Man charged with Falconio murder
A mechanic was charged today with murdering British tourist Peter Falconio on a lonely Australian Outback highway more than two years ago.
Flanked by five police officers, Bradley John Murdoch, 45, made a brief appearance before Darwin magistrates in Northern Australia to have the charges read to him. He also is charged with abducting and assaulting Mr Falconio’s girlfriend, Joanne Lees, during a terrifying attack on the night of July 14, 2001.
Murdoch was not required to enter a plea at the hearing. Chief Magistrate Hugh Bradley ordered him held in custody until another pre-trial hearing on November 28.
Murdoch was arrested on Monday in the southern city of Adelaide after his acquittal on unrelated rape charges.
Mr Falconio is believed to have been shot by a gunman who flagged down the camper van in which he and Ms Lees were touring Australia.
Ms Lees was tied up but managed to escape and raise the alarm. She is expected to be the key prosecution witness at Murdoch’s trial. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Police also say they have DNA evidence linking Murdoch to Mr Falconio’s death.
In one of Australia’s biggest ever manhunts, police set up road blocks on the main north-south highway through central Australia and hunted through the surrounding desert but could not find Mr Falconio or his attacker.
Despite an exhaustive search by police and Aboriginal trackers, no trace has ever been found of the Falconio’s body.
