Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #11

[jjleroche]

AFAIK this was all speculation - possible trails on the property that he rode his motorbike on, possible work undertaken at the property as fairly new and large outbuildings were a recent addition etc. I don't believe anything was ever proven, just the imagination of Web Sleuthers.

Aha. Thank you for that information HoneyBunOne.

 

[Trooper]

Side note - Can I ask why is there zero updates on the family ? Surely they’ve been spotted somewhere within Australia by someone . Wouldn’t media have been wanting a scoop? Or gag order ?

edited by me for focus....

One way to tell if people are locked in for testimony at a trial is, the Women's Weekly does not do a four page spread on them, ' I lived with a killer'....' He was good with the horses'.. this kind of thing.. TV, press, Tabloids, all come under the umbrella of it. Gag orders are normal in AU, for a whole lot of reasons, sometimes called a D notice, for 'DESIST'..

There is no need for updates on his family, they are citizens entitled to their privacy, ditto Mick Murphy and his children, any drops to the press are by choice of Mick, and not 'scoops'.. Ditto, the girlfriend. Anyone extracting an interview with her with the idea of publishing it would be subject to sanctions by the court, and very quickly, too.

The legal basis for this is, VICPOL are in charge of info that is required by the Supreme Court. and crossing that line is subject to rather harsh penalties.. Its all a matter of wbo has the authority ... similar to the situation, should they find Mrs Murphy's remains, the minute they are found , they go out of the authority of VICPOL and then come under the auspices of the State Coroner, not the police, not even Mick, they remain so until the Coroner decides to release them to the family..

 

[jjleroche]

edited by me for focus....

One way to tell if people are locked in for testimony at a trial is, the Women's Weekly does not do a four page spread on them, ' I lived with a killer'....' He was good with the horses'.. this kind of thing.. TV, press, Tabloids, all come under the umbrella of it. Gag orders are normal in AU, for a whole lot of reasons, sometimes called a D notice, for 'DESIST'..

There is no need for updates on his family, they are citizens entitled to their privacy, ditto Mick Murphy and his children, any drops to the press are by choice of Mick, and not 'scoops'.. Ditto, the girlfriend. Anyone extracting an interview with her with the idea of publishing it would be subject to sanctions by the court, and very quickly, too.

The legal basis for this is, VICPOL are in charge of info that is required by the Supreme Court. and crossing that line is subject to rather harsh penalties.. Its all a matter of wbo has the authority ... similar to the situation, should they find Mrs Murphy's remains, the minute they are found , they go out of the authority of VICPOL and then come under the auspices of the State Coroner, not the police, not even Mick, they remain so until the Coroner decides to release them to the family..

IMO it's rather comforting to know that such sanctions are in place. The thought of the media placing further pressure on the bereaved, and the loved ones of PS, in order to publish a story for which they hope to gain financial benefit is utterly repugnant. There are stronger words which I could use, but I'll refrain...

I cannot imagine how horrific this whole experience has been (obviously for Samantha but) also for her loved ones - also for the loved ones of the accused.

It's never going to be over in terms of their loss and grief, but the ordeal of a trial if PS pleads not guilty is IMO going to be a huge mountain to climb, but necessary in the pursuit of justice for Samantha.

Hopefully the trial, if it proceeds, may have some effect in curtailing similar activities of others considering committing major crimes.

JMO

 

[callmehenry]

I know this isn’t going to happen but part of me is still really hoping that Samantha just walks back through the door. That this was all some big mistake somehow and she’s actually alive and well. Yes, I know it’s probably stretching the boundaries of reality but wouldn’t it be wonderful if it did happen.

 

[Warshawski]

If this comes down to sentencing, and he still hasn't said where Samantha is, is it likely that the Judge will make his sentence longer or the maximum. Or will the 'no body, no parole' come into play? Seems so unfair to the family if they have to wait any further! Or is this leverage for a plea deal. I tell you where her body is, if you give me manslaughter? Just me wondering.

If he was to say where her body is, imo that’s an admission of guilt ( or involvement at least ).
hasn’t entered any plea as yet so ( from purely a legal perspective) I wouldn’t expect to hear that info from him.
I think he will have to enter a Plea at next hearing (when defence will have all he information they were chasing ) or else the Judge will enter a Not Guilty plea on his behalf.

Having said that, I think he’d be pretty close to being out of time for any plea bargaining. The basis of the No Body, No Parole laws was to ensure that murders co-operate with police to end the torment of families and return the remains of their loved ones to them so they can be laid to rest with dignity & respect, IMO. SM’s family has been suffering through almost 8 months of ‘torment’ and I think that will count for something, even if he does eventually fess up.

 

[AussieSherlock]

edited by me for focus....

One way to tell if people are locked in for testimony at a trial is, the Women's Weekly does not do a four page spread on them, ' I lived with a killer'....' He was good with the horses'.. this kind of thing.. TV, press, Tabloids, all come under the umbrella of it. Gag orders are normal in AU, for a whole lot of reasons, sometimes called a D notice, for 'DESIST'..

There is no need for updates on his family, they are citizens entitled to their privacy, ditto Mick Murphy and his children, any drops to the press are by choice of Mick, and not 'scoops'.. Ditto, the girlfriend. Anyone extracting an interview with her with the idea of publishing it would be subject to sanctions by the court, and very quickly, too.

The legal basis for this is, VICPOL are in charge of info that is required by the Supreme Court. and crossing that line is subject to rather harsh penalties.. Its all a matter of wbo has the authority ... similar to the situation, should they find Mrs Murphy's remains, the minute they are found , they go out of the authority of VICPOL and then come under the auspices of the State Coroner, not the police, not even Mick, they remain so until the Coroner decides to release them to the family..

Thanks , great explanation.

And I hope the families get their privacy I was just surprised tabloids wouldn’t be slimy and try and get a scoop but your explanation makes sense thank you Trooper

 

[Warshawski]

Was the ping at 5pm off the Buninyong tower, south of the search area ever confirmed by police do we know?

Because I’m just plotting some things in a Google map and maybe I’m wrong with my locations (?) but was the Scotsburn house he was staying at here ?:30 Yendon No 2 Rd · Scotsburn, Victoria

And am I correct in thinking the telecommunications tower is here? 37°39'17.7"S 143°55'26.9"E
(Note: I found this by searching phone tower address list for Buninyong and getting these coordinates..)
I did also read on several news articles about the Buninyong Golf course being the place it pinged but wouldn’t it be the tower in Buninying ? Maybe someone can confirm does it ping at the tower or could have pinged at the golf course or somewhere else if anyone can confirm ?

If the tower needs to be close to pickup signal then am I seeing this correctly that the Scotsburn house and the tower are really really close to one another ?

(See image attached) I’ve put a yellow star for each location. Too right one is the tower. Close right?

So IF that’s the case then the accused could have had her or the mobile phone or both in the vehicle at the Scotsburn house , when it pinged at 5pm, and then perhaps he drove to dispose of both or either.

Also as a side q, was the girlfriend out with him the night before ? Why didn’t he just taxi home and not take his car if it is true his vehicle was in the bush .? Hmmmm…

I don’t think either that last ‘ping’ at 5pm, nor the associated Tower, was ever officially publicly confirmed by Police - it was stated by media however, and I think was stated quite early on in the search ??

It’s many years since I worked in mobile telecoms, however imo basically a turned-on mobile phone communicates every few seconds with the strongest Tower signal it attracts - which usually is the nearest Tower. Towers are responsible for managing a network of Cells ( areas vary - less in cities, bigger areas in rural areas) To drill further into a particular phone location, Police use something called ‘triangulation’ between the various towers.

Re the activities of the night before Samantha’s disappearance - I think the more credible report is that he was at a family birthday party (of an more mature female family member I think ) and the story was that he left his car there.

Just all my personal thoughts ….