She went for a run. Samantha Murphy set out for her usual morning run on a Sunday morning and never returned home.
The final images of Murphy—grainy footage from a camera in her driveway—shows her looking just like so many other women who were doing the same thing on the same February day: leaving the house for some early morning exercise, before taking on the second half of the weekend.
She is believed to have set out to run the same path she runs regularly, as many women do daily. She has the look of somebody going about their regular morning routine. An ordinary day, pursuing an ordinary task where the only risk should be the environment around you rather than the people within it. She ventured out as she had likely done hundreds, if not thousands of times before. Just as many women did that day.
After weeks of frantic searching for Murphy, police now believe she was murdered that day.
Yesterday afternoon, a 22 year old man was charged with Samantha Murphy’s murder. While the name was initially released and shared widely on social media, it has since been suppressed by the Ballarat court and can’t be mentioned here. We’re still yet to learn the details, although numerous media outlets are highlighting today that he is the “son of a former AFL player” as if that’s more relevant than the fact he is a man charged with murder.
Much has been said about Murphy being a “mother of three”. She was also a daughter of a father and mother who had made their own mark on the world, just as Murphy too had done. She was involved in the local community, she helped run small businesses locally. She was a runner and enjoyed the bush tracks near her home. She lived with a loving family, whom we’ve gotten to know over the past few weeks through the difficult, tearful press conferences Murphy’s husband and children have given, urging the public for information.
Police arrested the man from Scotsburn, an area south of Ballarat, on Wednesday morning and he appeared before a Ballarat Magistrates’ Court for a brief hearing on Thursday. Police allege Murphy was murdered in a “deliberate attack” in Mount Clear. They don’t believe the man was known to Murphy or to her family. They have ruled out Murphy’s death being the result of a hit and run, and believe the alleged murder was an “intentional act”. Police have also not revealed what led to the arrest of a man. While they are yet to discover Murphy’s body, they have declared locating her body to be of “primary importance”.
Murphy’s death brings the number of women killed by violence so far in 2024 to eleven. One woman week continues to die by violence in Australia, a key point to note today on International Women’s Day.
In just the past couple of weeks, the death toll includes Min Cho, a mother murdered alongside her seven year old son in a martial arts studio, with the boy’s martial arts instructor arrested and charged with murder. There is Amarjit Kaur Sardar, whose body was discovered with horrific injuries after being run over by a tractor. There is also 80 year old Samira Dean, who had been attacked in an emergency department, with no known connection between the woman and the alleged 28 year old male attacker.
And now Murphy, who went for a Sunday morning run.
If you or someone you know needs help or advice call the national sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling service 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In an emergency call 000.
You can also call the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.