Overview

• The Supreme Court will hear the case in Ballarat beginning April 8, 2026.
• The hearing is expected to last around six weeks with pre-trial arguments set to start in November 2025 as the court establishes deadlines for both prosecution and defence.
• Stephenson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to murdering mother Samantha Murphy after she vanished on a February 4, 2024 jog from her Ballarat East home.
• Extensive police and community searches across the Ballarat region have failed to locate Murphy’s body.
• Investigators recovered Murphy’s phone along with personal items in a Buninyong dam early in the probe without finding her remains.