Joanne Lees still single ten years after murder of boyfriend Peter Falconio

PERHAPS she is slimmer than 10 years ago but Joanne Lees looks remarkably unchanged since the infamous Outback murder of her boyfriend, Peter Falconio.

lees

PERHAPS she is slimmer than 10 years ago but Joanne Lees looks remarkably unchanged since the infamous Outback murder of her boyfriend, Peter Falconio.

Incredibly it is now a decade since Peter was slain deep in the heart of Australia by crazed drug runner, Bradley Murdoch.

Joanne, 37, now lives quietly by herself in a $350,000 terraced house in Huddersfield in the north of the UK, 190 miles out of London.

Dark secrets on a lonely highway

She has lived a quiet life and is still single, having had no serious boyfriend since Peter.

Joanne, as always, has remained mainly tight lipped about her feelings leading up to the anniversary, telling Woman's Day magazine: "I'm sorry. It's always difficult for me.''

Joanne Lees: My story

But she did tell the mag: "Peter's family and I both feel that it would be wrong to keep talking about it.

"There comes a time when you feel you have said what you want to say.

"The anniversary is obviously very difficult for us, and the best approach is to deal with it in our own way, out of the spotlight.''

Joanne carried a lined writing pad into the home, which she bought after she wrote a book about the murder in 2006, called No Turning Back.

Peter, then 28, was killed on July 14, 2001, as he and Joanne drove their kombi late at night on the Stuart Highway north of Alice Springs.

His body has never been found.

Murdoch, 52, now languishing in Alice Springs jail, was caught after one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history.

He was convicted on DNA evidence from blood on Joanne's T-shirt as she fought to escape.

Despite his conviction, many have questioned Joanne's version of the events that lead to the killing.

Since the killing, Joanne has worked at a travel agency and also as a social worker with disabled people.

She has also studied sociology at Sheffield University.
 

More from The Daily Telegraph on this story

• Paul Toohey: My search for Peter Falconio
• Her story: My Outback night of terror
• Outback ordeal: Joanne Lees blasts Ten movie
• Gallery: Peter Falconio investigation
• Police dismiss Falconio bones find 
• Bones 'likely from animal', not Falconio