A Colorado man allegedly forged a ballot in his presumed dead wife’s name to cast a vote for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Barry Morphew pleaded guilty Thursday and has been fined and assessed court costs of $600, The Denver Post reported. He will serve no jail time as part of his plea agreement, but can face up to six years if he violates the agreement. Prosecutors charged him with one count of forgery and one count of mail-in ballot offense, the outlet reported.
Chafee County Clerk Lori Mitchell notified the sheriff’s office on Oct. 22, 2020, about the mail-in ballot, the outlet reported. The ballot appeared to belong to Suzanne Morphew, who was reported missing in May 2020. Barry, who signed the ballot as a witness October 15, reportedly told investigators that he filed a fraudulent 2020 election ballot in Suzanne’s name because Trump could use the extra vote.
“Just because I wanted Trump to win. I just thought give him another vote. I figured all these other guys are cheating,” he told an FBI agent in April 2021, according to The Denver Post. Barry said he did not know it was illegal to fill out a ballot in your spouse’s name. (RELATED: ADAMS: The Evidence Is Real—Dead People Are Voting)
When FBI agents confronted Barry Morphew on April 22, they asked him why he submitted Suzanne’s ballot. He responded: “Just because I wanted Trump to win”
Barry Morphew gets probation after pleading guilty to forgery for voting on missing wife’s behalf https://t.co/bOoGhuFRA1
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 23, 2022
Suzanne was reported missing on May 10, 2020, by a neighbor who told authorities she never returned from a bike ride, according to The Denver Post. Police have reportedly been unsuccessful in recovering her whereabouts. Her husband was initially charged with first-degree murder for the death of his wife, but charges were dropped in April, just nine days before the scheduled start of the trial, the outlet noted.
Prosecutors reportedly failed to turn over evidence in Barry’s favor, according to CBS News.
Investigators found a “spy pen” that held recorded conversations between Suzanne and an individual named Jeff Libler, her suspected lover, CBS reported. They also found DNA of an unknown male in Suzanne’s Range Rover allegedly linked to three sexual assault cases.
Barry Morphew and Libler were both eliminated from the DNA sample, the outlet reported.