Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat 100km NW of Melbourne, 4 Feb 2024 #6

[Voluspa]

It was after 6-7days it was announced as suspicious though, as always the public only know a fraction of what the police do in these cases... Abduction/foul play would have been high on their list early on no doubt, just because they didn't make it public (especially if they didn't have any solid leads on evidence or couldn't confirm this theory at the time, theres no reason to announce all their avenues of interest to the public) early on doesn't mean they weren't looking at all evidence available from all different angles, I.e. abduction/foul play, left by choice, mental health, injury, disorientation and lost, medical episode etc... they wanted that window of cctv early on considering they didn't have a specific lead just many avenues and that time was the most logical and appropriate to request and investigate, once more clues came they can the start piecing the puzzle. I don't agree it was weeks of the police following just one line of inquiry you mentioned, as stated they announced the disappearance as suspicious after 6-7 days, that's not weeks of thinking she had an "accident on her run and was stranded somewhere in the bush", mind you a very small chunk of bush that boarders a major regional city, this wasn't real open expansive bushland.

I'm not saying that LE only had one line of inquiry... I'm well aware they don't release everything to the public and would've been following other avenues from the beginning. For weeks they were only seeking footage after 7:00AM even after they stated it looks suspicious. I never said they thought she was lost in the bush for weeks.

What I was trying to say is that I hope LE was compiling this CCTV evidence early on and ALSO collecting footage before 7:00AM. As I said I don't know how long CCTV is stored, so I'm hoping nothing was lost outside of these hours they listed for the public to provide. Hypothetically, who can be sure that 'John Smith' didn't override his Saturday or Monday CCTV footage because his SD card was full and police weren't interested in it at the time?

 

[mamamama9873]

She seems to be quite content taking candid footage of other people and broadcasting it, what’s the difference!? (And completely grateful of said footage because now we have actual picture of PS painted for us!)

I don’t agree! That is still a big difference. She posts candid footage of other people who I’m sure consented. Of course this footage and exposing it is questionable. However it’s what she decides to do privately.
The DM is a business and profits from these photos they have taken without her consent. As far as we know she is not involved in the actual crime and should be left alone.

 

[mamamama9873]

It would be a hard decision. Of course you do everything for your children and love for them is unconditional. But to put one’s life savings on the line and future plans on the linenwhen the child has been charged with murder is another thing all together. Mum’s career might be questionable too in that same area. I cannot image that she will be able to work in the same capacity as before and also not sure about local support for dad’s business after the son has been charged with such a dreadful crime. We cannot judge them either way. It’s absolutely tragic they have to face such decisions now. I really feel for them having their lives turned upside down by the evil actions of their child.

 

[Dezzie]

Maybe they haven't found Sam because it wasn't the accused who killed her

Indeed, he could be entirely innocent or mistakenly implicated due to mates/vehicle etc, or coincidentally..the phone pings being similar for eg.

It seems to be enough for the police to charge with murder though, and if this was the case I would think he would be "assisting police" rather than not cooperating.
With the arrest or without, PS or not, its still surprising that her body hasnt been found, and those many mineshafts sure seem suspicious to me.
IMO

 

[BGirl88]

It’s interesting that police are yet to publish clear details of his vehicle, it’s currently known/assumed movements on the day, and further appeals for sightings or CCTV of THAT specific vehicle. From memory with Borce R. they even re-enacted the assumed/known route in the same or a similar car.

I’d have expected police to release some clear images, rego, description of the vehicle, where they currently think/know it was around that time. Get as much into as possible about its movements.

Maybe they already have that CCTV footage… maybe now theyre looking for something else in the CCTV footage…

 

[Tricia]

Hi Everyone,
We are closing the discussion for the night. The thread will reopen in the morning.
Thank you,
Tricia

 

[Tricia]

We have had a request to leave the thread open tonight since the ban on naming the perp has been lifted.
Unfortunately, that was not the only problem with the thread. For various reasons, this thread can become out of control without a moderator on standby.
I understand your frustration. Believe me, the last thing we want to do is close a thread this way.
Waking up to alert after alert after alert because people are arguing is very stressful for our volunteer moderators. Trust me when I say it has to be really bad for us to decide to close a thread.
What I will do is discuss the request with the mods tomorrow. Maybe we can give it a go, but I need to discuss it with everyone first.
Thank you for your patience.
Tricia

 

[Knitty]

Thread is open.

 

[Kemug]

Well, here I am, up very late. And so happy to be here! For the past few days, every time I have sat down to follow this thread, it has just been shut down! So finally, what earth-shattering news and views do I have to impart? Sadly, not much. But I do just want to extend my thoughts and sympathies to all the families involved. And it has occurred to me that the accused's parents may have dreaded something like this for a long long time. Although perhaps in recent years they may have relaxed a bit - their son had finished school, had a trade, friends, and a girlfriend. They were entitled to think that he was settling down, and they had been worrying about nothing. And now this.

JMO, MOO, etc.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Well, here I am, up very late. And so happy to be here! For the past few days, every time I have sat down to follow this thread, it has just been shut down! So finally, what earth-shattering news and views do I have to impart? Sadly, not much. But I do just want to extend my thoughts and sympathies to all the families involved. And it has occurred to me that the accused's parents may have dreaded something like this for a long long time. Although perhaps in recent years they may have relaxed a bit - their son had finished school, had a trade, friends, and a girlfriend. They were entitled to think that he was settling down, and they had been worrying about nothing. And now this.

JMO, MOO, etc.

Police are being declarative that this was a purposeful act, not an accident. Further, they narrowed down to a suspect that on-face-value doesn't look like someone you would immediately suspect of the purposeful murder of a stranger....Unless There has to be a reason they identified him that is more than just phone data- because there should have been dozens upon dozens of other phones in that area. To me this means something about him stood right out and is known to the police, perhaps he has a closed/sealed record of some sort.

One of the first things LE does when someone is missing is locate and question people in the area with a certain type of criminal history- perhaps this person has one of those histories we have not been able to see yet.

 

[OptimusLime]

Mods - can we please consider not closing this thread tonight? Now that there's no ban on naming the perpetrator I feel that the rule violations have toned down a bit. When you close it it's at just 4pm Australian time - and being an Australian crime, this means us Aussies miss out (+ key news pieces could still arise during the closed hours)

And reopens in the middle of the Australian night and shuts at 4pm, feels like Swiss cheese

 

[callmehenry]

apologies if this has already been said but does anyone think perhaps he isn't saying where the body is because he doesn't know where the body is? as in, if someone else helped him to dispose of the body then perhaps he really cannot say

 

[investigatefred]

apologies if this has already been said but does anyone think perhaps he isn't saying where the body is because he doesn't know where the body is? as in, if someone else helped him to dispose of the body then perhaps he really cannot say

Well, if that's the case, he can say so-and-so helped me do XYZ, no? But instead, he sits silent as far as we have been told. JMO

 

[callmehenry]

Well, if that's the case, he can say so-and-so helped me do XYZ, no? But instead, he sits silent as far as we have been told. JMO

I agree with your point, however, if it was for example someone he was very close too then perhaps he doesn't wanna get them in trouble also out of misplaced loyalty or some such nonsense and perhaps he thinks if he says nothing he'll get away with it and so will they so best to just stay quiet

 

[Curiousobserver]

I agree with your point, however, if it was for example someone he was very close too then perhaps he doesn't wanna get them in trouble also out of misplaced loyalty or some such nonsense and perhaps he thinks if he says nothing he'll get away with it and so will they so best to just stay quiet

Putting the immorality of keeping silent, if he knows, aside for a moment. From a purely self-interest perspective, silent is the best thing he can be right now. This crime may be difficult to prove absent certain forensic evidence which is decaying away every day they don't find her body. It also doesn't benefit him to help police tie up any loose-ends that he could use at a trial to sew doubt.

 

[touch]

It seems likely that if someone has helped him to hide the body then that person was also present during the alleged murder.
If he tells police who helped hide the body then he's also supplying them with a witness who knows exactly what crimes were committed.

 

[callmehenry]

It seems likely that if someone has helped him to hide the body then that person was also present during the alleged murder.
If he tells police who helped hide the body then he's also supplying them with a witness who knows exactly what crimes were committed.

not necessarily. He may, imo, have committed the murder then panicked and phoned someone he trusted to help him

 

[SouthAussie]

Almost one hundred women have gathered to complete the Sunday run that Samantha Murphy didn’t get to finish.

“I arrived and there was a handful of people... then the cars just started piling in,” she told 7NEWS.

The group stood for a minute silence before heading off on a 7km run around Ocean Grove at 5.30am on Sunday.

“I’ve got goosebumps talking about it now, it was the most heartfelt morning you could imagine ... there was lots of hugging ... there were lots of tears,” Ryan said.

Community gathers to finish run for Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy

 

[Neet_Mc]

Parents will go to all sorts of lengths to look after their children's interests.

I refer you to the Australian Murder Trial of Warriena Wright from about a decade ago, with the accused changing legal council 3 times, before being found Not Guilty of murder nor manslaughter.

From memory, the accused was working for the fathers business, but I'd say the family paid all the costs.

Balcony accused Tostee's new lawyer

The man accused of the murder of Lower Hutt woman Warriena Wright has appeared in court today with a new lawyer.

www.nzherald.co.nz

Today was also the first time Tostee appeared in court with his new lawyer, Nick Dore, from Fisher Dore Lawyers, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Mr Dore was Tostee's third lawyer, having previously split from high-profile Gold Coast law firm Potts Lawyers, and Terry O'Gorman from the Robertson O'Gorman firm.

In November last year Tostee was granted bail at the Supreme Court in Brisbane, but was ordered to obey strict bail conditions that prevented him from using the dating app Tinder and drinking or partying into the small hours of the night.

His parents also paid a A$200,000 ($220,000) surety to ensure Tostee would not abscond.

And they’ll be doing just that for their entire lives with GT!
Firm believer that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. GTs parents as delusional as he was - couldn’t see any issue with his actions!

 

[ProfCluezo]

Police are being declarative that this was a purposeful act, not an accident. Further, they narrowed down to a suspect that on-face-value doesn't look like someone you would immediately suspect of the purposeful murder of a stranger....Unless There has to be a reason they identified him that is more than just phone data- because there should have been dozens upon dozens of other phones in that area. To me this means something about him stood right out and is known to the police, perhaps he has a closed/sealed record of some sort.

One of the first things LE does when someone is missing is locate and question people in the area with a certain type of criminal history- perhaps this person has one of those histories we have not been able to see yet.

I absolutely agree that an alleged murder does not spring from nowhere…. IMHO there are likely to have been signs from way back in such an alleged offenders’ life…. Things like strained relationships, volatile moods, tendencies toward aggression, sense of entitlement, pleasure in causing pain to others, glib and superficial charm, a proclivity for domination, an intense need for aggrandising, attention and control that dominates their relational manouvering. Persons with these attributes invariably “stand out” to others. There is a disturbing aspect to them, as much as they may try to hide this when it suits them to do so. They are hard to know. They evoke dislike. I suspect there have been indications from way back that something is “off”. There may well be a history of things that the alleged offender has managed to largely weasel his way out of… perhaps due to age, connections, the reputation of his family? This may have fed into the alleged offenders sense of entitlement and invincibility? I strongly suspect that, in time, we will see a trail of behaviour, years long in the making, pointing to a high likelihood of this kind of tragedy unfolding…. For these reasons I suspect that the alleged offender is likely to have been on the police’s radar relatively early on…. All purely speculatory… JMO… MOO…