Samantha Murphy's accused murderer faces court
The man accused of murdering Samantha Murphy has faced court to an "unprecedented" amount of evidence.
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, has been charged with the murder of mother-of-three Murphy, 51, at Mount Clear, after she went missing on February 4th.
Stephenson was arrested in March, as the police investigation into the location of Murphy's body continued to no avail.
Appearing before the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court via video link from prison, Stephenson was told he will wait behind bars for another three months before his case returns due to the "unprecedented" brief of evidence against him.
Prosecutors asked the court to adjourn the committal mention for 12 weeks in order to allow them to go through a brief of evidence which contains "extensive" CCTV footage.
Stephenson's barrister Moya O'Brien agreed to the three-month delay as she said the evidence brief had only recently been served on defence and was "described as unprecedented in terms of size".
Magistrate Mark Stratmann said three months was "a long time" for Stephenson and the community to wait, although agreed to allow the adjournment.
Stephenson was remanded back into custody until the case returns to the Ballarat court on November 14.
Stephenson's court appearance comes just days after Samantha Murphy’s loved ones marked six months since she vanished.
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