'Absolutely committed this crime': Officer who caught Outback killer Bradley John Murdoch says she has no doubt right man convicted for murder of Peter Falconio

Sky News AU

16-07-2025

The woman who caught Outback killer Bradley John Murdoch says she has no doubt police got the right man.
Murdoch, 67, died in the Alice Springs Hospital on Tuesday, almost 24 years to the day since the gruesome murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway.
Murdoch abducted Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees but she managed to escape before the killer dumped Falconio's body somewhere in the vast NT outback.
Colleen Gwynne, who led the investigation that caught Murdoch, told Sky News Murdoch was definitely the killer.
"You get a lot of people saying you don't have a body so you don't have a case,' she told Laura Jayes on AM Agenda.
'Bradley Murdoch was convicted by a jury after extensive evidence, both circumstantial and forensic evidence, and there are a whole range of things in that complex case that says that Bradley Murdoch absolutely committed this crime."
Ms Gwynne said she would encourage people who believed Murdoch was innocent to read the transcripts from his Supreme Court trial.
'There was a well-known journalist, Paul Toohey, who wasn't a believer and he said to me 'I think you've got the wrong man' so I said 'well sit in on the trial', which he did, and he wrote a book as a result of that and it's a pretty comprehensive perspective of the evidence and who Bradley Murdoch was.'
Ms Gwynne said on the day news broke of Murdoch's death it was hard to listen to claims he was innocent.
'But we know that we put together a compelling case and there is no doubt Bradley Murdoch committed this crime and I suspect probably other crimes too,' she said.
Ms Gwynne, who left the NT Police 10 years ago, remains in contact with Ms Lees and Mr Falconio's family and has been in contact with them since Murdoch's death.
She said Ms Lees remains close to the Falconios and is treated like part of their family.
'They're devastated I think,' she said.
'It's hard for them because they're so far away and there hasn't been much contact with the police or anyone from NT really for 10 years since I left.
'And I think there's a little bit of frustration, I'll be honest with you, but it's hard to put into words how you'd feel on a day like today. You feel a bit hopeless to be honest.'
Police have increased the reward for credible information that leads to the discovery of Falconio's body to $500,000.