Colorado man pleads guilty to forging missing wife’s ballot

A Colorado man has pleaded guilty to forgery related to his missing wife’s 2020 election ballot.

According to KKTV-TV in Colorado Springs, Barry Morphew pleaded guilty to forgery during a hearing Thursday in Chaffee County. More serious charges, including attempting to influence a public official, were dropped in exchange for his plea.

According to KKTV-TV, Morphew admitted to law enforcement that he had submitted a ballot for his wife, Suzanne Morphew.

Suzanne Morphew went missing after leaving home for a bike ride on Mother’s Day 2020.

Morphew announced that his wife would want him to mail her ballot with a presidential vote for Donald Trump. He said he felt justified by other allegations of voter fraud.

“All the other guys are cheating,” Morphew said, according to KKTV.

Barry Morphew told law enforcement he realized “all the others were cheating” and that his wife Suzanne voted for Trump anyway.

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According to court documents, the first-degree murder charge against Morphew was dismissed in April.

Prosecutors filed to dismiss the charges without prejudice, a condition that allowed them to re-establish the charges against Morphew at a later date.

Morphew was detained by police on murder charges when he was accused of vote rigging, KKTV reported.

In their motion to dismiss the murder charge, prosecutors cited continued efforts to locate Suzanne Morphew, whose body was never found.

The 49-year-old woman is presumed dead.

In her motion to dismiss the murder charge, District Attorney Linda Stanley argued that snow and weather conditions were hindering the search effort.

The Colorado man denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and said he wanted her to be found, according to a May ABC News filing.

Morphew’s attorney has suggested that he intends to sue prosecutors for damages they have caused his client and his reputation.

“The prosecutors need to be held accountable and they need to pay for the damage they’ve done to Barry, which is frankly almost irreparable at this point, because it’s hard to believe that anyone can believe it. Barry is not who they claim to be,” Attorney Iris Eytan told ABC in the May report.

Barry Morphew, 53, was sentenced to a year of probation for forgery.

This article originally appeared in Western Magazine.

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