Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

[Kurve]

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The Murder of Rebecca Young - Ballarat

The Murder of Hannah McGuire - Ballarat * Lachie Young

17

Lachie Young

Age

25

Ht

189cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.5

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

220.3

3star

D

9.0

2star

K

5.5

2star

HB

3.5

2star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.0

3star

MG

210.0

3star

D

11.2

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

219.6

4star

charged



Allegedly

 

[Underarrest_]

Bins are irrelevant. If bins were out on the side of a deserted road, the phone would have been dumped in a bin and not the dam. Much better option IMO. Quick, simple, and the phone would be less likely to ever be found. If it was found in a garbage dump later, there would be no way of knowing where it had been originally dumped. Using the dam seems a bit desperate to me - indicates whoever had the phone wanted to get rid of it quickly.

A poster has brought their own thoughts on a possible scenario and their thoughts aren’t irrelevant.
Personally I think it’s more likely that SM’s body is in a dam, river bank but other possibilities cannot be ruled out as if we knew where her body was there would be no question.
Police searched the local rubbish dump years after Rachel Antonio went missing with a possible scenario that RA had been dumped in a bin. A bin might not have been used but people’s thoughts on the possibility of a bin being used are not irrelevant.

 

[31550]

Yes, very much so, but what was he doing for all those other hours during that day that he suddenly had to act in reckless haste, if we assume that the last ping was around 5:00pm?

That is for the police to work out.
Firstly the 5pm ping though widely reported seems not officially confirmed by police.
Secondly even if the phone pinged at 5pm it may have been in the dam earlier.
Or the phone may have pinged at 5pm but been put in the dam on a different day altogether.
Then we don't know for sure it was POS who put the phone in the dam.

 

[gymjam]

Just like everywhere else, the actual time always varies up here, usually depends on who's sick that day, don't read too much into what you ascertain from the Ballarat City Council website!
And to the actual location of the dam, it's just over a rise on the way out of Bunny, but is clearly visible on the way into town. I know the dam, but I also know the road, so if you didn't know the road that well you'd probably go past it unawares. Also you would not pull over on the left hand side over the blind side of the hill, and you wouldn't cross to the other side coming back, far too dangerous, even for a 'quiet' road. Logically you would pull over on the left side on the way back and cross the road to dispose of the phone. That's taking a risk for me, suggesting as well that he is on his way back from the disposing of Sam. I'm still leaning to the Yarrawee as the potential site.
We went out to the river yesterday, the water level has noticeably dropped, rocks are now visible that were submerged a couple of months ago, yet there are still deeper options there. Doesn't look like it's been checked either....

If a roadside bin has been utilized, the bin could have been anywhere within the Ballarat collection area. Furthermore, it is not known if whilst still alive or deceased, Samantha had been 'held' captive for an extended number of days. I think it also highly likely that if a bin had been utilized, where ever the bin may have been located, was further south, and that he had realized later that Samantha's phone was still in his vehicle, and he had pulled over to the south bound lane as he more or less faced towards Ballarat and hurled the phone into the dam.

What I have also noticed, is there are quite a few properties for-sale along that particular road where the phone was located.

It sounds to me like you have a good grasp of the area. Would the vehicle body repair business operated by Samantha and her husband, have been a sponsor of a sports team the alleged offender was connected to?

 

[gymjam]

That is for the police to work out.
Firstly the 5pm ping though widely reported seems not officially confirmed by police.
Secondly even if the phone pinged at 5pm it may have been in the dam earlier.
Or the phone may have pinged at 5pm but been put in the dam on a different day altogether.
Then we don't know for sure it was POS who put the phone in the dam.

the phone 'ping' may have been as a result of a fitness app still transmitting data.

 

[gymjam]

Bins are irrelevant. If bins were out on the side of a deserted road, the phone would have been dumped in a bin and not the dam. Much better option IMO. Quick, simple, and the phone would be less likely to ever be found. If it was found in a garbage dump later, there would be no way of knowing where it had been originally dumped. Using the dam seems a bit desperate to me - indicates whoever had the phone wanted to get rid of it quickly.

My point of view re the phone being discovered in the dam is, in his panicked frame of mind he became quite careless, and he had not realized the phone was in his vehicle and then took immediate action to get rid of the phone, and in choosing the dam, he had hoped the water would have destroyed any data held on the phone and stopped it from 'pinging'.

 

[DirtyLeeds]

Yes, very much so, but what was he doing for all those other hours during that day that he suddenly had to act in reckless haste, if we assume that the last ping was around 5:00pm?

Doesn't mean he had the phone when it 'pinged', could've dumped it hours before hand...

 

[Kurve]

Doesn't mean he had the phone when it 'pinged', could've dumped it hours before hand...

Doesn't mean either that he threw it in to the dam. Someone else, kids in this scenario, might have found her phone wallet and been a bit late catching up with the news, heard Samantha Murphy's missing and realised they've already handled the phone of a murder victim and spent the $150 tucked in behind the credit cards.

Then couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

 

[gymjam]

Before 6am Monday?

Yep that's correct. I am not suggesting the alleged offender had placed Samantha in a receptacle on Sunday, but it is possible he had held her, and placed her in the receptacle very early AM Monday at any location which he was traveling through.

 

[DirtyLeeds]

If a roadside bin has been utilized, the bin could have been anywhere within the Ballarat collection area. Furthermore, it is not known if whilst still alive or deceased, Samantha had been 'held' captive for an extended number of days. I think it also highly likely that if a bin had been utilized, where ever the bin may have been located, was further south, and that he had realized later that Samantha's phone was still in his vehicle, and he had pulled over to the south bound lane as he more or less faced towards Ballarat and hurled the phone into the dam.

What I have also noticed, is there are quite a few properties for-sale along that particular road where the phone was located.

It sounds to me like you have a good grasp of the area. Would the vehicle body repair business operated by Samantha and her husband, have been a sponsor of a sports team the alleged offender was connected to?

1/ Southbound is away from Ballarat
2/ POS played for Redan FC, check out the club, and what sponsorship has to do with this is beyond me
3/ Any further south and you've entered another Shire, Golden Plains and road side collection becomes extremely unlikely as these are 'rural' properties, effectively small businesses
4/ Held captive? Really? Where ? At the house he was sitting with his GF?
5/Everything for sale along that stretch is Land/Acreage, and what's your point?
6/ Finally there are multiple collection days across Ballarat for different bins....

Hope I've answered your questions

 

[31550]

the phone 'ping' may have been as a result of a fitness app still transmitting data.

AFAIK it could only do this via the phone it is paired with - it didn't have its own SIM card.

 

[Underarrest_]

Yep that's correct. I am not suggesting the alleged offender had placed Samantha in a receptacle on Sunday, but it is possible he had held her, and placed her in the receptacle very early AM Monday at any location which he was traveling through.

SM could have even been left somewhere and the perpetrator went back when it was dark to dispose of her body.
I’m sure police are looking at all scenarios.
At the end of the day I just hope she’s found.

 

[Catch]

SM could have even been left somewhere and the perpetrator went back when it was dark to dispose of her body.
I’m sure police are looking at all scenarios.
At the end of the day I just hope she’s found.

totally agree, however, the accused must be relatively dumb to be arrested after a couple of weeks, but not too dumb to be answering questions of the police while under arrest. This is a very weird case and the court case will be fascinating as this is when the evidence will come out, and I think there is much that we do not know at this point. I don't think the police have categorically ruled out anyone else having involvement have they?

In the beginning, the police said 'One or more parties likely involved' in Victorian mum's disappearance. Police believe more than one person may be involved in the disappearance of missing Victorian mum Samantha Murphy.
Now they have said . Police allege he acted alone.
Saying this by the police, might be also a ploy to throw off any further 'persons of interest'
If they can't link him with the phone and dam, then someone else is involved
And where does his girlfriend fit in with all this ?
I still find it hard how a young 22-year-old guy hasn't cracked somewhere under the pressure by hardened cops, I know he has been advised by his legal team, but I think he was originally questioned for 30 hours at the time of his arrest.
It just doesn't add up to me in all this, and it looks like someone is supplying intricate information to the police

 

[31550]

Alleged killer of Samantha Murphy hit with fresh charges

Patrick Orren Stephenson has been hit with fresh charges of drink and drug driving after he allegedly crashed a motorbike in Ballarat last year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Old news. This alleged offence was months before SM disappeared.

 

[BonzaRam]

I think some here need to do some research on what a PING actually is...

A device does NOT need a sim card to ping, that is why mobile devices can access emergency service without sim card.
There is a huge difference between an active ping and a passive ping, so what type of it ping was it that allegedly occurred at 5pm? I suspect a passive ping.

What needs to be answered still is what was it that led police to him? Once that is known it will all start to make some sense about what happened.

 

[DirtyLeeds]

I think some here need to do some research on what a PING actually is...

A device does NOT need a sim card to ping, that is why mobile devices can access emergency service without sim card.
There is a huge difference between an active ping and a passive ping, so what type of it ping was it that allegedly occurred at 5pm? I suspect a passive ping.

What needs to be answered still is what was it that led police to him? Once that is known it will all start to make some sense about what happened.

It's such a simple component, "why POS"? Yet it is the absolute key to the whole story, how do they actually arrest and charge him without the body? They must have so much evidence that they are not sharing with the great unwashed (us) that it's convincing. I don't know, and would seriously doubt anyone reading this does either?
Patience folks.

 

[Percel]

I think some here need to do some research on what a PING actually is...

A device does NOT need a sim card to ping, that is why mobile devices can access emergency service without sim card.
There is a huge difference between an active ping and a passive ping, so what type of it ping was it that allegedly occurred at 5pm? I suspect a passive ping.

What needs to be answered still is what was it that led police to him? Once that is known it will all start to make some sense about what happened.

Yep, and that’s where the IMEI comes into play as well

 

[31550]

I think some here need to do some research on what a PING actually is...

A device does NOT need a sim card to ping, that is why mobile devices can access emergency service without sim card.
There is a huge difference between an active ping and a passive ping, so what type of it ping was it that allegedly occurred at 5pm? I suspect a passive ping.

What needs to be answered still is what was it that led police to him? Once that is known it will all start to make some sense about what happened.

True, but it was reported that SMs device pinged a cell tower. This requires either her phone, with or without a Sim card to be active OR a cellular-connected Apple watch. I don't believe SM had a cellular Apple watch - it was just a regular Apple watch which needs the phone to connect to the network. Correct me if I am wrong. Pings to cell towers from devices without SIMs contain very little useful data.

If she had a cellular Apple watch there would have been no need for her to take her phone.

 

[hathound]

Correct me if I am wrong. Pings to cell towers from devices without SIMs contain very little useful data

Yes I think so. I looked at this once and their is a limited amount of identification data fields contained in a so called mobile ping. Calling it a "ping" is really a misnomer as according to my limited understanding of cellular networks, it does not solicit an echo from the tower, so the ping is only unidirectional.

Therefore unlike true sonar pings and even IP/ICMP based pings, it is impossible to calculate a round trip time based solely on these pings. I believe that rough estimates of distance is based on the signal strength of the ping received by the tower and its direction is based on the which of the three clusters of antennas on the mobile tower that the ping hits (ie within a 120 degree radius, which could be narrowed down further if multiple pings are received at different locations).

 

[31550]

. Calling it a "ping" is really a misnomer as according to my limited understanding of cellular networks, it does not solicit an echo from the tower, so the ping is only unidirectional.

And can you confirm whether such 'pings' are even logged by phone companies? They may not even show up in cell tower dumps. If the tower doesn't do anything then it has nothing to log.

 

[BonzaRam]

And can you confirm whether such 'pings' are even logged by phone companies? They may not even show up in cell tower dumps. If the tower doesn't do anything then it has nothing to log.

Telcos monitor both active and passive pings for performance and security purposes.

When traveling a device will ping a tower when it comes into range. This creates a passive connection to that tower so it is available if you need it. It also allows companies to monitor the network usage etc.

 

[31550]

Telcos monitor both active and passive pings for performance and security purposes.

When traveling a device will ping a tower when it comes into range. This creates a passive connection to that tower so it is available if you need it. It also allows companies to monitor the network usage etc.

Monitoring is not the same as permanently logging them for subsequent analysis by folks such as law enforcement.

 

[GrayRanga]

Telcos monitor both active and passive pings for performance and security purposes.

When traveling a device will ping a tower when it comes into range. This creates a passive connection to that tower so it is available if you need it. It also allows companies to monitor the network usage etc.

So two towers operated by two different companies can register (and record) pings from a phone at any any one time?

Makes triangulation a lot easier and would therefore show whether the phone was moving or not.

At the end of this case we are all going to be au fait with mobile phone technology

 

[BonzaRam]

Monitoring is not the same as permanently logging them for subsequent analysis by folks such as law enforcement.

Ummm Metadata Retention Laws...

 

[BonzaRam]

So two towers operated by two different companies can register (and record) pings from a phone at any any one time?

Makes triangulation a lot easier and would therefore show whether the phone was moving or not.

At the end of this case we are all going to be au fait with mobile phone technology

As far as I am aware it is only emergency services that has a free pass on any network. Not 100% sure but i would assume it is the devices service provider that does the logging.

 

[31550]

Ummm Metadata Retention Laws...

No data is being transmitted in the case of passive pings, hence there is no metadata.