Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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The Murder of Rebecca Young - Ballarat

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Allegedly
 
Last edited:
shorsky said:
I’ll just say that I think it’d look pretty bad for anyone charged with ‘murder’, albeit a ‘deliberate attack resulting in murder’. Hope I never find myself in that situation…

However, that’s what the justice system is all about - giving someone the opportunity to tell their story ie mount their defence. Noting that it’s the Defence who must prove / convince a jury that said person is definitely guilty of said charge.

And as the combined legal costs prob click over often @ close to $2000 per hour, I would only be hiring at ‘the last possible opportunity’ 🫢

I’d even go so far as to say that the Police announcement of found phone may’ve been planned to coincide with the with the announcement of his legal appointment. (Check the court info re Greg Lynn, where Police admit they planted listening devices in his home, and then had Ch 9 run a story on the vehicle being looked for; as per the Under Investigation story re Sam )

It’s all part of police strategy imo… and I’m pretty sure that they’re trying to ‘draw out’ someone else - whether that person was involved, or has vital information is beyond me.

Someone just a few posts back mentioned a video of PS at a roundabout at 6am - I’ve never heard that mentioned.

Although somewhere I heard that he left his car at the relly’s place after the 80th birthday party, and went out ( totally normal behaviour for that age imo). He then returned to get his car around 6am next morning - so quite feasible to be picked up by a road camera somewhere. I guess the question is, where was he picked up, in the scheme of where he would be expected to be heading at that time - home for a sleep? somewhere else because he’s had argument with g/f and not going home ? was he in habit of early morning runs or walks himself ?
I do feel that it’s all extremely strange. There’s always a reason for deliberate attacks (whether valid or not) but I can’t find one in this case, other than Removal for some reason, Revenge for something, or opportune SA.

Something about this is very strange for me.
By its description, a ‘deliberate attack’ indicates something planned / with a reason for the action (whether valid or not ).
I’m struggling to find reasons for a 22 yr to commit such a heinous act. Was it done perhaps as an act of Removal, or an act of Revenge, or an act of SA - impulsive or premeditated?

It’s been a huge brain dump, thanks for your support 🙃
Click to expand...
I agree that it's a very strange case.
That finding of the phone in the dam seemed to me like the cops were trying to say to someone other than POS that we now have SM"s phone and it's in great working order so you had better watch out.
But that would only make sense to me if POS's phone had been missing and the cops made a big announcement that it had been found and the person POS had been talking to had better watch out.
And I cannot see how it was a deliberate attack and the only way police could say that to lay a murder charge is if they already have a lot more info.
 
shorsky said:
And as the combined legal costs prob click over often @ close to $2000 per hour, I would only be hiring at ‘the last possible opportunity’ 🫢
Click to expand...
One doesn't pay one's representation for every hour onwards from the time they are engaged. The smart strategy is to engage representation as early as possible so as to give them the best chance possible to plan ahead and be present when/if necessary at all stages of the process, and also to ensure your chosen firm/lawyer is available for your trial.

(I'm not for one minute suggesting PoS is smart)
 
31550 said:
Zervos (CH7) says 'it's alleged the 22YO was on a bender' at a Ballarat nightclub the night before Samantha went missing.
Alleged by who? She doesn't say. It's certainly alleged by some in this forum. But was anyone actually there? Has one single person from the Ballarat nightclub come forward and stated publicly they saw POS there on that night on a bender? It seems like if this actually happened there would be at least be one eye-witness come forward to confirm it for us. Can Ch7 tell us the name of the nightclub? Did CH7 go to the nightclub and interview the manager or staff? What about CCTV footage from the nightclub (they all have cameras these days) - where is the footage showing POS at the nightclub on a bender?
Click to expand...
Wasn’t it supposed to be The Deck that he was at the night before? After the birthday party?
Or was that the filmed ‘bender’ night? Or both?
 

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jason_recliner said:
One doesn't pay one's representation for every hour onwards from the time they are engaged. The smart strategy is to engage representation as early as possible so as to give them the best chance possible to plan ahead and be present when/if necessary at all stages of the process, and also to ensure your chosen firm/lawyer is available for your trial.

(I'm not for one minute suggesting PoS is smart)
Click to expand...
Just saying - you’ll pay for every chat, phone call, letter, pen stroke, photo copy, research, thinking time etc. not only with yourself ( the defendant) but anything / anyone associated in the garnering of information. .. . i don't want to fund any wasted time and I won’t hire an unavailable lawyer. ..

Perhaps the POS theory.
 
gymjam said:
I can only go on what the Channel 7 report stated. Are you able to offer any information as to what date you say this 'bender' occurred? Is it known where POS was on the Saturday night prior to Samantha's disappearance?
Click to expand...
What does POS stand for?
 
Barrybran said:
A 'deliberate act' could also be unplanned. ie. he potentially sees someone running on the side of the road and decides to run them down.
Click to expand...
This is what I suspect is the most likely scenario. Runs them down and then puts the body in his/her car and drives off to dispose the body.
 
Malibuandcoke said:
There is cctv footage on another site. It’s being discussed if SM went out at 5.30 that morning as usual, not 7. Just wondered if anybody here had seen it. It is very blurry and I am sure the police have disregarded
Click to expand...
I haven’t seen that one.
It’s not the video police first released and a woman came forward and said it was her? (I thought the timing of that was after 7 though)
 
Underarrest_ said:
I haven’t seen that one.
It’s not the video police first released and a woman came forward and said it was her? (I thought the timing of that was after 7 though)
Click to expand...
No it’s not that cctv. It’s at a roundabout at 6.05 am and is extremely blurry but being discussed if the person seen was SM. Like I said in many replies to everyone, likely not be, the police had the footage a long time ago, just wondered if anyone had seen it. Think DirtyLeeds is probably right, too much in depth discussion of something and nothing 😊
 
shorsky said:
I’ll just say that I think it’d look pretty bad for anyone charged with ‘murder’, albeit a ‘deliberate attack resulting in murder’. Hope I never find myself in that situation…

However, that’s what the justice system is all about - giving someone the opportunity to tell their story ie mount their defence. Noting that it’s the Defence who must prove / convince a jury that said person is definitely guilty of said charge.

And as the combined legal costs prob click over often @ close to $2000 per hour, I would only be hiring at ‘the last possible opportunity’ 🫢

I’d even go so far as to say that the Police announcement of found phone may’ve been planned to coincide with the with the announcement of his legal appointment. (Check the court info re Greg Lynn, where Police admit they planted listening devices in his home, and then had Ch 9 run a story on the vehicle being looked for; as per the Under Investigation story re Sam )

It’s all part of police strategy imo… and I’m pretty sure that they’re trying to ‘draw out’ someone else - whether that person was involved, or has vital information is beyond me.

Someone just a few posts back mentioned a video of PS at a roundabout at 6am - I’ve never heard that mentioned.

Although somewhere I heard that he left his car at the relly’s place after the 80th birthday party, and went out ( totally normal behaviour for that age imo). He then returned to get his car around 6am next morning - so quite feasible to be picked up by a road camera somewhere. I guess the question is, where was he picked up, in the scheme of where he would be expected to be heading at that time - home for a sleep? somewhere else because he’s had argument with g/f and not going home ? was he in habit of early morning runs or walks himself ?
I do feel that it’s all extremely strange. There’s always a reason for deliberate attacks (whether valid or not) but I can’t find one in this case, other than Removal for some reason, Revenge for something, or opportune SA.

Something about this is very strange for me.
By its description, a ‘deliberate attack’ indicates something planned / with a reason for the action (whether valid or not ).
I’m struggling to find reasons for a 22 yr to commit such a heinous act. Was it done perhaps as an act of Removal, or an act of Revenge, or an act of SA - impulsive or premeditated?

It’s been a huge brain dump, thanks for your support 🙃
Click to expand...
$2k an hour…bloody hell. I worked for a law firm in Perth and our highest billing lawyer was just under $700/hr.
 
DirtyLeeds said:
Heard today from a reputable source that Vicpol are looking at POS, who used HIS vehicle as the murder weapon, it is definately NOT an accident, but not sure if it was random/opportunistic or a planned murder...
Click to expand...
Whaaaaaaaat! You mean to say after fifty bajillion pages of hit & run/ hit & retrieve / hit & retrieve & throw down mine shaft / hit & retrieve & sexually assault and throw down mine shaft etc theories that we were actually on the right track?
 

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shorsky said:
I’ll just say that I think it’d look pretty bad for anyone charged with ‘murder’, albeit a ‘deliberate attack resulting in murder’. Hope I never find myself in that situation…

However, that’s what the justice system is all about - giving someone the opportunity to tell their story ie mount their defence. Noting that it’s the Defence who must prove / convince a jury that said person is definitely guilty of said charge.

And as the combined legal costs prob click over often @ close to $2000 per hour, I would only be hiring at ‘the last possible opportunity’ 🫢

I’d even go so far as to say that the Police announcement of found phone may’ve been planned to coincide with the with the announcement of his legal appointment. (Check the court info re Greg Lynn, where Police admit they planted listening devices in his home, and then had Ch 9 run a story on the vehicle being looked for; as per the Under Investigation story re Sam )

It’s all part of police strategy imo… and I’m pretty sure that they’re trying to ‘draw out’ someone else - whether that person was involved, or has vital information is beyond me.

Someone just a few posts back mentioned a video of PS at a roundabout at 6am - I’ve never heard that mentioned.

Although somewhere I heard that he left his car at the relly’s place after the 80th birthday party, and went out ( totally normal behaviour for that age imo). He then returned to get his car around 6am next morning - so quite feasible to be picked up by a road camera somewhere. I guess the question is, where was he picked up, in the scheme of where he would be expected to be heading at that time - home for a sleep? somewhere else because he’s had argument with g/f and not going home ? was he in habit of early morning runs or walks himself ?
I do feel that it’s all extremely strange. There’s always a reason for deliberate attacks (whether valid or not) but I can’t find one in this case, other than Removal for some reason, Revenge for something, or opportune SA.

Something about this is very strange for me.
By its description, a ‘deliberate attack’ indicates something planned / with a reason for the action (whether valid or not ).
I’m struggling to find reasons for a 22 yr to commit such a heinous act. Was it done perhaps as an act of Removal, or an act of Revenge, or an act of SA - impulsive or premeditated?

It’s been a huge brain dump, thanks for your support 🙃
Click to expand...
And how can a young 22-year-old guy, remove so much evidence at the scene at Mt Clear where she was supposedly taken. Police couldn't even find a tissue of hers there. There was a time frame of three hours, before Mick called the police to report his wife missing and searches began for her. I think this was a premeditated targeted attack with others involved. The police have said he acted alone, but he might have acted alone in killing her, but someone/others involved in planning and removal of her body
 
Re the 'night before bender'. Daily Mail stated that POS went on a pub-crawl with mates the night before Samantha's disappearance, and that police were hunting out cctv footage from various establishments. The Age also had a similar story but it's behind a paywall.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Tradie accused of killing Samantha Murphy partied before she vanished

The man accused of murdering mother-of-three Samantha Murphy was reportedly seen out partying in Ballarat the night before she disappeared.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk


"The man accused of murdering Samantha Murphy allegedly hit the town for a pub crawl with mates the night before the mother-of-three disappeared.

Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, who detectives believe allegedly killed Ms Murphy, was reported to have gone from pub to pub with a group of friends on a night out in Ballarat on Saturday, February 3."
and
"A witness, who does not wish to be identified, told Nine newspapers that police have been visiting venues in Ballarat trying to gather CCTV footage of Stephenson on the Saturday night in question.

Stephenson is said to have been at a party before heading to The Deck in Ballarat, which stays open until 3am. It is not clear when he left.

A video that circulated on Snapchat from the party appears to show lines of white powder racked up on a mobile phone. There is no suggestion Stephenson had anything to do with the powder."

Comment: The Deck features in the above story and the Youtube video that some say is (allegedly) from 4 to 8 weeks before 4/2/2024. But it appears POS and mates (allegedly) visited the same place on 3/2/2024 according to the Daily Mail and The Age.


www.theage.com.au

The night before Samantha Murphy’s disappearance, her accused killer partied

Police have approached venues in Ballarat’s CBD asking for footage of Patrick Stephenson on a night out before they believe missing mum Samantha Murphy was murdered.
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au

edited to add further media link: WAToday also paywalled. https://www.watoday.com.au/national...r-accused-killer-partied-20240308-p5fb03.html

Photo in above link (allegedly) shows POS snorting a white powder - date unknown.
 
Last edited:
Irma said:
Wasn’t it supposed to be The Deck that he was at the night before? After the birthday party?
Or was that the filmed ‘bender’ night? Or both?
Click to expand...
This is just another example of how people can be sucked in by the media.
The CH7 story says 'it was alleged he was on a bender ... etc.' without saying who alleged it or naming the nightclub.
Then it shows video footage of POS from months earlier. Then it shows a picture of The Deck nightclub.
At no point do they actually say POS was at The Deck the night before SM disappeared.
They leave it up to the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
I guess this is standard practice for TV (ever watched Frontline?)
But how easy would it have been to go to The Deck, interview the management and obtain footage to confirm this story as fact? Or to interview eyewitnesses who saw it happen?
But they didn't. And the most likely reason is that nobody was prepared to publicly testify that this actually happened and maybe the whole 'allegation' is false?

And here you are. Hook, line and sinker.
 
Catch said:
And how can a young 22-year-old guy, remove so much evidence at the scene at Mt Clear where she was supposedly taken. Police couldn't even find a tissue of hers there. There was a time frame of three hours, before Mick called the police to report his wife missing and searches began for her. I think this was a premeditated targeted attack with others involved. The police have said he acted alone, but he might have acted alone in killing her, but someone/others involved in planning and removal of her body
Click to expand...
I don’t think it’s clear where she was actually killed/taken/move from-to, and we don’t know how much evidence there is/was?

Pings aren’t absolutely exact to the metre.
 
thumbs_up said:
At the press conference after POS was charged with murder they said it wasn't a hit and run. A follow up question asked if a vehicle was involved, which was met with "no comment".
Click to expand...
In cases where someone dies in a vehicle accident caused by a drug-or-alcohol affected driver, there is a legal precedent for 'murder' (rather than say culpable driving or manslaughter) charges , on the basis that a reasonable person would know that taking drugs and then driving and hitting someone would likely cause their death.
I am not alleging this is what happened in this case. But it's one explanation of why a murder charge might be considered.

Also, by definition, a 'hit-and-run' involves the driver leaving the scene immediately and not stopping. Since Samantha's body was not found at the alleged scene, this is clearly not a 'hit-and-run'. They are IMO implying POS stopped at the scene and they have explicitly alleged SM died at Mt Clear.

The reluctance to answer whether a vehicle was involved or not might have been because they don't (or didn't at the time) know the exact cause of death. They might be assuming SM was hit by a vehicle but not able to prove it. Answering yes or no to this question might compromise their case going forward if they actually found SM died from another means.
 
Last edited:
31550 said:
In cases where someone dies in a vehicle accident caused by a drug-or-alcohol affected driver, there is a legal precedent for 'murder' (rather than say culpable driving or manslaughter) charges , on the basis that a reasonable person would know that taking drugs and then driving and hitting someone would likely cause their death.
I am not alleging this is what happened in this case. But it's one explanation of why a murder charge might be considered.

Also, by definition, a 'hit-and-run' involves the driver leaving the scene immediately and not stopping. Since Samantha's body was not found at the alleged scene, this is clearly not a 'hit-and-run'. They are IMO implying POS stopped at the scene and they have explicitly alleged SM died at Mt Clear.

The reluctance to answer whether a vehicle was involved or not might have been because they don't (or didn't at the time) know the exact cause of death. They might be assuming SM was hit by a vehicle but not able to prove it. Answering yes or no to this question might compromise their case going forward if they actually found SM died from another means.
Click to expand...
I was simply answering a question.
 
Percel said:
I don’t think it’s clear where she was actually killed/taken/move from-to, and we don’t know how much evidence there is/was?

Pings aren’t absolutely exact to the metre.
Click to expand...
She is believed to have reached the Mount Clear area, adjacent to the park, about an hour after leaving home, but has not been seen or heard from since. According to court documents, Stephenson, 22, allegedly murdered Murphy within the Mount Clear area — where he resides — the day she vanished
 

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Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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