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

[Whatson]

Thanks!
Very interesting!

I guess these "bikies" organisations are infiltrated by Police.

And LE is keeping a veeeery close eye on them.

Dangerous criminals usually operate in secrecy/undercover.
But these "bikies" clubs seem to operate in the open.

JMO

They've evolved over time to fly under the radar more. Using cars instead of bikes. Recruiting people from all races. And a variety of different people from different walks of life on their payrolls, from mechanics, tradespeople, construction workers, lawyers etc.

Alot of them either end up in prison or dead, either by law enforcement or more often than not, simply by killing each other.

I no longer live in Australia, but that was the scene when I was growing up. It was evolving though due to various law enforcement crackdowns. Not 100% sure what it's like nowdays.

 

[Trooper]

There has been absolutely no connection made by either the Stephensons, the Murphy's , VICPOL, or the local constabulary that there is any connection whatsoever at any time between Mrs Murphy and any 'bikie' gang at any location in , near, around or far away from Ballarat.
Bike gangs exist all over the world, in Europe, ,in the USA , wherever motor cycles are sold and bought. Nothing even particularly interesting in AU bike groups, mostly middle aged men in silly costumes, with an aversion to razor blades and general grooming capabilities. Some say an aversion to soap, as well.

They are generally too combative with their own inner dialogue to work together on any criminal venture without losing their tempers and dobbing each other in, with monotonous regularity. It's only a matter of wait for the phone call at any police station.

They've evolved over time to fly under the radar more. Using cars instead of bikes. Recruiting people from all races. And a variety of different people from different walks of life on their payrolls, from mechanics, tradespeople, construction workers, lawyers etc.

Alot of them either end up in prison or dead, either by law enforcement or more often than not, simply by killing each other.

I no longer live in Australia, but that was the scene when I was growing up. It was evolving though due to various law enforcement crackdowns. Not 100% sure what it's like nowdays.

 

[Trooper]

Have I missed the announcement of Stephenson's barrister to represent him in the Supreme Court? ... I've been otherwise occupied, and it's only now 8 weeks, not a lot of time for one to get across a defence of a murder allegation. .....

Unless one has been appointed and has been fired by Stephenson.. that would be hard to keep secret, so I doubt this..

But it's not usual for this matter , (having a privately funded Legal rep, or a publicly funded one ) to be delayed for this long. ...

 

[Whatson]

Posting because the word bikies (organised crime gangs) keeps coming up and there seems to be some confusion from members of the forum about what they represent.

Have a good day all

 

[Whatson]

DBM

 

[JLZ]

Thanks!
Very interesting!

I guess these "bikies" organisations are infiltrated by Police.

And LE is keeping a veeeery close eye on them.

Dangerous criminals usually operate in secrecy/undercover.
But these "bikies" clubs seem to operate in the open.

JMO

Police have extra powers to investigate organizations on the OMCG list. (Not all bikie groups are OMCG.) Here is something on the legal situation in the different states . . . scroll down for Victoria. While the original article was 2009, latest update was last December, so I'm hoping that means it's kept up to date with legislative changes.* https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rip/rip2
*Edit: on further reading, I don't think it is kept up to date.

 

[JLZ]

I know perfectly well when Samantha left the house.

But she died at 8 am according to Police and supposedly there was nobody else in this forest,
except her and the murderer.

THAT was my point.
THAT is what makes me wonder.

If you were in a forest like that, you wouldn't necessarily know who else was there. There's trees and hills and stuff that block the line of sight. Even if not in a forest you probably couldn't see another person 4km away. <modsnip>

 

[Dotta]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

Did anybody come to help her when she was being murdered?

Did anybody run to her if she was crying for help? <modsnip>

Did anybody see something and call Police immediately?

Call emergency number from the forest?

Did anybody from the forest contact Police on Sunday?
(Police did NOT consider her vanishing suspicious in the early days)

No, No, No, No, No

So,
my guess is the area was desolate.
At 8 o'clock in the morning on Sunday.

JMO

 

[drsleuth]

I think we need to remember that we don't know what info led police to PS. Someone could well have seen something? Maybe scarred to go to police?

Could well have been someone who saw something that Sunday & for whatever reason , didn't come forward / came forward weeks later or made an anonymous tip to crimestoppers etc.

All of course IMO

 

[BreakingNews]

I know perfectly well when Samantha left the house.

But she died at 8 am according to Police and supposedly there was nobody else in this forest,
except her and the murderer.

THAT was my point.
THAT is what makes me wonder.

<Edited by Admin to clarify>

Gee Dotta, and that is why I said it was chilly in the morning. Maybe too cool for others to be out and about. Hence no one else around.

THAT was my point .

 

[ProfCluezo]

So much we don’t know.

So much more (I suspect) that police know that has not yet been made public.

As yet…

Hopefully in time the missing pieces will come together to form some kind of close-enough picture of what happened, and why.

Or perhaps not.

JMO

 

[Sor Juana]

I think we need to remember that we don't know what info led police to PS. Someone could well have seen something?

Although there were no specific details in the MSM, I got the impression that PS was arrested because police tracked his location near the site where Samantha disappeared through mobile data. I believe his car was also detected using some form of technology, and it seems no one else was in the vicinity. From the police's perspective, it appeared obvious that if Samantha vanished without a trace, PS was likely involved. JMO

 

[JLZ]

Although there were no specific details in the MSM, I got the impression that PS was arrested because police tracked his location near the site where Samantha disappeared through mobile data. I believe his car was also detected using some form of technology, and it seems no one else was in the vicinity. From the police's perspective, it appeared obvious that if Samantha vanished without a trace, PS was likely involved. JMO

OK, but what if somebody wore Sam's watch into the forest, carried her phone too, walked/ran down to Recreation Road where cars come by every few minutes, and waited for one to pass. Then took off the watch and switched off the phone, thus faking a 'catastrophic event' then and there and implicating an unconnected person (who happened to be PS)? Then returned to Samantha's temporarily concealed body to dispose of it and the electronics.

 

[SouthAussie]

OK, but what if somebody wore Sam's watch into the forest, carried her phone too, walked/ran down to Recreation Road where cars come by every few minutes, and waited for one to pass. Then took off the watch and switched off the phone, thus faking a 'catastrophic event' then and there and implicating an unconnected person (who happened to be PS)? Then returned to Samantha's temporarily concealed body to dispose of it and the electronics.

I think that a catastrophic event likely does not mean that both of Sam's devices just stopped. I think it means that they could watch Sam's life ebbing away through her heart rate and other Apple health data.

imo


There was a case here in SA (in 2016, trial in 2018) where they could see the 7 minute window in which the victim died.

Ms Matteo said a forensic expert had analysed the dead woman's smartwatch and had narrowed the time from when she was attacked to when she died to a seven-minute window.
She said the data showed a burst of heavy activity, consistent with the woman being the victim of an "ambush-type" attack followed by a period of less activity when she possibly lost consciousness.

Ms Matteo said the watch stopped recording the woman's heart rate soon after.
"The prosecution accumulates those timings and the information about energy levels, movement, heart rate, to lead to a conclusion that the deceased must have been attacked at around 6.38pm and had certainly died by 6.45pm," she said.

Smartwatch data key evidence in SA murder - 9News

A South Australian woman has been refused bail after being charged with the murder of her mother-in-law.

www.9news.com.au

 

[Sor Juana]

OK, but what if somebody wore Sam's watch into the forest, carried her phone too, walked/ran down to Recreation Road where cars come by every few minutes, and waited for one to pass. Then took off the watch and switched off the phone, thus faking a 'catastrophic event' then and there and implicating an unconnected person (who happened to be PS)? Then returned to Samantha's temporarily concealed body to dispose of it and the electronics.

Technically, it's possible, and I mentioned earlier that the timing and location could have been manipulated. In your scenario, the perp would need to deactivate his own phone (not just turn it off), ideally leaving it far from that forest. He'd also have to adjust the timing to ensure Samantha's running data seemed consistent with her usual performance in terms of time and distance. This would require careful planning, which seems unlikely for someone unstable, drug-fueled, and not particularly intelligent.

Furthermore, the car would need to be in a different location, adding another layer of complexity. The only plausible way to mislead the police would be if the perpetrator immediately took the phone and watch with him, kept moving to create a false trail, then dropped them in a mine or another obscure location. Afterwards, he would return to the scene, remove the body, and relocate it to yet another hidden spot. This level of coordination and foresight seems elaborate yet not improbable. This way, the police could still detect his mobile phone, but not with the level of accuracy that would allow them to pinpoint his every move.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
I think there's been talk and questioning around why the area was so quiet at 8am on a Sunday. It was going to be a hot day, and Samantha had plans later in the morning, so that's part of the reason she went jogging at the time she did on a weekend, I assume. I think the mention of it being chilly may be a reason as to why more people weren't out and about then. It was a weekend after all, and perhaps other users of the park decided it was too cold for them to get out and exercise that early. Regardless of the weather, the location is somewhat isolated and rarely, if ever, full of people.

 

[Dotta]

I think there's been talk and questioning around why the area was so quiet at 8am on a Sunday. It was going to be a hot day, and Samantha had plans later in the morning, so that's part of the reason she went jogging at the time she did on a weekend, I assume. I think the mention of it being chilly may be a reason as to why more people weren't out and about then. It was a weekend after all, and perhaps other users of the park decided it was too cold for them to get out and exercise that early. Regardless of the weather, the location is somewhat isolated and rarely, if ever, full of people.

I was simply surprised/spooked that on free day
(Sunday),
on a cool morning at 8
(with very hot day ahead)
and with marathon looming
(hundreds of participants),
this particular forest
(next to the city)
seemed empty/desolate.

With no runners practising.

With nobody to help the victim.

That was all.
That was my only point.
And wonderment.

Thanks

 

[HoneyBunOne]

OK, but what if somebody wore Sam's watch into the forest, carried her phone too, walked/ran down to Recreation Road where cars come by every few minutes, and waited for one to pass. Then took off the watch and switched off the phone, thus faking a 'catastrophic event' then and there and implicating an unconnected person (who happened to be PS)? Then returned to Samantha's temporarily concealed body to dispose of it and the electronics.

I personally think that's a stretch. I seem to recall an interview or a newspaper report that suggested all the watch data was consistent with Samantha's regular stats leading right up to the "catastrophic event". I personally believe she was intercepted in some way at 8am in the Mt Clear area of the state forest. I feel the data then shows a significant increase in heart rate when she knew danger was coming, or was struck/injured, then either nothing, indicating instant death, or erratic changes, or it dropping to the point that there was no longer a heart rate at all. What happened to her watch and phone at this point may indicate the next steps of her killer.

I think if anyone took her watch and phone and tried to pass the data off as Samantha's, it just wouldn't gel, as much as you tried. These watches and apps are very good at registering things like stride length, oxygen levels, average time per km etc. That is just too hard to copy IMO.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

I was simply surprised/spooked that on free day
(Sunday),
on a cool morning at 8
(with very hot day ahead)
and with marathon looming
(hundreds of participants),
this particular forest
(next to the city)
seemed empty/desolate.

With no runners practising.

With nobody to help the victim.

That was all.
That was my only point.
And wonderment.

Thanks

Fair enough.
As far as the marathon goes, I'm sure it attracted people from all over the state, not just locals. There are so many beautiful locations to run in around the Ballarat area itself, many, many km of trails and tracks, not to mention those that chose to run in built up areas. I don't find it unusual that it appeared mostly empty.

 

[ProfCluezo]

I personally think that's a stretch. I seem to recall an interview or a newspaper report that suggested all the watch data was consistent with Samantha's regular stats leading right up to the "catastrophic event". I personally believe she was intercepted in some way at 8am in the Mt Clear area of the state forest. I feel the data then shows a significant increase in heart rate when she knew danger was coming, or was struck/injured, then either nothing, indicating instant death, or erratic changes, or it dropping to the point that there was no longer a heart rate at all. What happened to her watch and phone at this point may indicate the next steps of her killer.

I think if anyone took her watch and phone and tried to pass the data off as Samantha's, it just wouldn't gel, as much as you tried. These watches and apps are very good at registering things like stride length, oxygen levels, average time per km etc. That is just too hard to copy IMO.

It sounds like “the cloud” may be a crucial element in this case then…. Very fortunate Samantha was so tech equipped given that (as far as we currently know) Samantha’s watch and phone have still not been recovered…?

Even with the help of all those delightful doggies…

JMO