Alleged murderer of Samantha Murphy hit with fresh charges while behind bars
The young man charged with murdering Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy has been slapped with fresh charges.
Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with murdering the 51-year-old mother while she was on a jog near the Canadian Forest on February 4.
No trace of her has been found.
Mr Stephenson has spent the last two months behind bars while awaiting his next court appearance on August 8.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW
On Thursday, police charged the 22-year-old over a separate incident that allegedly occurred on the AFL Grand Final night on October 1 last year.
Police allege he crashed into a tree while riding a motorbike in the Ballarat area.
When police arrived on the scene, he failed a breath test and a further drug test at Ballarat police station returned positive.
He was charged with drink driving, drug driving and careless driving offences.
Originally published as Alleged murderer of Samantha Murphy hit with fresh charges while behind bars
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails