Barry Morphew arrested Thursday night in unincorporated Boulder County on an Alamosa County warrant for failure to comply, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said they located him at about 9:11 p.m., took him into custody without incident and booked him into the Boulder County Jail.
The arrest followed a same-day filing by prosecutors seeking a verified application for a warrant and a modification of Morphew’s bond conditions, court records show.
In an order signed Sept. 3, a judge approved the request, directed that a bench warrant be issued, and set bond at 3 million dollars cash only with nationwide extradition. The order also scheduled a bond hearing for Sept. 8 at 1:30 p.m. and requires Morphew to appear in person.
Prosecutors wrote in their filing that GPS monitoring data showed Morphew left his home on Aug. 26 under a work exception to his bond terms. Instead, they said the data placed him at Denver International Airport. According to the filing, Morphew’s attorneys told prosecutors he does not work at the airport and suggested he may have gone there to pick up his daughter. Prosecutors argued the trip violated his release conditions because he was only authorized to leave home for work.
The filing cited the airport trip as evidence of what prosecutors described as an extreme flight risk.
According to prosecutors, video and GPS information from Morphew’s monitoring company showed him leaving home around 10 a.m., arriving at the airport about 11:45 a.m., then departing the airport and later traveling near hotels and a mall before heading to the area of East 8th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver.
That same area is where a hit-and-run collision occurred that was captured on video and later identified by a judge as involving Morphew. The video showed the driver declining to provide identification or insurance, offering cash to another driver, and leaving the scene. Morphew has not been charged in connection with that incident.
Newly filed records indicate prosecutors were reviewing his GPS data from that day while assessing whether he had violated release conditions.
Barry Morphew arrested as court sets bond hearing
A separate order filed Friday directs authorities to transport Morphew from the Boulder County Jail to Alamosa for Tuesday’s bond hearing.
Morphew is awaiting trial on a charge of first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of his wife, Suzanne Morphew. He has pleaded not guilty and denied killing her.
He faces charges in Alamosa County, where prosecutors have brought other high-profile cases in recent years, similar to how Fox Run Center CEO accused of unlawful sexual contact proceeded through the courts.
