Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #12

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www.abc.net.au

Police revisit previously searched areas in hunt for missing woman Samantha Murphy

Specialist teams will search an area riddled with undocumented mines, just kilometres from where Ms Murphy's mobile phone was found in May.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

​

Police are continuing a renewed search for the body of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, retracing their steps to areas first searched in February.

Forty-five personnel will search a forested area west of Grenville, south of Ballarat, where investigators initially searched when Ms Murphy went missing.

The ABC has been told the search area is dangerous and full of undocumented mines.

The area where the search is recommencing today is only kilometres away from where police found Ms Murphy’s phone.
 
He probably had to go in that direction, to avoid any CCTV on the freeway, because of his licence being restricted to journeys between work and home, as a result of that upcoming traffic case. But even so, on that road, he'd have drive carefully, resisting the impulse to speed, or hoon around corners, having to slow down thru Buninyong, some dodgy corners on a narrow road.

Country coppers love Sunday morning road traffic shift. They are out there on the back roads bright and early.

I just don't see him doing that 'heavily intoxicated' or on drugs, or not fully cognisant of what he had to do, in a very very short period of time. He had a terribly difficult job in front of him, and he had to get back to where he was supposed to be, looking like Mr Cool Tradie On a Sunday Break. Talking like Mr Cool, behaving like Mr Cool.

I cannot for the life of me see any reason why this search would be 'staged'.
 

Paraphrased:

Cops waiting till weather clears due to dangerous areas.

Will search several sites about 10km out of Buninyong

Police will traverse bush land littered with known, and unknown, mineshaft locations.

Areas being searched are about 5km from where police discovered Samantha’s phone on a property near Durham Lead.


1727228988062.jpegWonder why the cars have chalk paint writing on the back windows?

Stay safe both 2 & 4 legged friends .
 
drsleuth said:

Paraphrased:

Cops waiting till weather clears due to dangerous areas.

Will search several sites about 10km out of Buninyong

Police will traverse bush land littered with known, and unknown, mineshaft locations.

Areas being searched are about 5km from where police discovered Samantha’s phone on a property near Durham Lead.


View attachment 533268Wonder why the cars have chalk paint writing on the back windows?

Stay safe both 2 & 4 legged friends .
Click to expand...
Vicpol have a pay dispute going on at the moment, with marked cars to carry slogans.
 
Trooper said:
I just don't see him doing that 'heavily intoxicated' or on drugs, or not fully cognisant of what he had to do, in a very very short period of time. He had a terribly difficult job in front of him, and he had to get back to where he was supposed to be, looking like Mr Cool Tradie On a Sunday Break. Talking like Mr Cool, behaving like Mr Cool.
Click to expand...
Yes Troops, I am starting to believe that PS was nowhere near as intoxicated/drugged
as we first thought. And maybe no drugs at all, just alcohol. As you say, he had a very difficult task, which he apparently carried out pretty well - except that he got caught somehow. An alternative might be that he meticulously planned every detail, right down to Samantha being the intended victim. Even to pretending to be drunker than he actually was. Not very probable I know, but stranger things have happened.
 
Whatson said:
Ghost busters?

View attachment 533274
Click to expand...
There will be more writing on other parts of the car not shown in the photo.
I'm guessing 'who you gonna call?', pushing the point of the importance of police and their worth.
Police have been instructed to not drive marked cars unless they are carrying an EBA campaign message.
I imagine there are some creative slogans getting around!
 
Kemug said:
Yes Troops, I am starting to believe that PS was nowhere near as intoxicated/drugged
as we first thought. And maybe no drugs at all, just alcohol. As you say, he had a very difficult task, which he apparently carried out pretty well - except that he got caught somehow. An alternative might be that he meticulously planned every detail, right down to Samantha being the intended victim. Even to pretending to be drunker than he actually was. Not very probable I know, but stranger things have happened.
Click to expand...

IMO
Allegedly!
He was heavily intoxicated (alco/drugs) when the attack happened.
Police took CCTV from clubs/bars he visited.

The concealment of body and getting rid of the phone allegedly happened much later.
At 5 pm when Samantha's phone last pinged.
He probably was more or less sober then.

He was caught thanks to phone traces/pings and CCTV.
And it happened soon after the crime.

So I don't see any premeditation.
But lots of carelessness.

After all,
at the court hearing his defence lawyer said the amount of material produced by police was “unprecedented”. :rolleyes:

JMO
 
Last edited:
Lemony said:
There will be more writing on other parts of the car not shown in the photo.
I'm guessing 'who you gonna call?', pushing the point of the importance of police and their worth.
Police have been instructed to not drive marked cars unless they are carrying an EBA campaign message.
I imagine there are some creative slogans getting around!
Click to expand...
One of the slogans I’ve seen a few times is ‘if we burn out, we can’t turn out’
Exhaustion seems to be rife
 
Kemug said:
Yes Troops, I am starting to believe that PS was nowhere near as intoxicated/drugged
as we first thought. And maybe no drugs at all, just alcohol. As you say, he had a very difficult task, which he apparently carried out pretty well - except that he got caught somehow. An alternative might be that he meticulously planned every detail, right down to Samantha being the intended victim. Even to pretending to be drunker than he actually was. Not very probable I know, but stranger things have happened.
Click to expand...
No one has come forward with claims of him being heavily intoxicated that morning, or even the evening preceding. Lots of stuff about New Years Eve, etc, but not that Saturday. Rumours of attending an 80th birthday party, but no definitive claims of 'highly intoxicated' etc on either alcohol or drugs. His actions tend to discard the idea of 'heavily intoxicated'.. not to say, he did not make a colossal error. He did, but it must have been a subtle error, yet all encompassing for VICPOL to have such emphatic claims. Murdered, by him, at this place at this time.

And he had to get rid of the body as soon as he killed her, which was, according to police , 8am, at Mt Clear, can't leave a dead body of a woman on the track in broad daylight, anyone else could be running thru at any time... so he had to move her body at around 8am to the place where he eventually left the body. VICPOL was very definite about When she was killed, and Where she was killed. The body must have been removed at around 8am from Mt Clear. To where. not known at this time, but not far away, ... as in not as far as Melbourne, or Ararat, but local.
 
Trooper said:
No one has come forward with claims of him being heavily intoxicated that morning, or even the evening preceding. Lots of stuff about New Years Eve, etc, but not that Saturday. Rumours of attending an 80th birthday party, but no definitive claims of 'highly intoxicated' etc on either alcohol or drugs. His actions tend to discard the idea of 'heavily intoxicated'.. not to say, he did not make a colossal error. He did, but it must have been a subtle error, yet all encompassing for VICPOL to have such emphatic claims. Murdered, by him, at this place at this time.

And he had to get rid of the body as soon as he killed her, which was, according to police , 8am, at Mt Clear, can't leave a dead body of a woman on the track in broad daylight, anyone else could be running thru at any time... so he had to move her body at around 8am to the place where he eventually left the body. VICPOL was very definite about When she was killed, and Where she was killed. The body must have been removed at around 8am from Mt Clear. To where. not known at this time, but not far away, ... as in not as far as Melbourne, or Ararat, but local.
Click to expand...

Let's hope this time they find her, even for possible DNA evidence

A charge of murder would usually expect to encompass an explanation of motive.
If there's no motive, murder is hard to prove without a body.

If he denies everything, he still has a chance, no matter how slim, he could go free.
If he confesses and gives up the body, then it's all over.
The no body/no parole law is a huge price to pay if he loses the gamble.

But to be able to carry out such an organised crime without detection, including hiding a body from numerous searchers and police, suggests that if he is in fact guilty, then he was more than likely coherent at the time and not severely drug-affected, or possibly he's had help
 
drsleuth said:
This report says search area is 17kms south of dam where phone was found & search area is 2kms x 3kms


Click to expand...
Not far to get back to Scotsburn to the house where he and the girlfriend were house sitting.. directly east, maybe 6 klms.... He would not have to travel back thru Bunyinyong , thru Mt Helen and on to Mt Clear where his parents lived...........
 
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