Suzanne Morphew's missing daughters and husband break their silence (2023)

The daughters of missing mom Susan Morphew and her husband Barry broke their silence three years after her disappearance, and the murder charge against him was dropped.

Barry Morphew, 55, was charged in May 2021 with the murder of his 49-year-old wife, Suzanne, who went missing duringbike ride in Salida, Colorado on Mother's Day 2020.

Her body was never found.

Prosecutor last yearhe dropped all chargesv. Morphew after a judge sanctioned the district attorney's office for violating the discovery.

Now he and his daughters have spoken openly about their situation – and Barry explainedGood morning America ABC NewsHowSusannashe made "bad decisions" as she battled medication and chemotherapy while battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Asked about Susan, Barry told ABC News on Monday morning: "We had a great life, a great marriage. She was just so loving and good and such a good mother.

“I know she was undergoing chemotherapy for the last two years before she disappeared.

"I know he's been through some tough things and made some bad decisions. He had a real problem with chemotherapy and drugs.

Barry said he was "heartbroken" when he found out his wife was having an affair with a man she went to high school with.

Holding back tears, he told ABC News: "My heart was broken. I didn't believe it."

Mallory and Macy's daughters, when asked how the ordeal left them, told ABC: "Very, very sad. Very confused. So traumatic. Literally our worst nightmare.

In defense, when asked if he had anything to do with his wife's disappearance, Barry said: "Absolutely not. The loss of reputation and integrity is very painful."

The women, along with their father, were asked if they ever wondered if their father was innocent. Mallory replied, "I never had a shadow of a doubt." Macy added, "Not one."

During the interview, the whole family hugged each other through tears.

Striking at prosecutors who believed Barry had something to do with his wife's disappearance, he reiterated: "They're wrong. They have tunnel vision.

"They have looked at one person and are too proud to say they are wrong and look elsewhere."

When asked what was the hardest thing, Macy told ABC News: "I just don't have a mom.

"It's really hard, especially with no closure that we have."

After Barry was charged with murder and the case against him moved forward, authorities released intimate details of their married life.

Suzanne was in a relationship with someone she met in high school, Jeff Libler, while Barry was registered on online romance sites.

While the case was still active, it was revealed that Suzanne, Barry and Libler had appeared together in a local newspaper in 1985.

Both men attended the same high school as Suzanne, and Barry was two years ahead of his wife and Libler at Alexandria-Monroe High School in Alexandria.Indiana.

At a preliminary hearing in 2021, Mr.law enforcement officials presented Suzanne's text message exchange with her lover in courtin which she told him she was having a nice night and was looking at houses for sale.

When her husband came home from work that day, he found Susan sunbathing in the yard. She sent her photos to Libler via LinkedIn, with which the couple communicated behind her husband's back.

He then showed the court a photo of Suzanne he had sent to Libler that day, in which she was lying on her stomach in a bikini and smiling.

Barry later told investigators that his wife appeared "drunk" in this photo, which officials said was the last evidence of Susan's life.

The next day, Liebler wished Susan a happy Mother's Day and said he knew it would be a difficult day for her because she missed her mother. Susanna never answered.

His last known text to Suzanne was sent on May 11, 2020, wishing her good luck with her cancer treatment. And this message remained unanswered.

Suzanne survived two attacks of Hodgkin's lymphoma decades apart.

The 2021 hearing also revealed that just days earlier, Suzanne had texted her husband and apparently expressed her intention to end their troubled marriage, which was marred by allegations of infidelity and abuse.

"I'm done," Susan wrote to Barry on May 6. “I would care less what you do and what you have been over the years. We just need to understand it culturally.

It turned out that Suzanne suspected her husband of infidelity and even bought a spy pen to spy on him.

Barry insisted to his wife that he was not cheating on her, writing in a text message: "I promise you, you are wrong with all these crazy thoughts about me. Why would I want another, only a fool would turn away from an angel like you."

Police said the couple had a tumultuous marriage, with the implication being that he killed her out of jealousy or to prevent her from filing for divorce.

But last year, the charges were abruptly dropped without prejudice by Assistant District Attorney Linda Stanley.

This follows Morphewfiled a $15 million federal lawsuit against more than 20 prosecutors and law enforcement officialsfor the "irreparable" tarnishing of his "name and reputation" by "conspiracy to violate his state and federal constitutional rights."

The 185-page complaint alleges that authorities conspired to falsely arrest Morphew, fabricated evidence, withheld exculpatory evidence, and conducted a reckless investigation that led to Morphew's wrongful prosecution.

"As a result of the defendant's conduct, Barry was charged, arrested and brought to trial, and his property confiscated for a crime he did not commit," the lawsuit states.

"As a result of the conduct of the defendants", Barry spent five months in prison, around 6 months wearing a GPS ankle monitor with severe mobility restrictions, and nearly a year defending his criminal charges. To this day, Barry's estate remains with the CCSD."

The lawsuit alleges that Morphew's name and reputation have been irreparably tarnished in Colorado and across the country.

Those named in the lawsuit include Chaffee County, the Sheriff's Office and Board of Commissioners, District Attorney 11.

Suzanne was 49 when she disappeared, sparking a massive search and rescue effort.

At the time, Barry Morphew made a series of tearful pleas for her return, but she was soon embroiled in a police investigation, with DailyMail.com reporting that officials from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation came down to the house just three days after she disappeared. I.

He claimed he was working in landscaping in Broomfield, Colorado when his wife disappeared, but as DailyMail.comrevealedIn September 2020, his colleagues were suspicious of his movements and said he left his Holiday Inn hotel room smelling of bleach.

He also left a trash can full of shredded mail, which he later turned over to the CBI.

Morphew started a legal process to have Suzanne's estate and their joint estate transferred to him shortly after she disappeared.

In November 2020, she voted for Donald Trump on her behalf, claiming she would have done so anyway.

Investigators later said Morpheus told them he did it "only because I wanted to vote for Trump to win. I just thought, "Give him one more vote."

“I thought all the other guys cheated. I thought she (Susan) would vote for Trump anyway."

In May 2021, a year after Suzanne's disappearance, Morphew was arrested and charged with her murder - even though the police had not found her body.

A September 2020 hearing shattered Morphew's description of his marriage to Suzanne as happy and loving, with investigators revealing he had a long-term relationship with married father of six, Jeff Libler.

Liebler, who never spoke about Susan, was due to testify at the Morpheus trial and obtained Susan's final photo, a bikini selfie taken on May 9, 2020, in the backyard of her $1.3 million home.

The court also heard that used containers of sedative were found in the laundry room at Morphew's home, that Morphew had scratches on his hands a few days after Suzanne's disappearance, and that he had complained to his family about his controlling behavior.

A series of text messages revealed how an anguished Suzanne discussed ending her marriage in conversations with friends and called Morphew "a Jekyll and Hyde character".

His defense attorneys spent much of the trial trying to find loopholes in the prosecution's case - pointing to unknown male DNA found in the glove compartment of her car and pointing to a connection to a sex offender arrested in Arizona.

The Morphew case was then scheduled for a full trial beginning May 1, but was dramatically put on hold a week before it began when prosecutors announced they would drop the case.

The move came after the trial judge barred the prosecution from using a number of witnesses due to violations regarding the discovery, while police said they were close to locating Suzanne's remains and waiting for the snow to melt.

The case was subsequently dismissed without prejudice to the defense's objections, meaning it can be reopened if new evidence emerges.

Suzanne Morphew's body has yet to be found.