Patrick Orren Stephenson, who is charged with killing Samantha Murphy, refused to cooperate with authorities as the search for her remains continued.
The last sighting of the 51-year-old woman was in East Ballarat’s Woowookarung Regional Park. Her body has not been found. Five weeks have passed since she went missing.
Her family still wants answers, and her husband Mick said on Friday that they hoped that Mr Stephenson would co-operate with investigators.
The police are also appealing for information. They are currently looking through CCTV footage in an attempt to piece together what happened to Ms Murphy.
According to reports, homicide detectives visited a pub in the city to view footage of Stephenson and his friends the night before Ms. Murphy vanished. The police also examined security footage from nearby businesses. According to the Herald Sun, they are now looking into the footage from establishments in a residential and light industrial area of the city.
Residents and businesses in Canadian’s Elsworth, Joseph, and Butt streets have handed over footage taken from the time that Ms. Murphy disappeared. The police have also searched this area, which is full of self-storage facilities, gyms, and panel beaters. It is not clear if the footage shows Ms. Murphy or any of her vehicles, or if it has provided them with any leads.
On March 6, the police arrested Patrick Orren Stephenson at his home in Scotsburn, which is close to Ballarat. According to the police chief, the arrest of the suspect was made possible due to various investigative leads. Some of these include the location of mobile phones that were reportedly in the area at the time that Ms. Murphy vanished.
Initially, it was believed that the alleged killer and the victim didn’t have a connection. It was then revealed that Ms. Murphy worked in the school’s uniform shop while Mr. Stephenson was a student at the school. The police had also stated that they had never met.