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

[Deleted member 293720]

I wonder if the accused did something stupid, like throw Sam's phone into a local dumpster that was within CCTV range. Like a supermarket dumpster or some other business that monitors their dumpster.

The police never requested that people keep a lookout for Sam's phone, by providing info to the public about her phone.

I wonder if they found Samantha's phone and watch when the police searched the houses ? Or if they were found in his car ? That would also form part of the murder charge

 

[Dotta]

Hi Dotta, I hear you but think it would be quite normal to start a bender off at a mates house - everyone drives there, has a few beers, maybe rack up a few “lines” in the privacy of a private home. Put on a few dance tunes to fire everyone up. We’d call it warm ups back in the day. Then head out on the town, hit a few different bars and clubs and when the last club closes (3am?) everyone goes back to the original mates house and kicks on. Maybe order some pizzas, and keep partying hard.

It was pretty standard in my days of partying for the “stayers” to aim to party until dawn. Particularly if drugs were on the scene. Sit around drinking, talking, clowning around and listening to music, maybe a fire pit in the back yard, or jump in a jacuzzi if the house has one. Then people drop off one by one and either go home to the comfort of their own beds, or crash on a couch or a spare bed in the party house.

Eventually though everyone craves sleep and their own bed. It’s pretty common unfortunately in rural & regional Australia to get behind the wheel and drive home at this point. There is no public transport and taxis/ubers are in short supply, sometimes impossible to get. People take back streets and alleys to avoid police. A trail through the forest… Also a tradie with all his expensive tools in the back likes to have his Ute/truck nearby. Tool theft from their vehicles is actually a huge issue around Melbourne (and I image everywhere), and hard to insure for.

Anyway, I acknowledge my theory won’t be for everyone but putting it out there for what it’s worth, and keen to hear everyone else’s!?

I see...

Considering he had a g/f,
wouldn't the accused spend this event and then return home with her?

Was she allegedly with him when this accident happened?
Is she a witness?

After all, it seems they were living together while "sitting the house".
Would he return to parents' house still high on drugs?

Did the girlfriend allegedly somehow return home alone earlier?

 

[Toowong(s)]

I see...

Considering he had a g/f,
wouldn't the accused spend this event and then return home with her?

Was she allegedly with him when this accident happened?
Is she a witness?

After all, it seems they were living together while "sitting the house".
Would he return to parents' house still high on drugs?

Did the girlfriend somehow return home alone earlier?

I’m guessing GF went home earlier, and the boys kicked on IMO. Certainly that’s how the benders I was involved in usually played out. The girls tire of all the testosterone and go home to bed. But not always…

I do wonder if GF has somehow worked things out over the following weeks and assisted police in some way. IMO there was an air of relief, weight lifted off shoulders, in the DM spy shots of GF with her horses a few days after the accused was arrested.

 

[ProfCluezo]

I do wonder if GF has somehow worked things out over the following weeks and assisted police in some way. IMO there was an air of relief, weight lifted off shoulders, in the DM spy shots of GF with her horses a few days after the accused was arrested.

I absolutely agree…. The GF seems to me to be the most likely person to have “worked things out”…. How utterly terrifying for her, if that’s the case…. No wonder she looks so relaxed blowing kisses at horses…. She will, however, most likely, in time, be traumatised by all this… as the full impact hits…

 

[Nikynoo]

So a moment of clarity for me then, as while elaborate theories are good reading, things are usually a lot simpler and more mundane “for real life” as Bluey would say.

IMO what went down went something along these lines:

1. On 3rd Feb the accused went on an all night bender, leaving his Ute/truck wherever he started, and went back for it around 8am the next morning to get it home.

2. On 4th Feb the accused was driving under influence and took backroads to avoid the risk of losing his licence. Difficult to work as an electrician without a drivers licence, it’s a tradies lifeblood.

3. The accused struck SM with the vehicle, panicked, deliberately caused her death by refusing to call help, and instead performed a deliberate act to end SMs life, then put the body in the vehicle, smashed SMs devices with a rock and/or threw them into a dam or similar, then drove to another place, and hid the body. All to protect his own livelihood and life.

4. MM reported SM missing around 11am, after undertaking his own searches, calling friends, etc around the period 9am to 11am.

5. Police searching from 11am onwards on the 4th March.

6. After 4 weeks of searching and investigating police finally received access to a swath of phone data. Article on 4th March:

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/update-in-search-for-missing-mum-as-police-probe-mobile-data/news-story/66e90d31da5a55a618ddcc26d860ff3d?amp

7. Analysis of the data, which is presumably done digitally and quickly, revealed the accused phone was pinging in the area on the morning of 4th Feb around 8am.

8. The accused is arrested on Wednesday 6th March, 2 days after reports of the phone data dump, under suspicion of involvement due to phone pings and taken in to custody for questioning.

9. Two properties (Mt Clear and Scottsburn) are searched and the accused vehicle is seized. Somewhere in amongst all this police find a “smoking gun” that confirms SM is dead, and due to the extent of the injury, it is obvious was deliberately made so.

All I can think of that would be so specific to support the charges as they have been laid out, including time of death and place of death, is a morbid video or photos. This tells police the location and the time and it’s clear SM has been deliberately killed. I am reminded of the Richard Pusey case who, high on drugs, morbidly filmed police officers dying at the scene of an accident, instead of helping them:

Australian jailed for filming dying police officers - BBC News

Richard Pusey is sentenced to 10 months jail for filming dying police officers at a crash scene.

www.bbc.com

Question from me. Why did he got back for his vehicle at 8am after a night of partying? What did he need it for? What were his plans for the day?

 

[Dotta]

Or...
He allegedly returned home with a g/f after the event.
But...
feeling hyped up and still not sleepy,
allegedly decided to go for a run at about 7/8 a.m.
And allegedly crossed paths with a victim.

And he might have been witnessed by somebody.
Another jogger perhaps.
Or a person who dumped trash in the vicinity.

JMO

 

[Whatson]

Question from me. Why did he got back for his vehicle at 8am after a night of partying? What did he need it for? What were his plans for the day?

Most logical reason would be still drunk/high and just made a stupid decision he will regret for life.

 

[Toowong(s)]

Question from me. Why did he got back for his vehicle at 8am after a night of partying? What did he need it for? What were his plans for the day?

Answered above as others have same question, which is a fair question. I’m thinking the group started the night and finished the night (after the club closed ar 3am) at the same house, where the vehicle was. Partied till dawn. Or maybe crashed on a couch for a few hours. And then the accused drove home around 8am to get to a comfy bed at long last. People like to have their vehicles with them, particularly tradies with all their expensive tools on board…

 

[Nikynoo]

And another question, why was he out at around 8am? Food run? What is open food wise along that route at that time?

 

[Nikynoo]

I believe it was a claim from Dr Samoht that allegedly had local knowledge of this. I don't believe it was ever reported, correct me if I'm wrong.

The attendance at a celebration/party was reported in the Daily Mail. It could be that attendees at this party became suspicious because they knew the time the vehicle was collected?

This article mentions attendance at a party before going to ‘The Deck’. Tradie accused of killing Samantha Murphy partied before she vanished

 

[ProfCluezo]

Most logical reason would be still drunk/high and just made a stupid decision he will regret for life.

Unfortunately it wasn’t just one “stupid decision” though…. One stupid decision might be forgivable…. Unfortunately, the accused’s actions suggest he made extensive “stupid decisions”, one after the other… a cascading catastrophe with cataclysmic consequences… that continued all day… and is still continuing, 6 weeks on…

 

[Whatson]

The attendance at a celebration/party was reported in the Daily Mail. It could be that attendees at this party became suspicious because they knew the time the vehicle was collected?

Yes. And perhaps if the occupants of the house encountered the accused at time of collecting vehicle, may have recognised he was unfit to drive.

In which case, they should have prevented him.

Who knows though. Not us.

 

[fawlty towers]

Hi Dotta, I hear you but think it would be quite normal to start a bender off at a mates house - everyone drives there, has a few beers, maybe rack up a few “lines” in the privacy of a private home. Put on a few dance tunes to fire everyone up. We’d call it warm ups back in the day. Then head out on the town, hit a few different bars and clubs and when the last club closes (3am?) everyone goes back to the original mates house and kicks on. Maybe order some pizzas, and keep partying hard.

It was pretty standard in my days of partying for the “stayers” to aim to party until dawn. Particularly if drugs were on the scene. Sit around drinking, talking, clowning around and listening to music, maybe a fire pit in the back yard, or jump in a jacuzzi if the house has one. Then people drop off one by one and either go home to the comfort of their own beds, or crash on a couch or a spare bed in the party house.

Eventually though everyone craves sleep and their own bed. It’s pretty common unfortunately in rural & regional Australia to get behind the wheel and drive home at this point. There is no public transport and taxis/ubers are in short supply, sometimes impossible to get. People take back streets and alleys to avoid police. A trail through the forest… Also a tradie with all his expensive tools in the back likes to have his Ute/truck nearby. Tool theft from their vehicles is actually a huge issue around Melbourne (and I image everywhere), and hard to insure for.

Anyway, I acknowledge my theory won’t be for everyone but putting it out there for what it’s worth, and keen to hear everyone else’s!?

200 percent you are spot on. I was born and bred in a very large reional town in NSW.

 

[ProfCluezo]

Yes. And perhaps if the occupants of the house encountered the accused at time of collecting vehicle, may have recognised he was unfit to drive.

In which case, they should have prevented him.

Who knows though. Not us.

I don’t like the chances of an 80 year old having any success “preventing” the accused from driving, if, indeed the accused was as “off his chops” on booze and drugs as has been previously suggested (ie., by Poirot’s niece)… and especially in light of the actions that we now know unfolded shortly thereafter …

What a shame the accused didn’t think to use his trusty motorbike for transport to the 80th, and after his “bender”…. travelling through bush tracks, rather than using his Ute… JMO…

 

[Deleted member 293720]

I wonder if they found Samantha's phone and watch when the police searched the houses ? Or if they were found in his car ? That would also form part of the murder charge

Possibly, sadly, as well personal effects including her wedding rings. The accused couldn't say I found them ? Another strong part of the murder charge

 

[FromGermany1]

The attendance at a celebration/party was reported in the Daily Mail. It could be that attendees at this party became suspicious because they knew the time the vehicle was collected?

This article mentions attendance at a party before going to ‘The Deck’. Tradie accused of killing Samantha Murphy partied before she vanished

From your source:
A suppression order was lifted on Friday allowing media outlets to name Stephenson, who is the son of former AFL star Orren Stephenson.

Police are yet to find the missing mum's remains.

Meanwhile, hundreds of locals gathered at a vigil being held in Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Garden on Friday night to reflect on Ms Murphy’s life.

Attendees were encouraged to hold up a candle or a lit phone as part of the solemn tribute.

I'm understanding, the vigil was held on "Friday". I think, he was already arrested then? Can someone confirm??

I recognized a large young man in a pic from the vigil, standing near a tree in the left half of pic, who I identify as being him perhaps - if he wasn't arrested before.
Within news papers, weekdays without date are always confusing to me.

 

[Sher Lock]

From your source:
A suppression order was lifted on Friday allowing media outlets to name Stephenson, who is the son of former AFL star Orren Stephenson.

Police are yet to find the missing mum's remains.

Meanwhile, hundreds of locals gathered at a vigil being held in Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Garden on Friday night to reflect on Ms Murphy’s life.

Attendees were encouraged to hold up a candle or a lit phone as part of the solemn tribute.

I'm understanding, the vigil was held on "Friday". I think, he was already arrested then? Can someone confirm??

I recognized a large young man in a pic from the vigil, standing near a tree in the left half of pic, who I identify as being him perhaps - if he wasn't arrested before.
Within news papers, weekdays without date are always confusing to me.
View attachment 491096

Yes, he was taken into custody on Wednesday, March 6 and then charged with Murder on Thursday, March 7. The vigil was held on Friday, March 8 so the person you've sighted couldn't have been him.

 

[FromGermany1]

Thank you!

Yes, he was taken into custody on Wednesday, March 6 and then charged with Murder on Thursday, March 7. The vigil was held on Friday, March 8 so the person you've sighted couldn't have been him

 

[Neet_Mc]

Myst

My problem with the accidental hit, let die/kill, then dump theory (hence creating a possible murder charge) is that how would the police know that Sam survived a hit by a vehicle, and then later died/was killed.

Why would they not think that Sam was instantly killed, then dumped. (presumed charge of culpable driving, and maybe whatever other charge they could throw in for dumping Sam).

Must be data from the watch/phone that they are able to access

 

[bearbear]

Question from me. Why did he got back for his vehicle at 8am after a night of partying? What did he need it for? What were his plans for the day?

probably needed it for work next day or going somewhere with gf for the day or wanted to pick it up before it got too hot to walk over later, and still wide awake?