It was a missing person’s case that captivated Australia and made headlines across the globe.
In a modern world dominated by technology and surveillance, how could mum-of-three Samantha Murphy simply vanish into thin air after embarking on an early morning run?
Her disappearance from her East Ballarat home, 110km north-west of Melbourne, on February 4 sparked a colossal search operation as hundreds of police officers, SES workers and volunteers scoured nearby bushland.
After days of painstaking searches turned up zero trace of the 51-year-old, detectives begged the public to come forward with any dashcam or CCTV footage which might have captured Ms Murphy’s movements.
A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Samantha Murphy (pictured) – who was last seen leaving her East Ballarat home on February 4
The case quickly became the ‘number one investigation’ for Victoria Police as they drafted in dozens of specialists from counter-terror, sex crimes, fraud and armed robbery divisions.
And then, 10 frantic days after she was last seen, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed her family’s worst fears when he revealed detectives were treating the case as ‘suspicious’.
Yet, scant few details from the investigation emerged and, as the days became weeks, the mystery deepened.
Into that information vacuum poured a torrent of conspiracy theories, vicious rumours and ill-informed speculation which threatened to tear apart the tight-knit community in Ballarat of just over 100,000 people.
Ms Murphy’s disappearance from her East Ballarat home, 70 miles north-west of Melbourne, on 4 February launched a colossal search operation as hundreds of police officers, SES workers and volunteers scoured the nearby bushland
Ten frantic days after she was last seen, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed her family’s worst fears when he revealed detectives were treating the case as ‘suspicious’ (pictured: Ms Murphy’s daughter Jess who a made a tearful plea for her mum to come home)
Pleading for information – for someone to come forward – Ms Murphy’s husband Mick said: ’People don’t just vanish into thin air. Someone has got to know something.’
He was right, of course.
On Thursday the grim news the world had been waiting for finally arrived when police revealed they had arrested a 22-year-old man from Scotsburn, a small town around 18km east of where Ms Murphy was last seen.
He was later charged with murder and his identity controversially suppressed.
While Ms Murphy’s father, who is in his 80s, told this publication yesterday morning that the news might bring some ‘closure’ to the family, there are still many details yet to reach the public domain.
Here, Daily Mail Australia walks through the five unanswered questions surrounding Ms Murphy’s alleged murder.
Table of Contents
How did Samantha die?
Ms Murphy was captured on her family home’s CCTV system shortly after 7am on Sunday, February 4.
Wearing a maroon/brown singlet and black half-length leggings, she was believed to be going for a run in the neighbouring Canadian State Forest.
That was the last known sighting of her alive.
Officers do not know her exact running route.
Ms Murphy and her husband Mick pictured on holiday in Indonesia in 2017. Mick previously said
However, they believe mobile phone data indicates she reached the Mount Clear area, which is around 5km away, an hour after she left home.
Victorian Chief Police Commissioner Shane Patton told reporters on Thursday that detectives believe she died there.
‘We will be alleging that murder occurred at Mount Clear on the day she disappeared,’ Mr Patton said.
The Police Commissioner was tight-lipped on how Ms Murphy was allegedly murdered but he did rule out one theory.
Asked by a reporter whether Ms Murphy’s death was the result of a hit-and-run, he said: ‘No.’
He also refused to say whether the alleged killing had any sexual element.
‘I will not canvass any details to do with the evidence in respect of the murder,’ Mr Patton said.
He added: ‘I’m not going to go into the details of motive or any of those further details in regards to what has or had has or hasn’t happened.’
However, Commissioner Patton did say he believed Ms Murphy’s alleged killing was a ‘deliberate attack’.
Where is her body?
Police allege that Ms Murphy was killed in the Mount Clear area.
On February 22, detectives from the Missing Persons Squad lead the ‘targeted search’ of bush around Mount Clear, 6km from Ms Murphy’s home.
Two days later police revealed they now believed ‘one or more parties ‘may have been involved in Ms Murphy’s disappearance.
‘Unfortunately, given the time and the fact that we’ve found no trace, we do have severe concerns [and we] are very doubtful that she’s still alive,’ Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said at the time.
Mr Hatt added that police were probing the possibility her body had been moved from the area.
Forensic teams are pictured scouring the Mount Clear bushland for any sign of Ms Murphy on 23 February
The arrest and murder charge announced by police on Thursday marks the first significant breakthrough in what has become Victoria’s highest priority police inquiry since the missing mum vanished on February 4
‘We will be alleging that murder occurred at Mount Clear on the day she disappeared,’ Mr Patton told reporters.
‘In the interview with the suspect, he has not disclosed to police where Samantha’s body is.’
Commissioner Patton said it was now detectives number one priority to discover Ms Murphy’s remains.
‘Doing everything to find Samantha’s body is absolutely vital for the family,’ he told reporters.
How was the alleged killer caught by detectives?
It was revealed at the start of the week that police were examining data from nearby phone towers in a bid to work out who else was in the Mount Clear area in the hours during and after Ms Murphy went running.
At this stage, it is unclear if they have any other evidence, whether it’s CCTV footage or witness sightings, that place the suspect in the area at the relevant time.
Commissioner Patton said police were able to make an arrest due to ‘painstaking detective work with greater assistance from the public’.
‘He’s been located through a range of investigative outcomes that have come together and as you are aware we have been pinging phones and following up on investigation reports from members of the public,’ Mr patton said.
‘We have done ground searches, we have done doorknocks so it’s a whole range of information that has come together.
Whatever they discovered eventually led them to the Scotsburn home of a 22-year-old man on Wednesday morning.
Last picture: The 51-year-old was last seen leaving her property on Eureka Street to go for a run in Canadian State Forest at about 7am
Police clearly felt they had enough evidence to charge the man a little over 24 hours later.
However, they are still building their case.
‘This investigation is far from over, though, obviously we’re going to be continuing to gather further evidence and will be taking further statements and investigations will continue at a very heavy pace,’ Commissioner Patton said on Thursday.
But Commissioner Patton said police were not looking for any accomplice in Ms Murphy’s alleged murder.
‘He has been charged with murder so by its definition we are saying this was a deliberate attack on Samantha,’ he said.
Why can’t media name the suspect?
The 22-year-old man from Scotsburn, located about 18km east of Ms Murphy’s Ballarat home, appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon.
By that stage, his name and image had been splashed across news websites and television broadcasts for hours.
But his lawyer David Tamanika argued in court that his client’s name should be suppressed from the public because he held grave concerns for the safety of his client due to his age and the massive publicity in the case.
The move sparked a revolt in the courtroom as representatives from various media outlets objected to the suppression order on the basis that the ‘horse had already bolted’.
Ms Murphy’s husband Mick was told by detectives about the arrest of the 22-year-old suspect on Thursday afternoon
Victorian Chief Police Commissioner Shane Patton told reporters on Thursday police believe Ms Purphy was killed in a ‘deliberate attack’
Mr Tamanika told the magistrate his client had never been in jail before and was at a risk of self harm while awaiting his next court appearance.
The court heard the man, who was dressed in a bright orange workers vest, was made so as not to ‘prejudice the administration of justice’ for his client given he was only arrested a day earlier.
Mr Tamanika said his client faced ‘significant mental health challenges’ behind bars, which would be compounded by his identity being outed to the general public.
The magistrate sided with lawyer, ruling that the accused’s right to justice was more important than the public interest in the case.
Following the hearing, media organisations launched a challenge to the suppression order, with the matter set to return to court on Friday morning.
Why did police go so long without providing an update?
Police descended on the alleged killer’s Scotsburn home at 6am on Wednesday.
Yet it was over 24 hours later until they revealed that he had been arrested.
The news came as a major surprise in what many believed had become a slow-burning case.
The reason police may have kept their cards close to their chest was because any information they released may have tipped their alleged suspect off that they were on their tail.
Police can also withhold information to help ensure whether suspects are guilty.
For example, if a suspect is in possession of knowledge that has not been made public, then that can indicate they were involved or at least that they know someone who was.
