A suppression order preventing media from naming the man accused of murdering missing mum Samantha Murphy more than a month ago has been lifted.
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22 from Mount Clear, was brought before the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning just 19 hours after his first appearance the afternoon prior.
Wearing a grey sweatshirt, he sat flanked between two security officers, staring straight ahead.
Mr Stephenson is the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, who played 15 games with Geelong and Richmond from 2012 to 2014.
The private school boy, who attended Ballarat’s St Patrick’s college, shared his dad’s love of the game, playing for local team the Redan Lions.
In an 2013 interview with AFL News, Orren said he was blessed to share his AFL experience with his son and two daughters.
“Patrick last year was rolling around the rooms with the Geelong Cats and this year he’s rolling around with the Richmond Tiger boys,” he said.
“He wouldn’t pass it up for quids. It’s a massive bonus that we can share these pretty good times in our lives with our kids.”
On Thursday, his lawyer David Tamanika was granted an interim order suppressing media from publishing personal information about his client, including his name, date of birth and address.
A day later, Mr Tamanika said he now wanted to withdraw their application to keep Mr Stephenson’s name suppressed.
“The charge had only commenced that afternoon perhaps only a couple of hours before the filing hearing,” he said.
He said the order was requested because it was the “responsibility” of all legal practitioners to act on their client’s behalf, and had “nothing to do with any disrespect or disregard to Ms Murphy”.
“This matter is in its extreme infancy,” he said.
“The substantive application would have been heard in 3-4 weeks, respectfully this is hardly cause for outrage.
“It is concerning that the application or granting of such orders can be, or is, immediately seen as being some form of underhanded move or manipulation.”
He decried the “media storm” about the suppression order and said his client had “instructed me to withdraw” the application.
Having only recently met the man — who was first arrested at 6am a day earlier — Mr Tamanika on Thursday raised concerns about his client’s mental health and right to a fair trial in the “highly publicised case”.
The request was opposed by media outlets, but approved by Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz who said the law did not require her to judge the “merits of the application” because it was only temporary.
A full hearing on the suppression order was initially set down for mid-April but this was moved to Friday just hours after the temporary order was imposed.
On Friday morning, Ms Mykytowycz noted the time was changed after she raised concerns the law requires urgency and after consultation with Victoria’s chief magistrate.
She told Mr Tamanika it was “very, very, very unlikely” she would have extended the order without sufficient evidence for the concerns he raised.
“The interim order effectively ceases from this particular point in time,” she said.
The 22-year-old was arrested at a Scotsburn home on Wednesday and charged with murder about 30 hours later.
Police have remained tight-lipped about the methods used to identify the accused man, saying they will not go into “operational matters” but added the investigation remains ongoing.
The mother-of-three’s disappearance after leaving her Eureka St home on February 4 to go for a run shocked the community and quickly became one of the most high-profile missing persons investigations in the state.
The 51-year-old’s family reported her missing to police later that day after she failed to attend a brunch.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said a “painstaking and methodical investigation” that led to the alleged killer’s arrest.
“He’s been located through a range of investigative outcomes that came together,” he said.
“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.”
Chief Commissioner Patton said police would allege the accused man acted alone.
“He has been charged with murder so, by definition, we are saying this was a deliberate attack on Samantha,” he said.
“In the interview with the suspect, he has not disclosed to police where her body is.”
He said Ms Murphy’s family had come under “intense scrutiny” but have co-operated fully and had no involvement.
Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson said his community was relieved and devastated at the development.
“There’s been enormous community concern right from the outset … even as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into a month,” he said.
“This was a story that resonated across Australia, Sam was a mum doing everyday things.
He said he didn’t know the man charged with Ms Murphy’s murder personally but described his family as “lovely people”.
Volunteers involved in the search are holding a public vigil at the Eureka Stockade Memorial Garden at 7pm on Friday.
The man will return to court for a committal mention in August.