A criminal psychologist has detailed what evidence police are likely to reveal during a long-awaited court hearing into the alleged murder of Samantha Murphy.
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, will appear in Ballarat Magistrates Court for a committal mention via video link on Thursday, charged with murdering Ms Murphy.
The hearing is expected to finally provide some answers about the case against Stephensen after he was charged on March 7, more than four weeks after the mother of three went missing.
Ms Murphy disappeared without a trace after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria, on the morning of February 4.
The 51-year-old had set out at 7am for her morning run through nearby Woowookrung Regional Park, a 14km route she had done countless times before.
Months of desperate searches have failed to find any trace of Ms Murphy’s body, with only her mobile phone mysteriously found in a dam.
Police have since remained silent on any information relating to the phone and any other evidence that led to Stephenson’s arrest.
However, criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said police would be forced to reveal their intentions at Thursday’s hearing, with a magistrate ultimately deciding whether there was enough evidence for Stephenson to stand trial.
The suspected killer of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy (pictured) will appear in court on Thursday ahead of a hearing that will reveal the police case against him.
Dr Watson-Munro said the lack of physical evidence, such as Ms Murphy’s body or the murder weapon, meant prosecutors would rely primarily on technological evidence.
This could include tracking data relating to Ms Murphy and Stephenson’s phones.
“I think they (prosecutors) have a lot of work ahead of them in the absence of a body, in the absence of witnesses, in the absence of a motive, or certainly one that we know of or not,” Dr Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia.
‘And the absence of an interview record or any confession or recognition regarding the alleged crime.
“There may be other evidence that we don’t know about, and if there was, I would revise my opinion, but generally these things leak out.”
Dr Watson-Munro said the lack of public information about the case could be because Stephenson refused to speak to police until they found physical evidence.
Patrick Orren Stephenson (pictured) is accused of killing the mother-of-three after she went missing during a 14km run through Woowookrung National Park on the morning of February 4.
“Generally speaking, people don’t necessarily hand over a full record of the interview or anything like that until they’re presented with other evidence,” he said.
‘Usually, police find a body, a gun, corroborating evidence that supports their claims and that might be enough to get the individual to start talking.’
Dr Watson-Munro said the lack of a body would be worrying to police.
He added that six months of searching by Ballarat locals had become extremely difficult because the area is “riddled” with abandoned mines.
“Some of them are very deep… I guess it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said.
The case is one of Victoria Police’s highest priority criminal investigations and the missing persons squad is working tirelessly to gather compelling evidence for the trial.
A breakthrough in the case came after police searched a dam on a property south of Buninyong, approximately 14 kilometres from his home, on May 29.
Officers located a mud-spattered mobile phone in a handbag at the water’s edge, believed to have been found by a police technology sniffer dog.
Police have remained tight-lipped about details of the evidence found during the investigation, but will be forced to reveal more at an upcoming preliminary hearing (Police divers pictured in a dam)
In a statement issued shortly after finding the mobile phone, police said they had located some “items of interest” during the search for the missing mother.
The phone, along with other items found in the search, were subjected to forensic testing and sources confirmed the device belonged to Ms Murphy.
Many hoped the phone would lead to Ms Murphy’s body, however police have remained tight-lipped about the evidence found on the device.
Police have launched a series of “targeted searches” in the bush and on properties across the area, hoping to locate the missing mother’s body or find crucial evidence to strengthen the case.
Police allege Stephenson “deliberately attacked” Ms Murphy at Mount Clear, about 7km from her race.
Stephenson, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with murdering the mother of three on March 7.
He is the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, who played 15 games for Geelong and Richmond between 2012 and 2014.
Stephenson, who remains in custody, is understood to have reserved the right to remain silent.
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