Bradley John Murdoch pictured outside the Supreme Court in Adelaide in November 2003. Photo / Fairfax Media via Getty Images
One of Australia’s most notorious killers, Bradley John Murdoch, who murdered backpacker Peter Falconio, has died aged 67.
Murdoch was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019. In an eerie coincidence, he died just one day after the 24th anniversary of the infamous killing.
Last month, he was released from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre into palliative care at Alice Springs Hospital, where he died overnight – a day after the 24th anniversary of Falconio’s murder.
He had been serving a life sentence for the 28-year-old British backpacker’s murder, of which he was found guilty in December 2005.
Despite continued efforts by police, Falconio’s remains have never been found – a secret Murdoch took to the grave.
On July 14, 2001, Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were travelling on the Stuart Highway north of Barrow Creek, about 208km north of Alice Springs, when a car pulled up alongside their Kombi van and motioned for the couple to pull over.
Behind the wheel was Murdoch, who told the young backpackers there were sparks coming out of their van.
As Falconio went to inspect the back of the Kombi, Murdoch pulled a gun on him and shot him in the head.
Murdoch then forced Lees out of the van, binding her wrists with cable ties and forcing her into the back of his LandCruiser.
She was somehow able to escape, hiding in the outback’s sparse scrub for five hours before she was able to stop a road train and get help.
During Murdoch’s murder trial, it was revealed the killer had also put Falconio’s body into his car, before dumping him somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome – towns almost 2000km apart.
“The case isn’t closed until they find Peter,” former Northern Territory Police assistant commissioner John Daulby previously told The Project.
Murdoch was found guilty of murder by a unanimous jury verdict in December 2005.
He was sentenced to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 28 years.
“I doubt that any description is capable of fully conveying the true extent of the trauma and terror that you imposed upon [Lees],” Chief Justice Brian Martin told Murdoch at his sentencing in Darwin’s Supreme Court.
“It must have been close to the worst nightmare imaginable.”
Murdoch, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, appealed to overturn his convictions twice. Both attempts were unsuccessful, and he was refused special leave by the High Court in 2007.
The Northern Territory introduced “no body, no parole” legislation in 2016, meaning Murdoch would not have been eligible for parole in 2032 if he continued to keep Falconio’s whereabouts a secret.
Following his cancer diagnosis in early 2019, the NT News reported Murdoch initially refused treatment for the condition.
A prison officer at the time told the paper Murdoch had had extended periods of leave from his job in the prison’s kitchen, where he worked as a pastry chef.
On Tuesday, Falconio’s elderly father Luciano told the NT News he is still clinging to hope his son’s remains will be found.
Twenty-four years to the day that his son was killed, the 83-year-old said: “I wish I could find him and make an end to it, bury him … find where he is buried and what happened to him, even me, I don’t know”.
“I know what happened but I don’t know where he is,” Luciano said.
“I still hope, yeah I still hope, but I don’t know, if we [will] live long enough.”
Last month, Northern Territory police launched a new appeal for information on the whereabouts of Falconio’s body, offering a potential reward of up to A$500,000 ($548,000).
At a press conference, NT Police Acting Commissioner Mark Grieve said authorities “still hold out hope that someone will be able to provide some vital information to assist in this search”.
“As such, a fresh reward for information is now on offer of up to $500,000 – for information that leads to the discovery of Peter’s body,” Grieve said.
“We’re asking for anyone that may believe they have information that can assist to please come forward and contact police … We recognise the passage of time that’s transpired, however it’s never too late to reach out and at least start that conversation.”
Asked if police had reinterviewed Murdoch, Grieve said officers had made “numerous” recent attempts.
“Unfortunately the outcome of those conversations rest with Mr Murdoch,” he continued.
“On all occasions, he has chosen not to positively engage with police.”
Authorities have repeatedly searched the area where Falconio was killed.
A previous reward of up to A$250,000 ($274,000) had been offered to anyone with information. Police have doubled that amount, Grieve said, in the hope of trying to “at least bring some slither of resolution to Peter’s family by bringing home his remains”.
“We have been unwavering in that regard in the 24 years up to this point,” he said.