Last month, Samantha Murphy, a 51-year-old mother of three from Melbourne, went missing. She was reportedly linked to Patrick Stephenson, who went to the same primary school she worked at as a volunteer.
According to 7NEWS, the 22-year-old electrician from Ballarat used to be a student at St. Francis Xavier Primary School.
Despite their small-town connection, the police noted that the two didn’t meet.
The eldest daughter of Murphy’s, Jess, also attended the same school as her former classmate.
On Wednesday, police arrested Stephenson at a house in Ballarat, where he was staying with his girlfriend.
According to the police, on February 4, Stephenson killed Murphy at Mount Clear.
The last time she was seen was around 7 am, as she left her home in East Ballarat to run.
It’s believed that she went to the forest and then walked to the area around Mount Clear.
The area around Mount Clear was searched twice by the police. However, nothing was found.
7NEWS learned that the police had been following up on Stephenson for a couple of weeks.
His car was also seized as part of their investigation.
The police stated that he was not cooperating with them.