Samantha Murphy: Patrick Orren Stephenson’s classmate explains his teenage dreams – and why they thought he was ‘the next Elon Musk’
EXCLUSIVE
A former classmate of Samantha Murphy’s accused killer has revealed that in high school he had big dreams of changing the world by creating a solution to combat climate change.
Patrick Stephenson, 22, the son of former AFL player Orren Stephenson, was this week charged with murdering the 51-year-old mother of three on February 4 after she left her Ballarat home for a morning run.
The development – four weeks after Ms Murphy’s disappearance – has shocked the rural town of Victoria, where both the Stephenson and Murphy families are well-known and respected members of the community.
As the search for Ms. Murphy’s body continues, a Damascus College graduate who attended the school with Stephenson for two years said he was also surprised by the arrest of his former classmate.
The man, who was a grade older than Stephenson, said they were in the same roll call class and that the alleged killer was friends with his younger brother.
Patrick Orren Stephenson (left) is charged with the February 4 murder of Samantha Murphy
‘He loved IT [Information Technology] and he was always tinkering with cars and tools and stuff, he was interested in mechanics and science,” the classmate said.
‘We both participated in a science fair [at school] and we worked on robots together. He would ask teachers for extra time to use the classrooms and tools.”
The former student said Stephenson was outgoing and an avid rower who was a member of the school’s sports team.
Outside of school, Stephenson would sometimes visit his parents’ house to hang out with his younger brother, where the pair would “work on stuff in the shed.”
However, his most vivid memory of Stephenson was his ambitions to tackle air pollution caused by the transport sector.
And the former student believed he seemed tenacious enough to succeed.
“I remember him talking about how he wanted to come up with a solution to make cars more environmentally friendly and reduce CO2 emissions,” he said.
“He seemed passionate about it, like he was going to tackle it later in life.
“You know, like ‘wow, he could be the next Elon Musk.’
Stephenson attended Damascus College (pictured) during his senior years of high school
The remains of Victorian mother Samantha Murphy (pictured) have yet to be found
Stephenson started high school at St Patrick’s College, before transferring to Damascus College for years 10-12.
He graduated in 2019 before taking up a profession as an electrician, like his father, a local electrician and telecommunications technician.
Police say Stephenson and Ms Murphy did not know each other, but she worked in the uniform shop at St Francis Xavier Primary School around the same time he attended the school.
Mrs Murphy’s eldest daughter Jess, who is also 22, was also a member of the same school community.
While Jess attended different high schools than Stephenson, Ms Murphy’s youngest daughter is currently studying at Damascus College.
In recent weeks, the high school has publicly expressed their support for the distressed Murphy family as they frantically search for their missing mother and wife.
“As the search for Samantha continues, Damascus College extends our prayers and support to the Murphy family,” the school wrote in a Feb. 9 message.
“As a community we have seen and heard Michael [Ms Murphy’s husband] and Jess about the recent news, and our hearts are full as we remain steadfast in hope.
Despite his big teen tech dreams, Stephenson (pictured with his girlfriend) took up a profession after leaving school
“In times of challenge and uncertainty, we may experience mixed emotions, and we recognize the sadness and vulnerability that the Damascus community may be experiencing at this time.
“We keep the Murphy family in our hearts and prayers as we pray for a positive outcome.”
Former student Stephenson would be arrested just four weeks later on March 6 while holed up with his girlfriend in a house in Scotsburn, 19km south of Ballarat.
Police will allege Stephenson killed the mother in Mount Clear – about five kilometers from her Ballarat East home – while she was running through Woowookarung Regional Park in the morning.
Victoria Police say they do not believe anyone else is involved and have seized a number of items including a car and CCTV footage from local pubs as part of the investigation.
Over the past month, police and dozens of volunteers have carried out large-scale searches of the area, but no traces of Ms Murphy have been found.
Stephenson has been in custody since Thursday and has not disclosed the location of her body to investigators.
A gag order on Stephenson’s identity was lifted by a Victorian magistrate on Friday.
His case will return to court at a later date.