Alleged Sam Murphy killer’s new court move

The man accused of killing missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy will plead not guilty and take the case to trial, a court has been told.

Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, sported a large beard as he was beamed into the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning, wearing a white shirt from the Melbourne Assessment Prison.

He kept his arms crossed in front of him and spoke to confirm he could see and hear the court.

Mr Stephenson, the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, was charged with murder in March, a little over a month after the mother-of-three vanished after leaving home for an morning run on February 4.

Crown prosecutor Raymond Gibson KC told the court Mr Stephenson had elected to fast-track his case to the Supreme Court for trial in a process that would skip a committal hearing in the Magistrates’ Court jurisdiction where the evidence would be tested.

“Not guilty, Your Honour,” Mr Stephenson said.

Several members of Mr Stephenson’s family could be seen observing the hearing online.

Police allege the Ballarat-born private school boy murdered Ms Murphy on February 4 in the Mount Clear area – 6km from her Eureka St home.

Despite both extensive and “targeted” searches of bushland around Ballarat in the intervening months, Ms Murphy has not been located.

At his last court appearance in August, his lawyer, Moya O’Brien, requested a further three-month period to examine the brief of evidence against her client, saying it “has been described as unprecedented in size”.

“We appreciate that’s a significant amount of time but the brief is extensive,” Daniel White for the prosecution said in support of the adjournment.

In March following Mr Stephenson’s arrest, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton remained tight-lipped about how the accused man was identified but said the arrest came after a “painstaking and methodical investigation”.

“I’m not going to identify what has specifically led us to this man other than to say it has come about from painstaking detective work with great assistance from the public,” he said.

The 51-year-old’s disappearance and alleged murder shocked the community and quickly became one of the most high-profile missing persons investigations in the state.

She is believed to have reached the Mount Clear area, adjacent to the Woowookarung Regional Park, about an hour after leaving about 7am.

Despite efforts of police and volunteers, no traces of the missing mum were found until police revealed “items of interest”, including a mobile phone, were pulled from a dam in late May.

Mr Stephenson was committed to stand trial by Magistrate Mark Stratmann and will appear in the Supreme Court later this month.