One morning while looking for some cows that had strayed, Anne Sherritt passed an unoccupied hut, ‘about six or seven miles from Beechworth’ and saw Joe getting on Music. She asked him what he was doing there and Joe replied that he was “looking for Hare, to shoot him.” After further conversation with Joe, Anne went into Beechworth and informed Detective Ward, who telegraphed the fact to Benalla.
The unoccupied house may have been Dick Murphy’s hut, where Joe was noted to be sleeping. Dick was a strong supporter of Joe’s and according to Elly Byrne, ‘Dick was there (at the Byrne house) every night. He’d come over at seven or eight and go home at half past nine or ten. He was always there-backwards and forwards. He’d walk in and he’d say “I’m coming in” and he’d sit down and he’d talk. From the time he came in. And then he’d go.’
I don’t believe it’s too much of a stretch to assume that Richard Murphy may have had a soft spot for Margret. Obviously he’d have things to ask or tell her about Joe, but visiting the house as often as he did and for that length of time, certainly warrants being open to the idea that his visits weren’t always for Joe
An Outlaw’s Journal 