‘Often offenders go back and do things, keep a phone somewhere or with them, and then dump it later on’: Ex homicide detective Charlie Bezzina

A homicide squad veteran believes the alleged killer of Ballarat’s Samantha Murphy may have held on to her phone for some time before ditching it in a dam to throw police “off the scent”. Here’s why.

A retired senior homicide detective believes it’s possible the alleged killer of Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy threw her phone into a Buninyong dam but disposed of her body elsewhere, in a bid to throw police “off the scent”.

Veteran cop Charlie Bezzina also said that with the phone — that is yet to be confirmed as belonging to 51-year-old Ms Murphy — having been submerged in water, “it just doesn’t make sense” police would have found it on Wednesday without previous intelligence.

That information may have been gathered at a point when the phone was still active to some degree, so it was possible police knew more than what they were letting on, he said.

The phone, which appeared to contain cards in its wallet case, was among several “items of interest” found by the dam.

Victoria Police use dogs during a ‘targeted search’ for Samantha Murphy’s body. Picture: Ian Wilson

The dam on a property off Buninyong-Mt Mercer Rd, south of Ballarat, where police targeted the search. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Police find items of interest at the dam. Picture: 9News

Police find a mobile phone in their search for Samantha Murphy’s body. Picture: 9News

It was discovered by a police dog off Buninyong-Mt Mercer Rd, where police armed with picks, shovels, rakes and metal detectors scoured adjacent blackberry bushes with the help of an excavator.

Police divers entered the dam late in the afternoon.

It was possible the man charged with Ms Murphy’s murder, 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson, may have kept her phone for some time before tossing it in the dam, possibly even shortly before being arrested on March 6 this year, Mr Bezzina said.

If that was the case, it would explain many aspects of both Mr Stephenson’s arrest and murder charges, and also police returning to an area they had previously searched, he said.

Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, has been charged over the murder of Samantha Murphy.

Wednesday’s “targeted search” may have been based on what police had already learned from the phone and its battery life, he said.

“With phones it’s amazing. There’s a lot the carrier, or carriers, don’t tell us about the capabilities of a phone,” Mr Bezzina said.

“When you’ve got a phone that’s off, people ask the question, ‘is it still transmitting’, and ‘if the battery goes flat does it still transmit?’ Some do and some don’t.”

Ms Murphy has been missing since the morning of February 4, when she set off on a run in the Canadian State Forest, and her body has not been found.

While it has not been revealed if the phone uncovered in Wednesday’s search is in fact that of Ms Murphy, police were seen celebrating the find and high-fiving each other.

Police officers celebrate after finding a possible clue. Picture: 9News

Divers entered the Buninyong dam on Wednesday afternoon. Picture: Ian Wilson

Mr Bezzina said not only was it possible the phone had been ditched by her alleged killer in a location other to that where her body had been disposed, it was possible it had been dumped some time after Ms Murphy disappeared.

“We don’t know when that phone was dumped in there, it is not unusual for offenders to keep items for a while, especially mobile phones … for all we know that might have been discarded just weeks’ ago,” he said.

“Often offenders go back and do things, keep the phone somewhere or with them, and then dump it later on.

“And that’s where they’ll get any evidence against him, if it’s been pinging … people can think ‘I’ll drive 10 or 15 kilometres away and I’ll dump the phone there to really put them off the scent, if the phone is in some way trackable’ … so not unusual at all for it to be dumped in a separate location (to the body).”

On the other hand, it was also not unusual for killers to return to the scenes of their crimes, to check that a body remained concealed or to clean up, Mr Bezzina said.

Having been submerged in water and exposed to the elements, any DNA on the phone would “certainly be deteriorated and eroded”, to the point there was likely none to be found, Mr Bezzina said.

But he added he hoped and believed forensic specialists would still try their best to do so.

The results of that testing would be considered urgent and it was likely the results returned in just a matter of days, he said.

“If they’re lucky enough, and if the offender has taken out the SIM card or put the SIM card back in or removed the battery, it (DNA) might be encased in there,” Mr Bezzina said.

Even without DNA the phone — if it was indeed Samantha Murphy’s — could hold key clues, and police would likely be talking to Ms Murphy’s family about any cards found with the phone, and whether they looked to be hers, and if so if any were missing, added or if anything had changed about the phone, Mr Bezzina said.

Missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy.

Samantha Murphy in CCTV footage from the morning she went missing.

Michael Murphy, the husband of Samantha, pictured outside his Ballarat home after Patrick Stephenson was charged with his wife’s murder. Picture: Mark Stewart

“You’d very very, very interested in knowing that,” he said.

“But (beyond names on the cards) you’ve still got to confirm that it’s her phone, so you’d check all the numbers and information and confirm it … you’ve really got to go the enth degree in confirming that 100 per cent it’s Samantha’s phone and not somebody else’s, even though you may find cards in there with Samantha’s details on them.”

Mr Stephenson will appear at Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on August 8.