Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #13

[StillDiggin]

desperate search continues for a mother-of-three who vanished without a trace after heading off on a 20km run during a heatwave.

Samantha Murphy, 51, was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, about 100km northwest of Melbourne, at 7am on Sunday.

It's understood she was planning to run through the Canadian State Forest and was captured on CCTV wearing a brown singlet and black half-length leggings.

The mother-of-three has now been missing for almost 36 hours

Her 'upset and concerned' family hold grave concerns and described her disappearance as out of character.

Grave fears for mum missing for 36 hours

Samantha Murphy, 51, was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, about 100km northwest of Melbourne, at 7am on Sunday. She's still missing 36 hours later.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thread #1 Thread #2 Thread #3 Thread #4 Thread #5 Thread #6 Thread #7 Thread #8 Thread #9 Thread #10 Thread #11
Thread #13

 

[Knitty]

IMPORTANT

Effective with the arrest in this case, sub judice is in effect and will be until a trial has concluded. For anyone not familiar with the judicial principle of sub judice, please review the following.

WS is based in the USA but we do try to manage the various discussions to comply with laws of other countries.

As this trial is in Australia, the case is under sub judice so please avoid anything that violates the following principles:

Basically anything that may prejudice the accused’s right to a fair trial
Any suggestion, opinion, or direct accusation that the accused is either guilty OR innocent
(i.e. the accused cannot be called "the killer"; use "the accused", "the alleged killer", or "the defendant")
A defendant’s previous history of any offences is off limits
Scandalizing the court (disparaging judges, lawyers, any officer of the Court) is off limits
Broadcasting anything about proceedings which happen in the jury's absence is off limits
Any non compliance with an Order of the court is off limits

Note in the event of an Appeal subsequent to verdict:
Appeals are usually heard by senior judges who are not likely to be influenced by the media, therefore responsible comment is usually considered acceptable once a trial has concluded, regardless of if there is going to be an appeal.

Posts that are determined to constitute a violation of sub judice will be removed. To avoid this, please review the following from the Victoria Law Reform Commission and post accordingly:
10. Sub judice contempt: restricting the publication of prejudicial information

 

[Knitty]

Please continue here.

 

[FromGermany1]

Marking ....

 

[Deleted member 83851]

I’m drawn to Samantha’s warm beautiful face. My renewed condolences to her family.

 

[Rocket333]

@HoneyBunOne & @sunspun, factor in witnesses who may be subject to gag orders and the media who may have been asked to leave trial witnesses alone.

Evidence will have been sourced from all that you can imagine; physical, anecdotal and verbal, digital, legal etcetera

Rumours, chinese whispers, virtue signalling and urban myths abound and the amount and lack of verification render them all effectively useless and unreliable bits of information. We haven’t heard a peep out of certain people too which is interesting. What has been shared and what’s not shared is the most insightful so far as this case has been run tighter than a cyclists spandex.

 

[marv hucker]

“I’m genuinely perplexed about how a Gen Zedder with occupational knowledge appears not aware of or bothered by digital exposure.”
@Rocket333

Not as smart as he (and some others) think, perhaps?

 

[Rocket333]

“I’m genuinely perplexed about how a Gen Zedder with occupational knowledge appears not aware of or bothered by digital exposure.”
@Rocket333

Not as smart as he (and some others) think, perhaps?

Maybe there were even more pressing issues than digital tracking to deal with Marv.

 

[Warshawski]

Wishing all my colleagues here a good start to this 2025 year. .. unfortunately there’s been sadness for so many people across the globe already.

Like you @ Merv, I’m genuine perplexed by this whole situation.

As far as I’m aware / IMO :

* First puzzle for me is Why it happened
* Police are adamant that they have the person responsible
* a young man from a respected Ballarat family
* he was employed ( not by his father )
* he liked to ‘party’ - not uncommon for his age group
* he was at a party for an elderly relative the night b4 Sam missing
* he had a long-term girlfriend ( a Uni student )
* he had no known current connection to Sam or her family
* PS family left town almost immediately he was charged ( less 1 sister )
* His girlfriend has continued to visit him in remand
* Total silence from his associates
* Total silence from him
* Its indicated that there’s overwhelming evidence against him
* Yet he has made a Not Guilty plea, with straight to Trial

I’ve a feeling there may be some interesting information come out in the Trial, but who knows.

 

[Rocket333]

* Why it happened.
* Police are adamant that they have the person responsible
* a young man from a respected Ballarat family & he was employed ( not by his father )
* he liked to ‘party’ - not uncommon for his age group
* he was at a party for an elderly relative the night b4 Sam missing
* he had a long-term girlfriend ( a Uni student )
* he had no known current connection to Sam or her family
* PS family left town almost immediately he was charged ( less 1 sister )
* His girlfriend has continued to visit him in remand
* Total silence from his associates
* Total silence from him
* Its indicated that there’s overwhelming evidence against him
* Yet he has made a Not Guilty plea, with straight to Trial

* Why it happened. = impulsive, premeditated, not the first time?
* Police are adamant that they have the person responsible = strong, clear evidence.
* a young man from a respected Ballarat family & he was employed ( not by his father ) = means nothing if you possess a predilection to doing certain things.
* he liked to ‘party’ - not uncommon for his age group = true.
* he was at a party for an elderly relative the night b4 Sam missing = left his car at that residence on/near Elsworth Street (near the entrance to Woowookarung) hence the request for cctv in that immediate area?
* he had a long-term girlfriend ( a Uni student ) = who he was living with and who would know his routine and whereabouts and look for him if gone for longer than usual?
* he had no known current connection to Sam or her family = random attack?
* PS family left town almost immediately he was charged ( less 1 sister ) = witnesses, or fear of condemnation from the community?
* His girlfriend has continued to visit him in remand = how do you know that? Denial? Her parents live on the neighbouring property too?
* Total silence from his associates = witnesses? Suppression orders?
* Total silence from him = no body, no conclusive proof? Protecting his family or feelings of denial and shame? Arrogance?
* Its indicated that there’s overwhelming evidence against him = he was charged with murder which is a stringent process so the evidence will be thorough and strong.
* Yet he has made a Not Guilty plea, with straight to Trial = won’t ever admit it, doesn’t want the evidence publicised, relying on the body not being found, arrogance, anger and/or denial, hoping to get off, wants to fast track, might plead guilty at the 11th hour?
MOO

 

[marv hucker]

As discussed multiple times, once a case/accusation is sub judice, it’s in nobody’s interests to talk to the media. Not at all unusual for all parties to go quiet.

 

[olaselo]

Wishing all my colleagues here a good start to this 2025 year. .. unfortunately there’s been sadness for so many people across the globe already.

Like you @ Merv, I’m genuine perplexed by this whole situation.

As far as I’m aware / IMO :

* First puzzle for me is Why it happened
* Police are adamant that they have the person responsible
* a young man from a respected Ballarat family
* he was employed ( not by his father )
* he liked to ‘party’ - not uncommon for his age group
* he was at a party for an elderly relative the night b4 Sam missing
* he had a long-term girlfriend ( a Uni student )
* he had no known current connection to Sam or her family
* PS family left town almost immediately he was charged ( less 1 sister )
* His girlfriend has continued to visit him in remand
* Total silence from his associates
* Total silence from him
* Its indicated that there’s overwhelming evidence against him
* Yet he has made a Not Guilty plea, with straight to Trial

I’ve a feeling there may be some interesting information come out in the Trial, but who knows.

Me too! Waiting for the bikies link to reappear again

 

[HoneyBunOne]

* His girlfriend has continued to visit him in remand

Snipped by me. Do you have a source for this?
Also, can someone please refresh my memory as to where we're up to with this case? When's the next court appearance and what is it for? Thanks.

 

[Marg944]

Snipped by me. Do you have a source for this?
Also, can someone please refresh my memory as to where we're up to with this case? When's the next court appearance and what is it for? Thanks.

For THIS matter, Stephenson is due back in court on the 18th Feb, 2025.

“Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was arrested a month after her disappearance, with his case set to return on February 18 – more than a year after Ms Murphy vanished without a trace.”

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/why-samantha-murphys-case-is-at-a-standstill/news-story/016ccf57c55b7c48b78245c80761e394

 

[Rocket333]

For THIS matter, Stephenson is due back in court on the 18th Feb, 2025.

“Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was arrested a month after her disappearance, with his case set to return on February 18 – more than a year after Ms Murphy vanished without a trace.”

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/why-samantha-murphys-case-is-at-a-standstill/news-story/016ccf57c55b7c48b78245c80761e394

Interesting (typo?) in the article.

“Four months after Ms Murphy’s disappearance – and three months after Mr Stephenson’s arrest – Ms Murphy’s phone was finally found. It was discovered in the Enfield State Forest, about a 15-minute drive from Buninyong, was buried in mud on the edge of a dam in May.”

 

[HoneyBunOne]

For THIS matter, Stephenson is due back in court on the 18th Feb, 2025.

“Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was arrested a month after her disappearance, with his case set to return on February 18 – more than a year after Ms Murphy vanished without a trace.”

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/why-samantha-murphys-case-is-at-a-standstill/news-story/016ccf57c55b7c48b78245c80761e394

Thanks for that. Seems he'll be a busy boy with court dates left, right and centre.

 

[Marg944]

Thanks for that. Seems he'll be a busy boy with court dates left, right and centre.

Odd that he has retained top notch legal reps for other matter……. Yet for the murder charge he has chosen Legal Aid.

 

[Warshawski]

Snipped by me. Do you have a source for this?
Also, can someone please refresh my memory as to where we're up to with this case? When's the next court appearance and what is it for? Thanks.

Sorry HoneyBun, no link. .. it’s what I’ve heard, hence my initial statement of ‘ As far as I’m aware / IMO :’

is due back in Court on 18th Feb.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/patrick-stephenson-man-accused-of-murdering-ballarat-mother-samantha-murphy-makes-first-appearance-in-supreme-court/news-story/862ca7d5af8178c900aedebcc9348abe

 

[callmehenry]

Odd that he has retained top notch legal reps for other matter……. Yet for the murder charge he has chosen Legal Aid.

The first may well be over and done with pretty quickly so top notch legals shouldn’t cost him too much overall. The trial for Samantha however might be a very drawn out process so I imagine he’s thinking he doesn’t want /can’t afford top notch for that long

 

[Rocket333]

Odd that he has retained top notch legal reps for other matter……. Yet for the murder charge he has chosen Legal Aid.

Isn’t he with Michael Allan & Moya O’Brien at Parnell’s for the murder charge?