Still people ask me: Did Murdoch really kill Falconio? I have only one response
Murdoch, a bastard until the end, refused until his death on Tuesday night in a hospital palliative care unit in Alice Springs – his only respite from jail – to reveal where he'd hidden the body of British tourist Peter Falconio. Monday had marked 24 years to the day that Murdoch shot dead Falconio and attempted to abduct his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, near the remote Northern Territory town of Barrow Creek, on the lonely road from Adelaide to Darwin.
Murdoch had hoped that continually protesting his innocence, while flinging mud at Lees – with the vile insinuation that she was somehow involved in Falconio's death – would fire up his motley band of deluded supporters and conspiracy theorists and even put enough doubt in the minds of authorities to force his release.
The drug-peddling thug was convicted in December 2005. I went to every single court hearing Murdoch sat through, interviewed nearly everyone involved with the case, and closely traced his background and that of Falconio and Lees. I'm regularly interviewed for TV and radio, and by those documentary makers. And the one question I'm invariably asked is: Did he really do it? Surely, without the body, there's always going to be doubt?
Well, no, there isn't.
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But still they asked. There is the appalling three-part British Channel 4 'true crime' series in 2020, Murder in the Outback: the Falconio and Lees Mystery. It wasn't a mystery at all, yet that dross compounded the absurd doubts fanned by the late, disgraced defence lawyer for Falconio, Andrew Fraser, who himself was sentenced to seven years in a maximum-security jail for being knowingly concerned with an importation of cocaine.
To begin with, as Murdoch told a snitch planted in his cell in the early days, he didn't want his elderly widowed mum to know the truth about her youngest son. But after she died, what excuse could he have had for refusing to tell police the location of Falconio's body, to allow his family to take him home for burial? Murdoch had been sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 28 years and every appeal had been quashed. He had nothing further to lose by finally pinpointing the body. He knew how much more suffering he was inflicting on his victim's grieving parents, and on Lees.
Instead, as Falconio's mother told me, every time there was a knock at her door, every time the phone rang, she thought it might be news about her son. Can you imagine such pain?
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"We didn't have much faith, but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died. "But even now, we still hold out hope that his remains will be found." John Elferink, who was NT attorney-general when the government passed the "no body, no parole" law, said Murdoch "has left the Falconios with no comfort whatsoever". The killer had always denied his crimes and refused to reveal the whereabouts of Falconio's body. Murdoch had "lived as he died - selfish, self absorbed and indifferent", Mr Elferink said. He still holds hope Mr Falconio's final resting place will be found, but the discovery "is remote at best, impossible at worst". "I'll never say never, because you can't, but at the end of the day I think that the last practical resolution to this matter has passed with the death of Murdoch," he said. NT Police said it was "deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains". Colleen Gwynne, the lead investigator into Mr Falconio's murder, said it was a sad day for Mr Falconio's family, and that "an enormous opportunity" to find his remains had been lost. Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro urged anyone with information about the case to contact CrimeStoppers. "It is disappointing for the Falconio family that this case remains unresolved and they are still without the closure they deserve," Mrs Finocchiaro said. A reward of up to $500,000 is available to anyone providing information that leads to the discovery of Mr Falconio's remains. Notorious killer Bradley Murdoch lived like he died - selfish, self-absorbed and indifferent - meaning the chance of recovering his victim's body is considered remote at best. Murdoch, 67, died from throat cancer on Tuesday under the watch of correctional officers, a month after being moved from jail to the palliative care unit of Alice Springs Hospital in the Northern Territory. He was given a life sentence for the murder of 28-year-old British backpacker Peter Falconio and the assault and attempted kidnapping of his then-girlfriend Joanne Lees, now 51, on the lonely Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in July 2001. Mr Falconio's parents on Wednesday expressed relief that Murdoch had died, but had held out hope, however slim, that he would reveal where he left their son's remains. "Upon hearing that Bradley John Murdoch had died our first feeling was of relief, it's like a weight that's been lifted," Luciano and Joan Falconio said in a statement to media outlets. "We are only forced to think about him now that he's died, we don't want to let him to ruin our lives more than he already has." "We didn't have much faith, but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died. "But even now, we still hold out hope that his remains will be found." John Elferink, who was NT attorney-general when the government passed the "no body, no parole" law, said Murdoch "has left the Falconios with no comfort whatsoever". The killer had always denied his crimes and refused to reveal the whereabouts of Falconio's body. Murdoch had "lived as he died - selfish, self absorbed and indifferent", Mr Elferink said. He still holds hope Mr Falconio's final resting place will be found, but the discovery "is remote at best, impossible at worst". "I'll never say never, because you can't, but at the end of the day I think that the last practical resolution to this matter has passed with the death of Murdoch," he said. NT Police said it was "deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains". Colleen Gwynne, the lead investigator into Mr Falconio's murder, said it was a sad day for Mr Falconio's family, and that "an enormous opportunity" to find his remains had been lost. Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro urged anyone with information about the case to contact CrimeStoppers. "It is disappointing for the Falconio family that this case remains unresolved and they are still without the closure they deserve," Mrs Finocchiaro said. A reward of up to $500,000 is available to anyone providing information that leads to the discovery of Mr Falconio's remains. Notorious killer Bradley Murdoch lived like he died - selfish, self-absorbed and indifferent - meaning the chance of recovering his victim's body is considered remote at best. Murdoch, 67, died from throat cancer on Tuesday under the watch of correctional officers, a month after being moved from jail to the palliative care unit of Alice Springs Hospital in the Northern Territory. He was given a life sentence for the murder of 28-year-old British backpacker Peter Falconio and the assault and attempted kidnapping of his then-girlfriend Joanne Lees, now 51, on the lonely Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in July 2001. Mr Falconio's parents on Wednesday expressed relief that Murdoch had died, but had held out hope, however slim, that he would reveal where he left their son's remains. "Upon hearing that Bradley John Murdoch had died our first feeling was of relief, it's like a weight that's been lifted," Luciano and Joan Falconio said in a statement to media outlets. "We are only forced to think about him now that he's died, we don't want to let him to ruin our lives more than he already has." "We didn't have much faith, but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died. "But even now, we still hold out hope that his remains will be found." John Elferink, who was NT attorney-general when the government passed the "no body, no parole" law, said Murdoch "has left the Falconios with no comfort whatsoever". The killer had always denied his crimes and refused to reveal the whereabouts of Falconio's body. Murdoch had "lived as he died - selfish, self absorbed and indifferent", Mr Elferink said. He still holds hope Mr Falconio's final resting place will be found, but the discovery "is remote at best, impossible at worst". "I'll never say never, because you can't, but at the end of the day I think that the last practical resolution to this matter has passed with the death of Murdoch," he said. NT Police said it was "deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains". Colleen Gwynne, the lead investigator into Mr Falconio's murder, said it was a sad day for Mr Falconio's family, and that "an enormous opportunity" to find his remains had been lost. Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro urged anyone with information about the case to contact CrimeStoppers. "It is disappointing for the Falconio family that this case remains unresolved and they are still without the closure they deserve," Mrs Finocchiaro said. A reward of up to $500,000 is available to anyone providing information that leads to the discovery of Mr Falconio's remains.
