Suzanne Morphew went for a bike ride and never came back.
A judge has dismissed the case of Barry Morphew, a Colorado man charged with murdering his wife, Suzanne, who went for a bike ride on Mother's Day in 2020 and never came home.
The 11th Judicial District Attorney, Linda Stanley, filed on Tuesday a motion to “dismiss without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors could file new charges at a later date.
The highly publicized case had been moved from Chaffee County, where the couple lived, to Fremont County because of widespread media coverage.
Prosecutors had previously accused Barry Morphew, 52, of shooting his wife with a tranquilizer dart before killing her. He was arrested on May 5, 2021, and charged with murder after deliberation, tampering with physical evidence and attempting to influence a public servant. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Andrew Moorman, Suzanne Morphew's brother, told CBS Denver that he supported the motion to dismiss.
"I'm OK with what happened today," Moorman said. "I'm all about finding Suzanne. I just want closure for my family."
"They absolutely dismissed this case at this point because they knew they were going to lose this trial," said Barry Morphew's defense attorney Iris Eytan. "And Mr. Morphew was going to be acquitted and exonerated," he told local reporters outside the courthouse.
Prosecutors declined to comment when approached outside the courthouse following the hearing.
The trial had been scheduled to start next week.
In their filing, prosecutors said investigators were close to finding Suzanne's body, but needed to wait for heavy snow in the area to melt. Authorities would not be able to complete their searches before the scheduled trial date because of weather and snow conditions, prosecutors said.
Morphew has steadfastly denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance and has said he 150 miles away in Denver and staying at a Holiday Inn Express when she vanished.
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