A Colorado man who was arrested last week in connection with his wife’s disappearance told investigators that he cast a mail-in ballot for former President Trump in her name last year because he believed that voter fraud was widespread.
Denver news channel ABC7 reported that Barry Morphew told FBI agents he knew his wife, who disappeared last May, had planned to vote for Trump and added that he believed sending in a vote in her name was justified because “I figured all these other guys are cheating” as well.
“I just thought, give him another vote,” he said, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC7. “I know she was going to vote for Trump anyway.”
Barry Morphew was arrested last week, according to the news station, and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Suzanne Morphew. ABC7 reported that he was also charged with forgery after a county clerk alerted investigators that a ballot had been cast in Suzanne Morphew’s name while she was on the national missing persons list.
Barry Morphew’s claim that his actions were justified by supposedly widespread fraud comes after former President Trump baselessly spread conspiracy theories alleging such fraud throughout his presidency as well as during his two runs for the White House. The former president also alleged that election fraud had occurred in multiple states in 2020, resulting in his defeat to President Biden.
Top elections and national security officials have stressed that there is no evidence of fraud on a scale that would have significantly affected the 2020 election results, and Trump’s own White House commission on voter fraud was disbanded before finding any evidence to support his claims.