Peter Falconio murder: NT police appeal to find backpacker's body 20 years after murder
It’s been 20 years since British backpacker Peter Falconio was shot dead in one of the most remote parts of Australia. Police are still desperate to find his body.
It’s been 20 years to the day that Peter Falconio was brutally murdered on a deserted outback highway.
The 28-year-old backpacker and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were doing what many young Brits had done before them, road-tripping around Australia in a campervan.
On the night of July 14, 2001, Mr Falconio and Ms Lees were travelling on the Stuart Highway in their Kombi van when they were flagged down by the driver of a Toyota Landcruiser.
The driver that had flagged them down was Bradley John Murdoch, who told the young backpackers there was sparks coming out of their van.
As Mr Falconio went to inspect the back of the van, Murdoch pulled a gun on him and shot him in the head.
Murdoch then forced Ms Lees out of the van, binding her wrists with cable ties and forcing her into the back of his Landcruiser.
She was somehow able to escape, hiding in the outback’s sparse scrub for five hours before she was able to stop a road train and get help.
NT chief minister Michael Gunner urged anyone with information about where Mr Falconio’s body might be to come forward.
“The murder of Peter Falconio was a deeply disturbing and traumatic event that had a profound effect on many people,” he told reporters.
“Not the least being Mr Falconio’s family and his girlfriend at the time, Joanne Lees.
“Murdoch has never shown remorse for his crime. It would be fitting for him to show some decency and reveal Mr Falconio’s whereabouts for the sake of those who loved him.”
When did Peter Falconio die?
Mr Falconio died 20 years ago, just after 7.30pm on July 14, 2001.
He and Ms Lees had left the UK on November 15, 2000 to travel around Asia and Australia.
The couple spent two months backpacking through Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia before landing in Sydney on January 16, 2001.
On working holiday visas, the couple spent five months working in the Harbour City before heading off on a planned road-trip around Australia.
They planned to hit Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin and Brisbane, leaving Sydney on June 25.
Less than a month later, the couple were travelling on the Stuart Highway, bound for the Devil’s Marbles and less than 300km north of Alice Springs, when Mr Falconio was tragically killed.
Where did Peter disappear?
The couple had stopped at a roadhouse in Barrow Creek, three hours north of Alice Springs, on the night of Mr Falconio’s murder.
They had been aware a car was following them since they stopped at the roadhouse, and were expecting to be overtaken by the faster vehicle, but instead the driver had pulled up alongside them and gestured for them to pull over.
After Murdoch murdered Mr Falconio, he bound Ms Lees’ hands behind her back and covered her head, forcing her into the back of his car.
Fearing she would also be killed, Ms Lees managed to escape the back of the car while Murdoch was distracted.
During Murdoch’s murder trial, it was revealed the killer had also put Mr Falconio’s body into his car, before dumping him somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome – towns almost 2000km apart.
Police today launched another appeal to find Mr Falconio’s body.
“On this 20th anniversary of the tragic disappearance of Peter Falconio, the NT Police would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that the missing person investigation into Peter remains an open and active case,” Detective Senior Sergeant Karl Day said.
“Police are urging anyone out there with any information that may assist Peter’s family in gaining some sort of closure to come forward and contact police.
“We are thinking of Peter’s family and friends on this anniversary and remain hopeful that such a milestone may jolt some information and progress the investigation.”
What happened to Bradley John Murdoch?
Bradley John Murdoch, now aged 63, is battling cancer in Darwin’s Holtze Prison.
Murdoch was found guilty of murder by a unanimous jury verdict in December 2005.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 28 years.
“I doubt that any description is capable of fully conveying the true extent of the trauma and terror that you imposed upon her,” Chief Justice Brian Martin told Murdoch at his sentencing in Darwin’s Supreme Court.
“It must have been close to the worst nightmare imaginable.”
The Northern Territory introduced “no body, no parole” legislation in 2016, meaning Murdoch will not be eligible for parole in 2032 if he keeps Mr Falconio’s whereabouts a secret.
“As a consequence, he can forego any opportunity for liberty in his life, for the absence of contrition and for the harm that he continues to cause the Falconio family,” John Elferink, the former NT Attorney-General behind the law, said at the time.
Where is Joanne Lees now?
Ms Lees, now aged 47, returned to the UK after helping put Murdoch in jail.
She was the star witness for the prosecution, facing Murdoch in court on October 18, 2005.
Ms Lees had hidden in bush for five hours before managing to run to the highway just after 12.30am the next day to flag down a road train.
She wrote a book about her harrowing ordeal called No Turning Back.
The book was released in October 2006, with Ms Lees returning to the UK for its launch and subsequent press.
In 2017, it was revealed Ms Lees had been working with an Australian sculptor to construct a memorial for Mr Falconio at the place he was murdered.
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