A 53-year-old man from Chaffee County, Colorado who was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of his wife is now facing new charges of voter fraud.
He mailed in her ballot so Donald Trump could get another vote.
A Colorado man charged with his wife's murder illegally cast her ballot for Trump in the 2020 election, according to an affidavit filed in court.\n\n"I just thought, give him another vote," Barry Morphew allegedly said.https://wapo.st/33PUoQ9— Kyle Griffin (@Kyle Griffin) 1621251000
Barry Morphew's wife, 49-year-old Suzanne Morphew—who is a mother of two—went missing while out on a bike ride in 2020 on Mother's Day.
She remains missing.
Her disappearance led Barry Morphew to film a video and post it on Facebook pleading for her safe return.
A year-long search led to his arrest two weeks ago.
I live in this county. For a year, there's been anxiety in our community that a random psycho killer snatched a woman, a mother, off her bicycle and murdered her. Looks like it was the husband all along. Of course he was also a Trump voter, committing #TrumpVoterFraud.— Sue May Art\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u270c\ufe0f (@Sue May Art\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u270c\ufe0f) 1621095664
According to 9 News, Barry was charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, tampering with physical evidence and attempting to influence a public servant.
You can watch the news report here:
Barry is now facing charges including forgery of public record and election mail ballot offense after he admitted to submitting his deceased wife's ballot in the November 2020 election because he wanted then-President Donald Trump to win another term.
Lori Mitchell, the clerk and recorder in Chaffee County, knew something was wrong when she received Suzanne's ballot.
Suzanne's disappearance was a high-profile case with posters around the city indicating she had been missing for months.
Her ballot for Trump arrived in the mail with Barry's witness signature on it but missing the voter's signature as required by law.
Mitchell said:
"I felt I should contact the sheriff when I saw the name. It was stunning to see that ballot in our batches."
The protocol for addressing signature discrepancies is to notify the voter with a letter requesting them to "cure" or fix the issue within eight days after receipt of the letter.
Mitchell added:
"We still completed our statutory requirement by sending out this cure letter, and no one responded."
Suzanne's ballot was handed to the sheriff's office where it was seized as evidence in the case.
According to an affidavit from the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) for Barry Morphew's arrest, he was confronted by the FBI about his missing wife's ballot and asked why he sent it in on her behalf.
He replied:
"Just because I wanted Trump to win. I just thought give him [Trump] another vote."
Barry said he knew "all these other guys are cheating" and added he knew his wife was going to vote for Trump anyway.
Some people would literally kill to give Trump even one more vote.https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/barry-morphew-allegedly-tried-to-cast-ballot-for-suzanne-morphew\u00a0\u2026— The Liberal Voice of Reason (@The Liberal Voice of Reason) 1621293741
The only VOTER FRAUD has been TRUMP RELATED Colorado man Barry Morphew accused of frauduently casting wife's vote for Trump amid murder charges - The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/15/murder-voter-fraud-trump-morphew/\u00a0\u2026— Jude Green (@Jude Green) 1621188537
Ugh. Barry Morphew. A stain upon humanity. (Allegedly) killed his wife on Mother's Day, while her daughters were away at camp.https://twitter.com/NickKristof/status/1393948282309812227\u00a0\u2026— ariadtuppen (@ariadtuppen) 1621231870
Sociopaths vote Trump.— Chris (@Chris) 1621046619
This man is total slime ball. He murdered his wife, and then he #voted a second time for #Trump by casting a ballot using his wife\u2019s name. Is Barry Lee Morphew one of \u201cthe very fine people\u201d #Trump always talks about? Hope Mr. Morphew goes to prison for life.https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1394024871328374784\u00a0\u2026— Janet Wagner (@Janet Wagner) 1621197269
Republicans always cry voter fraud because they are the ones doing it.— Alex Cole (@Alex Cole) 1621251898
That's the kind of loyalty Trump demands. They may even become real pen pals soon.pic.twitter.com/3fhryV0HAH— KJT (@KJT) 1621253524
Projection and violence towards women, two strong hallmarks of the republican party these days.— BRANDCORP (@BRANDCORP) 1621251322
When the FBI asked Barry if he knew what he did was illegal, he said:
"I didn't know you couldn't do that for your spouse."
Mitchell clarified:
"Sometimes it's an honest mistake. It could be a household switch. But in this case, it couldn't have been a household switch because Mr. Morphew voted his ballot as well."
The CCSO announced Barry's arrest earlier this month. Suzanne Morphew is now presumed dead.
