The jury trial of a man charged over the murder of missing mum Samantha Murphy will take place in the country Victorian region where she vanished.
The mother-of-three vanished without a trace on the morning of February 4 after leaving her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, Victoria.
Her family reported her missing later that day after she failed to show up to a family brunch.
On Friday, her alleged killer, Patrick Orren Stephenson, fronted the Supreme Court of Victoria for the first time.
Appearing via video link from Melbourne Assessment Prison, Stephenson pleaded not guilty to Ms Murphy’s murder on November 14 at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court.
His plea meant plans for a preliminary committal hearing within that court were scrapped and sent directly to the Supreme Court where the matter is to be fast tracked to trial.
That jury trial has been pencilled in to be held in Ballarat at a yet-to-be-determined time.
Judicial registrar Tim Freeman told prosecutors and Stephenson’s defence Ballarat was the appropriate jurisdiction for the trial unless someone made a specific application to have it moved to Melbourne.
Samantha Murphy vanished in February after going out for a jog
In August, alleged mushroom killer Erin Patterson was told her trial could also be held within the local community where her alleged crimes took place.
Patterson is accused of murdering three people by serving a beef Wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms.
Stephenson’s trial location is unlikely to provide any relief to Ms Murphy’s long-suffering family, who face their first Christmas without her.
Just weeks ago Ms Murphy’s husband Mick Murphy put eyes upon his wife’s alleged killer for the very first time.
Seated at the front of Ballarat Magistrates’ Court, Mr Murphy glared at the video screen in court where Stephenson appeared.
Now sporting long hair and a woolly beard, Stephenson appeared calm as he officially denied murdering Ms Murphy, whose body has still not been found.
With his arms crossed, a relaxed Stephenson simply uttered the words, ‘Not guilty, your honour’ when asked for his plea.
Flanked by Crown prosecutor Ray Gibson and Homicide Squad police, Mr Murphy refused to comment to a waiting media pack outside the court.
While Stephenson has appeared in court previously both in person and via video link, it was the first time Mr Murphy had laid eyes on his wife’s alleged killer since he was charged.
Mick Murphy (rear) makes his way out of the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on November 14
Police located Ms Murphy’s phone on the banks of a dam in May
On Friday, the Supreme Court heard prosecutors had struggled to disclose all of the trial material to Stephenson’s defence due to delays involved in analysing the contents of Ms Murphy’s phone.
The phone was retrieved on May 29 on the muddy banks of a dam positioned along the Buninyong-Mount Mercer Road in the same region the phone last connected to a mobile phone tower before it went dark.
An image of the device pulled from the scene showed what appeared to be an Apple iPhone contained in a wallet stuffed with identification cards.
It is understood the focus of finding out what was on that phone put everything else in the investigation on hold.
Detectives have been told to disclose everything needed for the trial by February, when the matter will return to court for another administrative hearing.
It is then when it will be made clear if prosecutors plan to try and have the trial moved to Melbourne.
Even with the matter fast tracked to court, the actual trial might still not get underway until late into next year.
A lengthy pre-trial is expected to take place throughout the opening months of next year in the hope of ironing out any potential issues before the main trial begins.
Patrick Orren Stephenson doesn;t look like this anymore
Samantha Murphy and husband Mick in happier times. Mr Murphy faces a sad Christmas
As the matter progresses through court, police appear no closer to finding Ms Murphy’s body.
Police remain tight-lipped over how the investigation is progressing, advising only that the search for Ms Murphy’s body continued.
Large search crews have repeatedly ventured into the wilderness around Ballarat throughout the year without any success.
Stephenson, 22, is accused of murdering Ms Murphy while she was out on a Sunday jog.
It is understood Stephenson, who was arrested five weeks after Ms Murphy was allegedly murdered, has not told police where her body is located.
He is due to appear for a preliminary hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court in August.
Stephenson is the son of former AFL Richmond and Geelong AFL player, Orren Stephenson and is not known to the Murphy family.
