Morphew extradited to state on murder charge

Barry Morphew, who has been indicted a second time in his wife’s death, is in custody in Alamosa County Jail, officials confirmed Monday.

The 57-year-old faces charges of first-degree murder. He is scheduled for an advisement hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

He was initially charged with his wife’s murder in 2021, but that case was dropped in 2022 because prosecutors mishandled the case and were sanctioned for discovery violations. The body of Morphew’s wife, Suzanne, was found in 2023.

Morphew was arrested in Arizona on June 20.

Trooper, highway worker hit

A suspected drunken driver was arrested Sunday after crashing into a Colorado State Patrol vehicle on U.S. 36, injuring two people and fleeing the scene, according to the agency.

Bryan Granillo, 28, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, fleeing law enforcement and leaving the scene of a crash, according to a Colorado State Patrol news release.

Granillo, who was driving a Toyota Camry, crashed into the back of a state patrol vehicle just before 2 a.m. Sunday, according to the release.

Investigators said the crash happened on U.S. 36 near Pecos Street, north of Denver.

The state patrol trooper and Colorado Department of Transportation contractor were stopped in the left lane of U.S. 36 with their lights on, protecting another crash up ahead from oncoming traffic, officials said in the release.

The crash forced the state patrol vehicle forward and pinned the CDOT contractor, state officials said.

Paramedics took the unidentified contractor and Miguel Jeronimo, who’s been a state trooper for nearly seven years, to the hospital after the crash. Both were released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.

Man killed in fiery crash

One person died Monday in a fiery Aurora crash after losing control of the vehicle and hitting a tree, according to the police department.

Aurora officers responded just after 12:30 a.m. Monday to reports of a car fire near the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Smith Road, according to a news release from the police.

When officers and Aurora Fire Rescue crews arrived, they found a Jeep Renegade fully engulfed in flames, police said in the release. Firefighters extinguished the Jeep and discovered one person dead in the driver’s seat, police said.