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

[BreakingNews]

I’d love to be on this one. I need closure and character development.

Good luck with that! One thing the jury will be asked is if they have followed any websites regarding Samantha. Then they will ask if you can remain impartial. MOO of jury service.

 

[Rocket333]

Good luck with that! One thing the jury will be asked is if they have followed any websites regarding Samantha. Then they will ask if you can remain impartial. MOO of jury service.

My poker face is strong. No tells, no flinches, just civic zen.

 

[Dotta]

My poker face is strong. No tells, no flinches, just civic zen.

And then...mistrial...

Your Honour
This Juror is
very involved in a world famous true crime website!!!
Undercover sleuth!

Aaaaargh!!!
We would have a topic for discussion here for YEARS.

 

[Rocket333]

And then...mistrial...

Your Honour
This Juror is
very involved in a world famous true crime website!!!
Undercover sleuth!

Aaaaargh!!!
We would have a topic for discussion here for YEARS.

I promise to give nothing away, except reasonable doubt. I will take the stand, draw detailed sketches of the woolly one, and leave no footprints.

 

[Woolly]

I promise to give nothing away, except reasonable doubt. I will take the stand, draw detailed sketches of the woolly one, and leave no footprints.

Sketches of me??

 

[Rocket333]

Sketches of me??

Hmmm well that depends. Will you by any chance be sitting in a dock on 8th April?

 

[Kemug]

Well, here we are again folks, about to move on from one site in the state of Victoria to another. It reminds me of that old piano piece "Caravan" which my mother used to play, the camel caravan going from village to village, pausing, then plodding on again. That's us folks, the Websleuths Caravan.

 

[SouthAussie]

Well, here we are again folks, about to move on from one site in the state of Victoria to another. It reminds me of that old piano piece "Caravan" which my mother used to play, the camel caravan going from place to place, pausing, then plodding on again. That's us folks, the Websleuths Caravan.

The trial is 9 months away. You still have time to have a baby before Stephenson's trial.

 

[Kemug]

The trial is 9 months away. You still have time to have a baby before Stephenson's trial.

Thanks, but no thanks. Hell, no!

 

[HoneyBunOne]

The trial is 9 months away. You still have time to have a baby before Stephenson's trial.

Better get that caravan moving stat, there's the lovely trial of Mr Lachlan Young going on in the fair town as we speak. He is accused of killing his partner/ex partner Hannah McGuire.

 

[Warshawski]

Better get that caravan moving stat, there's the lovely trial of Mr Lachlan Young going on in the fair town as we speak. He is accused of killing his partner/ex partner Hannah McGuire.

And has now pled guilty.

 

[Rocket333]

And has now pled guilty.

Why did Young change his plea then and for what advantage?
What’s the likelihood of Stephenson doing
the same?

 

[Trooper]

Why did Young change his plea then and for what advantage?
What’s the likelihood of Stephenson doing
the same?

I have no idea what the catalyst was that provoked this occurrence.... Some one must have said something.... maybe it was the evidence Ben O'Keefe gave that made Young pause for thought.. It raises the question if he made the original plea against his Barristers advice, and that is highly probable, he seems , from other events , prone to believing in his implacable will and right to shout and scream and bash and rape etc...hard to believe he sat quietly and absorbed his barristers directions,, he would probably dismiss them outright... I'm just guessing here,

However it happened, it closed the case.. Would Stephenson do it ?. who knows, keepin in mind all of that cctv and electronic evidence..... the quantity of it..

It's not often this happens, I cannot recall it happening this century in Victoria, and damned if I can remember it happening in NSW a perpetrator suddenly changing plea in the middle of a Supreme Court case.,,,,,really a very rare thing in AU, mainly because of all the checks and balances , the pre trial stuff, .....

But then, remember, both Young and Stephenson opted for the fast track thingo, dispensing with committal trials and all that stuff ..... had Young gone thru that he would have probably bowed out earlier..... then again. some folks want to go the whole enchilada, the performance is everything... the result is inconsequential to them..

'''and for what advantage?''' the only advantage, and it's small, but perhaps significant to Young is, he can claw back a small amount of a discount on his sentence. Keeping in mind that murder is a life sentence, the argy bargy comes down to Parole.. when can he apply for parole. Well. he can maybe be granted , due to the closing of a Supreme Court case, as proportion of the discount offered to those who plead guilty and save the state money... maybe 4 years off the life thing, eligible for parole when 67 instead of 72....

Perhaps he found his regrets and decided to come clean.. it does happen...

 

[HoneyBunOne]

I have no idea what the catalyst was that provoked this occurrence.... Some one must have said something.... maybe it was the evidence Ben O'Keefe gave that made Young pause for thought.. It raises the question if he made the original plea against his Barristers advice, and that is highly probable, he seems , from other events , prone to believing in his implacable will and right to shout and scream and bash and rape etc...hard to believe he sat quietly and absorbed his barristers directions,, he would probably dismiss them outright... I'm just guessing here,

However it happened, it closed the case.. Would Stephenson do it ?. who knows, keepin in mind all of that cctv and electronic evidence..... the quantity of it..

It's not often this happens, I cannot recall it happening this century in Victoria, and damned if I can remember it happening in NSW a perpetrator suddenly changing plea in the middle of a Supreme Court case.,,,,,really a very rare thing in AU, mainly because of all the checks and balances , the pre trial stuff, .....

But then, remember, both Young and Stephenson opted for the fast track thingo, dispensing with committal trials and all that stuff ..... had Young gone thru that he would have probably bowed out earlier..... then again. some folks want to go the whole enchilada, the performance is everything... the result is inconsequential to them..

'''and for what advantage?''' the only advantage, and it's small, but perhaps significant to Young is, he can claw back a small amount of a discount on his sentence. Keeping in mind that murder is a life sentence, the argy bargy comes down to Parole.. when can he apply for parole. Well. he can maybe be granted , due to the closing of a Supreme Court case, as proportion of the discount offered to those who plead guilty and save the state money... maybe 4 years off the life thing, eligible for parole when 67 instead of 72....

Perhaps he found his regretst and decided to come clean.. it does happen...

It could have been his friend testifying that he had a plan all along to kill Hannah. I mean Young basically already said he was guilty, he may as well stop the BS, plead guilty, and hope for the best. I think he knows he's cooked.

However, wrong case, wrong thread. I can't see Stephenson doing the same at this point. Maybe closer to the trial date, but time will tell.

 

[BreakingNews]

I have no idea what the catalyst was that provoked this occurrence.... Some one must have said something.... maybe it was the evidence Ben O'Keefe gave that made Young pause for thought.. It raises the question if he made the original plea against his Barristers advice, and that is highly probable, he seems , from other events , prone to believing in his implacable will and right to shout and scream and bash and rape etc...hard to believe he sat quietly and absorbed his barristers directions,, he would probably dismiss them outright... I'm just guessing here,

However it happened, it closed the case.. Would Stephenson do it ?. who knows, keepin in mind all of that cctv and electronic evidence..... the quantity of it..

It's not often this happens, I cannot recall it happening this century in Victoria, and damned if I can remember it happening in NSW a perpetrator suddenly changing plea in the middle of a Supreme Court case.,,,,,really a very rare thing in AU, mainly because of all the checks and balances , the pre trial stuff, .....

But then, remember, both Young and Stephenson opted for the fast track thingo, dispensing with committal trials and all that stuff ..... had Young gone thru that he would have probably bowed out earlier..... then again. some folks want to go the whole enchilada, the performance is everything... the result is inconsequential to them..

'''and for what advantage?''' the only advantage, and it's small, but perhaps significant to Young is, he can claw back a small amount of a discount on his sentence. Keeping in mind that murder is a life sentence, the argy bargy comes down to Parole.. when can he apply for parole. Well. he can maybe be granted , due to the closing of a Supreme Court case, as proportion of the discount offered to those who plead guilty and save the state money... maybe 4 years off the life thing, eligible for parole when 67 instead of 72....

Perhaps he found his regrets and decided to come clean.. it does happen...

Or perhaps he realised that the evidence was stacked against him. So plead guilty and as you say, get time off for doing the right thing.

 

[Trooper]

Or perhaps he realised that the evidence was stacked against him. So plead guilty and as you say, get time off for doing the right thing.

Well it was something that had not occurred to him before the trial started, apparently. Or if it did , he decided to proceed forward anyways!! people can be awfully stupid.. He is not anywhere near a Rhodes Scholar and he may well have been the ruin of many a calm hour of his barristers time, some clients are that way.... some barristers earn their money by very hard work,, ...

Or it may have been the same advice his barrister gave before that finally landed on his neutrons.. some folks can be very slow...

 

[Rocket333]

Well it was something that had not occurred to him before the trial started, apparently. Or if it did , he decided to proceed forward anyways!! people can be awfully stupid.. He is not anywhere near a Rhodes Scholar and he may well have been the ruin of many a calm hour of his barristers time, some clients are that way.... some barristers earn their money by very hard work,, ...

Or it may have been the same advice his barrister gave before that finally landed on his neutrons.. some folks can be very slow...

I raised Young here because I’m seeing similarities with Stephenson, and I’m anticipating a plot-twist lead by Stephenson at his trial too. I just can’t see him quietly taking it if the odds start stacking up against him during trial.

 

[Macha]

I raised Young here because I’m seeing similarities with Stephenson, and I’m anticipating a plot-twist lead by Stephenson at his trial too. I just can’t see him quietly taking it if the odds start stacking up against him during trial.

I think Stephenson will plead guilty just before the trial starts to prevent full disclosure of what he did. JMO.

 

[BreakingNews]

I think Stephenson will plead guilty just before the trial starts to prevent full disclosure of what he did. JMO.

Maybe. Or once the trial starts he might realise the odds are against him. But then there is all the phone pinging and other evidence that we don't know about. I guess we just don't have enough information from the police.

 

[JamieLogical]

Isn't there some sort of law in Australia that a murderer isn't eligible for parole if no body is ever found in order to encourage murderers to work with authorities to locate the body?