Samantha Murphy Ballarat * Patrick Orren Stephenson Charged With Murder

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The Murder of Rebecca Young - Ballarat

The Murder of Hannah McGuire - Ballarat * Lachie Young charged



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Reports of a similar attack.

Police have released CCTV vision of the last known sighting of missing Victorian mother Samantha Murphy as the search enters its fourth day.

The 51yo mother was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, about 7am on Sunday.


A woman who was attacked while running just 20km from the search for missing mum Samantha Murphy has detailed the horrifying experience.

As the search for missing woman Samantha Murphy enters its fourth day, another local woman, Sissy Austin, has revealed she was brutally attacked while out jogging in the same area – and the perpetrator is still on the loose.

The former Greens Senate candidate, also from Ballarat East, was attacked with a homemade weapon, on February 11, 2023, nearly a year ago to the day before Ms Murphy went missing.

 
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Mt Helen also encompasses Fed Uni campus and technology Park, with both local employees and students, as well as many who commute from the wider area, and as far as Melbourne and Geelong. There's a lot of people in that vicinity daily, moving in and through it. Not too many at the time of morning she went jogging though.

Like everyone, I'm hoping she turns up safe.

But as more time passes, I fear the worst. Hope I'm wrong.
 

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Similar??

Police have made no mention of an attack at this stage, have they?

Unfortunately Canadian bush tracks are a popular dumping ground for stolen vehicles, not heard of assaults in the area though.

But sounds like she was last seen heading away from there.
 
I know the second woman who was attacked via a friend.
The attack on her was not investigated properly, as at the time the police side stepped it because Sissy is an activist for indigenous rights and they tried to blame that as the reason she was attacked.
This is really concerning that now a second female runner has been possibly attacked or worse.
I also want to put it here that there are a lot of grow houses and meth labs all over the countryside, surrounding the big towns such as Ballarat and Bendigo as well as the smaller to medium towns. Someone could have been annoyed, she could have seen something..who knows. It is getting less safe for women out there not more and the backing off of manning all Police stations is of real concern in Victoria.
 
20km away and a year ago. Sounds like a stretch that it is related and given it comes from a former political candidate sounds more like attention seeking, will be interesting to see if they try make a political point somehow - (the crime.is horrible and I don't doubt they were attacked - just the stories today)

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20km away and a year ago. Sounds like a stretch

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Not sure what the 20km is.... they don't know at which point Sam disappeared, and both her and the activist were running in Woowoo'. Yeah, live in Canadian and only skirt the forest with my dogs, it's quiet when deep in there, spooky and it is Ballarat where you naturally keep your head down anyway
 
20km away and a year ago. Sounds like a stretch that it is related and given it comes from a former political candidate sounds more like attention seeking, will be interesting to see if they try make a political point somehow - (the crime.is horrible and I don't doubt they were attacked - just the stories today)

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20kms is absolutely nothing in the country.
Your judgement above that it's attention seeking is 1, unfounded and 2, ignorant of any factual basis, it is a damning inditement that you think violence is acceptable and furthermore that politicians are somehow deserving of it.
How facile of you to think that crime is restricted geographically and chronologically.
Obviously you have no stretch or flex in your thinking but have made the comment to shut down possibilities rather than entertain the thought that it is possible that they could be related.
I will also posit here that we do not hear about a lot of the crime that is happening on a daily basis and most remain unaware either by choice or circumstance, until a 'crime' or incident is brought to the publics attention.
In a democracy, the public should be and remain very concerned about violent attacks on 'politicians' unless they wish to foster dictatorships or authoritarian regimes, such as the Trump model of behaviour.
More to the point, attackers that get away with crimes do not settle in for a nonexpansive mode, as has been proven time and again.
 
20kms is absolutely nothing in the country.
Your judgement above that it's attention seeking is 1, unfounded and 2, ignorant of any factual basis, it is a damning inditement that you think violence is acceptable and furthermore that politicians are somehow deserving of it.
How facile of you to think that crime is restricted geographically and chronologically.
Obviously you have no stretch or flex in your thinking but have made the comment to shut down possibilities rather than entertain the thought that it is possible that they could be related.
I will also posit here that we do not hear about a lot of the crime that is happening on a daily basis and most remain unaware either by choice or circumstance, until a 'crime' or incident is brought to the publics attention.
In a democracy, the public should be and remain very concerned about violent attacks on 'politicians' unless they wish to foster dictatorships or authoritarian regimes, such as the Trump model of behaviour.
More to the point, attackers that get away with crimes do not settle in for a nonexpansive mode, as has been proven time and again.
Where did I say violence to politicians is acceptable? I said the crime was horrible just suggested the polly might be linking the crimes to get attention. I didn't dismiss the possibility but will believe it more if cops link or there was something more substantial particularly how horribly common crimes of this sort are with our soft judicial system and haphazard standard of policing.



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Sure are but a runner won't often divert off a track - no matter how roughly hewn - into scrub, perhaps only to do wees
I think she had low blood pressure. That combined with the heat could have led to her becoming disorientated.
All speculation I guess. Lets hope they find her.
 
Heard from a local that where she was jogging there are plenty of old disused mines and not all of them are visible to the naked eye.
Could easily have fallen down one of them.

She runs on marked tracks, which by necessity avoid mine openings, so unlikely she'd fall down one unless she was interfered with or had a medical episode. Canadian has lots of walkers, dog walkers, runners - regulars who know the area, and aware of mines being present.
(Unfortunately also a popular spot to burn/dump stolen vehicles, which I've been a victim of. I've never been there at the time of morning that Samantha Murphy frequents it, so not sure how busy it is in terms of foot traffic.)
 
I can't help but shake the feeling they haven't looked in the right places yet. I clearly am not in charge but Bunny Golf Club and the Black Hill area don't make a lot of sense (unless there is more info than a phone ping we haven't heard about).

Yankee Flat Road area would be my starting point.
 
Gut feeling she made it home from her run, something happened to her and then police are told she never made it home.

If he's responsible, he'll get caught because there's CCTV of her heading one way and they will also have it if she headed back for a two way, which they might be keeping quiet.
 
If he's responsible, he'll get caught because there's CCTV of her heading one way and they will also have it if she headed back for a two way, which they might be keeping quiet.
That’s right. They’ll withhold plenty of details like that to see if they can catch out the husband lying.
 
Haven’t followed all the details of this one. Has the husband been categorically ruled out?
From the ABC Article ('Mum please come home soon': Daughter of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy makes tearful plea)
"There are no suspicious circumstances that we've identified at this stage". Acting Inspector Macdougall said.

But then they have also added this:
Mr Bush said dams and mineshafts in the area were not a specific focus of the SES search.

Acting Inspector Macdougall confirmed to ABC Statewide Mornings that disused mine shafts had been "discounted" and were not forming part of the search.

She said the last confirmed sighting of Ms Murphy was when she left her residence at 7.03am on Sunday, but police were receiving "huge amounts of information" that were informing the search areas.

So they haven't ruled it out but can't put it fully together either.
 
I can't help but shake the feeling they haven't looked in the right places yet. I clearly am not in charge but Bunny Golf Club and the Black Hill area don't make a lot of sense (unless there is more info than a phone ping we haven't heard about).

Yankee Flat Road area would be my starting point.

Yep, people run along YFR, often on the road edge though as there's no path or track. Each time I've seen them when I've been driving, I've thought how dangerous that is. Could be a hit and run where she's been flung into roadside vegetation, abduction, any number of scenarios along there. Or even medical episode where she's moved off the road and collapsed out of sight.
 

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