Pod Insights The Case Of What is going on with Samantha Murphy’s case? About this episode We’ve been getting a lot of emails asking if we’re going to cover the case Samantha Murphy, the Ballarat jogger who went missing on the morning of February 4, 2024.
Ballarat reporter Laura Mayers joins the pod to explain the story up to here, and where the proceedings stand. We also let you in on a few other big cases we have on our radar, heading to court later in the year.
If you have any questions, you’d like Laura and Stocky to answer in future episodes, please email [email protected] mailto:[email protected] .
The Case Of is the follow-up to the hit podcast Mushroom Case Daily, and all episodes of that show will remain available in the back catalogue of The Case Of.
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more.
0:16 Speaker 01 Samantha Murphy disappeared in 2024 while running near her home in Ballarat. Patrick Stevenson was charged with her murder. The trial was set to start in April, but as usual with court, not everything goes to the original timeline. I'm Stephen Stockwell, this is The Case Of.
0:33 Speaker 02 The 51-year-old was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street for a trail run in the Wurukurrung Regional Park.
0:40 Speaker 03 On February 4th, Ms Murphy left her Ballarat East home for her regular Sunday morning workout, but never returned.
0:47 Speaker 02 Police say she had her mobile phone and was wearing a watch with GPS tracking.
0:51 Speaker 04 Mum, we love you so much and we miss you.
0:55 Speaker 03 Ballarat man Patrick Orin Stevenson was arrested and charged with Ms Murphy's murder.
1:01 Speaker 01 A few times a week, we get an email asking if we'll be covering the trial of the man accused of murdering Samantha Murphy in Ballarat, Patrick Stevenson. And in short, the answer is yes, but because so many of you are interested in this trial, we wanted to explain where it is all up to at the moment. And to help us along, I'm very pleased to be joined by ABC reporter Laura Mayers. Laura, welcome to The Case Of.
1:22 Speaker 05 Stocky, thank you so much for having me.
1:24 Speaker 01 Really appreciate having you here for this episode to kind of unpack what's happening with the trial around Patrick Stevenson, the man accused of murdering Samantha Murphy in Ballarat. Because, you know, when you look online, as a lot of Case Of listeners have done, you see a trial date set for April. Now, that period has obviously passed. We've had a lot of emails coming in saying, hey, you're going to cover this trial? What's happening? Laura, this trial hasn't started yet, has it?
1:50 Speaker 05 Yes, I can confirm that that trial has not commenced at this stage.
1:54 Speaker 01 Yeah, and I mean, you are watching very closely. You're based in Ballarat for the ABC and you reported on this story when Samantha Murphy went missing. Can you just give us a quick reminder of what happened?
2:04 Speaker 05 So Samantha Murphy, mother of three, fifty one year old, went missing on February fourth, and that's twenty twenty four. She went for a run and failed to return home. There were several searches, multiple searches over the days and weeks following her disappearance. She was never found. And in March, a man was arrested and charged. That was one count of murder. That was Patrick Stevenson. On November fourteenth, twenty twenty four, Mr. Stevenson entered a not guilty plea to that one charge.
2:39 Speaker 01 And Laura, who is Patrick Stevenson?
2:41 Speaker 05 So Patrick Stevenson was twenty two when he was arrested and charged with that one count of murder. He's currently twenty four. He's from the Ballarat region and he is the son of an AFL footballer. And we know that he was pretty active in sports groups in the region as well.
3:00 Speaker 01 Got it. Okay. Thank you, Laura. And I mean, as you mentioned, Patrick Stevenson, you know, arrested and charged a couple of years ago now. Where's this trial up to?
3:08 Speaker 05 Yeah, so so there's no date that has been set yet. Previously, we had reported that it was expected the trial was going to commence in June this year, but we are currently working through the pre-trial process at the moment.
3:22 Speaker 01 Got it. And through this pre-trial process, I remember this from following the trial of Aaron Patterson, we are really quite restricted on what we can actually talk about during this time, aren't we?
3:32 Speaker 05 Yeah, that's right. So we're currently operating under the sub judicy rules. So that is under judicial consideration. Everything that makes up the basis of this charge. Basically, nothing within that can be publicly discussed. But what I can say is that it is being held in Melbourne, these pre-trial hearings. And obviously, the basis of that is that one charge of murder.
3:55 Speaker 01 Yeah, got it. And yeah, when these hearings are on, I think we can talk about who's in the room for these hearings, if, you know, the hearings adjourned for a certain date. Things like that. But yeah, speaking of, I guess, who's in those hearings, in the last couple of kind of pre-trial hearings that have happened, Patrick Stevenson's been represented by this this one barrister. But prior to kind of these last three or four hearings, his barrister had been Moira O'Brien. Is that right?
4:20 Speaker 05 So previously, we had been hearing from barrister Moya O'Brien. Now we are hearing from Theo Casamatus, who has been a silk since 2016. He's been practising for over 20 years and we've been hearing from him in the pre-trial hearings.
4:36 Speaker 01 Got it, yeah. And I mean, there's a whole bunch of pre-trial hearings that happen. There's all sorts of things that are discussed in that. And as you mentioned, Laura, you know, this trial was originally, you know, there was a date that was in some reporting of April. Obviously, we're past April at this point. Can you talk to us about any of the reasons for that delay?
4:53 Speaker 05 The short answer is no. So there are a lot of different reasons why, I mean, what makes up these pre-trial hearings. And there's a lot of different reasons why there might be a delay. It could be the sort of the availability of the parties, the barristers, those involved, the availability of the judge. There are discussions that need to happen when it comes to evidence, any kind of evidence, any kind of witnesses that might be presenting evidence. And none of which we can actually go into, as I said, because of those rules of sub judice. So we cannot discuss them publicly. There are a lot of restrictions on reporting when it comes to pre-trial hearings for good reason.
5:36 Speaker 01 Yeah, absolutely. You know, a lot of these pre-trial hearings, we will be able to talk about at the end of the trial. Once that point arrives. But yeah, at this point, we're up to, in the process, we can't go into any of this. And yeah, we're really quite restricted in what we can talk about. Basically, there are hearings underway. Who's at them? And Laura, as you mentioned, where they are, because these hearings are being held at the moment in Melbourne at the Supreme Court. Laura, is there anything else you can, you can give us around the, the timing or the, the process for the trial of Patrick Stevenson?
6:05 Speaker 05 Not at this stage, but I will say that we are keeping on it very closely.
6:09 Speaker 01 Yeah, absolutely. We have a Teams chat that we're regularly in touch with, with Laura in, talking about where things are up to with this trial. And we'll certainly keep you up to date with the, the progress of the trial of Patrick Stevenson, the man accused of murdering Samantha Murphy in Ballarat in 2024. Laura, thank you so much for joining us and giving us this update.
6:27 Speaker 05 Thank you for having me.
6:29 Speaker 01 Always very welcome and you'll be hearing a lot more from Laura when that trial gets underway. There are also lots of other cases that you have been in touch about as well. Emails that you've sent in to the case of at abc.net.au. We really appreciate hearing from you when you get in touch. As you know, I have a spreadsheet where I update the emails and any of the contacts that we have from you. And so really appreciate hearing from you about the cases that you want us to take a look at. And to put you at ease, we do have our eyes on a lot of the ones that you are mentioning. To start with Alan Jones's trial, he's facing historical charges of indecent assault and sexual touching. That's one that we've got our eyes on of Bowlemart Condon. He is the former New South Wales police officer accused of murdering his ex and his ex's new partner. That's another one. Of Greg Lynn, accused of murdering Carol Clay in Victoria.
7:14 Speaker 01 Of Robert Crawford, he's a former RAF pilot accused of murdering his wife in Queensland. And we're also keeping an eye on the trial of Christopher Jordan accused of murdering Cheyenne Lee Tacknell in Tasmania. So all ones that you have been in touch with us about and all ones that we've got our eyes on. Many more as well, but if there's anything you'd like to bring to our attention, please get in touch. The case of at abc.net.au is the best place to reach us. And I'll be back in your feed tomorrow with an update on the coronial inquest into the death of Desi Freeman.
Previous UPDATE: The Two Intruders | A second sting and a cancer diagnosis Next Dezi Freeman: How the fugitive was killed Page updated October 30, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated