The night before Samantha Murphy failed to appear for brunch, and her family, worried about her safety, alerted police that she might be missing, Patrick Stephenson was socialising with friends at a pub in central Ballarat.

Stephenson, who detectives believe took Murphy’s life and attempted to conceal the alleged crime for more than a month, was at a bar in the centre of the regional town with friends.

On Thursday Stephenson was charged with murder over the disappearance of Murphy, the beloved 51-year-old mother-of-three who vanished on February 4.

The media named Stephenson on Thursday, but a suppression order on his name, date of birth and home address made during his court appearance forced the publications to be retracted.

That order has now been revoked, allowing this masthead to reveal further details about the man accused of deliberately killing Murphy, although his alleged motive remains unexplained.

In his formative years Stephenson was immersed in the world of top-tier football. He would tag along with his father, late-life AFL draftee Orren Stephenson, into the clubs – mixing with players, seeing the sport up close – an experience that many boys would dream of.

Loading

But while the Stephenson family is liked and respected in the Ballarat community, the feelings are mixed about middle child Patrick.

A local newspaper featured Patrick and his footy friends advocating for mates to look after one another on the roads.

But following news of his arrest, locals described him as a troubled teenager.

The allegations made by police sit in contrast with the image of Patrick Stephenson as a young man enmeshed in the upper echelons of football, tagging along with his father, rubbing shoulders with AFL greats.

His father was picked up in the draft at the ripe age of 29, one of the oldest ever drafted, and played as a sporadic member of Geelong and Richmond.

Orren Stephenson’s only son has his father’s first name as his middle name.

The father’s brief AFL career was a huge boon for the family. His son loved the culture and access the father’s position granted him.

In an interview in 2013, Orren Stephenson said it was great that he could share his time in the AFL with his kids, including his son.

“Patrick last year was rolling around the rooms with the Geelong Cats, and this year he’s rolling around with the Richmond Tiger boys,” Orren said.

“He wouldn’t pass it up for quids. He loves it and the girls have had a lot of fun with it as well. It’s a massive bonus that we can share these pretty good times in our lives with our kids.”

When asked, Mount Clear neighbours quickly recall a friendly home and gregarious sisters, but struggle to remember a lot about the boy who would ride his bike around the cul-de-sac.

Neighbours remark that home life appeared happy and the family close.

Patrick Stephenson went to Damascus College and St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, private schools with a conservative culture imbued with a sense of tradition.

Loading

Jessie Metcalfe was in the year below Stephenson at Damascus. Although they were in different friendship circles and he hadn’t seen much of him since school, Metcalfe said Stephenson was a popular kid who played a lot of sport.“It’s been a huge shock,” he said.

Like his father, Patrick was an enthusiastic footballer, playing for the Redan Football Club under-19s, though his involvement with the team had frayed in the past couple of years. He was also a rower.

Orren is now an electrician and well known in Ballarat for playing footy with Redan/North Ballarat and then the AFL. His wife is a primary school teacher.

Patrick Stephenson split his time between a home in Scotsburn and his parents’ place in Mount Clear, both close to where Murphy went missing.

Scotsburn, where the accused was arrested, is a farming hamlet wrapped around the Midland Highway about 20 minutes south-east of Ballarat.

Properties in the area have long driveways and boundaries screened by tall trees and native vegetation.

It’s suited to people who run hobby farms and value privacy. Many residents are elderly, and few knew the accused.

Two young men this masthead spoke to on Thursday, who did not give their names, said the Stephenson family lived on a property in a forested area on the western fringes of the suburb, but this couldn’t be independently verified.

In the western part of the suburb houses descend into thick forest near the Durham Lead Nature Conservation Reserve.

“I know the parents of the accused killer,” a person who knew the family, but who wanted to remain anonymous, told this masthead. “They are just lovely people and have brought their children up beautifully. I just feel sick for them.”

“They were wonderful, absolutely wonderful neighbours,” said another. “I didn’t really know [the man], I only really know girls.”

“I was totally amazed, I didn’t expect it at all, didn’t know what was going on, particularly when I got home [to the street] full of cars.”

“There was ... never anything going on,” said another person who knew the family.

Most neighbours spoken to in rural Scotsburn had never met the alleged killer or seen police swoop in to arrest him in the early hours of March 6.

“Absolutely no idea of motive, or where it occurred, or what occurred, or what method was used,” another neighbour said.

Loading

Police, too, haven’t released their theory about what might have motivated Patrick Stephenson to allegedly take Murphy’s life. Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said police weren’t looking for anyone else.

Police allege the accused took the life of a woman they believe he had no relationship with, in dense bushland on a quiet Sunday morning.

“It’s not easy running up in that bush, all hilly and everything,” said a neighbour, Ken.

The court heard on Thursday it was Patrick Stephenson’s first time in custody and that he was at risk of self-harm.

Volunteers have spent thousands of hours combing the bush looking for any indication of what might have happened to Murphy, as they hoped to find her alive.

Now, the Ballarat community is gradually coming to terms with her death and grieving the loss of the mother of three.

At the beginning of the mammoth search, Murphy’s teary daughter Jess said: “She’s far too determined to give up this fight.”

At the end of his media conference on Thursday, Patton asked the public for information to help find Murphy’s body.

Police said Patrick Stephenson had not told investigators where her body was.