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 #8

[HoneyBunOne]

Because of the court case approaching, I prefer to use SM at the moment

Some post have been removed with her full name

Respectfully, can I ask why her name is a no-no? It IS her name, that is undisputed. It's undisputed that she went for a run and never returned. It is undisputed that police have charged someone with her murder. I don't see how using her name should be a problem. Using just her initials makes it cold and uncaring. MOO

 

[Nifty]

February is very hot. March, still hot but cooling off:

Ballarat Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Australia) - Weather Spark

In Ballarat, the summers are warm, the winters are cold and windy, and it is partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 39°F to 78°F and is rarely below 32°F or above 93°F.

weatherspark.com

I remember a dead kangaroo on our property when I was young. The smell was horrible and we smelt it 500 meters away. When going to inspect closer, we attempted to move it and it basically broke in half and was full of maggots. Not just hundreds or thousands, but hundreds of thousands.

There could possibly also be other scavenger animals about to feed on a dead carcass including feral dogs, cats, pigs as well as scavenger birds like crows.

I agree, you never forget a dead smell, and It's hard to get rid of, especially in clothing, it gets into the fibres

 

[Nifty]

maybe the phone data show them to be the only 2 people in close proximity Sunday morning at that intersection, and maybe the signals are together briefly before hers is extinguished. Maybe it is pretty solid electronic data.

We don't know, but maybe the police have also got pings from another phone

possibly even some others ? Besides SM and the accused and are still investigating this

 

[TrunkImagine]

Respectfully, can I ask why her name is a no-no? It IS her name, that is undisputed. It's undisputed that she went for a run and never returned. It is undisputed that police have charged someone with her murder. I don't see how using her name should be a problem. Using just her initials makes it cold and uncaring. MOO

Not to mention the name of the thread contains her full name.

 

[Nifty]

Respectfully, can I ask why her name is a no-no? It IS her name, that is undisputed. It's undisputed that she went for a run and never returned. It is undisputed that police have charged someone with her murder. I don't see how using her name should be a problem. Using just her initials makes it cold and uncaring. MOO

This is websleuths, it's not Facebook

We still try to have thoughts into cases, trying to get the details, trying not to get too personal

It's global virtual community of amateur detectives who discuss and investigate current or cold cases by utilising a variety of internet platforms

Some uses full names, some don't

I use her name at times, other times I use her initials

It's a choice, I suppose

 

[HoneyBunOne]

Not to mention the name of the thread contains her full name.

Yeah, there's that too.

This is websleuths, it's not Facebook

We still try to have thoughts into cases, trying to get the details, trying not to get too personal

It's global virtual community of amateur detectives who discuss and investigate current or cold cases by utilising a variety of internet platforms

Some uses full names, some don't

I use her name at times, other times I use her initials

It's a choice, I suppose

If it's a choice, I will continue to call her Samantha. It feels right to me, to give her the respect of using her name. I understand others feel differently, and that's OK too.

 

[bearbear]

Re an incident at a hospitality venue the night before - are we sure that there definitely was an incident, or is the press assuming that there may have been one, given that SM and PS were at the same venue (if indeed they were)?

maybe only the accused was involved in an incident involving someone else?

 

[Frostysucker]

bolded by me, for emphasis..

He has made a monumental error. One of those colossal mistakes that say, 'here I am, come and get me'.. something visual that says to VICPOL, 'this is Mrs.Murphy, deceased, here at Mt Clear, Sunday morning, murdered by this bloke, oh, ,it's Mr Stephenson, from Scotsburn, well, well, well. '......

That kind of level of error.

What if they found something of his, with her DNA on it..? He could have dropped something?
Maybe anything that could link to his name, ticket of some sort, ID or other card, a pass for something, anything like that that might be registered under a name or purchased under a name.
Or something else they were able to track to a certain location and get video of him making that purchase for example..

 

[nao]

February is very hot. March, still hot but cooling off:

Ballarat Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Australia) - Weather Spark

In Ballarat, the summers are warm, the winters are cold and windy, and it is partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 39°F to 78°F and is rarely below 32°F or above 93°F.

weatherspark.com

I remember a dead kangaroo on our property when I was young. The smell was horrible and we smelt it 500 meters away. When going to inspect closer, we attempted to move it and it basically broke in half and was full of maggots. Not just hundreds or thousands, but hundreds of thousands.

There could possibly also be other scavenger animals about to feed on a dead carcass including feral dogs, cats, pigs as well as scavenger birds like crows.

Moo..
There are vast areas of bush land around there. Sure the smell is strong, but only if you are close. I have seen the same thing in Canada, if the season is right for flys, they can disappear a full deer carcass in 4 days, whatever is left gets disappeared in a couple of days. No hair no bones, absolutely nothing left. My dogs find these things, go back in a couple of days, there is nothing left to find....moo

 

[nao]

Moo.
I was a vet tech, I had access to euthanasia drugs. Sure they are locked up, but when the vet wants them, I go get. Ketamine wasn't kept in lockup. But different places different rules. Ketamine is very available street drug. I don't know where they access it for street sales. But at vets there was a well kept inventory. Wouldn't be worth it to steal from clinic..would be noticed pretty quick...and never had large amounts, it is dated...moo

 

[Rocket333]

We don't know, but maybe the police have also got pings from another phone

possibly even some others ? Besides SM and the accused and are still investigating this

Wasn’t playing a Sunday arvo round of golf at Buninyong by chance was he?

 

[Rocket333]

What if they found something of his, with her DNA on it..? He could have dropped something?
Maybe anything that could link to his name, ticket of some sort, ID or other card, a pass for something, anything like that that might be registered under a name or purchased under a name.
Or something else they were able to track to a certain location and get video of him making that purchase for example..

Are crime scenes ever devoid of clues?
Don’t we all leave stuff and take stuff wherever we go?

 

[Dotta]

Are crime scenes ever devoid of clues?
Don’t we all leave stuff and take stuff wherever we go?

Absolutely!!!

"In forensic science,
Locard's principle
holds that the perpetrator of a crime

will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it,

and that both can be used as forensic evidence.

Dr. Edmond Locard (1877–1966) was a pioneer in forensic science.

He formulated the basic principle of forensic science as:

'Every contact leaves a trace'."

Paul L. Kirk expressed the principle as follows:

Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him.

Not only his fingerprints or the fibres from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects.

All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence.

Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent.

Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.

Locard's exchange principle - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Fabre17]

What if they found something of his, with her DNA on it..? He could have dropped something?
Maybe anything that could link to his name, ticket of some sort, ID or other card, a pass for something, anything like that that might be registered under a name or purchased under a name.
Or something else they were able to track to a certain location and get video of him making that purchase for example..

Maybe a receipt for signing into a licensed club - linking back to altercation night before… if there was an altercation.

 

[Nifty]

Wasn’t playing a Sunday arvo round of golf at Buninyong by chance was he?

In the beginning, Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said ...

"We are keeping an open mind, but believe the most likely scenario is that her disappearance involves one or more parties," Hatt said.

We know the accused has been charged with the alleged murder on SM

But could there possibly be others the police are investigating as well ?

Is the accused hiding a lot more ? Besides SM body ?

If only those trees could talk !

 

[ScottToorak]

Moo.
I was a vet tech, I had access to euthanasia drugs. Sure they are locked up, but when the vet wants them, I go get. Ketamine wasn't kept in lockup. But different places different rules. Ketamine is very available street drug. I don't know where they access it for street sales. But at vets there was a well kept inventory. Wouldn't be worth it to steal from clinic..would be noticed pretty quick...and never had large amounts, it is dated...moo

Yes. I think a vet clinic staff member in country vic od on one of the drugs kept at a vet clinic. There is a coroners report on what occurred.

 

[louisepiglet]

Definition of the words "deliberate" and "attack":

Deliberate: ADJECTIVE - If you do something that is deliberate, you planned or decided to do it beforehand, and so it happens on purpose rather than by chance.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/deliberate

Attack: VERB - To attack a person or place means to try to hurt or damage them using physical violence.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/attack

Definition of "deliberate attack" (when the words are used together) seems to refer to military actions: A type of offensive action characterized by the preplanned coordinated employment of firepower and the maneuver to close with and destroy or capture the enemy.

deliberate attack

"deliberate attack" published on by null.

www.oxfordreference.com

Sure makes it sound like police are alleging this was premeditated. I may need to change my mind on that front.

It could be planned ten minutes before the crime is committed

 

[Minaka]

Re an incident at a hospitality venue the night before - are we sure that there definitely was an incident, or is the press assuming that there may have been one, given that SM and PS were at the same venue (if indeed they were)?

Check the timeline , PS was not known to the press then.

With all due respect Samoht, the press know much, much more than they can ever reveal. They are like the bloodhounds that sniff out everything at the very beginning. Speaking to everyone. People love to talk to reporters.

I think what's interesting here is the lack of information.

Would there have been any harm from the police in revealing where the dinner took place? Usually they would say a dinner at home, or a dinner at such and such restaurant. After all it helps the public come forward with clues, as they might have been there, or nearby.

edit: from what I've uncovered I can find one question regarding reporters receiving reports police were investigating her 'movement' at a hospitality venue prior to her disappearance.

Police press conference. Question at 5 mins 48 secs

 

[KathPlumber]

Today I drove from Melbourne to an area south-west of Ballarat. Someone else was behind the wheel and as we approached Ballarat the GPS directed the driver to a short cut. I hadn’t really been paying attention to where we were as I was wrangling children in the car at that moment, and suddenly saw the sign for Woowookarung and realised we were driving through it, on Recreation road! After all the photos, footage and discussion here, it was really kinda surreal. I kept looking around for some sort of an indication that this was an area of recent high scrutiny but- nothing. I half wanted to request that the driver turn the car around! We continued on the journey right through to Mount Clear, with my eyes out on stalks.

My main takeaway from this drive was how true it is what everyone has said about how it’s not at all remote in the Rec Road area. The road does noticeably change to a dirt road during that patch as it passes thru the Canadian Plantation / Woowookarung Regional Park, but it never feels remote compared to other parts of bush nearby. within less than 5 mins you’re back into suburbs. Not saying that anyone involved in this incident entered via McCarthys / Yankee Flat the way we did, obvs, just that Google maps must send lots of people that way, if they’re driving up the M8 Western Freeway from Melbourne and … basically it would be good luck to get up to much mischief in that area without a few witnesses, even on a Sunday morning.

imo

 

[KathPlumber]

With all due respect Samoht, the press know much, much more than they can ever reveal. They are like the bloodhounds that sniff out everything at the very beginning. Speaking to everyone. People love to talk to reporters.

I think what's interesting here is the lack of information.

Would there have been any harm from the police in revealing where the dinner took place? Usually they would say a dinner at home, or a dinner at such and such restaurant. After all it helps the public come forward with clues, as they might have been there, or nearby.

edit: from what I've uncovered I can find one question regarding police receiving reports regarding her 'movement' at a hospitality venue prior to her disappearance.

Police press conference. Question at 5 mins 48 secs

I think @SouthAussie posted the exact quote recently and it doesn’t say “the night before” only “prior.” When the case was still reasonably new, some people speculated that it meant directly prior, ie she’d been out to get a coffee before her run or something.

who knows with this case. I would love to have closure that’s for sure