Did Bradley Murdoch kill Peter Falconio and what evidence was there against him as new documentary lands on U
Backpacker Peter was shot in the Australian outback in 2001Peter Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were travelling across Australia when he was savagely murdered – but did Bradley Murdoch kill him?
The couple’s terrible ordeal is relived in a new documentary on U&W to mark the 25th anniversary of Peter’s death.
Peter, then 28, and Joanne, 27, were driving their hired campervan at night in the outback when a man in a truck pulled them over.
In scenes straight from a horror movie, he then shot Peter dead and bound and assaulted Joanne.
Incredibly, she managed to escape and ran into the darkness, where she hid for four hours.
Joanne lived to tell the tale, but Peter’s body has never been found.
So was it Bradley Murdoch who killed Peter Falconio. And what evidence was there against him?
Here’s what you need to know as Outback Terror: The Falconio Murder airs on U&W.
Who was Peter Falconio?
Peter Falconio was born in Yorkshire in September 1972. He met girlfriend Joanne Lees when he was 24. The pair later moved in together in Brighton before setting off on what was meant to be a dream world trip.
In 2000, they set off and had plans to visit Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand and Cambodia.
But their dream trip ended in tragedy in July 2001 on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The couple were driving an orange camper van north from Alice Springs. Another driver signalled to them that there appeared to be a problem with their vehicle.
Peter pulled over to investigate. According to only witness Joanne, the man shot Peter dead and attempted to abduct her.
Incredibly, she managed to escape and hide in a nearby bush in the dark for four hours before flagging down a passing road train.
Did Bradley Murdoch kill Peter Falconio?
Yes, Bradley Murdoch did kill Peter Falconio. He was found guilty following a trial at Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin in 2005. This was four years after Peter was shot dead.
Murdoch logged two appeals against his conviction but was unsuccessful.
This wasn’t Murdoch’s first brush with the law. Aged 20 he received a suspended sentence for causing death by dangerous driving. Later, he was jailed for shooting at people during an indigenous Australia rules football match.
Two years before the Peter Falconio trial, Murdoch was charged with raping a 12-year-old girl and assaulting her mother. The court heard he bound, gagged and raped the girl in the back of his truck.
A jury later acquitted Murdoch of the charges due to a split decision.
But retired police detective, Geoff Carson, says in Outback Terror: The Falconio Murder: “I’ll say it now, I absolutely 100 per cent believed the mother and the daughter.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the person who committed those crimes upon them was Bradley Murdoch.”
What was the evidence against Bradley Murdoch in the Falconio case?
Murdoch pleaded not guilty to murdering Peter Falconio and assaulting and attempting to kidnap Joanne Lees. But the evidence against him was strong.
This included DNA evidence that was unchallenged during the trial.
Carmen Eckhoff, a forensic scientist, concluded a bloodstain on the back of Joanne’s T-shirt was “at least 150 quadrillion times” more likely to be Murdoch’s than anyone else’s.
DNA evidence was also found on the makeshift cable-tie handcuffs Murdoch had used on Joanne, along with the gearstick of Peter and Joanne’s camper van.
Joanne also identified Murdoch as the man responsible during a police line-up.
Murdoch was handed a life sentence with a non-parole period of 28 years.
Where is Bradley Murdoch now? Has Peter’s body ever been found?
Bradley Murdoch is dead. He died in July 2025 after a diagnosis of throat cancer. He was 67 years old.
Weeks before his death, Murdoch was questioned again by police desperate to recover Peter’s body.
An officer asked him: “I need you to have a think about if Peter Falconio was your son… and somebody knew something about where his body was.”
But Murdoch replied: “Don’t beat around the bush because I’m just going to cut you short every time, OK? I know nothing. I’ve said this for 22 years. I know nothing.”
He continued: “I’m not thinking about it. I’ve thought about, I thought about it for 22 [bleep-ing] years.
“I’ve been with these fellas for 22 years. They’ve all understood what’s going on, I’ve said the same story over and over and over, and now you’re here at the last minute because I’m [bleping] dying.”
Murdoch never did reveal where Peter’s body is. Experts in Outback Terror: The Falconio Murder also try to find it.
However, they sadly draw a blank.
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