A former lawyer has spoken out against the conviction of murderer Bradley Murdoch, who is serving a 28-year jail sentence for the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Northern Territory in 2001.
In this week’s The Project, former criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser said Murdoch “had not had a fair go”. Fraser, alongside DNA expert Professor Barry Boettcher, claimed there were inconsistencies in the case for his guilt.
It was July 2001 and 28-year-old Falconio was driving through outback Australia in a beat-up Kombi van with his girlfriend, also from the UK, 27-year-old Joanne Lees.
Just out of Alice Springs they were flagged down by a man who looked like he needed help. His car’s hazard lights were flashing. His ute must have been broken down.
Falconio got out of the car to help the man. Lees heard words like 'exhaust pipe'. Then, she heard what sounded like a gunshot. She didn't know it yet, but her boyfriend had just been executed.
She was sitting the Kombi's cabin, not sure what she'd just witnessed, when Murdoch approached her door holding a silver revolver. He dragged her out of the car. Pushed her to the ground and tied her hands together. He also tried to cuff her ankles and tape her mouth shut. He put her in the tray of the ute and it was only because he went to check on Falconio's body that Lees was able to escape.
