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 #7

[Dr Samoht]

Sorry to answer Dr Samoht's question
I'm not a local however I drove through the area last week when I had some free time. I think you could easily hide a body on Boak Rd, the vegetation is incredibly thick, I could barely see through the sides of the road in parts. The road itself is very rough, deep ruts, essentially a 4WD track. My car managed to make it through, very slowly. Given this, I'd say the road would be much quieter than the others throughout the park? And the vegetation would temporarily conceal a body. I'd suggest it's been searched extensively now, and hats off to all those involved in these searches it's difficult terrain to navigate.

I concur , congrats on getting your non 4wd car through unscathed !

 

[Rocket333]

Yep, she did.

Re the motorbike reference in the presser, the accused could have been wearing a helmet and that could have delayed his identification.

 

[Voluspa]

I didn't take any photos last week, I should have but see attached screenshot from Google maps. This was captured 16 years ago and is much more overgrown in areas now.

 

[Dr Samoht]

Re the motorbike reference in the presser, the accused could have been wearing a helmet and that could have delayed his identification.

Also to keep in mind , many off road bikes don’t display a registration number plate ( special reg plate for off-road ).
Even if he did have the correct plate often bush bashers will mount the plate in an unreadable position or deliberately have it perpetually covered in mud .

 

[Deleted member 293720]

The media had published footage of the accused drug taking the night before ( Saturday night ) but that has now been stated that happened in January

( I saw the article, now can't find it) I have noticed a lot of news articles, including Daily Mail have gone sketchy now)

So If that's the case, we don't know exactly how effected the accused was ?

It would also explain the accused bushy beard when he confronted court, compared to the trim beard in the video

When asked by Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz if he could hear her, Stephenson, who had a scruffy beard, said: 'Yes, your honour'.

 

[Voluspa]

I concur , congrats on getting your non 4wd car through unscathed !

Thank you! It's an AWD so it wasn't too harrowing on the old girl :'-)

This photo is great, you can see on the left how bushy it gets.

 

[Dr Samoht]

I didn't take any photos last week, I should have but see attached screenshot from Google maps. This was captured 16 years ago and is much more overgrown in areas now.

As I understand that area was a purposely planted pine forest , harvested some years back and what we see is the resultant rough bushy revegetation .

 

[Whatson]

I found some non related videos of the area and the types of trails and vegetation that exist. Probably not really helpful for anything, but some people may appreciate having a more visual layout of the type of area involved.

 

[Deleted member 340727]

I always have assumed that the alleged perp. had discarded SM's body shortly after the event: to disassociate. Could it be that SM body was transferred from their vehicle to another vehicle and then moved completely out of the area of suspicion? The seizure of multiple vehicles and SM mobile being reactivated at a much later time that day. Did the alleged perp. activate it or did the owner of the second vehicle activate it on investigation. Perhaps the first deposit area was too vulnerable and a second and possibly a third resting place is well on the table. LE having no idea where SM body is! Family and friends becoming suspicious noting odd behaviour, and the alleged perp. behaviour becoming detached and erratic. Were there trophies? Suspecting yes. MOO

 

[jjleroche]

DBM.

 

[jjleroche]

I found some non related videos of the area and the types of trails and vegetation that exist. Probably not really helpful for anything, but some people may appreciate having a more visual layout of the type of area involved.

Fantastic clips Whatson! Much easier to imagine the experience of running through there - track widths, hazards etc (for me anyway).

JMO the place would be crawling with well-hidden "bities" (or slithering).....

 

[Nikynoo]

Same, I couldn’t resist teasing you. That’s a compliment in Australia!

Thank you!

 

[Whatson]

JMO the place would be crawling with well-hidden "bities" (or slithering).....

From my experience, much of the wildlife would be nocturnal so you wouldn't see much during the day. Maybe some snakes bathing in the sun. The guy doing the trash clean referenced seeing a blue tounge, a type of lizard with... yep... a blue tounge

 

[Dr Samoht]

From my experience, much of the wildlife would be nocturnal so you wouldn't see much during the day. Maybe some snakes bathing in the sun. The guy doing the trash clean referenced seeing a blue tounge, a type of lizard with a stubby tail and... Yep... a blue tounge

After three years in that area I am yet to spot a snake … they are obviously there somewhere no doubt !

 

[Whatson]

After three years in that area I am yet to spot a snake … they are obviously there somewhere no doubt !

My guess is snakes sense us coming long before we see them. I usually see at least one each time I'm riding offroad but that's because I'm moving fast and catch them off guard. I usually see them racing off the trail into the scrub so as to avoid being ran over!!

 

[Dr Samoht]

G

I found some non related videos of the area and the types of trails and vegetation that exist. Probably not really helpful for anything, but some people may appreciate having a more visual layout of the type of area involved.

Great videos .. they really do give an accurate view of this Woowookarung regional park . I might mention also the great local public group FOCC ( Friends of Canadian corridor ) who regularly clean up dumped rubbish , report dumped vehicles etc and are committed to revegetating selected areas year after year . Organised group walks led by respected flora and fauna and historical experts are well attended , most worthwhile !

 

[Nikynoo]

Hi Toowong(s) and Bearbear - I’m along similar lines initially as per your: “currently, in my opinion and all allegedly, im thinking he knew who sm was, had seen her on runs, around town and remembered her from school, she was a local, she may have acknowledged him whenever they passed on the track, he may have become obsessed with her and on the morning he was walking through to get his car she ran past, smiled hello at him and on impulse he decided to assault her, she fought back and he killed her” …

But then I’m really stuck as I don’t think he told anyone, and I’d be surprised if he left her body in that spot to go get his vehicle.

I’ll go out on a limb here & say I think Police knew by 21st Feb that Samantha was deceased. They called off the search & brought in extra police from specialised units - they downplayed the ‘unit speciality’ but spoke of the ‘skills’ those people had . .. interesting to consider what skills may be needed in those units. ( I think they will have also told MM of the likelihood that she was gone)

We’ve heard there’s a lot of cameras around the area so quite possibly the ‘assault’ etc was all caught on CCTV. ..it may’ve captured him carrying her body away - but camera surveillance capability ran out - hence the question re current location.

IMO there’s a good chance that he placed her in a temporary position, and went back later to relocate ( been suggesting the fires, also dams & mine shafts)
That same CCTV ( or another) may have picked up his vehicle in & out at a later time. It’s intriguing why Police kept asking for info on a ‘damaged’ vehicle. His vehicle looked ok to me, but I guess we only saw one side !

I do think it’s possible for it to have been a ‘deliberate attack’ which constitutes a Murder charge - but that he was shocked & horrified afterwards, by what he’d done, and terrified of the implications.

The big question for me is What did he do / How did he act in those 5 weeks ?

5 weeks FFS ! Knowing you’d murdered someone, someone’s Mum, a nice ordinary person, just like your Mum - how do you reconcile or deal with that …

* Did he go to work on the Monday
* Did he go to work as usual there after - he was dressed for work when arrested
* Did he hibernate
- did he socialise as normal
- did he drink more
- did he do more drugs
* Seems he grew a beard as court report said it was ‘bushy, however IF the videos I’ve seen were of him, he was clean shaven in January.
* Was he house sitting by himself or was it him & his girlfriend
* Was his girlfriend studying remotely or on-campus @ Charles Darwin Uni.
* Was the ‘house sitting’ a good opportunity to get out from under his parents gaze

Police paid tribute to information from ‘the public’ - so something has come from somewhere, and I don’t think ‘information’ necessarily has to be ‘verbal’.
I wonder if the searches turned up something. I think tracker Jake Cassar said they handed some stuff in.

All just my random thoughts & opinions, and I apologise for the long ramblings.

I’ve been thinking the same about leaving a body whilst going to fetch a vehicle. Why take that risk?

Has anyone considered that he may not have been driving the Ute, but a different vehicle? Say, the g/f vehicle?

 

[SouthAussie]

I’ve been thinking the same about leaving a body whilst going to fetch a vehicle. Why take that risk?

Has anyone considered that he may not have been driving the Ute, but a different vehicle? Say, the g/f vehicle?

My guess is that he had his vehicle parked not far away. There are places that he could have parked very close by.

He could even have been parked by the phone tower, with the bonnet up, feigning vehicle problems, waiting to see if a victim came along.

imo

 

[BreakingNews]

Hmmm...
If the evidence (possible cctv, DNA) is so damning (murder charge),
why to ask for 20 weeks?

Depending on the DNA and other toxicological info, this can sometimes take months. And sometimes needs to be sent overseas for analysis.

 

[BreakingNews]

Also to keep in mind , many off road bikes don’t display a registration number plate ( special reg plate for off-road ).
Even if he did have the correct plate often bush bashers will mount the plate in an unreadable position or deliberately have it perpetually covered in mud .

In Qld you don't need rego plates for trail/off road bikes unless ridden on the roads. Is this the case in Victoria?