Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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Importantly, 'sub judice' means that a case is under consideration by the courts. 'Sub judice contempt' can occur if information is published that may be prejudicial to the court proceedings.

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The Murder of Rebecca Young - Ballarat

The Murder of Hannah McGuire - Ballarat * Lachie Young charged



Allegedly
 
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Why would yesterdays search be a smoke screen?
One explanation is that police suspect someone may have further knowledge of, or may have assisted in disposal of the body, phone, watch or other items, and police wanted to observe that person's reaction to yesterday's search and see what they did, where they went, who they spoke to...
 
To clear his name from being a suspect to being declared a non suspect and innocent...
Agreed, if i'm innocent i'm talking as much as possible to try and 1) clear my own name and 2) help the police find the real person committing the crime. Not refusing to co-operate and wait 6 months in prison for a court appearance.

Whilst POS is certainly entitled to being judged as innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law, the perceived silence speaks louder than words in my opinion.
 
Why would yesterdays search be a smoke screen?
Possibly hoping someone else comes forward, getting the media on board again, last time they did a big media involvement including TV under investigation, they arrested the accused not long after that, possibly seeing who else could be hanging around. I don't think this is the end of it
 

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Agreed, if i'm innocent i'm talking as much as possible to try and 1) clear my own name and 2) help the police find the real person committing the crime. Not refusing to co-operate and wait 6 months in prison for a court appearance.

Whilst POS is certainly entitled to being judged as innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law, the perceived silence speaks louder than words in my opinion.
Has he actually been given the opportunity to talk publicly about the incident? Or is he restricted from doing so?
Non-cooperation is an assumption being made by you and others. Police did not say he was not cooperative. View the police media conference to confirm.
It is still possible (innocent or otherwise) that he genuinely does not know where the body is.
 
Has he actually been given the opportunity to talk publicly about the incident? Or is he restricted from doing so?
Non-cooperation is an assumption being made by you and others. Police did not say he was not cooperative. View the police media conference to confirm.
It is still possible (innocent or otherwise) that he genuinely does not know where the body is.

If the Police have enough to charge him it suggests there is quite a bit of evidence linking him to the crime.

Given the time frame from when she went missing to when he was arrested I doubt they would have made an arrest without ample evidence given to the public eye there was no suspect until his arrest broke into the news cycle.

Until he divulges where the body is then it's safe to assume he's either not talking or not cooperating.
 
Agreed, if i'm innocent i'm talking as much as possible to try and 1) clear my own name and 2) help the police find the real person committing the crime. Not refusing to co-operate and wait 6 months in prison for a court appearance.

Whilst POS is certainly entitled to being judged as innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law, the perceived silence speaks louder than words in my opinion.
True for most people but for people like the LGBQI+ community, black americans, etc. they may have a negative history with police or authority in general and therefore may act differently.

In saying that you would think POS would fall into the most people category.
 
Lol
I swore off this thread, was coming back on to share some local updates, but I see it's been high-jacked by:
  • repeat references to POS on a bender the 'night before (until 3-4am)', when it's been categorically clarified the footage of him on a bender was from JANUARY, and no evidence of his activities on 3rd Feb
  • allegations he's some sort of serial offender with possible interstate incidents based on nothing!
  • the usual poster who repeatedly fouls up Crime threads with inane interpretations and walls of words making an appearance

I'll leave the tin foil hat brigade to it, and for those in the majority trying to post in good faith, good luck wading through all the BS.

Re -
  • allegations he's some sort of serial offender with possible interstate incidents based on nothing!
If you're referring to what I said, it was a theory, speculation.
 
I get the sense that VicPol are operating on a need to know basis and with a very small team actually knowing what's going on with the case.

I can't remember another high profile case where so little has been released publically, both before and after an arrest?
 
Thing is, being remanded for so long would surely bring out a different approach if one was completely innocent? For me, I would be proactive with investigators or lawyers in protesting my innocence and cooperating completely.
Oh really?
 
I get the sense that VicPol are operating on a need to know basis and with a very small team actually knowing what's going on with the case.

I can't remember another high profile case where so little has been released publically, both before and after an arrest?
Can you remember any high profile case where any information was released publicly after someone was charged?
 

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For those who think “If I’m innocent I’ll talk”, no. You take the lawyer’s advice and do what is best in the circumstances.

If the police think you did it, they will try to trip you up. At that stage they actually don’t care how much you protest.

Unless you have a positive alibi like other people who were with you at the time of the crime, there is no good talking.

I say this as someone who has been in the vicinity of an armed robbery, alone, who the police tried to question, tried to trip up, and were ready to arrest.
 
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Re -
  • allegations he's some sort of serial offender with possible interstate incidents based on nothing!
If you're referring to what I said, it was a theory, speculation.
Based on what, though? You might just as well have said he’s an extraterrestrial in human form.
 
For those who think “If I’m innocent I’ll talk”, no. You take the lawyer’s advice and do what is best in the circumstances.

If the police think you did it, they will try to trip you up. At that stage they actually don’t care how much you protest.

Unless you have a positive alibi like other people who were with you at the time of the crime, there is no good talking.

I say this as someone who has been in the vicinity of an armed robbery, alone, who the police tried to question, tried to trip up, and were ready to arrest.
They need to bring in Ron Iddles.
 
For those who think “If I’m innocent I’ll talk”, no. You take the lawyer’s advice and do what is best in the circumstances.

If the police think you did it, they will try to trip you up. At that stage they actually don’t care how much you protest.

Unless you have a positive alibi like other people who were with you at the time of the crime, there is no good talking.

I say this as someone who has been in the vicinity of an armed robbery, alone, who the police tried to question, tried to trip up, and were ready to arrest.

I posted this as a response earlier and thought it might have been a bit over the top given this is a murder investigation but it's generally the best way imo.

Best not to talk a lot to the cops imo. If you're innocent, explain why you couldn't have done the thing simply and as briefly as possible then zip it, don't answer any more questions or you might end up talking yourself in to a charge.
 
They need to bring in Ron Iddles.
Without knowing all the details, it's hard to know for sure, but from the outside, I believe Ron Iddles would have taken a different approach with the suspect. Ron's mantra was to treat everyone with respect, including the suspect. That is the best way to establish trust and then elicit information. There seems to be zero respect or trust between the police and the accused. Therefore no information is being exchanged.
There may be things going on behind the scenes we don't know about, but jumping to a murder charge without a body or obvious motive wasn't the way Ron operated.
 
Without knowing all the details, it's hard to know for sure, but from the outside, I believe Ron Iddles would have taken a different approach with the suspect. Ron's mantra was to treat everyone with respect, including the suspect. That is the best way to establish trust and then elicit information. There seems to be zero respect or trust between the police and the accused. Therefore no information is being exchanged.
There may be things going on behind the scenes we don't know about, but jumping to a murder charge without a body or obvious motive wasn't the way Ron operated.

How is this known from your angle?
 
Without knowing all the details, it's hard to know for sure, but from the outside, I believe Ron Iddles would have taken a different approach with the suspect. Ron's mantra was to treat everyone with respect, including the suspect. That is the best way to establish trust and then elicit information. There seems to be zero respect or trust between the police and the accused. Therefore no information is being exchanged.
There may be things going on behind the scenes we don't know about, but jumping to a murder charge without a body or obvious motive wasn't the way Ron operated.
ABC' was Ron Iddles' mantra.
o Assume nothing.
o Believe nothing.
o Check everything.
 
sorry i mean that if you comment "no comment" there is a presumption of guilt.
If you are guilty just stay silent.
We don't know what the accused has said, if anything. The police have said he hasnt told them where the body is. The police would not comment on whether or not he had been cooperative, or whether he had confessed to anything. The police are the only ones who have said 'no comnent' or words to that effect. The accused may have said nothing at all, or he may have provided lengthy answers to all their questions. We don't know. We only know he hasn't given them the location of the body. We don't know why, and any assumptions we make about why are prejudicial.
 

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Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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