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 #7

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Lemony said:
I wonder if that statement about the drugs and mental health will age well. It seemed premature at the time IMO.
Perhaps no official diagnosis and no previous charges relating to drugs was enough for his lawyer to make that statement.
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I recall the statement as something like "no known mental illness or drug problems at this time" so it left room for something new to be presented IMO
 
drsleuth said:
Maybe they were looking more for the watch & phone today & had the tech finding doggies on the job, it seemed a quick targeted search IMO
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Not according to Mark Hatt. I have read this exact quote in both this SBS article and also this HS paywalled article.


Detective acting superintendent Mark Hatt from Victoria Police Crime Command said ....... "We will have a range of specialist resources involved, however as we are searching for Samantha's body, we ask that members of the public do not try and join today's search."

www.sbs.com.au

Fresh search for body of missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy underway

The search for the remains of mother Samantha Murphy has been narrowed to an area 11km from Ballarat.
www.sbs.com.au www.sbs.com.au

 
drsleuth said:
Maybe they were looking more for the watch & phone today & had the tech finding doggies on the job, it seemed a quick targeted search IMO
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I agree. That's what leaves me with some hope.

Unless LE found Samantha, I don't think they'd have any reason at this point to reveal anything else uncovered (i.e. phone, watch) at this point. Also, it will take time to analyse these devices.

EDIT: ahh crap, I think SouthAussie just proved me wrong.
 
drsleuth said:
It could also be argued & reasonably expected , that a person who willingly ingested a substance that you got off any old Joe Blow ( no matter what you believe it to be ) could be anything. You knowingly take the risk IMO

You never really know what you are taking , it's not as if these " street drugs " come in a nice little box with who manufactured them, a batch number, an expiry date, a list of active ingredients, labelled & prescribed to you by a medical practitioner.
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Absolutely. I 100% agree with you DrSleuth and with the outrage expressed by Trooper and others re this tragic, brutal and senseless alleged murder.

In no way am I excusing or justifying illicit drug use. I have never touched an illicit drug in my life, nor do I wish to, nor would I encourage anyone else to do so. As I have said, my view is there is no “safe” drug use. Sadly, illicit substances are dangerous to individuals, families and to society at large.

I am also not advocating the abuse of mental health diagnoses by offenders seeking to make excuses for unacceptable behaviour.

The reason I have outlined potential mental health defenses that the accused may seek to use is for informational purposes only. For aside from matters of the psyche,and literary quotes, there is little other informed information I can contribute on this forum. :(

But hey, I will happily retire from being the devils advocate…

I most definitely don’t want to be misperceived. :)

To be very clear, I am as outraged as everyone else is regarding this senseless loss of life, and loss of safety and innocence for us all, most particularly those in Ballarat who are deeply scarred, shocked and grieving. My heart weeps especially for Samantha’s family and the unimaginable grief they are bearing now, and will continue to bear every day of their lives...

Keep up all your great work,websleuths. I will take a break for a bit. :)
 
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bearbear said:
would the request for no help from the public be because they are fairly confident theyll find sms body in this new location?
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I think it's because there have been so many people actively searching/coordinating searches of late.

Usually if the case has been off the public's radar for a long time, police don't say things like that...

But, it's so still a good sign IMO. They don't want any disturbance to the potential crime scene.
 
DetectiveStanleyBuganski said:
Mr Tamanika had previously maintained the suppression was intended to protect Mr Stephenson's mental state, but also told the court his client had no mental health or drug issues.
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"He may have significant mental health challenges, which then arise from now being charged with murder in what everybody understands is a very highly-publicised case," defence lawyer Michael Tamanika said.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-07/samantha-murphy-suppression-order-explainer/103561712

"Tamanika said releasing the name could cause prejudice to his client, who had been suffering from poor mental health since he was arrested."
www.1news.co.nz

Samantha Murphy murder accused appears in court

The Scotsburn man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested about 6am on Wednesday at his home.
www.1news.co.nz www.1news.co.nz

All bad since he was arrested....
 
MollyHarps said:
Quite a few on this thread are still going with the possible traffic collision line which whilst is 100% possible I just don’t feel that’s what happened here - I think if it was once he knew the ‘game was up’ he’d have spoken and ultimately disclosed where the body was hoping for a lesser charge.

I feel this is more likely a sexual assault and murder
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SBM. Good point. He could've pleaded an accidental hit and potentially be faced with a lighter sentence. I'm assuming the latter crime would incur a longer sentence because it's more calculated and more of a risk to the public.

Police did say something about the public not being at risk, but it was possibly only because they already had him under surveillance.
 
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Angeline said:
I think it's because there have been so many people actively searching/coordinating searches of late.

Usually if the case has been off the public's radar for a long time, police don't say things like that...

But, it's so still a good sign IMO. They don't want any disturbance to the potential crime scene.
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Agree, it's a crime scene, and it will be horrific to see her body as well
 
ProfCluezo said:
In no way am I excusing or justifying illicit drug use. I have never touched an illicit drug in my life, nor do I wish to, nor would I encourage anyone else to do so. As I have said, my view is there is no “safe” drug use. Sadly, illicit substances are dangerous to individuals, families and to society at large.



I am as outraged as everyone else is regarding this senseless loss of life, and loss of safety and innocence.
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I could not agree with what you say more! Amen to that!!

I have never touched illicit drugs either- I am proud to be able to say that and grateful for a mother who impressed upon me time and time again the dangers of drugs.
 
DetectiveStanleyBuganski said:
Would any of these scenarios be classed as mental health issues? Because the initial lawyer for stated that he had no drug or mental health problems. I feel like that would detrimentally hurt any defense even hinting at a mental health condition.
MOO
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I am sure the mental health card will be played

The lawyer will say he had a very stressful week, he was upset about something, he had a fight with his girlfriend, with his parents, his cat disappeared. The accused was not mentally fit at the time of her death etc etc....

Whatever, the lawyer will find something to help the accused
 
Nifty said:
View attachment 491663
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Thanks for this!

So it looks like this area was easily reachable by one road, from the spot where SM disappeared.

It lines up with what I kept thinking - that the body was taken somewhere nearby, as there were pings from her device at 7am and 5pm.

Meaning the device could've been taken with the body into an out-of-range area, then the device returned with the perp later in the day i.e. no trips into town or on a major highway where the device could've gained reception and pinged.
 
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Nifty said:
I am sure the mental health card will be played

The lawyer will say he had a very stressful week, he was upset about something, he had a fight with his girlfriend, with his parents, his cat disappeared. The accused was not mentally fit at the time of her death etc etc....

Whatever, the lawyer will find something to help the accused
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Are you thinking he is going to admit he deliberately killed Samantha? In order to play the Mental Health card.

I think it is always a possibility that he will try to plea to a lesser charge (manslaughter or culpable driving) once he has seen the brief of evidence that the police have against him.

I will never forget Borce pleading guilty to manslaughter right before his murder trial was about to start. And we never found out what happened that day. (Not that it matters, in the grand scheme of things.)

imo
 
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