion of those watching the news, shared their love notes and seemingly wanted her back.
04:20
We all remember the Chris Watts story we all remember the Peterson story. I mean the husbands are going on social media going on the news I don't want her back I don't know what happened I'm devastated, and this is the same response that we get from her husband Barry.
04:40
So offered a hundred thousand reward knowing he's never gonna have to pay it because she's gone but she disappeared. One year later Barry was arrested for presumed murder so days before the case is set to go to trial.
04:58
In April of 2022, the case was dropped. And that's because there was no body. Now in September of 2023, when law enforcement discovered Suzanne's remains, they revealed evidence that actually pointed to Barry.
05:14
Now we're all really surprised. Just kidding. But the husbands always, you know, cooperate with the police because they know if they don't, it's going to make them look guilty. But to me, it makes them even look more guilty when they go online and plead for their wife's return.
05:32
Anyway, the sad thing is the police were actually looking for the remains of someone else when they ran across Suzanne's remains. Suzanne's bone marrow contained BAM, which is a chemical mixture. And that is used to sedate animals.
05:48
So ironically, a tranquilizer raffle. was found in Barry's gun safe and he had admitted to using the tranquilizer for hunting purposes. So, he admitted, at one time anyway, of having that chemical in his possession.
06:07
And he obviously had a tranquilizer rifle. When prescription records were reviewed, Barry was the only private citizen in that area of the state who had access to BAM. So, the only person in that part of the state that had actually received it before and had access to that specific chemical.
06:31
Now he was indicted on first degree murder charges on June 18. Arrested in Arizona on June 20th and is awaiting extradition to Colorado for a second murder trial. On May 2020, Suzanne was reported missing by her neighbor, not even her husband, her neighbor at 546 p.m.
06:53
on May 10th, which was Mother's Day. Now when questioned, Barry, her husband, told police that he was in Broomfield on a work trip when she went missing and he said he left home at around 5 a.m. that morning and at that time he didn't bother her because she was sleeping.
07:11
There were no signs of forced entry at the home near Salida. Her bike was missing from the property, and it was later found that evening less than a mile away. It was down the hillside of a dirt road between her house and Highway 50.
07:29
Four days later, her bike helmet was found near Highway 50, about one and a half miles from her home and less than one mile from where the bike was originally located. Now one week after she went missing, Barry posted a video of himself crying and begging for her return.
07:53
Here we go again and I'm sure like I've not seen that video, but I am sure that you can tell by looking at it that he's not sincere. A family friend also said OKAY, I'll do another hundred thousand dollars for anybody that can give us information on her whereabouts.
08:13
So, over the next month hundreds, as you can only imagine, people think they saw her, and I mean I can only imagine hundreds of tips and searches occurred. Using dogs, water rescue, and even tactical mountain rescuers which to me is crazy because we don't have mountains in Texas so that's something I've never gotten to do is work with a tactical mountain rescue squad.
08:38
I think that would be kind of interesting. Investigators spent days searching the home and a construction site near Salida that Barry had been hired to lay dirt. So, we've got a little bit of a connection here, kind of weird.
08:56
For weeks after that, Barry avoided speaking to the media. But he kept suggesting that she was abducted. He just knew it. He knew she was abducted. Her bicycle was found. Her helmet was found. Someone took her, obviously trying to take the attention away from himself.
09:15
In August 2020, Barry conducted a media interview. And at that time, he started to blame law enforcement. He said that the sheriff's office screwed up. And they were trying to cover up their screw up by blaming him.
09:31
And he said that a friend witnessed deputies mishandle the crime scene when the bike was found. And he said that the police destroyed evidence. So, Barry then speculated that she was struck by a vehicle or attacked by an animal.
09:47
And of course, we all know if she'd been on the bicycle and been struck by a vehicle, there would have been obvious damage to the bicycle. I don't know what the damage to the bicycle was, but nothing I read said there was obvious damage or that it appeared that she had been struck by a car.
10:06
If she had a bicycle, then we don't know where the tire is working. I mean, were the wheels aired up or whatever? Would she have a reason to walk? Probably not. She was less than a mile and a half from her house.
10:19
She could have easily walked home, I'm sure. He even was grasping at straws by saying that she must have been attacked by an animal. Again, we all know that probably wouldn't happen here in Texas because we don't really have, I mean, we've got armadillos and dogs.
10:35
I mean, it's rare for someone to be attacked by a coyote. It's happened, but it's rare. Anymore though, they're around here in cities because we don't have any place for them to live anymore. So, I've seen coyotes just walking down the street, like a busy, busy street in Flower Mound.
10:53
under Dallas, which is crazy. Now, Suzanne's brother accused Berry of refusing polygraph tests and being uncooperative. And two of Berry's co-workers said that he was behaving strangely on May 10th. Now, three days after her disappearance, Berry actually refused a polygraph.
11:17
In October of 2020, Berry listed their house for sale. His excuse for that was, he said that the kids were afraid to stay there because they thought that their mom may have been kidnapped. They were afraid, his dad put the idea in their head.
11:33
They were afraid of the possibility that someone knew where they lived, that she was being targeted, she was being watched. And Berry says that they were scared. Now, whether or not that's true or not, I don't know.
11:49
It sounds kind of like a made-up story. to justify him putting the house on the market. It sold for $1.6 million in March of 2021. No, in May of 2021, Barry was arrested for first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and attempting to influence a public servant.
12:14
He allegedly provided false information to conceal the murder. Investigators believe that she was killed and that there was enough evidence to prosecute her husband. He had also been charged with forgery after it was found that he illegally cast Suzanne's ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
12:40
Barry said he wanted Trump to win, and he figured everyone else was cheating. So, he went up to the dadgum church or wherever and voted under her name. Now, I don't know how that happens because, I mean, I had to show driver's license and all the things.
12:58
But if it's a small town, I don't know. Not everybody goes by the rules. And apparently, he lied and cast a ballot under her name illegally. So, forgery was a charge that he was popped with. Barry told police that him and Suzanne's relationship was absolutely perfect.
13:19
Suzanne had actually been having an affair, though, for two years. And she suspected that Barry was also having an affair. So, Barry wasn't 100% upfront with the police. Like, it wasn't absolutely perfect, obviously, if your wife is cheating on you and thinks you're cheating on her.
13:38
She even planted a spy recorder in his truck to try to catch him. She felt confident that he was doing something behind her back, and she wanted to catch it on camera. She put a spy camera in his truck, and it was a pin.
13:57
The pin did not uncover evidence, but he did have a deleted search history on his phone that revealed visits to a dating website called Ashley Madison. Now he began a relationship with another woman shortly after Suzanne went missing, possibly as early as June 2020. So that's kind of weird and suspicious too, like the guy's wife is maybe presumed dead, but not for sure. Even dead, the trauma of losing a spouse, or having a spouse that's missing, should keep you from actually dating other people, which blows my mind. And he had to know like, what is he stupid?
14:44
Does he not know that the police are gonna absolutely suspect him after that? Suzanne had told Barry apparently that she intended to end their marriage 4 days before she went missing. She texted him that she was done and could care less what he had been up to for years.
15:03
She obviously distrusted him and felt like he was cheating on her because she got to the point that she didn't care. She said that she told him that they needed to figure it out. They needed to decide what they were going to do with their marriage.
15:18
And in that same day, Barry texted her suggesting that he would commit suicide. So actually, trying to put guilt on her, trying to make her feel bad. If you leave me, this is going to happen. Yeah. Why would you want someone to stay with you because you threatened them with suicide?
15:35
That couldn't feel very good. Two days later, on May 8, Suzanne texted her sister claiming that Barry had been abusive emotionally and physically. A tranquilizer dart cap was found in the dryer at the Morphew home.
15:51
This is the chemical that was found in her system. A dart cap for the tranquilizer was found in the dryer. I can't believe the police even looked in the dryer, to be honest. Half of the time, you don't think of things like that.
16:07
Barry had also been seen on surveillance cameras on May 10, driving to various locations and discarding unknown items in trash cans. Okay, so there's another red flag. Why would you drive around to different dumpsters to dump stuff in?
16:23
Because you don't want it all to be in one place, trying to destroy the evidence, and that's exactly what he did. Male DNA was found in Suzanne's car that corresponded with DNA profiles from sexual assault cases in different states.
16:40
Because of this, Barry suggested a stranger may have attacked her. And in December of 2021, Judge Patrick Murphy stepped down. because he had a long personal relationship with a partner in the firm representing Barry's girlfriend who was expected to be called as a witness.
17:02
So even the judge, he's not involved but still it's kind of hinky when you know maybe it's a small town I don't know but he was in a relationship with a partner in the firm that represented the girlfriend so that was a no-go so he had to step down.
17:19
The same month a Colorado Bureau investigations agent who testified resigned after he I'm sorry I have to laugh but he accidentally shot himself in the hand while off duty and he lied about it. People are dropping like flies here, people that are lying doing things they're not supposed to be doing, being blazes are not supposed to be.
17:40
In January the case was moved to Fremont County so Barry could receive a fair trial due to awareness and media coverage. Now charges were dropped against him in April of 22 nine days before it was supposed to go to trial.
17:57
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that they could refile the case if something happened or some new evidence reared its ugly head. Over a year after the charges were dropped, Berry filed a lawsuit seeking $15 million for emotional distress and accused them of tarnishing his reputation.
18:23
That was kind of ballsy and probably just another effort to throw the police off and make them think that he didn't have anything to do with it. September 22nd, 2023, her remains were found in a shallow grave.
18:40
A majority of her bones were discovered in addition to a cancer port, which I don't understand that, but a cancer port and items of clothing. On April 29th, 2024, an autopsy report actually declared her death a homicide. And bam, the chemical substance was found in her bone marrow.
19:01
In September of 2024, the district attorney who brought criminal charges against Berry was disbarred, which prohibited her from practicing law in the state. In June of 2025, Berry was arrested during a traffic stop in Arizona after a grand jury returned an indictment charging him with first degree murder of Suzanne two days earlier.
19:28
This is all pretty recent. Now an affidavit alleges that Berry lied to law enforcement about where he was when Suzanne was reported missing because we see him on cameras dumping trash off in multiple different trash cans.
19:43
He lied about when he left their home, and he also lied when he said that their marriage was perfect. So again, the police are going to figure this stuff out. There are cameras everywhere. Your cell phone records are never completely gone.
19:57
There was evidence that Suzanne's remains had been moved before they were discovered because the reason they felt like this is because there was a lack of bug activity, clothing decomposition, and animal predation on the bones.
20:13
They felt like she was probably somewhere else at one time and then was moved here. Which made it unlikely that she decomposed from an actual flesh body to a skeleton at this particular location, where she was found.
20:27
Now Barry is in custody in Arizona as he awaits extradition to Colorado. Court hearings won't be scheduled until he arrives in Colorado, which is expected to happen probably within the next 30 days. Number one, I mean if you are in possession of a chemical and a tranquilizer gun.
20:48
and the chemical is found in the bone marrow of the deceased person then to me that's like a no brainer. And people again aren't smart. I mean he was picked up on cameras dropping trash off in different trash bins and then putting a house on the market and then you know begging and pleading on TV to me crying makes everybody think that it's fake.
21:13
Because we've seen it so many times, we see it every single time someone murders their spouse whether it be husband murdering wife or vice versa and they do both happen we know they do both happen. Anyway I thought this story was kind of crazy wanted to share it with you because it did happen quite some time ago and just now a lot of it is coming to light now that her remains were actually discovered and I'm glad that they were actually able to take him back to court because what a shame that would have been it would have been terrible had he not been convicted.
21:50
It's pretty obvious to me that he had everything to do with it especially after the police found out that she was having an affair and that they were talking about a divorce and she was accusing him of an affair and he was doing online dating shortly after she disappeared like none of that is right.
22:07
And again, I think it just cracks me up that people don't realize how heavily investigated these cases are you know they think that the police are going to ask them a few questions and everything they say is going to be believed and it's just going to go away.
22:21
We both know that never happens or we all know like there's only two of us. Me and my one listener, we both know. We know better, I mean, we've watched enough TV to know even if you're not in the investigative field or you're not in law enforcement, you've watched enough TV to know.
22:38
I just thought that was absolutely ridiculous and stories like that are just they're unbelievable because it's hard to believe that he wouldn't hide the tranquilizers. and the rifles. Because they found them in his home, that's what made them look for the tranquilizer in her bone marrow.
22:57
If he'd really been a smart criminal, he would have hid those two things and that never would have been suspected, and it never would have been found in her system. Again, you know, don't ask me because I've worked these cases so much that I could probably plan the perfect murder and hide the body.
23:13
No one would ever find it. That's why my not really. But anyway, no, super interesting story. Waiting for him to arrive in Colorado so that court hearings can be scheduled because I'm really interested in seeing what comes of this case.
23:31
I'm quite sure he's going to be convicted because it sounds to me 100 percent like he's guilty and has been from the very beginning. Again, something else to watch out for. Still here. Still cruising.
23:44
No problems yet. Again, knock on wood. I hope that you'll have an amazing week and stay safe. I will talk to you soon. Bye. Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies. If you like this podcast and would like to share with others, please do me a quick favor and leave a review on Apple Podcast.
24:04
This helps to make the podcast more visible to the public. Thanks again for spending your time with me and be sure to visit me at PushingUpLilies.com for merchandise and past episodes.