I stand at the spot near Barrow Creek where Peter Falconio disappeared 10 Years ago.
Ten years after British backpacker Peter Falconio vanished on a dark night in the Australian outback, the man convicted of his murder has challenged the police to ‘show me his body’.
As the mystery remains about what happened to Mr Falconio after his girlfriend Joanne Lees claimed she heard a gunshot at the rear of their Volkswagen campervan, Bradley Murdoch continues to insist he did not kill the 28-year-old Briton at that lonely spot at Barrow Creek.
Miss Lees, then 27, and Mr Falconio were travelling through the outback, heading north from Alice Springs towards Darwin on the night of July 14, 2001, when she claims a stranger in a white four-wheel drive tricked them into stopping, with the pretence that something was wrong with the exhaust of their Volkswagen campervan.
After Mr Falconio got out to inspect the rear, she heard the two men talking, then heard what she believed was a shot. The stranger then tossed her into his vehicle after a fierce struggle but she said she managed to escape through the rear and hide in nearby bushes.
Murdoch, prisoner number 257128, shudders in an icy winter wind sweeping in from the surrounding desert as we sit in an outdoor visiting area in the Alice Springs Correctional Centre and claims that it is these very same conditions that made it impossible for him to have murdered and buried Mr Falconio.
‘The police say that after I shot him I must have buried his body – but the ground is so hard out there at this time of the year that you’d need a mechanical digger to bury someone so well that they can’t be found. And there was a time frame against me, making such a thing impossible.
‘The police have had all the time in the world to find Falconio – 10 long years to search while I, according to their case had just hours to hide him.. They haven’t found him. Yet they’ve convicted me of murdering him.’
In an extraordinary chat with me, the tall 52-year-old former drug courier who is serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 28 years, revealed he still held out hope of freedom, despite losing all his appeals. Speaking at length for the first time since his conviction, he disclosed that legal and forensic experts from around the world were working on the evidence and discrepancies in the prosecution case and ‘there remains a good chance for me yet. I can only repeat to you that I didn’t kill Peter Falconio because I wasn’t there at Barrow Creek.’
Two other people with an intriguing role in the affair have also added to the mystery of Falconio’s whereabouts – if his remains are not lying in the desert somewhere. Melissa Kendall, 32, insists that she and her partner, 33-year-old Robbie Brown, served a man fitting Peter Falconio’s description at a petrol station in the outback town of Bourke a week after what has become known as the Incident at Barrow Creek.
‘Robbie and I have had since 2001 to think about all this,’ she said, ‘and not a day goes by without us remaining convinced that the man we served was Peter Falconio. His picture was in the Sunday paper that very same day and we were both left shaken to see him walk into the store and buy some chocolate.’
The mystifying ongoing Peter Falconio case has intrigued lawyers, scientists, police officers and armchair detectives around the world. For based on forensic evidence presented at Murdoch’s trial in Darwin in 2005 – his DNA was said to have been found on Miss Lees’ T-shirt and in the campervan – he was the man responsible for the murder of Mr Falconio, from Huddersfield.
But according to discrepancies in the events as described by Miss Lees, the Australian could not have been there – her description of her attacker did not match Murdoch, his dalmation dog or his vehicle. And several police officers had serious doubts about her account of the attack on that bitterly cold night with the temperature hovering around zero.
Added to the intrigue was the revelation during Murdoch’s trial that Miss Lees had been having an affair with an Irishman called Nick Riley, whom she had met each Friday night for sex in Sydney before setting off for her outback travels with long-time boyfriend Mr Falconio. She was forced to reluctantly admit in court that she had even written to Riley just days after Mr Falconio’s disappearance suggesting they meet up in Berlin.
‘You put her entire story together and there’s only one conclusion – it doesn’t add up and you can’t have a case that doesn’t add up and then convict a man of murder without even a body,’ says Murdoch as he sits at the table, decorated with an Aboriginal motif, in the visitor’s area of the prison. His short-cropped once-sandy-coloured hair has turned grey and his face is deeply lined. Under the cuffs of his blue sweater are traces of the tattoos that run up his arms. His two front teeth are missing – a startling feature that Miss Lees did not mention when she described her attacker to police.
‘Joanne claims that after I shot Falconio I dragged her into my vehicle and that while I was looking at ways to get rid of the body she managed to clamber into the back of the vehicle and escape through the rear,’ he says. ‘Well everybody who knew me knows my cab was sealed – you can’t get into the back that way. In fact the police admitted they had found only a couple of vehicles in the whole of Australia that had access from front to back.
‘And then, when she was challenged on this in court she said she might have been mistaken and that I had pushed her in through the canvas sides. She was wrong about that, too, because underneath the canvas I had a steel mesh. She talked about hiding in bushes while I came looking for her with my dog, but believe me if it was me there my dog would have found her.
‘And how come the police and the Aboriginal trackers found traces of her footprints in the bush but no traces of anyone else’s? Yet I was supposed to have been looking for her for hours.’
Murdoch remains calm as he goes over what he says are the numerous discrepancies – he has had nearly six years since his sentencing to go over the claims against him and his anger has subsided. ‘But I still wonder how they could have possibly thought that after claiming I had shot Falconio – and there was no gunshot residue on the back of their van – I drove off with the body, leaving a witness, Joanne, hiding in the bushes.
‘Why on earth would I have decided to drive all the way back to Alice Springs – what, 300kms – to buy fuel, as the police claimed, with a body in the vehicle? How was I to have known that Joanne hadn’t raised the alarm before I even got there and that police had already set up road blocks?
‘It’s another aspect of the case against me that doesn’t make sense and neither does the fact that not only did they not find any trace of a body being picked up or dragged into another vehicle at the scene – they haven’t even found the body.’
Northern Territory Police say that there are no active searches for Mr Falconio’s body, but if they received credible information it would be investigated. Murdoch holds out hopes that the DNA evidence used against him will eventually lead to his freedom.
Referring to the speck of DNA said to be his on Miss Lees’ T-shirt, the convicted murderer says that if it was he who had dragged her from the VW and thrown her to the ground to restrain her, his DNA would be all over her – and it wasn’t. He also says that traces of his DNA said to have been found by British forensic scientist Dr Jonathan Whitaker using a controversial technique called low copy numbers should not have even been allowed in his trial.
‘The FBI refuses to use this very same technique because it’s unreliable and when it was used against Sean Hoey who was charged with the Omagh bombing in Ireland in 1998 the case collapsed after the judge criticised Dr Whitaker’s evidence.
‘Yet this technique was used against me when Dr Whitaker said he found traces of my DNA in the VW because I had presumably driven the vehicle into the bush to hide if from passing traffic.
‘The holes in the case against me are huge but one day I hope it will all turn around. None of us knows where this business is going to turn next.’
Nearly 800 miles away Melissa Kendall says the day the man she insists was Peter Falconio walked into the petrol station in the remote outback town of Bourke where she was working with Robbie Brown will remain imprinted on her mind.
‘The police made a mockery of us, one detective saying he hadn’t seen Elvis yet, either, after we reported seeing Peter Falconio – because that’s how I’ll always refer to the man.’
The Falconio affair is replete with red herrings and alternative scenarios but Miss Kendall’s ‘sighting’ of Falconio fits in with rumours that Mr Falconio faked his own death because he had money troubles at home – and never expected his disappearance to make international headlines. But they are rumours, whispers, guesses, and Mr Falconio’s family and Miss Lees have often pleaded for them to stop.
Murdoch’s lawyer, Grant Algie, raised the possibility of the ‘fake death’ scenario when he said at Murdoch’s trial that the British couple had stopped by the side of the road near Barrow Creek to meet a third man who, it had been arranged, would take Peter away alive.
‘When the man I say was Peter Falconio walked into the petrol station, he was with two other people who behaved really strangely,’ recalls Miss Kendall. ‘He didn’t say much, but I think he had an accent, which might or might not have been English. I was just stunned at seeing this man whose face I had been looking at in the paper just a short time before.
‘The people he was with – a man and a woman – were in an open-back truck which they parked out of sight of the office part of the petrol station and they had to stretch the fuel hose right out to make it reach. It was as if they didn’t want us to see the vehicle.
‘But Robbie and I both went out, very carefully, to look at them all. The other man who was with “Peter Falconio” matched the photo-fit pictures the police had put out in the hunt for the man who carried out the attack at Barrow Creek.
‘It was really weird and rather frightening. “Peter Falconio” had a bit of an injury to the left side of his mouth, like a scab, just below the corner of his mouth. When they drove off, they didn’t drive out into the main road. They went up a back lane which led off in the direction of Brisbane.
‘Nothing will convince me that the man I saw wasn’t Peter Falconio. It was him all right and Robbie and I will continue to swear it for the rest of our lives.’
Today Miss Lees lives in a house she has bought in the north of England. She has declined to comment in any detail about the incident, adding that she and the Falconio family would prefer to remain out of the spotlight now that 10 years have passed.
At Barrow Creek today there is no longer any sign of the patch of blood on the road which forensic scientists said matched Peter Falconio’s – despite one analyst claiming it was mixed with animal blood. It has long since been erased by thousands of tourist vehicles and the single complete footprint that police said matched Miss Lees’ in the sandy surface near the road has eroded with the weather.
But hawks circle overhead, looking for animal prey – dead or alive. And Aborigine trackers – first called to the scene in the hours after Miss Lees’ raised the alarm by waving down a passing truck in the dead of night – said if there had been a body or a wounded man lying in the bush at the time, the birds of prey would have hovered over it.
But they saw no hawks. Cadaver dogs found no body.
Peter Falconio had disappeared, leaving behind a mystery that has endured for 10 years.
I spent 27 days in a cell next to Bradley in Darwin, before being deported back to England. i spoke to this man on many occasions during that time, and as a backpacker myself at that time found it funny that the Australian authorities would put myself in that position. From what i could see of him, he was a dangerous man, but in regards to Peters death, i believe him to not have done it.
I’ll believe the investigators over some dude and some chick in a back of Bourke servo anyday.
They think they see Peter Falconio with a couple? and possible injuries, go outside to eyeball them but don’t get the number plate?
The outback can be quite a boring place really and famous for the great aussie yarn. A quite boring incident of 1 sale of chips, lollies and fuel has turned into a tale of international intrigue and fake murder
I can only imagine the amount of time wasters in a high profile case like this.
interesting article
Remember Azaria Chamberlain and believe that investigators do get it wrong!
It’s a very odd story. What struck me about the original case reports was the absence of any traces of the claimed dog. According to Joanne’s story, she was right up against this animal in the front of the presumed killer’s vehicle. Brad Murdoch’s dog usually travelled in the passenger seat, or else slept in the back of the vehicle, where Joanne said she had been before she escaped. The killer is also presumed to have driven the kombi into the bush so there was a good chance of a few dog DNA traces being found there. However, not a trace of dog DNA or even a single dog hair appears to have been found on the back of Joanne’s green tee-shirt or the seat of her shorts. Neither was any trace of dog found in the front of the kombi. The skilled Aboriginal trackers were unable to find so much as a paw print from the dog, let alone any other trace, yet Joanne said that the killer and the dog had spent quite a time searching for her in the scrub before the killer gave up and drove away. The curious case of the dog in the night time? This dog certainly “did” nothing, like the one in the Sherlock Holmes story, which is why its behaviour was so curious.
An heavily biased recount of the Falconio case. No balance at at all and no mention of the rape of a 13 year old that Murdoch escaped conviction on ..due to a technicality. Anyone that has examined the facts ‘carefully’ and disregarded the rumours would take the view that Murdoch is the person that stop Lee’s and Falconio that night..
The body should be somewhere around the murray downs turnoff road.
No experienced crim is going to cart a body around for more than is necessary, or dispose of it directly off a main road
That Joanne’ s version of events is muddled, only advises the effects of the Dope she was on.Looking at it logically, she was obviously pushed back into her own vehicle, not Murdoch’s, as apparently Murdoch’s blood was also on the gearstick in the Kombi van. As for the people at Bourke categorically thinking they saw Falconio,they were obviously mistaken. He had no reason to go missing& keep in mind Murdoch not only changed his appearance,but also his vehicles.
Ask yourself, how many of your friends & acquaintances have done that in the last 40 years?? none ,correct…
The trouble is Joanne Lees seems to have changed her story so many times, The car was wrong, her discription was wrong, the dog was wrong, the timing was wrong. Something happened out there and hopefully one day we will all find out the truth. I find it very hard to believe just about every author who has published a book on the subject, all got it wrong. Brad Murdochs blood wasn’t found anywhere and only LCDNA suggested it was. That has been found to be very unreliable even by the FBI. They don’t use it. None of us know the truth but I think for myself I have to keep an open mind. As the saying goes, “Theres something rotten in Denmark”.
One of the problems with this story is in the absence of factual information people fill in the gaps with assumptions and rumour. The internet being what it is, it doesn’t take long for assumptions and rumours to propagate and appear in forums, chat rooms etc. Then the assumptions and rumours become so called facts, they appear in books, magazines and before you know it the actual story has evolved into a mixture of facts and fiction. This case, unfortunately, stands as a very good example of that. Joanne Lees, Like Lindy Chamberlain did not present as the typical grieving woman that just lost a love one. Their demeanour did not sit well with the public, so because of that the public looked upon them with suspicion. Joannes story, just like Lindys, seemed incredulous and together with their suspect demeanour people thought she must be guilty, at least in some way.
I recommend the reading of this very well formatted book. (2011)
FIND PETER – DEAD OR ALIVE !
By :- KEITH ALLAN NOBLE
Keep an open mind, for it is only when something of this callibre happens to you that you relise, the powers of state are out of your control, including corruption, if they want you they have the powers in place to get you, no one is exempt.
This is not a conspiracy theory, it is a statement of fact.
You will “NOT” beat the state system, you are not powerfull enough.!
The best you can do is play them at their own game.
To do that you need to know the rules of the game.
Hi Richard,
You and Andrew Fraser should get together and write a book. Between your face to face interview and Fraser’s phone interview – broadcast on the Sunday program, I think they are the only two interviews Murdoch has given…..I wonder why? Would it be becuase your both sympathetic to Murdoch’s plight? What a joke! The mail is Murdoch isnt telling where the body is until he exauhsts all the legal avenues still available that might help him beat the case i.e. A current amendment under consideration to a law that – if passed – would throw out the DNA evidence used in the Falconio case becuase of its low strain count. This would mean he would probably get off. If he dosent get that then, he will look to bargin with the authorities using the location of the body to get transferred to WA – or wherever his mum lives. Stay tuned folks. The big reveal is yet to come. Will make great TV too!!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3691717/New-twist-in-Brit-backpackers-outback-murder.html
I just noticed this link above and wondered what people think? I’m so intrigued by this whole case and do not think Bradley Murdock should be in prison for it. I wish I could find the answer like everyone else – is it bad to say that maybe the whole family could be in on it!? (if it was a faked death like some say) I mean at the time they didn’t know but in later years found out what really happend as there are so many discrepancies in Joanne Lees accounts of what happened??
l always believed Bradley Murdoch to be guilty of the Peter Falconio mystery only by listening and reading media stories at the time. I recomend reading ‘Dead Centre’ by Robin Bowles. it has completely changed by mind to what happened on that night. Everything that Dee has pointed out, especially all the discrepencies at the incident site do not add up…..Read the book, it has become my most read book as many ,many people have now read it and all but one reader have changed thier oppinions.
The claim by the couple seeing Peter Falconio days after his death are a load of rubbish.they may have seen someone who resembled him and thats where it ends.I was born and bred in Alice and drive past the spot regularly where Peter lost his life.The fact of the matter is Bradley Murdoch murdered Peter Falconio.He saw them in Alice ,took a shine to her,and the motive was sexual, get rid of the boyfriend, take her in the bush, an do his sick thing.Murdoch makes the statement
in the interview around the fact that Joanne could have left her hiding place and waved down a vechile 5 miutes after he left for all he knew(( my thoughts exactly) and would have been anxious to part ways with the body.I think Peter Falconio would have been disposed of very quickly after he died (within an hour )and still lies where Bradley buried him.Also bullshit his statement the grounds to hard to bury someone that time of year here there,s infinite creeks ,gullys ,and drains s where someone could do the job,my guess is Peter Falconio is within 50 k,s of the incident and probably about 5 to 6 km,s in on anyone of the hundreds of service roads,firebreaks ,tracks made by aboriginal people for hunting or shortcuts to communities , just in that distance. My guess after all this time and knowing this country its unlikly he will ever be found,so sad for his family Id suggest to all the conspiracy theorists including Richard Shears who I suspect has ulterior motives to keep the debate going .$$$, Leave the poor girl and his family alone to get on with it. Give it up,and get a life.Bradley Murdoch today is exactly where he should be and he knows it. Amen.
Thanks for your comment Danso – I’m happy to listen to and post every point of view. However I do note that you work for the Northern Territory government which brought the case against Bradley John Murdoch, but setting that aside I’m also aware that your comments are based on your beliefs rather than fact. I’ve followed this whole affair from day one and report only the known facts – and to this day there are a lot of facts that have been left floating out there, with no answers.
I won’t go into the whole case here again but would ask you to look at the discrepancies in Joanne’s story and while a speck of DNA on her T-shirt puts Bradley Murdoch in contact with her on the face of it, her account does not convincingly put him there on the scene. So we have a man who was there and who wasn’t there. The police and Aboriginal trackers have searched the area high and low, including all those places you suggest, without finding a trace of Peter Falconio and I’d ask you to consider this: Of all the people in Britain planning a visit to Australia, Peter Falconio was, based on logic, the only person to approach an insurance investigator to ask how people faked their deaths when they were overseas and what mistakes they made before they were caught. And then Peter Falconio turned out to be the only Briton who actually did disappear months later, his body never to be found. Perhaps it is out there somewhere. Perhaps not. Nobody really knows at this stage. But thanks for your comment. Discussion keeps the case open. By the way – your assumption I’ve worked on this for money is totally wrong. I’m a working journalist and this was a story that was written about by hundreds of others in the same profession.
Just one more comment before I leave this alone the only reason Joannes footprints were the only ones found at the scene is obvious …. because she was running.
Thanks for your time Richard
Hi Richard. You mentioned in your reply to Danso that Peter approached an insurance investigator regarding life insurance fraud. This statement is incorrect and misleading. The so called investigator was Pete’s co worker that was moonlighting collating and processing insurance claims.
This co worker who’s pseudonym is Mr Chivers actually approached Pete and told him about the fake missing persons / life insurance claims he had heard about from his boss. The fact is Peter did not, at any time take a life insurance policy on himself. This was extensively investigated by police in Australia and in Europe. Lloyds of London were also consulted and they examined their records – nothing.
Pete did have the standard, basic travellers insurance, the type most overseas travellers have but even so that policy was never claimed against. S o the life insurance scam theory has no substance or basis in fact. Mr Chivers was interviewed at length by the police and his story was later deemed to be made out of spite or an attempt to gain his 15 mins of fame.
Hi Barry, Thanks for your comment regarding Peter Falconio and a possible insurance fraud. I’m well aware that insurance never came into the picture but I can tell you that the reason the claims by the co-worker, given the name Chivers at his request, received so much attention is that he signed an affidavit before a solicitor in which he told of Peter Falconio asking numerous times how people faked their deaths overseas.
No-one makes claims on an affidavit, a legal document, without being aware of the consequences if it is found to be false.
I personally checked out the possibility, or not, of an insurance scam by taking that affidavit to senior Australian police who in turn made contact with their British counterparts and the insurance angle was quickly dismissed. In fact Australian police had received several letters making the same claim, but none was more ‘powerful’ than a sworn affadivit, in this case the one made by Mr Chivers.
There have been many red herrings in this case and I’m sure others will crop up in the future.
Richard.
interesting. now where is the food article…:)