Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #9

[Dotta]

The article below suggests Police do not necessarily need “hard evidence” to charge with murder. This conflicts with claims made previously on this site that “solid gold”, irrefutable evidence is required for vicpol to lay charges for murder…

Perhaps police do not have the level of evidence we have been lead to believe they must have? This could certainly go a long way to explaining why the body has not been recovered as yet…?

JMO

Do The Police Need Evidence To Charge You In Australia?

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I guess the searches by Police are only conducted when they have some kind of new leads.

In case of Bernadette Walker (UK),
the body of the victim has never been found.
Her murderer died in prison taking his secret to the grave.
And Police don't search for her body any more.

JMO

 

[Sor Juana]

DBM

 

[OrangeCash]

Cops drop bombshell in search mum Samantha Murphy disappearance

That's an old article from February 23rd, before Patrick Stephenson was arrested on March 6th

 

[JLZ]

Bo

Borce Ristevski.
9 years increased to 13 years for Manslaughter.
6 Years parole increased to 10.

"denying any involvement in her disappearance until the eve of his trial"

"By the time the 47-year-old's remains were found in February 2017, the cause of her death could not be determined"

Charged with Manslaughter only.

Let's hope LE have more evidence than this case.

That was clever lawyer work, to get the murder charge plea-bargained down to manslaughter, and arguably it wouldn't have been possible if police had found Karen's body within the first few weeks and had been able to determine a cause of death--or if Borce had opened his mouth and admitted anything. When the initial verdict came in, Borce had been in remand for two years, so his 6 years without parole was already down to 4. As you note, happily the original sentence was appealed.

 

[JLZ]

Cops drop bombshell in search mum Samantha Murphy disappearance

Are you posting this because there's a reference to possibly moving the body?

 

[bbbounce]

Weren’t there bush fires close to this area around this time? Is it possible he placed her body in an area later destroyed by bushfire? Or what if he was so off his face on drugs he can’t remember where he put her?

 

[pavlovsdaughter]

Weren’t there bush fires close to this area around this time? Is it possible he placed her body in an area later destroyed by bushfire? Or what if he was so off his face on drugs he can’t remember where he put her?

Re: bushfire: yes, there were some in this area around that time but I don’t think it likely. 1) bushfires are dangerous and unpredictable, why put yourself in harm’s way? 2) risk discovery by fire fighters. 3) fire would not totally destroy her remains, even crematoriums have special processes they use to reduce bodies to ash beyond just fire.

Re: drugs: I think it’s unlikely that someone could be that high and evade detection, let alone drive themselves home (assuming he did). Drugs like weed, coke, or even meth wouldn’t result in memory loss even at high doses. Really, not many drugs would, unless we’re talking some sort of drug-induced psychosis, in which case highly unlikely he’d be able to return work and avoid hospitalization the next day. Alcohol, maybe, if he got blackout drunk, but again hard to imagine him being able to safely drive anywhere if he was that intoxicated.

 

[BreakingNews]

Re: bushfire: yes, there were some in this area around that time but I don’t think it likely. 1) bushfires are dangerous and unpredictable, why put yourself in harm’s way? 2) risk discovery by fire fighters. 3) fire would not totally destroy her remains, even crematoriums have special processes they use to reduce bodies to ash beyond just fire.

Re: drugs: I think it’s unlikely that someone could be that high and evade detection, let alone drive themselves home (assuming he did). Drugs like weed, coke, or even meth wouldn’t result in memory loss even at high doses. Really, not many drugs would, unless we’re talking some sort of drug-induced psychosis, in which case highly unlikely he’d be able to return work and avoid hospitalization the next day. Alcohol, maybe, if he got blackout drunk, but again hard to imagine him being able to safely drive anywhere if he was that intoxicated.

Drug affected people can go days without sleeping and can have no memory of maybe stealing cars, driving 100's of km, drive offs at fuel stations, steal more cars, break into cafe and cook themselves a burger and have no memory of it all. Cctv captures it all. 'Oh yes, that was me. I must have been there'.

 

[pavlovsdaughter]

Drug affected people can go days without sleeping and can have no memory of maybe stealing cars, driving 100's of km, drive offs at fuel stations, steal more cars, break into cafe and cook themselves a burger and have no memory of it all. Cctv captures it all. 'Oh yes, that was me. I must have been there'.

Do you have a source for that? I’ve never heard of such a case. Certainly people can go on drug tears but to be fully functioning for a prolonged period, not exhibit any outward signs, and remember nothing would surely be pretty rare…

 

[BreakingNews]

Do you have a source for that? I’ve never heard of such a case. Certainly people can go on drug tears but to be fully functioning for a prolonged period, not exhibit any outward signs, and remember nothing would surely be pretty rare…

police interviews. Very common. They might have glimpses of memory, but that's about it.

 

[JLZ]

police interviews. Very common. They might have glimpses of memory, but that's about it.

You're relying on police interviewees accused of crime to be telling the truth. Anecdotally, I've heard they sometimes lie.

 

[BreakingNews]

DBM

 

[BreakingNews]

You're relying on police interviewees accused of crime to be telling the truth. Anecdotally, I've heard they sometimes lie.

I was relying on my job at the time. The facts. As presented in court. Many cases. Drugged plus sleep deprivation can lead to serious brain fog.

 

[Dotta]

" 'You're just fed up with it to be fair.

We've got three families in Ballarat grieving.

We get the same thing after every one of them, drugs or alcohol, and yet as a society, as a government we say,

'Our fellow Australians, we're grieving for our lost ones again'.

'When is it actually going to change?
When are people actually going to do something about this scourge on society which is drugs and alcohol ?'

'The government does nothing about it to the extent that they should.

Drugs is an issue in our sport and we don't do enough about it and we should.

And it's crippling society.

And this is one of the best countries in the world,
but we can do something about it.

But we just tolerate it and don't stand up against it."

Alastair Clarkson slams 'scourge' behind Bondi Junction stabbing

Alastair Clarkson has hit out at Australia's failure to deal with violence related to drugs and alcohol following the Bondi stabbing rampage that has shocked the nation.

www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org

‘Crippling society’: AFL coach lashes Australia after Bondi stabbing attack

Alastair Clarkson has called for tougher measures surrounding drugs and alcohol related violence in the wake of the Bondi stabbing rampage that has rocked the country.

www-news-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[Dotta]

I was relying on my job at the time. The facts. As presented in court. Many cases. Drugged plus sleep deprivation can lead to serious brain fog.

Considering that the accused is an electrician,
one can only hope he was not dealing with electrical fittings in someone's house while ALLEGEDLY suffering from this "brain fog".

Otherwise, some unlucky folks might get electrocuted while using household appliances.

How scary!!!!
Touch wood and "Hail Mary"!!!!!!!!

JMO

 

[Bats]

Does the accused know that the Police know exactly what happened to Samantha?

Or

Does the accused know that the Police don't know exactly what happened to Samantha?

The latter is correct at this point.

MOO
The accused obviously has some involvement but there is more to the story that he is willing to divulge and is disputing that he committed murder....

I don't think the accused is some sort of criminal genius that can outsmart the immense amount of police resources ... I just think he knows that the police don't know exactly what happened to Samantha.... and is not willing to tell them....for some reason.

If he knew that the police know exactly what happened... in my opinion....he would have crumbled by now.

Even if the Police find Samantha's body, the accused may still know they don't know the details of how she died.

 

[Dotta]

Does the accused know that the Police know exactly what happened to Samantha?

Or

Does the accused know that the Police don't know exactly what happened to Samantha?

The latter is correct at this point.

MOO
The accused obviously has some involvement but there more to the story that he is willing to divulge and is obviously disputing that he committed murder....

I don't think the accused is some sort of criminal genius that can outsmart the immense amount of police resources ... I just think he knows that the police don't know exactly what happened to Samantha.... and is not willing to tell them....for some reason.

If he knew that the police know exactly what happened... in my opinion....he would have crumbled by now.

IMO
The accused is pulling
"Ristevsky stunt".

And who can blame him seeing the outcome of Karen R's tragic case?

JMO

 

[Bats]

IMO
The accused is pulling
"Ristevsky stunt".

And who can blame him seeing the outcome of Borce R's tragic case?

JMO

Possibly.... but the accused was 14 when Karen Ristevsky died....

 

[Bats]

... I'm not ruling out he may be covering for another person's involvement....a person that does not believe that they were involved...

 

[hillshaveeyes]

Does the accused know that the Police know exactly what happened to Samantha?

Or

Does the accused know that the Police don't know exactly what happened to Samantha?

The latter is correct at this point.

MOO
The accused obviously has some involvement but there is more to the story that he is willing to divulge and is obviously disputing that he committed murder....

I don't think the accused is some sort of criminal genius that can outsmart the immense amount of police resources ... I just think he knows that the police don't know exactly what happened to Samantha.... and is not willing to tell them....for some reason.

If he knew that the police know exactly what happened... in my opinion....he would have crumbled by now.

Even if the Police find Samantha's body, the accused may still know they don't know the details of how she died.

LE know 100% he killed her. Phone pings. Possible CCTV. Possible witnesses. Possible DNA. Its all covered in the hundreds of comments. They probably have it all hence the murder charge.
But the question remains, if he remains silent, without a body, can they convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that he killed her.

He had weeks to thoroughly clean his car, hide and destroy evidence, throw out clothes, clean the house and let scratches on his arms heal.

Only time will tell.