Police seize car, search Ballarat properties in Samantha Murphy investigation
Detectives probing the Samantha Murphy’s case have seized a car and carried out search warrants across Ballarat. It comes as Patrick Stephenson, the son of ex-AFL footballer Orren Stephenson, can be named as the man charged with her murder.
Police & Courts
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Detectives probing Samantha Murphy’s murder have seized a car as part of their investigation.
The Herald Sun understands investigators seized a vehicle on Wednesday as they carried out three warrants in the Ballarat area.
That vehicle is expected to be forensically examined for any evidence that may be linked to the ongoing case.
The vehicle was seized on the same day Mr Stephenson was arrested over Ms Murphy’s death.
A neighbour said they saw police seize a vehicle from the Scotsburn property on Wednesday, but was unsure of the make or model.
The Herald Sun also understands a home on Yendon No. 2 Rd in Scotsburn was visited by police early on Wednesday morning.
Neighbours say police swarmed the property about 6.30am.
“There were all sorts of cars, they all looked like unmarked police,” one neighbour told the Herald Sun.
“It was about 6.30am when I went past… I put two and two together and I said to my wife: ‘I reckon something’s going on, I reckon they were police’.
“And sure enough, later that day (the news of an arrest) was released.”
A Suzuki Jimny — understood to belong to Mr Stephenson’s parter — was parked in the driveway of that home on Friday.
The home, a single-storey red brick home with a yellow front door, had its front gates padlocked and blinds drawn.
The Herald Sun understands Mr Stephenson and his partner were house-sitting in the home as of Wednesday morning.
Samantha Murphy’s accused killer revealed
The man charged with murdering missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy can be revealed as Patrick Orren Stephenson, the son of ex-AFL footballer Orren Stephenson, after an extraordinary gag order on his identity was thrown out.
The Herald Sun can also reveal detectives have seized a car as part of the investigation into Samantha Murphy’s alleged murder.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz barred the Herald Sun and other media outlets from naming Mr Stephenson when he faced court for the first time on Thursday.
A suppression order was issued after the court heard there were concerns a 22-year-old tradie from Scotsburn would not receive a fair trial in such a “high profile” case.
Mr Stephenson’s lawyer David Tamanika also raised concerns about his mental health but told the court that Mr Stephenson, who is in custody for the first time, had no mental health or drug issues.
After almost a dozen publications fought the suppression order at Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday, it can now be revealed that Mr Stephenson was the man investigators have had in their sights for more than a fortnight before he was arrested early on Wednesday morning.
Mr Stephenson is accused of murdering Ms Murphy on February 4 – the same day she went missing after setting off on a run about 7am.
Mr Stephenson appeared in court on Friday to hear whether his name could continue to be suppressed in the media.
Flanked by two guards, he walked into court about 11am wearing a grey long sleeve crew neck jumper and was not wearing hand cuffs.
Throughout the hearing, he cast his eye over the room full of journalists, before staring straight towards Magistrate Mykytowycz.
Again asked if he could hear her, Mr Stephenson said: “Yes, your honour”.
Defence lawyer David Tamanika told the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court he didn’t mean any “disrespect or disregard to ... Ms Murphy or her family” in seeking the gag order on her accused murderer’s name.
Rather, he said he sought a suppression order because “there existed a harm possibility” due to Mr Stephenson’s young “age, his position in custody, the seriousness of the charge and the wide scale publicity”.
Mr Tamanika said it was “concerning” that his application could be “immediately seen as being some sort of underhanded move or manipulation tactic by an accused person”.
Instead, he claimed to have made the bid to ensure the alleged killer was “properly represented”.
“That is what this application was about, it had nothing to do with any form of disrespect or disregard to the position of Ms Murphy or her family,” Mr Tamanika said.
He noted that in seeking the suppression, the public focus had then turned to reporting Mr Stephenson’s family link to an ex-AFL player, who can now be named as his father, former Richmond and Geelong star Orren Stephenson.
“The defence intention to assist has only become far more destructive as a mechanism to the client,” Mr Tamanika said.
“It’s for these reasons that the client has instructed me to withdraw the application.”
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said she considered the reasons raised by Mr Tamanika for the suppression on Thursday, which were absent any evidence or credible information.
“It was very, very, very unlikely that I would have made the proceeding suppression order,” Her Honour said, striking out the earlier interim suppression and allowing Mr Stephenson to be named.
Mr Stephenson, a former St Patrick’s College Ballarat student is the son of ex-Richmond and Geelong player Orren Stephenson, who played 15 games across both clubs between 2012 and 2014.
He is the middle of three children.
In an interview with AFL media in 2013, Orren Stephenson said his family had lived in Ballarat since 2002 after moving from the Riverina region of New South Wales.
Orren said his son, then aged 12, rarely missed a game.
“Patrick last year was rolling around the rooms with the Geelong Cats and this year he’s rolling around with the Richmond Tiger boys,” he said.
“He wouldn’t pass it up for quids. He loves it and the girls have had a lot of fun with it as well. It’s a massive bonus that we can share these pretty good times in our lives with our kids.”
Neighbours of the accused murderer said the Stephensons were an “absolutely wonderful” family.
They were blown away upon hearing the news of the murder charge.
Neighbour Catherine said she would speak to Mr Stephenson’s parents often.
“Well it’s a shock, a total shock,” she told reporters outside her home.
“They’ve been a lovely family and great neighbours.
“But I didn’t really know Patrick, I only really know the girls and mum and dad.
“(They are) wonderful, absolutely wonderful neighbours.”
Her husband Ken, 70, said he saw a huge group of cars outside the accused murderer’s home on Wednesday but didn’t understand why.
He said the family were closely connected to the Redan Football Netball Club.
“We just can’t believe it,” he said.
“We just wave, he (Patrick) parks over this side sometimes, that’s about it.
“The pinging they got on the watches and cameras and what have you was very close to here.
“God knows what’s going on, we don’t know the details, we don’t know the motive.”
Mr Stephenson has family connections in the Ballarat suburb of Mount Clear, where police scoured an area of bushland near his old home on February 22.
Investigators say he is not known to the Murphy family, who were emotional following news of the major breakthrough.
Phone data had pinpointed that zone as the last place where Ms Murphy’s phone could be detected when she vanished.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton on Thursday said Mr Stephenson had refused to help investigators find Ms Murphy’s body.
But Mr Patton said Police believe she had died as the result of a “deliberate act”.
The Herald Sun understands detectives are exploring whether Ms Murphy was struck by a car after she left her family’s Eureka St home.
Mr Patton said the Murphy family had been put under “intense scrutiny” since February 4 and “had no involvement whatsoever”.
“Our thoughts and support are with her family,” he said.
“God, the adrenaline with everything that’s been going on, it’s just trying to be brave for everybody,” Ms Murphy’s husband Michael Murphy said.
“It’s something that we wouldn’t want anyone to experience.”
The prosecutor asked for 20 weeks to put together all the evidence in the case.
Mr Stephenson will return to court for a committal mention on August 8.
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