Samantha Murphy’s long-suffering husband remains nowhere near answers after his wife’s alleged killer appeared in court.
Mick Murphy was spotted doing chores outside his Ballarat East home on Thursday.
About 2km away, Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was being taken to Ballarat Magistrates Court via video link charged with Ms Murphy’s murder.
It is unclear whether Mr. Murphy tuned in to the brief hearing, which had been touted as one that could provide some clarity on how detectives presented their case against the suspected killer.
Instead, it provided more questions than answers, with Magistrate Mark Stratmann also denying the media access to materials outlining unrelated driving charges against Stephenson.
Mr Murphy made no comment when asked outside his home by Daily Mail Australia, but offered a smile to a photographer who asked to take his picture.
Just a few weeks ago, the Daily Mail Australia revealed Mr Murphy’s tragic one-word post on his Facebook profile.
Mr Murphy’s Facebook profile now lists his marital status as “widowed”.
Mick Murphy on Thursday outside the Ballarat East property he shared with his wife Samantha Murphy
The revelations of the harrowing change came just under seven months after Ms Murphy embarked on her final, fateful run.
Mr Murphy has said little publicly since April, when he gave an interview to 9News.
He said 9News then he had not stopped looking for his beloved wife.
“On that particular day, I was outside and I thought she would be coming down the road very soon,” he said.
-Then he didn’t do it.
“I thought, ‘Well, it might have taken a little longer. ‘ I went outside and asked the kids, ‘Is Mom home yet? ‘ They said no. I thought it was a little weird.”
Mr. Murphy said that He searched for his wife’s body every day, driving around town or spending two hours walking through a pine plantation.
“Sometimes I go for a drive, which may not be anywhere in particular, or I go for a two-hour walk. It varies every day,” he said.
“It’s very good for my mind and if I stayed home I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors.”
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with the alleged murder of Ms Murphy.
Ms Murphy’s husband, Mick Murphy, was not seen on video link or in court on Thursday. Instead, he was seen at home attending to household chores. He declined to comment on the court case.
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.
He was himself a well-known footballer in the Ballarat region until he was charged with the murder of Ms Murphy.
On Thursday, the court heard that police had collected a huge amount of evidence against the suspected killer, including a “large amount” of CCTV footage.
Stephenson’s lawyer, Moya O’Brien, told the court that both sides were requesting a three-month adjournment due to the large amount of evidence in the brief.
“It has been described as an object of unprecedented size,” he said.
Magistrate Mark Stratmann granted the request but expressed concern about the length of time Stephenson would remain behind bars.
“Three months is a long time for the customer and the community,” he said.
The alleged killer showed no emotion during the hearing.
He sat silently throughout the 15-minute hearing and spoke only once when Mr. Stratmann asked if he could see and hear the court.
“Yes, your honor,” he replied.
Stephenson will not return to court until Nov. 16, when Stratmann said he expected any issues in the case to be “aired out.”
Samantha Murphy, 51, vanished without a trace after leaving her home in Ballarat East, Victoria, for her morning run on February 4 (pictured)
Samantha Murphy is believed to have been killed while out for a jog.
On the day of her disappearance, Ms. Murphy, 51, He set out for his morning run at 7am through nearby Woowookrung Regional Park, a 14km route he had done countless times before.
In early March, nearly five weeks after Ms Murphy disappeared, police charged Stephenson with her alleged murder even though her body was never found.
On Sunday, Ms Murphy’s family, friends and the wider Ballarat community marked six months since her disappearance.
The case is one of Victoria Police’s highest priority criminal investigations, with the missing persons squad working tirelessly to gather evidence for the much-anticipated 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.
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.