Court adjourns Falconio murder hearing
The preliminary hearing of a mechanic accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio and terrorising his girlfriend Joanne Lees was adjourned today for two months.
Bradley Murdoch, 45, has faced a three-week hearing in Darwin Magistrates Court, charged with murdering 28-year-old Mr Falconio and the deprivation of liberty and unlawful assault of Miss Lees, now 30, on an outback highway in central Australia on July 14, 2001.
Murdoch allegedly ambushed the couple after dark as they travelled north in a camper van.
Twenty-eight witnesses, including Miss Lees, have given evidence during the hearing, which is expected to resume for a further three weeks in August.
But Murdoch’s lawyer Grant Algie said the defence still had not received information on scientific evidence to be heard at the next sitting, and he might apply to cancel the August sitting and seek bail for Murdoch if the information does not arrive in the next week.
“In the absence of the material being produced, I really do question the point of resuming in August,” Algie told the court.
Murdoch’s preliminary hearing will determine if evidence against him is strong enough to send to a jury trial. The body of Mr Falconio, of Huddersfield, has never been found.
Murdoch faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of murder in the Northern Territory province.
He has not been required to enter a plea to the charges.
