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 #5

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  • #861
Are arrest logs/prisoner information public record in Australia or do we have to wait until they tell us who this man is?
Arrest details are not usually made public although charge names are often public. E.g. the Ballarat Court list will likely name him once he is charged and appears for a bail hearing in the next day or so (assuming he is charged) if he hasn't already. The police can suppress the name however depending on the offense (unlikely here as the victim is an adult and publicly known) and if it could affect a future trial and fairness of the jury; I would not be surprised if the name is suppressed initially and an order placed on the media to not name them.
 
  • #862
Arrest details are not usually made public although charge names are often public. E.g. the Ballarat Court list will likely name him once he is charged and appears for a bail hearing in the next day or so (assuming he is charged) if he hasn't already. The police can suppress the name however depending on the offense (unlikely here as the victim is an adult and publicly known) and if it could affect a future trial and fairness of the jury; I would not be surprised if the name is suppressed initially and an order placed on the media to not name them.
Thank you for the info!
 
  • #863
If he is charged, should appear on the Ballarat Magistrates court link.

 
  • #864
The police sure kept that quiet ... until they were ready. imo
 
  • #865
I’m on pins and needles. Great job by LE there.
 
  • #866
The police sure kept that quiet ... until they were ready. imo
Not unusual for here.

Now, let's just hope this is actually what we hope it is, and that he isn't just released without charge after a few hours.

MOO
 
  • #867
The police sure kept that quiet ... until they were ready. imo
And just as they should, hopefully some of the horrible rumors suspecting the husband etc might stop. It must be hell having to hear them for the family.
 
  • #868
Not unusual for here.

Now, let's just hope this is actually what we hope it is, and that he isn't just released without charge after a few hours.

MOO

Not usual for Vicpol to announce and release, in the cases I have followed. And he has already been in custody for over 24 hours.

I imagine, right now, it is all about "Where's Sam?" ... "I didn't do anything" .... "Where's Sam?" .... "I don't know" ... "Where's Sam?" ...

imo
 
  • #869
How good was it to hear this !!! I have just heard the News
 
  • #870
22 year old… how old is her daughter Jess? Could there be a connection?
 
  • #871
I am not sure what type of building this is but seems well secured with high barbwire fence. It is otherwise a very simple looking building and has an antenna on top of it I can't zoom in enough to make out this signs. One sign has a logo that someone may be able to identify.

If it was some sort of electricity sub station, wouldn't there be a lot of high voltage warning signs?
I'm not certain although given the proximity of the water reservoir nearby and what the structure looks like in Google Maps, my guess is that it is a Council water booster pump station associated with the reservoir or is housing other infrastructure associated within the water reservoir.

Source: I'm an Australian engineer and work on similar structures. It could potentially be a small sewerage pump station although the location, the lack of obvious overflow storage and the presence of the water reservoir leads me to believe it would be associated with the Council water system.

Eitherway, in a lot of Council's in Australia, much of the infrastructure sites and locks all use a common key (e.g. a literal 'key to the city' etc) and which dozens if not hundreds of people would usually have access too or a copy if anything nefarious happened in this case in the proximity of the building. Sites like these are usually remote monitored (via infrastructure telemetry/reporting sent via phone/text/internet, not CCTV) although would often be visited by Council operational staff at least once a week routinely or so or when something breaks or is unusual.
 
  • #872
22 year old! I don't know why but I wasn't expecting someone that young.
Glad there's been an arrest!
 
  • #873
22 year old… how old is her daughter Jess? Could there be a connection?
Daughter is 22, was my first thought as well.
There is one journalist on Twitter/X claiming they have been told the arrested man had no connection. Unsure how much stock to put in that just yet.
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  • #874
  • #875
Not unusual for here.

Now, let's just hope this is actually what we hope it is, and that he isn't just released without charge after a few hours.

MOO
Arrested yesterday
 
  • #876
An arrest! Wow!
 
  • #877
Arrested yesterday and still held 24 hours later makes me think that they are interrogating him on Samantha’s whereabouts.
 
  • #878
22 year old! I don't know why but I wasn't expecting someone that young.
Glad there's been an arrest!
I think I have been, if there was a bad actor in this case. It struck me as an immature, impulsive attack. (If there was an attack at all. I thought there was an equal chance of her just not being found in an already searched area, and it being natural or accidental.)

I've always thought there was randomness and luck in this, not intelligence, maturity, skill, or planning. Trail attackers don't tend to have a specific victim in mind. They just wait until someone comes along alone that they like the look of as a victim, and pounce.

Of course, all of this could be completely wrong, scuttled by the next presser. But that's fine. I don't mind being wrong.

MOO
 
  • #879
I'm not certain although given the proximity of the water reservoir nearby and what the structure looks like in Google Maps, my guess is that it is a Council water booster pump station associated with the reservoir or is housing other infrastructure associated within the water reservoir.

Source: I'm an Australian engineer and work on similar structures. It could potentially be a small sewerage pump station although the location, the lack of obvious overflow storage and the presence of the water reservoir leads me to believe it would be associated with the Council water system.

Eitherway, in a lot of Council's in Australia, much of the infrastructure sites and locks all use a common key (e.g. a literal 'key to the city' etc) and which dozens if not hundreds of people would usually have access too or a copy if anything nefarious happened in this case in the proximity of the building. Sites like these are usually remote monitored (via infrastructure telemetry/reporting sent via phone/text/internet, not CCTV) although would often be visited by Council operational staff at least once a week routinely or so or when something breaks or is unusual.
I had a check of the DBYD services and the building is definitely associated with water infrastructure owned by Central Highlands Water (whom I presume is the local public water authority for Ballarat). The logo on the sign of the door of the building is also that of Central Highlands Water.
 
  • #880
Arrested yesterday and still held 24 hours later makes me think that they are interrogating him on Samantha’s whereabouts.

Will be interesting if others are involved, and where is Sam ? That place has been searched really well, hard to believe a 22 years old acted alone
 
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