Alleged killer of Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy unmasked

The son of an ex-AFL player has been unmasked as the alleged killer of Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy.

A magistrate has lifted an interim suppression order preventing the publication of the name of 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson.

Patrick Stephenson.Credit:

Stephenson, the son of late-life AFL draftee Orren Stephenson, was arrested at a home in Scotsburn, a farming community east of Buninyong, early on Wednesday morning.

A four-wheel-drive parked outside the property where he was arrested has since been seized by police.

Stephenson was charged with murder on Thursday afternoon and appeared in Ballarat Magistrates’ Court.

On Friday, he faced the court again, where his defence team withdrew their suppression order application.

Defence lawyer David Tamanika said he was concerned that some people believed the granting of the order was a kind of manipulation tactic by the accused.

Tamanika noted the suppression order had been destructive to his client, who had since instructed him to withdraw it.

Two security officers flanked Stephenson, who attended the hearing dressed in a grey tracksuit.

When magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz asked Stephenson if he understood what had just happened, he replied: “Yes, your honour”.

Mykytowycz suppressed Stephenson’s identity on Thursday after his lawyer said the accused was at risk of self-harm.

Mykytowycz noted there was strong community interest in the “high-profile matter”, but said Stephenson was entitled to a fair trial.

Media outlets, including this masthead, contested the application.

Police are continuing to look for the remains of Murphy, a mother of three, who went missing on February 4 after going for a trail run.

On Thursday, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said investigators believed Murphy died at Mount Clear on the day she went missing in what he described as a deliberate killing.

Murphy’s family reported her disappearance to police on February 4, after she failed to attend a brunch.

She had earlier left her Ballarat East House for an early morning trail run along Woowookarung Regional Park, formerly known as Canadian State Forest.

She was last captured on CCTV outside her Blairs Lane home, dressed in a maroon singlet and black running tights.

Dozens of officers and community volunteers searched through bushland in Mount Clear and behind the Buninyong Golf Club after mobile phone tower data pointed detectives to the area, but found no trace of the missing woman.

Investigators also combed over 12,000 hours of CCTV footage and followed up more than 500 pieces of information in search for clues.

Last week investigators said they believed that Murphy was no longer alive, and they were investigating the possibility her body could have been moved from the area where she went missing.

Speaking on Thursday, Patton would not reveal what information had led police to Patrick Stephenson’s arrest, or what evidence had been uncovered during the search of several homes near Scotsburn.

“I’m not going to identify what has specifically led us to this man, other than to say it came about from painstaking detective work with great assistance from the public,” he said.

Stephenson has been remanded in custody to reappear in court on August 8.