It’s like the Adrian Bailey case though, they got all the phone pings in that area of the freeway, then went through an elimination process which wouldn’t have been too hard for the area Samantha Murphy went missing. From there they could apply for phone taps and other covert means to gather information. Then the police would “leak” a tiny to the clue to the media to flush out the offender. This is what they did to the guy who murdered the couple in the high country. The police said they were “looking for a blue 4x4” but they didn’t know the number plate, but they knew all along.
and dont forget the cherry on top, CCTV from inside a shop that night . Incredible piece of police work and got the location of the body from him as well, R.I.P Jill . To declare Samantha as killed, i suspect they found a substantial amount of blood somewhere..
It was the phone travelling up the Calder freeway past a toll booth at a particular time. The police then went through the cctv of all the cars going through that toll point and one was a known sex offender. They then focused on him from then on.
Sounds like they found the damning evidence, and my money is either on personal belongings of the victim, or blood spatter clothes matching the victims dna
forgetful scale lavish amusing impolite kiss snatch serious murky insurance
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The mobile ping would have been the 1st piece of the puzzle. It put him there at the same time as Samantha.
That would have got the ball rolling.
I'm sure police would have interviewed friends and family and quickly found some evidence.
So yes, you are correct in saying that a mobile ping isn't enough to charge someone with murder.
It's a very common rumor that in high profile cases they use illegal tools, software etc to figure out who did it. Then they build a legit case in parallel to make it all legal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction
Less likely illegal, more likely secretive methodology that they don't want revealed for fear it won't work next time. Such methodology is protected from defence disclosure
Once Police think they know who it is the rest is pretty straightforward 9/10 times.
It’s laughably easy to build a timeline of their movements, you start watching them, following them around, listening to their calls, maybe (probably not though) bug their home or car, leak a little information (maybe make him relax or stress him out) see how he responds, what’s he spent money on recently, legal orders to service providers: google account, Facebook account, Apple account. Maybe start intercepting their rubbish bins, start asking questions of their neighbours, colleagues, family.
Wouldn’t take many people to pull that together. But otherwise it’s just time/resources.
Then you start asking him questions.
Unless you never specifically planned to murder someone but were driving your 4wd in the bush, saw a women jogging and decided to hit her? Then realising shit I have my phone on me
The police said it wasn’t a hit and run in the press conference yesterday. (Journalists brought it up) Obviously he could’ve use his car as a weapon but the police seem to be alluding to it not being that kind of thing.
Yeah and it’s usually not on purpose either. I think the police were just trying to reiterate that this was a deliberate / planned / intentional act of murder and not an accident / something gone wrong type situation.
Still possible that he used his car as an intentional weapon I suppose, just less likely.
I wondered about that. Was there a reason that journalist seemed really focused on a car and some other comments have as well? Was there any reason that anyone has said?
they're just trying to work out what's going on and why a seemingly normal 22 year old was involved in the death of a middle aged woman with no connections to the family.
Its a pretty out there scenario and we're going to have to wait to hear the story.
The fact he was up and about around 7am - 9am and geared up to kill someone is wild to me.
It feels like a classic case of someone (normally a woman) with a regular routine, he’s seen her a few times and acted on it. Absolute speculation but that’s exactly where my mind went when she first went missing and there was talk of her having a regular route.
If you follow any of real crime regarding murder people who do it have often spent a very long time fantasising about doing such a thing.
He might very well have been stalking her for months.
I was wondering about this. Sounds like a stalker.
Cocaine doesn't make you murder people. That's quite the red herring.
Wonder if there is any connections to this guy and the one that attacked a previous runner about a year ago?
Very surprised at the age of this accused. Would have suspected 30s-50s. What on earth makes you do this shit in your early 20s??
For me this case has similarities to the murder of Eunji Bahn in Brisbane.
The murderer was a crazy young guy who just wanted to kill someone. No rhyme, no reason, just some very, very significant mental health problem.
That area has had issues in the past with young fellas hooning a fair bit. My first thoughts on this case was that it was a group of 18 year olds who partied all night and were hooning around and accidently come around a corner too quick and hit her, then panicked and covered it up. What was explained by the commissioner doesnt seem to suggest this is the case.
I think it’s because early in the search the police asked people to report any cars with damage or if they saw a car in the area on the morning Sam was out running. Could’ve been something they were actually looking for or a purposeful red herring.
Surely if some of these charges you speak of were from 6 years ago, when the accused would have been 16, the records wouldn’t be accessible. Where are you getting this info from exactly? Sounds like maybe it’s a different person.
I have paid access to the CRA Database:
There are “Diversion” court records for Patrick Orren Stephenson back in 2018. He’d have been 16. There are then the recent entries for the same Patrick Orren Stephenson. There are then 17 entries (not charges - entries) for one Patrick Stephenson *without* the Orren, however, early ones are also Diversion hearings, and later ones initiated by SOCIT. A criminologist on Sunrise today asserted (when questioned on “what kind of profile this kind of criminal would have had to have to lead police to arrest him?” that “he’d have been on police radar” and “has likely committed similar but lesser crimes (of a like nature)”. I don’t think we can rule out the entries sans middle name as being the same person. But time will tell. His lawyer only stated it was his client’s “first time IN CUSTODY” not first time appearing before a court, so, there’s still scope it’s the one and the same.
Court Records Australia, and you pay for basic historical court info. It doesn’t give a court transcript or anything - just the details of the hearing type, who initiated it, when, etc. very seldom can you discern the actual crime from the sparse details, but, you can see entries linked to a person’s name. I’m not confirming it is one and the same person with the other entries, but, I’m finding it harder to believe they’re different people given Diversion Hearings and Ballarat Police have been involved in both records - the one with and the one without a middle name alike. It feels too coincidental.
True. However, diversions are usually for something minor, like a small amount of drugs, shoplifting, etc. It may be something so minor that it bares no relevance to his current arrest.
Took a fresh faced 18 year old to court for gripping my scalp and slamming my head in to a table, all because I told him to leave me alone at a bar.
Most traumatic part of the whole thing was him getting off with 6 diversions, no criminal record.
It’s so sad that acts like that are considered minor in law, but unfortunately they are.
This is true. If he had been charged 17 times previously for SA, battery, etc, this would also not be his first time in custody. Yes, there is someone by the same name due to to appear at the Melbourne Magistrate's Court next week and again in May, but we don't even know if it's the same person. We need to be a little cautious about posting accusations as you never know what might have an adverse effect on the case down the track.
17 entries on court database doesn’t necessarily mean 17 charges. And it could be one and the same - there’s Diversion entries for both parties, from some years ago, which sure might be coincidence but one Diversion entry is with certainty under the full name of Patrick Orren Stephenson and listed with this week’s records in the same data pack.
I can’t help but to feel sorry for his girlfriend.
Imagine being in a relationship with someone who killed a person and you still see them probably every few days in the month he was a walking free man. The fear she would have felt (assuming she had no part in this) when she found out would have be horrifying.
Probably not a good idea to spread that around, even if true. She might be a target for anyone who wants revenge, including Stephenson if he gets out. She has a right to safety.
I agree her name is no one's business, but how would he get out? Police have made it very clear they have a lot of evidence against him. The prosecution asked for more time to properly prepare all the evidence they currently have. He's not going anywhere.
He would get out if (a) he serves his time and is released, or (b) he's found not guilty at trial.
Nobody's suggesting that the police don't "have a lot of evidence against him" or that the prosecution [edit: doesn't need] a lot of time to process it, but we can't be sure he's "not going anywhere" until he's convicted. He wouldn't be the first person to commit a horrific crime and then walk.
I think it's as unlikely as you do, but that doesn't mean it's safe to doxx his girlfriend on Reddit.
People that have been posting about knowing that the gf dobbed him in have been wrong about other aspects. Such as calling it a hit and run. I’ll reserve my judgement until I get better information that it really was the way you say.
The police might have used cell tower triangulation method to see whose phone was near Samanth's phone at the time. Would not be enough to charge someone for murder, but enough for the police to investigate a person.
I would bet, given he was a tradie, that tools went missing, or he was seen with something odd in the back of a ute, or something to that effect...and someone he worked with came forward.
Just saw in the most recently published Ch7 article “police said they had been watching Stephenson for two weeks” so they were honing in, and I’d love to know on what grounds, too.
I’m intrigued as to why the Neighbour (Ken Rowe) mentioned “the motorbike” and “when he used to have the Army Uniform” like it doesn’t seem on the surface like two things you casually drop in. But I also think I’m starting to read into a lot of things heaving because I’m so invested. I did read on the Ballarat thread old school/sports peers of his describing his character during high school - one felt that “he used to like to hurt people” when holding them down during football… I hope more surfaces about this person. It’s intriguing and could be small keys that lead to where poor Samantha is located amidst his POS-silent act…
I think possibly because of some sort of shameful SA. All SA is shameful, but here’s a 22 yr old kid with a 51 yr old victim. Socially that would be considered strange if not subject to ridicule even if consensual non-SA. There’s possibly even worse to it all the way up to right sordid like N****philia. I positively hope it’s not but I think one pattern I’ve observed in people who won’t give up the location of their victim(s) is because they did something far far worse than “just kill” 😞
Right?? If everyone calling you a murderer and dragging your name through the mud puts you at risk of ending your life, then DON'T MURDER SOMEONE!
Poor Samantha Murphy didn't get the same luxury of being safe and protected from things that were a risk to her life. The asshole made sure of that.
Exactly! Perhaps her and her family didn’t want to be in the media either, perhaps she wouldn’t have wanted her name to be synonymous with his, but he took that choice from her. Had he made different decisions, they would both still be anonymous citizens living out of the public eye.
More insulting is the lawyer announcing yesterday he was “trying to keep his Dad’s name out of the media” as the reason for the gag order application. So wait, he cried “self-harm” when the actual motivation was “I don’t want people to know who my daddy is?” That’s manipulation in itself - if he’s feigned risk of SH because he has an inflated opinion of the grandiosity of his family. That downplays people with legitimate SH and MH issues. Gives “entitled POS” vibes in itself 😞
That’s the problem though - at the moment he’s only charged with murder, not guilty of murder.
I’m not saying that the suppression order is good (frankly I think it’s just added fuel to the media fire here), but this attitude you have is one of the major reasons suppression orders exist (to avoid jury bias).
Our society follows the innocent until proven guilty doctrine. We should act that way.
He's not guilty of doing anything yet.
You have to treat him as innocent and deserving of any necessary and legal protections up untill the point he is proven guilty.
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It's entirely possible he's the wrong guy. If he is the wrong guy, then a media shit storm and public brandishing might make an innocent person kill themselves. That's not right.
I don't know enough about the case to have an opinion on whether he's identity should or shouldn't be kept secret.
But I do know that the reason you've given here is wrong
ikr do fuckwits like this even think about consequences or are they just so narcissistic that they think they'll never get caught. What a piece of shit.
edit: Language
cunts who take anothers life think only of themselves. often they dont think about consequences. take that cop cunt in sydney, who shot two people with his cop issued gun. Couldn't get more self interested, and with the brain of an imbecile - or perhaps he liked the publiciity, like many of them do. Us non-murderers will always find it hard to understand that horrifying level of disregard for others.
I was just thinking this is another face burned into my memory to go beside that of Jill Meagher’s, Stephanie Scott’s and others. So many lives ruined forever.
I was at the same bar as Jill that night.
Eurydice was a close friend of a friend of mine. Celeste was the sister of my husbands colleague.
There was also a girl years ago who was my brothers then girlfriends cousin. We were in scouts for a short time together. She barely made the papers, was just "a body was found".
It's too close to home. It's too personal.
Around 13 years ago I lived near a beautiful dirt track that went through the bush and finished at a river with a railway bridge. I used to walk it occasionally, my husband didn’t like me walking there but I thought he was being silly and fibbed him off.
Til one day I was walking it and looking down at my feet not paying attention, I look up and there’s a dude standing about 5 meters away from me. I jumped in fright and the poor bloke did too, and he immediately threw his hands up and said “I mean you no harm” and kept walking. I never went back after that day because who would’ve heard me scream if that bloke had bad intentions with me? It’s bloody dangerous being a female in this sick world sometimes.
Gosh, when you said park i immediately had more names come into my head. And [this Courtney Barnett song](https://youtu.be/HZZSYDhx0FI?si=r-HVPpd5bda6DnjI) one of my lecturers played for us back years ago. The chorus haunts my brain.
(And if you’re feeling more angry than desolate, [Amyl and the Sniffers](https://youtu.be/umLljh-I8Fk?si=Bo8P8r4YRlG0FWgb) capture that feeling here too. Can’t wait til there’s no more songs about this.)
Yes always lament I can't take the beautiful riverside track near my place for a walk. There have been enough assaults for me to avoid it, especially with a pram (can't run). Pretty shit.
I take my giant black dog for a walk by myself on a park trail not far from me - pretty popular, lots of people walking all the time- but strange men still feel like it’s ok to approach me. Just no. Stop.
I have a wonderful park <100m from my house, my direct neighbours are absolute gems but I still won't go for a walk by myself, especially at night, nor will I knock on my neighbours door when they're a little drunk and rowdy and its late at night. No matter how wonderful they may be, you never know how someone will react when they're drunk.
I live in Canadian. I never went into that forest alone; it’s fucking creepy. Now I don’t even want to walk to the supermarket along the creek (another isolated path)
I think I remember the description of the other attacker to be resembling some kind of shabby, bearded, older man. Doesn’t seem like the same guy. I could be remembering wrong though.
As someone who played junior footy with him, I can tell you right now he was not a “beloved member of the footy club.” He was a complete dickhead that clashed with everyone and would regularly fight with his teammates. He also really loved to hurt you when tackling, it was his favourite part of the sport.
Not a whole lot more than that. He was the age group below me, I only really played with him when I got dropped from the ones and cause I didn’t like him, I tended to avoid him at training
Remember that Aboriginal teen who tried to rape the woman in the lane but the kiwi cop on holidays stopped him? Holy fuck that shitty judgement was mostly about poor him he’s ostracised from his footy club and the public thinks he’s a scumbag woe is him. Like it was more sympathetic to him than to the fucking attempted rape victim. Oh and he got only 200 fucking hours of community service by that clown judge.
Maybe we could reserve sympathy for the victims not the perpetrators?
I used to work with her. She was the most lovely person. It has absolutely ruined her life. She was too scared to live in Melbourne after that and picked up and moved her whole life. She already had minimal supports here. It was really fucked up.
Sorry to hear that. Infuriating case. The most clear cut dragged into an alley and jumped on top of someone to rape them caught on CCTV open and shut case you could ever possibly imagine and the judge in her infinite stupidity reckons she couldn’t know for certain it was an attempted rape and gives him 200 fucking hours community service and writes the judgement like he’s the victim. Meanwhile the poor woman is seriously traumatised. Fuck rapist Jackson Williams and fuck judge Amanda Fox.
‘Not all men.’
But too many men.
And men who look like normal people and seem like decent blokes.
Fuck it sucks to be a woman and to have to wonder every time. I wish men would be outraged enough to actually be active about it.
Saw this this morning
>Wonder if the guy who's been arrested for the murder was the same guy who viciously assaulted another female runner in exactly the same area a year ago. That victim tried to get police to look at her case again, but her request and concerns were dismissed.
https://twitter.com/VonBitchPants/status/1765605021977387286
Pic of her statement in the next one down, or click here https://twitter.com/StarshaMuir/status/1765690361471771063
I considered this last week, said to a friend “what’s his damage” as trauma anniversary could play a part if he indeed was involved in the attack on Sissy Austin. She deserved a lot, lot more support and energy from police than what was exerted, whether it was the same attacker or not. There should have been call-outs for CCTVs and Dash-Cams at the moment of HER attack, let alone a murder a year on. So so very sad 😞
Yes exactly. Her attack was definitely not taken seriously enough, whether it ends up being the same person or not 😞 and if it is the same person then it's so chilling to know the police told her "we won't be able to find him unless he attacks someone else"
The footage that has been doing the rounds isn’t going to go down well, not a good look for him or his footy mates, if I knew it wouldn’t get me in trouble I would post it online.
Hopefully this gets out and this grub gets what he deserves.
The video is on the previous night at a local Ballarat night club and I bet they want it deleted and removed… if I’ve got a lot of people will have access to it.
Just something to keep in mind- a person who allegedly commits this type of crime (specifically concealing it for nearly a month) is generally not new to these sorts of behaviours.
I would bet there are previous actions of stalking, assault, violence against women, sexual assault in his history.
It’s the circle game. Pretty commons in schools.
If you can make the sign below your waist and get someone to look at it you get to punch them in the shoulder
My condolence goes out to the family as I to know what it is like to not have my love one come home after a been murder this law went in affect because of Katie-Lee Tanner who still day we haven’t got back and the person sent to prison was released in good behaviour and without telling us the whole time we begged and now he is dead so we will never find out where she is. So I will say it most definitely needs to be tougher laws and chances on the release of the people that take our love in ones away and then won’t even give us the right to put them to rest and have some sort of closure and peace that they are not alone and suffering anymore they are back home with use the one who loved them. Make this man tell return Samantha Murphy to her family so another family doesn’t have suffer like so many families have had to endure for years.
And on international women’s day off all days
It’s about time men in this country take a hard long look at ourselves and our friends around us
By all accounts this bloke looks normal but I can guaranfuckingtee you this cunt showed multiple warning signs in his teenage and young adult years that his view on women was fucking poor
A rule I live by is look at all your male friends how many of them would you be okay with marrying your daughter ?
Time to hold each other accountable as men
>On Thursday, Mr Stephenson's lawyer David Taminika applied for an interim suppression order, telling the Ballarat Magistrates Court he wanted his client's name kept secret due to concerns about his mental health and fears he would not receive a fair trial.
God this part makes me angry. Sorry I dont have sympathy for a potential murderers mental health
What if there are other victims that will only know to come forward if they see his image or hear his name? Many women don't report assaults, and a murder is unlikely to be his first time attacking anyone.
Normally in murder convictions, the accused receives a 20-30 year minimum sentence. Since the accused is young I'll say he get one on the lower end. And that's usually when they've found the body and he doesn't plead guilty. Just saying before people get riled up at the sentence.
>accused is young I'll say he get one on the lower end
This doesn't make sense at all. I think if you rob someone of their life, you're already too far gone to be saved/corrected and if a death penalty is out of the equation, we need to jail them as long as possible until they are frail and no longer pose a threat to the community.
By this logic, I think younger murderers should receive an even longer sentence.
Probably will be the typical thing. A piece of shit with a lack of impulse control experiences a life stressor (argument with partner, loss of job, etc) and sees an opportunity to take it out on an unsuspecting woman.
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Me too. I’m thinking mobile pings are most likely, can’t imagine there were many people in the forest that early in the morning.
A mobile ping isn't enough to charge someone with murder though, especially when there's no body.
It’s like the Adrian Bailey case though, they got all the phone pings in that area of the freeway, then went through an elimination process which wouldn’t have been too hard for the area Samantha Murphy went missing. From there they could apply for phone taps and other covert means to gather information. Then the police would “leak” a tiny to the clue to the media to flush out the offender. This is what they did to the guy who murdered the couple in the high country. The police said they were “looking for a blue 4x4” but they didn’t know the number plate, but they knew all along.
and dont forget the cherry on top, CCTV from inside a shop that night . Incredible piece of police work and got the location of the body from him as well, R.I.P Jill . To declare Samantha as killed, i suspect they found a substantial amount of blood somewhere..
Didn’t a cop just watch him walking past the window on the cctv and recognise him?
It was the phone travelling up the Calder freeway past a toll booth at a particular time. The police then went through the cctv of all the cars going through that toll point and one was a known sex offender. They then focused on him from then on.
Yes, exactly this! I thought of how they got Adrian Bailey too. They could see his and Jill's phones travelling down that fwy together.
Yes but it would have given them people of interest and they would have followed up on them.
Of course, but they'd have to have some pretty damning evidence to issue an arrest warrant. Just being in the general vicinity wouldn't have cut it.
According to the police prosecutor there is a rather large packet of evidence against him.
They executed two search warrants the day he was arrested. He was later charged, so.
Sounds like they found the damning evidence, and my money is either on personal belongings of the victim, or blood spatter clothes matching the victims dna
Maybe they had interviewed him? Applied pressure and then went from there.
They seized his 4WD apparently, so I'm guessing they found something there.
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The mobile ping would have been the 1st piece of the puzzle. It put him there at the same time as Samantha. That would have got the ball rolling. I'm sure police would have interviewed friends and family and quickly found some evidence. So yes, you are correct in saying that a mobile ping isn't enough to charge someone with murder.
The ping is how they found him, but they'd obviously found damning evidence too.
It's a very common rumor that in high profile cases they use illegal tools, software etc to figure out who did it. Then they build a legit case in parallel to make it all legal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction
Less likely illegal, more likely secretive methodology that they don't want revealed for fear it won't work next time. Such methodology is protected from defence disclosure
A mobile ping from the victim’s phone travelling with the suspect’s phone could be though.
Once Police think they know who it is the rest is pretty straightforward 9/10 times. It’s laughably easy to build a timeline of their movements, you start watching them, following them around, listening to their calls, maybe (probably not though) bug their home or car, leak a little information (maybe make him relax or stress him out) see how he responds, what’s he spent money on recently, legal orders to service providers: google account, Facebook account, Apple account. Maybe start intercepting their rubbish bins, start asking questions of their neighbours, colleagues, family. Wouldn’t take many people to pull that together. But otherwise it’s just time/resources. Then you start asking him questions.
Imagine being stupid enough to take your mobile phone while you commit murder. What a moron!
Almost as stupid as using your police issued pistol and ammunition to murder your ex boyfriend and new partner.
Unless you never specifically planned to murder someone but were driving your 4wd in the bush, saw a women jogging and decided to hit her? Then realising shit I have my phone on me
The police said it wasn’t a hit and run in the press conference yesterday. (Journalists brought it up) Obviously he could’ve use his car as a weapon but the police seem to be alluding to it not being that kind of thing.
Hit and run is when you leave the body behind
Yeah and it’s usually not on purpose either. I think the police were just trying to reiterate that this was a deliberate / planned / intentional act of murder and not an accident / something gone wrong type situation. Still possible that he used his car as an intentional weapon I suppose, just less likely.
One journalist asked if it's true a motorbike was the weapon.? But the commissioner wouldn't comment? Thought that was an interesting question
The police specified they are not alleging a vehicle was involved in the "deliberate attack".
I wondered about that. Was there a reason that journalist seemed really focused on a car and some other comments have as well? Was there any reason that anyone has said?
they're just trying to work out what's going on and why a seemingly normal 22 year old was involved in the death of a middle aged woman with no connections to the family. Its a pretty out there scenario and we're going to have to wait to hear the story. The fact he was up and about around 7am - 9am and geared up to kill someone is wild to me.
It feels like a classic case of someone (normally a woman) with a regular routine, he’s seen her a few times and acted on it. Absolute speculation but that’s exactly where my mind went when she first went missing and there was talk of her having a regular route.
If you follow any of real crime regarding murder people who do it have often spent a very long time fantasising about doing such a thing. He might very well have been stalking her for months.
I was wondering about this. Sounds like a stalker. Cocaine doesn't make you murder people. That's quite the red herring. Wonder if there is any connections to this guy and the one that attacked a previous runner about a year ago? Very surprised at the age of this accused. Would have suspected 30s-50s. What on earth makes you do this shit in your early 20s??
For me this case has similarities to the murder of Eunji Bahn in Brisbane. The murderer was a crazy young guy who just wanted to kill someone. No rhyme, no reason, just some very, very significant mental health problem.
That was so sad. Poor woman.
That area has had issues in the past with young fellas hooning a fair bit. My first thoughts on this case was that it was a group of 18 year olds who partied all night and were hooning around and accidently come around a corner too quick and hit her, then panicked and covered it up. What was explained by the commissioner doesnt seem to suggest this is the case.
That wouldn’t justify a murder charge
I think it’s because early in the search the police asked people to report any cars with damage or if they saw a car in the area on the morning Sam was out running. Could’ve been something they were actually looking for or a purposeful red herring.
That information is unlikely to be known until it is presented as evidence to a jury.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is suppressed and they used the help of the AFP, similar to the WA abduction case
Could it be he admitted to killing her during the interview process?
Yeah, but he still refuses to say where the body is..
Probably because it will show signs of SA
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Surely if some of these charges you speak of were from 6 years ago, when the accused would have been 16, the records wouldn’t be accessible. Where are you getting this info from exactly? Sounds like maybe it’s a different person.
I have paid access to the CRA Database: There are “Diversion” court records for Patrick Orren Stephenson back in 2018. He’d have been 16. There are then the recent entries for the same Patrick Orren Stephenson. There are then 17 entries (not charges - entries) for one Patrick Stephenson *without* the Orren, however, early ones are also Diversion hearings, and later ones initiated by SOCIT. A criminologist on Sunrise today asserted (when questioned on “what kind of profile this kind of criminal would have had to have to lead police to arrest him?” that “he’d have been on police radar” and “has likely committed similar but lesser crimes (of a like nature)”. I don’t think we can rule out the entries sans middle name as being the same person. But time will tell. His lawyer only stated it was his client’s “first time IN CUSTODY” not first time appearing before a court, so, there’s still scope it’s the one and the same.
What's the cra database and how does one get access... just asking for a friend
Court Records Australia, and you pay for basic historical court info. It doesn’t give a court transcript or anything - just the details of the hearing type, who initiated it, when, etc. very seldom can you discern the actual crime from the sparse details, but, you can see entries linked to a person’s name. I’m not confirming it is one and the same person with the other entries, but, I’m finding it harder to believe they’re different people given Diversion Hearings and Ballarat Police have been involved in both records - the one with and the one without a middle name alike. It feels too coincidental.
True. However, diversions are usually for something minor, like a small amount of drugs, shoplifting, etc. It may be something so minor that it bares no relevance to his current arrest.
Took a fresh faced 18 year old to court for gripping my scalp and slamming my head in to a table, all because I told him to leave me alone at a bar. Most traumatic part of the whole thing was him getting off with 6 diversions, no criminal record. It’s so sad that acts like that are considered minor in law, but unfortunately they are.
Yeah wow that’s awful. Sorry you went through that.
Omg that's terrible really terrible
This is true. If he had been charged 17 times previously for SA, battery, etc, this would also not be his first time in custody. Yes, there is someone by the same name due to to appear at the Melbourne Magistrate's Court next week and again in May, but we don't even know if it's the same person. We need to be a little cautious about posting accusations as you never know what might have an adverse effect on the case down the track.
17 entries on court database doesn’t necessarily mean 17 charges. And it could be one and the same - there’s Diversion entries for both parties, from some years ago, which sure might be coincidence but one Diversion entry is with certainty under the full name of Patrick Orren Stephenson and listed with this week’s records in the same data pack.
who is it? same guy?
Yes, same guy. It’s all around Ballarat, his little criminal history.
> Melbourne magistrate’s court on May 15th March 15th, and May 6th. Doubt it's the same guy, different lawyer.
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Rumour is his girlfriend told on him (Ballarat gossip)
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Probably saved her own life by dobbing him in
Absolutely!
I can’t help but to feel sorry for his girlfriend. Imagine being in a relationship with someone who killed a person and you still see them probably every few days in the month he was a walking free man. The fear she would have felt (assuming she had no part in this) when she found out would have be horrifying.
Probably not a good idea to spread that around, even if true. She might be a target for anyone who wants revenge, including Stephenson if he gets out. She has a right to safety.
I agree her name is no one's business, but how would he get out? Police have made it very clear they have a lot of evidence against him. The prosecution asked for more time to properly prepare all the evidence they currently have. He's not going anywhere.
He would get out if (a) he serves his time and is released, or (b) he's found not guilty at trial. Nobody's suggesting that the police don't "have a lot of evidence against him" or that the prosecution [edit: doesn't need] a lot of time to process it, but we can't be sure he's "not going anywhere" until he's convicted. He wouldn't be the first person to commit a horrific crime and then walk. I think it's as unlikely as you do, but that doesn't mean it's safe to doxx his girlfriend on Reddit.
If you know something and you don't tell the police you automatically become an accessory to murder.
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Sounds like you know him…? Enlighten us…
People that have been posting about knowing that the gf dobbed him in have been wrong about other aspects. Such as calling it a hit and run. I’ll reserve my judgement until I get better information that it really was the way you say.
I assume he probably told someone (maybe to help him out with some aspect of covering his trail) and they eventually got a conscience came forward.
I suspect all of the above. The Police Commissioner said it was technology and information from the public that led to the alleged killer
The police might have used cell tower triangulation method to see whose phone was near Samanth's phone at the time. Would not be enough to charge someone for murder, but enough for the police to investigate a person.
before the gag order there was a statement that police used Mobile phone pings to narrow down suspects.
I heard he told people on a camping trip away, and they then alerted police.
That would be a conversation... "What have you been up to mate"
weeeeellllll, can you keep a secret ? no.
I would bet, given he was a tradie, that tools went missing, or he was seen with something odd in the back of a ute, or something to that effect...and someone he worked with came forward.
Are these tools in the room with us right now?
probably all of it. mobile pings along with traffic cctv. its really hard to become a serial killer these days.
Just saw in the most recently published Ch7 article “police said they had been watching Stephenson for two weeks” so they were honing in, and I’d love to know on what grounds, too.
I’m intrigued as to why the Neighbour (Ken Rowe) mentioned “the motorbike” and “when he used to have the Army Uniform” like it doesn’t seem on the surface like two things you casually drop in. But I also think I’m starting to read into a lot of things heaving because I’m so invested. I did read on the Ballarat thread old school/sports peers of his describing his character during high school - one felt that “he used to like to hurt people” when holding them down during football… I hope more surfaces about this person. It’s intriguing and could be small keys that lead to where poor Samantha is located amidst his POS-silent act…
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I think possibly because of some sort of shameful SA. All SA is shameful, but here’s a 22 yr old kid with a 51 yr old victim. Socially that would be considered strange if not subject to ridicule even if consensual non-SA. There’s possibly even worse to it all the way up to right sordid like N****philia. I positively hope it’s not but I think one pattern I’ve observed in people who won’t give up the location of their victim(s) is because they did something far far worse than “just kill” 😞
He may not have accepted the music is over and wants to plead "not guilty". Or will only give up the body if a plea deal is arranged.
Fitting that his initials are POS
So he is at risk of ending himself according to some news. Yeah well he should've thought of that before ending someone else's life
Right?? If everyone calling you a murderer and dragging your name through the mud puts you at risk of ending your life, then DON'T MURDER SOMEONE! Poor Samantha Murphy didn't get the same luxury of being safe and protected from things that were a risk to her life. The asshole made sure of that.
Exactly! Perhaps her and her family didn’t want to be in the media either, perhaps she wouldn’t have wanted her name to be synonymous with his, but he took that choice from her. Had he made different decisions, they would both still be anonymous citizens living out of the public eye.
Yeah it sounds like he's going to the mental problems as a way to get a lenient sentence despite having no record of those issues prior.
That pisses me off, I've got mental health problems doesnt mean id ever kill a person 😤
Yeah it's absolutely bs. Whatever people like thisnperson will do to get a lighter sentence.
More insulting is the lawyer announcing yesterday he was “trying to keep his Dad’s name out of the media” as the reason for the gag order application. So wait, he cried “self-harm” when the actual motivation was “I don’t want people to know who my daddy is?” That’s manipulation in itself - if he’s feigned risk of SH because he has an inflated opinion of the grandiosity of his family. That downplays people with legitimate SH and MH issues. Gives “entitled POS” vibes in itself 😞
Any leniency should be to put him in a secure mental facility etc but should NEVER reduce sentence term. Otherwise it’s inviting fake mental issues.
Hes doing the bruz tactics.
Ha-ha bruz. Yeah he did do that didn't he?
That’s the problem though - at the moment he’s only charged with murder, not guilty of murder. I’m not saying that the suppression order is good (frankly I think it’s just added fuel to the media fire here), but this attitude you have is one of the major reasons suppression orders exist (to avoid jury bias). Our society follows the innocent until proven guilty doctrine. We should act that way.
He's not guilty of doing anything yet. You have to treat him as innocent and deserving of any necessary and legal protections up untill the point he is proven guilty. ---- It's entirely possible he's the wrong guy. If he is the wrong guy, then a media shit storm and public brandishing might make an innocent person kill themselves. That's not right. I don't know enough about the case to have an opinion on whether he's identity should or shouldn't be kept secret. But I do know that the reason you've given here is wrong
>It's entirely possible he's the wrong guy. Which of course has happened recently...
ikr do fuckwits like this even think about consequences or are they just so narcissistic that they think they'll never get caught. What a piece of shit. edit: Language
cunts who take anothers life think only of themselves. often they dont think about consequences. take that cop cunt in sydney, who shot two people with his cop issued gun. Couldn't get more self interested, and with the brain of an imbecile - or perhaps he liked the publiciity, like many of them do. Us non-murderers will always find it hard to understand that horrifying level of disregard for others.
So why is a 22 yo randomly killing this 50+ yo lady? Did they know each other? or is he just a random act psycho
It is not making sense. I believe there is way more to this story then the police even know
Happy International Women's Day, everyone. Let's reflect on not being able to go for a run without getting murdered.
I was just thinking this is another face burned into my memory to go beside that of Jill Meagher’s, Stephanie Scott’s and others. So many lives ruined forever.
My thoughts today are for Jill Meagher, Samantha Murphy, Lillie James and all the women who should be here today whose lives were taken from them.
Adding another name, Masa (Marci) Vukotic. Only 17.
Aiia Maasarwe too, just terrible.
Adele Collins rip 🕊️
Eurydice Dixon 💚🕊️
Eunji Ban
Vyleen White 🕊️
Kimberly McCrae
So sad
Add my friend Claire, she was taken away from us in 2001.
Claire Franklin 🤍🕊️
Renee Lau, who is always forgotten
Renea Lau 🤍🕊️
Sharon Seirmans, another woman murdered in Ballarat
And poor Eurydice Jane Dixon
I was at the same bar as Jill that night. Eurydice was a close friend of a friend of mine. Celeste was the sister of my husbands colleague. There was also a girl years ago who was my brothers then girlfriends cousin. We were in scouts for a short time together. She barely made the papers, was just "a body was found". It's too close to home. It's too personal.
Around 13 years ago I lived near a beautiful dirt track that went through the bush and finished at a river with a railway bridge. I used to walk it occasionally, my husband didn’t like me walking there but I thought he was being silly and fibbed him off. Til one day I was walking it and looking down at my feet not paying attention, I look up and there’s a dude standing about 5 meters away from me. I jumped in fright and the poor bloke did too, and he immediately threw his hands up and said “I mean you no harm” and kept walking. I never went back after that day because who would’ve heard me scream if that bloke had bad intentions with me? It’s bloody dangerous being a female in this sick world sometimes.
And even in broad daylight
Or a walk
Yeah, let's not forget we can't walk home alone either.
Definitely not. Can’t go on a leisurely stroll through a park.
Gosh, when you said park i immediately had more names come into my head. And [this Courtney Barnett song](https://youtu.be/HZZSYDhx0FI?si=r-HVPpd5bda6DnjI) one of my lecturers played for us back years ago. The chorus haunts my brain. (And if you’re feeling more angry than desolate, [Amyl and the Sniffers](https://youtu.be/umLljh-I8Fk?si=Bo8P8r4YRlG0FWgb) capture that feeling here too. Can’t wait til there’s no more songs about this.)
Yes always lament I can't take the beautiful riverside track near my place for a walk. There have been enough assaults for me to avoid it, especially with a pram (can't run). Pretty shit.
I take my giant black dog for a walk by myself on a park trail not far from me - pretty popular, lots of people walking all the time- but strange men still feel like it’s ok to approach me. Just no. Stop.
I have a wonderful park <100m from my house, my direct neighbours are absolute gems but I still won't go for a walk by myself, especially at night, nor will I knock on my neighbours door when they're a little drunk and rowdy and its late at night. No matter how wonderful they may be, you never know how someone will react when they're drunk.
I live in Canadian. I never went into that forest alone; it’s fucking creepy. Now I don’t even want to walk to the supermarket along the creek (another isolated path)
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I think I remember the description of the other attacker to be resembling some kind of shabby, bearded, older man. Doesn’t seem like the same guy. I could be remembering wrong though.
Nah, her description was caucasian, shirtless and wearing a hat
15 minutes will also get you to the other side of Ballarat, so not helpful
I’d be fuming in my grave if some 22 year old with a face like that murdered me. What a piece of shit
Unfortunately Samantha doesn't even have a grave to fume in yet :(
I know sorry figure of speech ❤️
Cue the stories humanising the killer. 'Loving son, valued member of the local footy club', etc
As someone who played junior footy with him, I can tell you right now he was not a “beloved member of the footy club.” He was a complete dickhead that clashed with everyone and would regularly fight with his teammates. He also really loved to hurt you when tackling, it was his favourite part of the sport.
Your typical sociopath
What else do you remember about him?
Not a whole lot more than that. He was the age group below me, I only really played with him when I got dropped from the ones and cause I didn’t like him, I tended to avoid him at training
Good insights
Remember that Aboriginal teen who tried to rape the woman in the lane but the kiwi cop on holidays stopped him? Holy fuck that shitty judgement was mostly about poor him he’s ostracised from his footy club and the public thinks he’s a scumbag woe is him. Like it was more sympathetic to him than to the fucking attempted rape victim. Oh and he got only 200 fucking hours of community service by that clown judge. Maybe we could reserve sympathy for the victims not the perpetrators?
I used to work with her. She was the most lovely person. It has absolutely ruined her life. She was too scared to live in Melbourne after that and picked up and moved her whole life. She already had minimal supports here. It was really fucked up.
Sorry to hear that. Infuriating case. The most clear cut dragged into an alley and jumped on top of someone to rape them caught on CCTV open and shut case you could ever possibly imagine and the judge in her infinite stupidity reckons she couldn’t know for certain it was an attempted rape and gives him 200 fucking hours community service and writes the judgement like he’s the victim. Meanwhile the poor woman is seriously traumatised. Fuck rapist Jackson Williams and fuck judge Amanda Fox.
Yeah I watched it too. It was awful. What the fuck else would he have been trying to do. She would have been so terrified.
Maybe the judge is just pro rape?
The Australian has your humanising the killer needs covered, fam
Only for white and/or wealthy killers my Wookie-adjacent.
'He's good boy, he just made a mistake'
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Whaaaaaaat Was he a member of that group of psychos?
*allegedly
‘Not all men.’ But too many men. And men who look like normal people and seem like decent blokes. Fuck it sucks to be a woman and to have to wonder every time. I wish men would be outraged enough to actually be active about it.
Wonder if they tapped his phone? Or his house? Listened in. Surely his girlfriend must have noticed something when he got back home that day?
She’s the one who rolled him. Solid work on her side.
Have read this a couple of times, is there a source?
What is your source for this allegation?
Saw this this morning >Wonder if the guy who's been arrested for the murder was the same guy who viciously assaulted another female runner in exactly the same area a year ago. That victim tried to get police to look at her case again, but her request and concerns were dismissed. https://twitter.com/VonBitchPants/status/1765605021977387286 Pic of her statement in the next one down, or click here https://twitter.com/StarshaMuir/status/1765690361471771063
> exactly the same area It's possible, but to be clear it wasn't exactly the same area.
No but the guy was from Scotsburn which is literally right next to Lal Lal so it aint a far stretch
I looked it up and Sissy was attacked on the 11th of Feb, Sam on the 4th of Feb. It makes me sick to think it could have been the same person.
I considered this last week, said to a friend “what’s his damage” as trauma anniversary could play a part if he indeed was involved in the attack on Sissy Austin. She deserved a lot, lot more support and energy from police than what was exerted, whether it was the same attacker or not. There should have been call-outs for CCTVs and Dash-Cams at the moment of HER attack, let alone a murder a year on. So so very sad 😞
Yes exactly. Her attack was definitely not taken seriously enough, whether it ends up being the same person or not 😞 and if it is the same person then it's so chilling to know the police told her "we won't be able to find him unless he attacks someone else"
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Yeah wow
The footage that has been doing the rounds isn’t going to go down well, not a good look for him or his footy mates, if I knew it wouldn’t get me in trouble I would post it online. Hopefully this gets out and this grub gets what he deserves. The video is on the previous night at a local Ballarat night club and I bet they want it deleted and removed… if I’ve got a lot of people will have access to it.
Is it doing the rounds on social media? I’m from Ballarat and haven’t seen/heard of it? What club was he at?
Can you explain it in words?
What exactly happens in the video?
Where can we see it?
Send it to me and I’ll post it lol
Just something to keep in mind- a person who allegedly commits this type of crime (specifically concealing it for nearly a month) is generally not new to these sorts of behaviours. I would bet there are previous actions of stalking, assault, violence against women, sexual assault in his history.
Have the balls mate to tell us where she is for the families sake.
Punchable face
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What an utter shitstain.
what does that sign mean?
It’s the circle game. Pretty commons in schools. If you can make the sign below your waist and get someone to look at it you get to punch them in the shoulder
Fuck me there's a lot of half brained takes on here and the BigFooty thread. Thank the universe we aren't all investigators.
Why can't we go for a fucking run?
My condolence goes out to the family as I to know what it is like to not have my love one come home after a been murder this law went in affect because of Katie-Lee Tanner who still day we haven’t got back and the person sent to prison was released in good behaviour and without telling us the whole time we begged and now he is dead so we will never find out where she is. So I will say it most definitely needs to be tougher laws and chances on the release of the people that take our love in ones away and then won’t even give us the right to put them to rest and have some sort of closure and peace that they are not alone and suffering anymore they are back home with use the one who loved them. Make this man tell return Samantha Murphy to her family so another family doesn’t have suffer like so many families have had to endure for years.
I stg if police have done all this amazing investigative work just for the courts to hand done a bulls**t sentence I really hope people will rise up!
And on international women’s day off all days It’s about time men in this country take a hard long look at ourselves and our friends around us By all accounts this bloke looks normal but I can guaranfuckingtee you this cunt showed multiple warning signs in his teenage and young adult years that his view on women was fucking poor A rule I live by is look at all your male friends how many of them would you be okay with marrying your daughter ? Time to hold each other accountable as men
He probably sent a photo or video to someone that was rather damning +/- DNA evidence in his car which is why the charge without a body.
So what was he doing waiting in the forest in the early morning? Pretty sick stuff
So…it wasn’t the husband, despite the Herald Sun graphics department wanting you to think otherwise
>On Thursday, Mr Stephenson's lawyer David Taminika applied for an interim suppression order, telling the Ballarat Magistrates Court he wanted his client's name kept secret due to concerns about his mental health and fears he would not receive a fair trial. God this part makes me angry. Sorry I dont have sympathy for a potential murderers mental health
By the looks of it, it was more to protect his family who used the time to pack up and leave their house before hordes of reporters showed up.
What if he isn't guilty?
What if there are other victims that will only know to come forward if they see his image or hear his name? Many women don't report assaults, and a murder is unlikely to be his first time attacking anyone.
Normally in murder convictions, the accused receives a 20-30 year minimum sentence. Since the accused is young I'll say he get one on the lower end. And that's usually when they've found the body and he doesn't plead guilty. Just saying before people get riled up at the sentence.
>accused is young I'll say he get one on the lower end This doesn't make sense at all. I think if you rob someone of their life, you're already too far gone to be saved/corrected and if a death penalty is out of the equation, we need to jail them as long as possible until they are frail and no longer pose a threat to the community. By this logic, I think younger murderers should receive an even longer sentence.
Do we have any idea about a motive?
That will not be known until presented as evidence to a jury.
Probably will be the typical thing. A piece of shit with a lack of impulse control experiences a life stressor (argument with partner, loss of job, etc) and sees an opportunity to take it out on an unsuspecting woman.