- Samantha Murphy disappeared in February 2024
- Patrick Orren Stephenson charged with murder
A man charged with murder over the disappearance of Samantha Murphy, 51, has been taken by police into a section of bushland where she was last seen alive.
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was taken from prison under heavy police guard late last year, and is expected to be taken out again soon.
Ms Murphy, a mother-of-three, went missing around the Canadian Forest in Ballarat, Victoria, on February 4, 2024 but search efforts have failed to uncover a body.
Stephenson has denied any involvement in Ms Murphy’s death and pleaded not guilty to the charge brought against him.
The Herald Sun said taking Stephenson out of prison to aid police would have required special approval from the senior chiefs at Victoria Police and Corrections Victoria.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Stephenson knows the whereabouts of her body or that he was involved in her alleged murder.
Ms Murphy left her home on Eureka Street to go for a run on the morning of her disappearance.
Despite extensive searches in the surrounding bushland, involving hundreds of police officers, SES workers and volunteers, her body has never been found.
A man charged with murder over the disappearance of Samantha Murphy has been taken by cops into bushland where she was last seen alive
Patrick Orren Stephenson was first taken from prison under heavy police guard late last year, and is expected to be taken out again
On May 29, Ms Murphy’s wallet containing ID cards and her mobile phone were found on the bank of a dam.
The phone was probably thrown into the dam, but a dry period in the area meant the water receded and what could be a vital clue was exposed on the bank.
The police have not revealed what data, if any, they were able to extract from the phone, or if the find has brought them any closer to finding Ms Murphy’s body.
Just over a month after Ms Murphy disappeared, Stephenson was charged with murder.
Stephenson is the son of former Richmond and Geelong AFL player Orren Stephenson and is not known to the Murphy family.
Melbourne-based lawyer Paul Galbally from Galbally & O’Bryan, one of Australia’s top criminal lawyers, has reportedly been hired by Stephenson to head his defence case.
Dr Xanthé Mallett, a forensic criminologist at the University of Newcastle, said the cicumstances of the case resonated with so many, creating the high degree of public curiosity.
Police search bushland in Buninyong on March 20, 2024
‘My first thought when I saw that Samantha had vanished, was that could be any one of us doing very normal things, going about their life and yet she’s been allegedly the victim of a violent crime,’ she said.
‘So many women could imagine being her, they could sympathise.’
Dr Mallett said the ongoing search for Ms Murphy’s body was vital both for the evidence it could yield in terms of manner of death and DNA, and to give closure to the family.
‘Not only for the family’s benefit, although they do desperately need to know where she is, they need to return to them, but that Samantha’s body will also be a primary source of information for them, and so they will very much need that for the investigation,’ Dr Mallett said.
She said cases can proceed and convictions can be secured even on a ‘no body’ basis, so police would be looking to all of the accused’s movements and people he may have spoken with.
The investigation into Ms Murphy’s disappearance continues.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
