- Patrick Orren Stephenson to appear in court
- 23-year-old charged with murdering Samantha Murphy
The man who police allege murdered a Ballarat mother will return to court just days after Samantha Murphy’s loved ones marked six months since her disappearance.
Suspected killer Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, is expected to appear in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday morning as prosecutors and his lawyers provide an update on how the case is progressing.
The hearing is taking place five months after he last appeared in court, and police have been given a longer than usual 20-week period to prepare their brief of evidence against the defendant.
This was due to be handed over to his legal team by July 25, giving them two weeks to review the case and seek instructions.
The Ballarat-born son of a former AFL player, Mr Stephenson last month celebrated his 23rd birthday in custody, where he has remained since being charged on March 7.
Police have remained tight-lipped about the methods used to identify the accused, with Chief Superintendent Shane Patton saying the arrest came after a “thorough and methodical investigation”.
“He’s been charged with murder, so by definition we’re saying it was a deliberate attack on Samantha,” he said.
‘During the interview with the suspect, he did not reveal to the police where his body was located.’
The man who police allege murdered a Ballarat mother will return to court just days after Samantha Murphy’s loved ones marked six months since she disappeared (pictured, Samantha Murphy)
Suspected killer Patrick Orren Stephenson (pictured), 23, is expected to appear in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday morning as prosecutors and his lawyers provide an update on how the case is progressing.
Ms Murphy went missing after leaving her Eureka St home on February 4 to go for a run.
Her disappearance shocked the community and quickly became one of the largest missing persons investigations in the state.
It is believed to have arrived in the Mount Clear area, adjacent to Woowookarung Regional Park, about an hour after setting off at around 7 a.m.
According to court documents, Mr. Stephenson allegedly murdered Ms. Murphy in the Mount Clear area, where he resides, on the day she disappeared.
The 51-year-old woman’s family reported her missing to police later that day after she failed to attend a luncheon.
Despite extensive searches by police and volunteers over the following weeks, no trace of the missing mother was found until police revealed that “items of interest”, including a mobile phone, had been removed from a dam in late May.
Last Sunday, Ms Murphy’s family, friends and the wider Ballarat community marked a solemn milestone: six months since the mother of three went out for a morning run, never to return.
Details of the alleged murder have not been revealed in court and Mr Stephenson has not been required to enter a plea or plead guilty.
Ms Murphy was last seen on CCTV leaving her home at around 7am on February 4.
In May, police announced that items had been recovered from a dam on a property outside Buninyong.
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