DENVER – Barry Morphew pleaded guilty Thursday to forgery of a government-issued document for voting with his missing wife’s ballot in the 2020 election and received a one-year deferred sentence and community service.
Morphew will have to do 32 hours of community service and will be on supervised probation, according to the sentence. The charge he pleaded guilty to in Chaffee County District Court is a class 5 felony.
Two other charges – attempt to influence a public servant and election mail ballot offense – were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Morphew was originally charged in this case when he told FBI agents who were interviewing him in connection with the case of his missing wife, Suzanne Morphew, that he “wanted Trump to win” and “I just thought, give him another vote,” according to an arrest affidavit.
“I figured all these other guys are cheating,” Morphew said, according to the affidavit. “I know she (Suzanne Morphew) was going to vote for Trump anyway.”
Investigators were first alerted to the possibility Barry Morphew submitted his wife’s ballot when the Chaffee County clerk received a ballot for Suzanne Morphew, who was listed as a missing person at the time.
Suzanne Morphew has been missing since May 10, 2020, from the Maysville area in Chaffee County.
Barry Morphew was originally charged with first-degree murder in his wife’s disappearance, but the case was dismissed in April without prejudice, meaning he could be tried again if prosecutors file charges.
Prosecutors said they dismissed the case because they had narrowed down the area they were searching for Suzanne Morphew and said they believed they were close to finding her body.
As of Thursday, her body has not been found. Prosecutors said the second reason they asked to dismiss the murder case was because the judge ruled earlier this year prosecutors could not call most of their expert witnesses at trial because of discovery violations, meaning prosecutors would need to find Suzanne’s body to prove the case.
In the forgery case, Morphew has a review hearing set for Nov. 28, according to court records. If he complies with the deferred sentence, he will have another hearing next year to end the deferred sentence.