An ex-footballer’s son who has been charged with the alleged murder of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy is refusing to reveal the location of her body, police say.
The 22-year-old man from Scotsburn, was charged on Thursday – just over four weeks after Ms Murphy vanished on a morning run in Ballarat, in Victoria’s Central Highlands.
Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Shane Patton said police will allege Ms Murphy was murdered at Mount Clear on the day she disappeared.
He said the accused was not known to the family and they are not looking for anyone else in relation to her disappearance.
Commissioner Patton said the accused has not disclosed where her body is and detectives would do ‘everything’ to find her for the sake of bringing closure to her family.
‘Anyone being told a loved one has been murdered is tragic,’ he told reporters on Thursday.
‘Doing everything to find Samantha’s body is absolutely vital for the family.’
Ms Murphy’s husband addressed the media on Thursday afternoon outside the family home
Commissioner Patton said police would allege it was a ‘deliberate’ attack but he would not provide any further details about the circumstances as the matter is before the courts.
However, he did confirm police would not allege Ms Murphy was killed in a hit and run.
Commissioner Patton thanked everyone who was involved in the search for Ms Murphy over the past month, which included multiple local ground searches organised by volunteers.
He said the arrest was the result of ‘painstaking detective work’, with detectives receiving an influx of information from ‘pinging phones, public reports, ground searches, and door knocks’.
Ms Murphy’s husband Mick Murphy was informed by homicide detectives of the development just before 2pm on Thursday.
Asked how he felt, Mt Murphy expressed a sigh of relief.
‘The adrenaline with everything that’s been going on, it’s just, it’s trying to be brave for everybody,’ he told reporters outside his Ballarat East home.
‘It’s something you wouldn’t want anybody to experience.’
Ms Murphy, 51, left her Ballarat East home to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at about 7am on February 4, and has not been seen since.
Her husband said he found it hard to communicate the stress the past month had had on him and his family, but described his feelings now as one of relief.
‘It is [a relief]. Definitely. It’s like something has just let the pressure valve off sort of thing,’ he said.
Detectives arrived at the home of Samantha Murphy to tell her husband Mick (pictured in the olive-green T-shirt) that a 22-year-old Scotsburn man had been charged with her murder
Detectives looked sombre as they arrived at Ms Murphy’s home to deliver the bad news
‘It hasn’t been a good near on five weeks. Anyway, we’re doing as good as we can. Keeping a brave face.’
The news comes after Ms Murphy’s father John ‘Pud’ Robson, aged in his 80s, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday morning the arrest of the 22-year-old man had taken the family by surprise.
‘My wife just texted me to say that it had been on the radio,’ he said. ‘We haven’t been told and evidently Michael hasn’t been told either.’
Meanwhile, Mr Murphy described the weeks since his wife went missing as ‘s**thouse’.
‘To be honest, yeah,’ he said.
The devastated husband said he was keen to learn the whereabouts of where Ms Murphy’s body was as soon as possible.
Before returning to his home, Mr Murphy again paid tribute to the Ballarat community, which never gave up its search for Ms Murphy.
‘From the word “go” it’s just been unbelievable … The generosity and support from the community has been overwhelming,’ he said.
‘Friends, family, everyone. There’s just that much respect for Sam and us and the family.’
Police confirmed the hunt for Ms Murphy’s body remains ongoing.
‘A 22-year-old Scotsburn man was arrested at his home address shortly after 6am on Wednesday, 6 March,’ a police spokesperson said via a statement.
‘He was subsequently interviewed by police and charged with one count of murder. The man will face Ballarat Magistrates’ Court this afternoon. Police are yet to recover Samantha’s body and the investigation remains ongoing.’
A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of Samantha Murphy – who was last seen leaving her East Ballarat home on February 4
News of the man’s arrest had come as a surprise to Mr Murphy’s dad John ‘Pud’ Robson.
‘My wife just texted me to say that it had been on the radio,’ he told Daily Mail Australia just on 11am on Thursday.
‘We haven’t been told and evidently Michael hasn’t been told either.’
Mr Robson said he remained hopeful the arrest would provide some clarity over what had happened to his daughter.
But he said had already given up hope of Ms Murphy being found safe and well.
‘I can only hope that he is the bloke responsible because that way, we might get a bit of closure,’ he said.
But he admitted: ‘It’s sort of too late to think that she might still be alive.’
Ms Murphy’s father said he and her daughter’s husband Mick Murphy (pictured) had not been told details of the arrest
Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she vanished. Detectives believe ‘one or more parties’ are behind her mystery disappearance
Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of Ms Murphy has been found in over a month
Mr Robson said he knew nothing about the man arrested by detectives and had been keeping himself busy by returning to his job as a long distance truck driver.
‘I’m still working. I’m stuck in a truck up on the other side of Avoca (70kms north of Ballarat) ,’ he said.
‘We haven’t heard a thing unfortunately,’ he said.
‘All my wife said is she heard it on Triple M [radio] that they’d arrested some bloke and that no charges have been laid yet.’
Mr Robson said he had no idea of any alleged links between the 22-year-old man arrested and his daughter.
‘I haven’t got the faintest, mate. Not in that age range. I’m never home, if you know what I mean,’ he said.
‘I don’t know. I’m only assuming they’ve grabbed him and they’re going to grill him for a little while,’ he said.
‘If they’ve got someone else in mind, that bloke might flap his gums without thinking.’
