Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #10

[jjleroche]

This seems plausible looking at the photo again. You can see a hole at the top end (A) and a join lower down (B).

View attachment 506937

This second photo is literally called Water Pump Pliers
View attachment 506938

I'm puzzled by the end of the "object" which is located at the bottom of the plastic bag. It's chrome(-ish) and at right angles to the shaft of the object. That's why I wondered if it was a "junior putter". (Clearly mechanical matters are not my strong point.)

 

[SLouTh]

Samantha Murphy’s husband has revealed that some of his wife’s personal items were found during a search for her body this week.

Channel Seven reports that Mick Murphy confirmed police had uncovered the missing Ballarat mum’s credit cards and driver’s licence, along with her iPhone.

https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/vic/2024/05/31/items-samantha-murphy-search

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I wonder if after thinking over the wisdom of throwing the phone away intact, that the perp went back to try and find it.
Perhaps they were seen at the site, or their phone pinged there.

 

[jjleroche]

I'm puzzled by the end of the "object" which is located at the bottom of the plastic bag. It's chrome(-ish) and at right angles to the shaft of the object. That's why I wondered if it was a "junior putter". (Clearly mechanical matters are not my strong point.) View attachment 506949

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm puzzled by the end of the "object" which is located at the bottom of the plastic bag. It's chrome(-ish) and at right angles to the shaft of the object. That's why I wondered if it was a "junior putter". (Clearly mechanical matters are not my strong point.

It does look like a possibility.

 

[ProfCluezo]

I’m very interested in the allegedly tried and true police strategy of implanting their scruffiest member into remand to potentially “buddy up” with alleged offenders. What strategies do these undercover agents use? Are they vicpol or afp? Do they monitor body language as well as seeking verbal input? Perhaps crims are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but surely they would not be so stupid as to lower their inhibitions with fellow accused who could be looking for any opportunity to offer valuable info to police as a “snitch” so to speak… Or would they?

 

[ZombieKittie]

Agree phone and body may well be in different places but for me the question still remains as to why the alleged offender did not attempt to destroy or otherwise disable the phone. To throw it into a dam in its original case with cards etc seems utterly reckless when he could easily have smashed it to smithereens first (especially if he had tools in his disposal). So I still lean towards the idea that the phone was thrown in a state of panic, most likely on the day SM was murdered. JMO

And how did he manage to hide Sam's remains so well that they haven't found it yet but make such a rookie mistake of not destroying the phone and ID better

I’m very interested in the allegedly tried and true police strategy of implanting their scruffiest member into remand to potentially “buddy up” with alleged offenders. What strategies do these undercover agents use? Are they vicpol or afp? Do they monitor body language as well as seeking verbal input? Perhaps crims are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but surely they would not be so stupid as to lower their inhibitions with fellow accused who could be looking for any opportunity to offer valuable info to police as a “snitch” so to speak… Or would they?

Well they did get caught

 

[iamshadow21]

And how did he manage to hide Sam's remains so well that they haven't found it yet but make such a rookie mistake of not destroying the phone and ID better

Unfortunately, many people who commit murder and hide a body successfully aren't particularly clever or someone who planned everything out perfectly. They're just lucky.

MOO

 

[Seni]

I think they might. After a long time locked up and maybe leaking instead of negociating.

Does Australia have plea deal option?

 

[ZombieKittie]

Unfortunately, many people who commit murder and hide a body successfully aren't particularly clever or someone who planned everything out perfectly. They're just lucky.

MOO

Of course the stupid people of the world get all the luck. They probably need it more then us

 

[ProfCluezo]

Some random possibilities (all conjecture and JMO)….

IF we assume SM was murdered at around 8am and (based on earlier reports) PS was as “busy as an ant” all day, what exactly was PS doing? I for one very much doubt PS spent the entire day disposing of the body…. It would appear most likely he dumped the phone later that afternoon and that is somehow related to the 5pm ping and helicopter searches that may have led to panicked dumping of the phone…

So what activities exactly was PS engaged in throughout the day?

I am leaving this question deliberately open (but unanswered) out of respect. However it is no doubt one police and other websleuths may be pondering…

I suspect the police may have access to images or other media collected over this period.. (or may be searching for the same) … and this may constitute other *possible* crimes….

All JMO…

 

[JLZ]

I think they might. After a long time locked up and maybe leaking instead of negociating.

Does Australia have plea deal option?

Yes, but it has to look worthwhile to both sides. If police think they can get a conviction for murder, they won't offer a plea deal for manslaughter.

 

[BreakingNews]

Is this the same retired cop that usually says whatever it takes to get in the news all the time?

Exactly. And I'm sure the police would ignore his "warnings". He sounds like he thinks he is the boss of all bosses of the police

 

[Cedars]

If the phone was switched off would it still keep running and using the battery.
I remember an old phone of mine that I kept as a backup.

I turned it off and when I went to use it months later it still had full charge.

Though it was not a smartphone, they weren't around yet.
So perhaps smartphones don't work the same way.

Another story: phone went into fresh water, found 6 months later under water and it worked without even drying it off. "I took it home, cleaned the dirt off of it and it just turned right on, so it was pretty amazing," he said. "The battery health is still at 96%"

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cell-phone-recovered-from-harrison-lake-1.5937753

Also, later model iphones (and soon android) are equipped with self-powered bluetooth chips that do not run off the main battery. It's the same technology that allows tiny little airtags to be findable for months/years.

Not saying this is how the phone was detected, but I don't dismiss it as impossible.

JMO

 

[ProfCluezo]

Exactly. And I'm sure the police would ignore his "warnings". He sounds like he thinks he is the boss of all bosses of the police

In my experience (from an entirely unrelated field), most “experts” providing opinions to the media about “issues” supposedly in their field are as dubious as the majority of people they are commenting on…

JMO (with no aspersions cast toward any individual in particular, and any resemblance to any person, alive or dead, being entirely coincidental)

 

[BreakingNews]

True.

But then,
why can't they find Samantha the same way?
He must have stopped his car for longer time than when he just tossed the phone.

Provided that he used his car then.

I think the area of the dam was under Police's radar from the original 5 pm ping on that fateful Sunday.

Or there was a tip.

JMO

Why would they wait until now to search it properly?

 

[ProfCluezo]

Why would they wait until now to search it properly?

This is a million dollar question…

 

[BreakingNews]

Seems very odd to me these wrench/spanners are found when the victim and her husband ran a business in the motor trade

No one has said they are definately wrench/spanners!

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Police confirm Samantha Murphy search has been paused day after 'items of interest' recovered

Divers were employed to search a dam on a property south of Ballarat on Wednesday, as detectives recovered a phone during a fresh search for evidence.

amp.abc.net.au

Can anyone tell what this item might be? It looks too big to be a phone.

View attachment 506879

It looks like a torch, the top part you can move around to set different beams. You can see how the police are holding the bag, its quite long

 

[ProfCluezo]

Just another random comment/thought…

The narrative that police believe PS “acted alone” continues to dominate in recent media reports…

Could this be an attempt to “flush out” other parties who may know something? Hence the new “intelligence” leading to the dam and other “targeted” searches?

Also - is it possible the dam itself may contain other additional evidence that police have deliberately “overlooked” (or seized but not revealed) - in the hope that PS may ask a “buddy” to do some retrieval work for him so to speak)….

Even a buddy potentially temporarily in remand…?

All conjecture and JMO