Major update in Samantha Murphy murder case as her alleged killer is escorted to remote bushland

By CAITLIN POWELL and AIDAN WONDRACZ FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 12:22 BST, 7 May 2025 | Updated: 12:22 BST, 7 May 2025

The man charged over the disappearance of Samantha Murphy has been escorted through bushland for a second time in a search for her remains.

Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, was taken from Melbourne Assessment Prison and walked through part of Enfield State Park, south of Ballarat, with plain clothes detectives.

Excavators were brought in to dig up an undisclosed area on a pine plantation, 7News reported on Wednesday.

Ms Murphy, a 51-year-old mother-of-three, went missing around the Canadian Forest in Ballarat on February 4, 2024. 

Stephenson had been taken from prison under heavy police guard late last year in a search for Ms Murphy.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest he knows the whereabouts of her body or that he was involved in her alleged murder. 

Stephenson has denied any involvement in Ms Murphy’s death and pleaded not guilty to the charge brought against him. 

He is expected to stand trial for murder later this year.

Samantha Murphy went missing after she left her home to go for a morning jog

There have been extensive searches for Samantha Murphy near Enfield State Park in Ballarat

Patrick Orren Stephenson (pictured) has denied any involvement in Ms Murphy’s death

Ms Murphy left her home on Eureka Street to go for a morning jog last year before she disappeared. Her body has never been found. 

There have been extensive searches in the surrounding bushland, involving hundreds of police officers, SES workers and volunteers. 

Just over a month after Ms Murphy disappeared, Stephenson was charged with murder.

Stephenson is the son of former Richmond and Geelong AFL player Orren Stephenson and is not known to the Murphy family.

Melbourne-based lawyer Paul Galbally, from Galbally & O’Bryan, one of Australia’s top criminal lawyers, has reportedly been hired by Stephenson to head his defence.

Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they did not have any comment to make on the second search of bushland.

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Major update in Samantha Murphy murder case as her alleged killer is escorted to remote bushland

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