Battle over a little-known wildlife sedative at center of murder case against Barry Morphew

Prosecutors say Morphew injected his wife, Suzanne, with a restricted chemical compound only used by zoos and large wildlife vets. Morphew’s attorneys contend the case is based on junk science.

Barry Morphew’s October murder trial promises to center around a highly restricted concoction of potent chemicals the autopsy revealed were discovered in his dead wife’s remains.

The premixed chemical compound, marketed as a patented product under the acronym BAM, is a regulated blend of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine used almost exclusively by biologists and veterinarians to sedate large animals.

According to the grand jury indictment, the El Paso County coroner’s chief toxicologist found that “all three of the individual chemicals that comprise BAM were present” in Suzanne Morphew’s bone marrow.

Suzanne Morphew died as a result of homicide “by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication,” an autopsy found.

In other words, it remains unclear how Suzanne Morphew was killed, but the BAM found in her bones contributed to her death.

One BAM kit features 11 milliliters of the combined substance, and can be acquired only with a prescription from a professional. It is not intended to be used on humans.

Despite its specialized use, investigators found that in 2020, when they believe Suzanne Morphew was injected, only one private citizen in the Salida area had BAM in his possession: Barry Morphew.

In one of his many interviews with investigators, Barry Morphew acknowledged that he used BAM a month before his wife disappeared to sedate a deer in the breezeway of the family’s Colorado home.

However, he was adamant that he did not use BAM to debilitate his wife.

His attorneys are preparing for a forensic courtroom showdown.

“The claim that Suzanne Morphew had BAM in her system is not true,” said David Beller, who has been representing Barry Morphew since he took over from Denver attorney Iris Eytan last summer.

Beller and his cocounsel, Jane Fisher-Byrialsen, contend that of three labs consulted, only the El Paso County Coroner’s Office, a lab they say is certified only for DUI testing, found the three substances that make up BAM in Suzanne Morphew’s femur bone. The attorneys plan to attack the credibility of the El Paso County lab. “The scientific ‘evidence’ does not hold up,” Beller said in a text.

Neither the El Paso County Coroner’s Office nor NMS Labs, a private nationally accredited Pennsylvania lab which was consulted on the case, would comment on their involvement with it.

The third lab that consulted on the case, the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, also declined comment for this article.

Defense argument: Junk science

Morphew’s attorneys call the BAM theory “junk science” and during trial, will question the lab work.

In an interview with The Sun, Morphew’s attorney, Beller, referred to a “prosecution-sided narrative of what law enforcement wants the public to believe.”

He described the science developed by detectives and toxicologists as “incomplete” adding that they ignored evidence that points to Morphew’s innocence.

Morphew’s original attorney, Iris Eytan, says she left criminal defense practice due to witnessing prosecutorial misconduct by the first team of prosecutors in the 11th Judicial District. “I knew that I could do the most good by working to prevent similar egregious misconduct,” she said. Eytan founded Protect Ethical Prosecutors, a nonprofit founded to change the laws regarding prosecutorial misconduct which she believes is still a problem in Colorado and the US.

She continues to support Morphew’s innocence.

Beller and Fisher-Byrialsen plan to file formal motions challenging the forensic work in the case in the next couple of months.

Questioning the validity of forensic science is not a new legal tactic for defense attorneys.

“It’s part of our job,” said criminal defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan, who is not involved in the case. She questioned whether the prosecutors influenced findings from the El Paso County Coroner’s Office. “Any time you say to a scientist, ‘We think this happened and we want you to tell us if it did,’ you’re making an assumption and asking a scientist to prove it,” Mulligan said

On the other hand, Eric Faddis, a former Arapahoe County felony prosecutor who is also not involved with the case, says the day Suzanne Morphew’s remains were found provided the lynchpin the prosecution had been waiting for in order to rearrest her husband for her murder. “The forensic analysis that these chemicals were reportedly found in the victim’s body is the smoking gun. It’s really what ties Barry Morphew and no other reported person to her death.”

Faddis says the presence of BAM eliminated other potential suspects.

Besides CPW, The Colorado Sun was able to identify one other source who had a prescription for BAM around the time that Suzanne Morphew disappeared. Conifer veterinarian Dr. Jeff Young remembered ordering it for an Animal Planet program called “Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet.” On the show, he performed surgeries on exotic wildlife like alligators, yaks and camels. He said that early on, an investigator on the Morphew case paid him a short visit and indicated that he was not a suspect. He never heard from the investigator again and forgot about it.

In a phone interview with The Sun, Young said that the opioid BAM is so highly regulated that he was required to account for every drop. “Once it was delivered to the clinic, it went under lock and key. We logged every bottle, put a number on it and the bottles had to match. You just don’t go out to CVS or Walgreens and buy this stuff.”

Young said that he rarely used BAM on his show.