Murder of Peter Falconio

Last updated

Peter Falconio
Location Stuart Highway, near Barrow Creek, Northern Territory, Australia
Date14 July 2001
19:30 ACST (UTC+09:30)
Attack type
attempted kidnap
InjuredJoanne Lees (the victim's girlfriend)

Peter Falconio was a British tourist who disappeared in a remote part of the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia on the evening of 14 July 2001, [1] while travelling with his girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Contents

In the aftermath of the backpacker murders, the case quickly attracted considerable public and legal attention both domestically and worldwide. Falconio was 28 years old at the time of the disappearance. His body has never been found and he is now presumed dead. [2] On 13 December 2005, Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of Falconio's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Background

An orange Volkswagen T2 Kombi Camper van similar to the one used by Falconio and Lees Volkswagen T2 Kombi Camper.jpg
An orange Volkswagen T2 Kombi Camper van similar to the one used by Falconio and Lees

Peter Marco Falconio (born 20 September 1972) was the third of four sons in a family who lived in Hepworth, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. [3] In 1996, he started a relationship with Joanne Lees (born 1973) after meeting her in a local nightclub. Lees soon began living with him the following year in Brighton, where Falconio was studying at Brighton University.[ citation needed ]

On 15 November 2000, the couple embarked on a trip to Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Australia (though recent news of the backpacker murders, the Port Arthur massacre, and the Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire had made their families anxious about that final leg of this trip). [3] By 16 January 2001, the couple had arrived in Sydney on a working holiday visa, and on 25 June they departed on a road trip planned as Sydney to Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, and Brisbane.

Around 7:30pm on the night of Saturday 14 July 2001, Falconio and Lees were travelling on the Stuart Highway bound for the Devil's Marbles in their orange Kombi. Falconio was driving and Lees sat next to him in the passenger seat. The two had been conscious of a car that had been following them since they stopped at a roadhouse in Barrow Creek, and were expecting to be overtaken. However, when the vehicle - a white Toyota 4WD with a green canopy - drew alongside, the driver gestured excitedly at them to pull over. Falconio stopped the van and went to speak with the man, who had pulled off the road ahead of them. The man explained he had seen sparks shooting out of the van's exhaust. [4] [5]

As the two went to the rear of the vehicle to investigate Lees moved into the driver's seat, ready to rev the engine. She then heard a loud bang from the rear of the van, and moments later the man was at the window brandishing a silver handgun. [3] The gunman climbed into the van. Lees let him secure her hands behind her back with black cable ties, but fought the tying of her feet and taping of her mouth. She was then dragged to the Toyota (noticing the gunman's dog) but, fearing rape, managed to flee into the bush while the gunman was distracted (apparently while moving Falconio's body). [3] The gunman searched for Lees before leaving, passing nearby three times, but she hid before finally flagging down a road train driver at 12:35 am, who with his co-driver took her back to Barrow Creek.

Investigation

A Toyota Land Cruiser pick-up/ute with canopy similar to the one used by Bradley Murdoch Toyota Landcruiser.jpg
A Toyota Land Cruiser pick-up/ute with canopy similar to the one used by Bradley Murdoch

The Alice Springs Police were called around 1:30 am, arrived to collect evidence and testimonies at around 4:20 am, and (accompanied by the road train driver) commenced a search for Falconio, the Toyota, and the gunman at 7:00 am. [3] Returning to the scene, they found a dirt-covered pool of blood and the couple's Kombi hidden some 80 metres into the scrub. It was not until eight hours after the rescue that roadblocks were put in place on the twelve likely roads exiting the district.[ citation needed ] Police searches of the area in the following months revealed little except Lees' footprints. Four Aboriginal trackers arrived from a nearby settlement within a few days but none of them found evidence of either Falconio or the gunman.[ citation needed ]

Given the unusual nature of the attack, and the lack of corroborating evidence (i.e. Falconio's belongings or body), it took the police some days to appreciate the significance of the crime. But in the wake of the backpacker case, the media were quick to sensationalise Lees' story as one of survival in a crime of unusual horror against all odds. [3] However, inconsistencies in Lees' statements and her demeanour in the following weeks shifted attention to the veracity of her version of the incident (e.g. the perpetrator's facial composite, the actual type of vehicle or dog, and assumed CCTV footage of the suspect from a service station in Alice Springs), similar to what had happened in the Azaria Chamberlain case. A $250,000 reward was posted, but the only new evidence in the Falconio case was an unidentified male-DNA trace on Lees' T-shirt, and some related DNA on the cable ties and Kombi gearstick. [3]

Police were hopeful that the release of the CCTV footage would lead to the person shown coming forward to remove themselves from suspicion. When this did not happen, investigators began to focus on the registered owners of the 1991-1999 model Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD identified, and on the thirty-six men whom callers had identified in the footage. [3] Based on these results, police interviewed Bradley John Murdoch in Broome on 1 November 2001, though Lees' descriptions did not immediately connect the case to him and no DNA sample was collected. [3] On 17 May 2002, investigators caught Murdoch's drug-running accomplice, who began to relate details of his connections to the case, and a DNA examination of Murdoch's brother also supported his involvement. Murdoch then disappeared, but on 22 August 2002 he was arrested and tried on an unrelated kidnap and assault charge by South Australia Police. [3]

Murder trial

After extradition, a committal hearing began in April 2005. The trial began on 17 October of that year before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin. To cope with the demands of the trial and the huge media contingent covering the proceedings, the court building in Darwin was renovated at a cost of A$900,000. [6] The judge was Brian Ross Martin QC, Chief Justice of the Northern Territory. [7] Murdoch pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Falconio and assaulting and attempting to kidnap Lees. [8]

Lees had identified Murdoch from police photographs shown to her in November 2002 and finally face-to-face during the trial on 18 October. She also told the court that her assailant tied her wrists together behind her, put a sack over her head and forced her into his ute (pickup truck), stating that the person forced her between the seats of and into the rear of his vehicle. Lees said she escaped from the ute and fled into the dark, hiding under bushes, while Murdoch tried to find her using a torch. Expert trackers could find no sign of footprints other than those of Lees in the vicinity. [9]

Murdoch was found to have left Alice Springs at a time and in a direction which were each consistent with him being at or around Barrow Creek at the time of the murder. Expert testimony presented at the trial indicated that he was the man captured in the CCTV footage at the service station at 12:38 am. This indication was later corroborated by Murdoch's own father as well as his business associate, James Helpi. The police found traces of Murdoch’s DNA on a pair of homemade handcuffs used in the attack. [10] This, combined with the DNA match on Lees' T-shirt, allowed Murdoch to be charged with the murder. [3] The T-shirt DNA was found to be "150 quadrillion times more likely [to] belong to Murdoch" than anyone else. [11] His DNA was also found on the gearstick of the Kombi in which Falconio and Lees had been travelling, and which, subsequent to the attack on the Stuart Highway, was driven by the perpetrator into the bush.

Murdoch's defence argued during the trial that the DNA match could have been due to accidental blood transfer in an Alice Springs Red Rooster restaurant prior to the alleged offence, or could have been simply planted by persons unknown.[ citation needed ] Further samples were found to be contaminated and were not presented as evidence. Murdoch gave evidence that he had stopped at the restaurant to buy chicken for himself and his dog. During the committal hearing, Lees at one stage mentioned that she and Falconio had stopped at Red Rooster.[ citation needed ]

Eyewitnesses claimed they had seen Falconio at a petrol station one week after he went missing. Prosecutor Rex Wild QC dismissed these claims, arguing that each account gave conflicting information, in particular about the man's hair colour. He pointed out that the police had followed up various eyewitness accounts, all of which had proven fruitless. [12] Falconio's body has never been found "despite one of the most exhaustive police investigations ever seen in Australia". [13]

On 13 December 2005, Murdoch was found guilty by a jury in a unanimous verdict and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of twenty-eight years. He was also convicted of other assault-related charges on Lees. [14] Only after the sentencing was it revealed that Murdoch had previously been acquitted of aggravated sexual assault on a mother and daughter in South Australia some years earlier. [15]

Appeals

On 12 December 2006, Murdoch appealed against his life sentence in the Supreme Court. His lawyers lodged eight grounds of appeal. Murdoch claimed the evidence of Lees was tainted because she had seen a photograph of him on the internet before she was interviewed by police, as well as an article linking him to the murder. [16] On 10 January 2007, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal (NT CCA) dismissed both limbs of the appeal. [17] [18] [19]

Murdoch then applied for Special Leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia. On 21 June 2007, the High Court refused to grant Special Leave. Under the Australian judicial system, Murdoch has now exhausted all opportunities of appeal. Subsequent to the High Court of Australia refusing to grant his application for Special Leave, there was media speculation that Murdoch would lodge a further appeal. [20] He launched another appeal to the Northern Territory criminal court of appeal in 2013.

Later developments

In April 2006, The Bulletin reported that Murdoch had refused to be served chicken while incarcerated during the committal and trial, claiming he was allergic to it, and that he has a standing medical certificate at Darwin's maximum security Berrimah Prison where he had a "prison dietitian assigned to create a special menu" due to this allergy, requesting that he never be served chicken. [21] [22] This contradicted his defence at trial that his DNA might have been transferred onto Lees' clothing while buying chicken for himself and his dog. [22]

In mid-August 2007, some sections of the Australian media speculated that Murdoch might soon reveal the whereabouts of Falconio's remains. Specifically, the press mentioned that Murdoch did not enjoy the conditions of the Berrimah Prison and might reveal the location of the body in exchange for a transfer to a prison in Western Australia, given that all avenues of appeal had been exhausted. [23] Murdoch himself has spoken out against this idea. [3]

Author Keith Allan Noble insists Murdoch is innocent and offers a reward of £25,000 to anyone who can prove that Falconio is still alive. [24] His 2011 book Find! Falconio outlines what he describes as "the show trial in which the jury was lied to and pressure-cooked resulting in a shocking miscarriage of justice". [25] Noble's writings, which also cover the Port Arthur massacre, have been described by several journalists as conspiracy theories. [26]

In April 2017, the NT News received an anonymous letter claiming that Murdoch had "cut [Falconio]'s body up" and placed it in two large bags. The letter claimed that an associate was asked to dissolve the remains in acid and dispose of them in the Swan River in Perth, but the associate had instead gone past Geraldton and buried the bags unopened in remote Western Australia. The NT News forwarded the letter to Northern Territory Police, who said they were reviewing the letter. [27]

Media

In 2005, while Murdoch's trial was still under way, the film Wolf Creek was released in Australia. As the film was marketed as being "based on true events", the Northern Territory court placed an injunction on its release within the Territory in the belief that it could influence the outcome of the proceedings. However, the movie was inspired by other murders around Australia, such as the backpacker murders, as well as the Falconio case. [28]

Lees agreed to a televised interview with Martin Bashir which was later televised in Australia, for which she was paid £50,000. She later testified in court that she had agreed to the interview to raise awareness of Falconio's murder in Australia, as she felt the public profile of the case had diminished. [29]

Lees wrote No Turning Back, a book about her life. She went to England for the launch of the book in October 2006 and a serialisation appeared in The Times newspaper on 2 and 3 October. [30] On 10 October 2006, Lees was interviewed by BBC News 24. [31]

In March 2007, Australia's Channel Ten presented a docudrama covering the murder and trial from Lees' perspective, entitled Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback . The roles of Lees and Falconio were played by Joanne Froggatt and Laurence Breuls, respectively. It was also shown by ITV1 in the United Kingdom on 8 April 2007, by TV One in New Zealand on 10 June 2007, and by RTL 2 in Germany on 12 January 2009. The case was also covered by Casefile True Crime Podcast on 28 January 2017.

In June 2020, Channel 4 in the UK and Australia’s Channel Seven broadcast a four-part documentary series entitled Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery. [32]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janelle Patton</span>

Janelle Patton was a 29-year-old Sydney woman who was murdered on Norfolk Island on 31 March 2002. The case made national headlines in Australia and New Zealand, as she was the first person to be murdered on Norfolk Island since 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Azaria Chamberlain</span> Australian victim of animal attack

Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain was a nine-week-old Australian baby girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of the 17 August 1980 during a family camping trip to Uluru in the Northern Territory. Her body was never found. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. However, Lindy was tried for murder and spent more than three years in prison. Michael was also put in jail for some time. Lindy was released only after Azaria's jacket was found near a dingo lair and new inquests were opened. In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwin Correctional Centre</span>

The Darwin Correctional Centre, an Australian minimum to maximum security prison for males and females, is approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) by road from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The centre is managed by Northern Territory Department of Correctional Services, of the Government of the Northern Territory. The centre detains sentenced and charged felons under Northern Territory and/or Commonwealth law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claremont serial killings</span> 1990s serial murders in Western Australia

The Claremont serial killings is the name given by the media to a case involving the disappearance of an Australian woman, aged 18, and the killings of two others, aged 23 and 27, in 1996–1997. After attending night spots in Claremont, a wealthy western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, all three women disappeared in similar circumstances leading police to suspect that an unidentified serial killer was the offender. The case was described as the state's biggest, longest running, and most expensive investigation.

The backpacker murders were a spate of serial killings that took place in New South Wales, Australia, between 1989 and 1993, committed by Ivan Milat. The bodies of seven missing young people aged 19 to 22 were discovered partially buried in the Belanglo State Forest, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south-west of the New South Wales town of Berrima. Five of the victims were foreign backpackers and two were Australians from Melbourne. Milat was convicted of the murders on 27 July 1996 and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, as well as 18 years without parole. He died in prison on 27 October 2019, having never confessed to the murders for which he was convicted.

Joanne Rachael Lees is a British woman who was attacked and subjected to an attempted abduction while travelling in Australia with her partner Peter Falconio. Lees escaped her attacker, but Falconio was never found. The attacker was identified as Bradley John Murdoch, and in 2005 he was convicted of Falconio's murder. Lees was the chief crown witness in the murder trial, which was conducted in Darwin. She later wrote a book about her experiences, which was made into a television film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradley John Murdoch</span> Australian murderer

Bradley John Murdoch is an Australian criminal serving life imprisonment for the July 2001 murder of English backpacker Peter Falconio in Australia. He will be 74 when eligible for parole in 2032. Murdoch is being held in Darwin Correctional Centre in Darwin, Northern Territory. He has lodged two appeals against his conviction, both of which were unsuccessful. The High Court of Australia refused special leave to appeal on 21 June 2007. He is forbidden to talk to the press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Maria Korp</span> Australian victim of crime (1955–2005)

Maria Korp was a Portuguese-born Australian woman reported missing for four days and later found, barely alive, in the boot of her car on 13 February 2005. She spent a short time in a coma before emerging into a state of post-coma unresponsiveness. She became the centre of a controversy in Australia during 2005. Depending upon their viewpoint, people have characterised the controversy as being about euthanasia or about human rights and protecting people with disabilities.

<i>Wolf Creek</i> (film) 2005 independent Australian horror film directed by Greg McLean

Wolf Creek is a 2005 Australian horror film written, co-produced and directed by Greg McLean and starring John Jarratt, Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi. Its plot concerns three backpackers who find themselves taken captive and subsequently hunted by Mick Taylor, a sadistic, psychopathic, xenophobic serial killer, in the Australian outback. The film was ambiguously marketed as being "based on true events", while its plot bore elements reminiscent of the real-life murders of backpackers by Ivan Milat in the 1990s and Bradley Murdoch in 2001, both of which McLean used as inspiration for the screenplay.

The Forensic Science Service (FSS) was a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provided forensic science services to the police forces and government agencies of England and Wales, as well as other countries.

Andrew Mark Mallard was a British-born Australian who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Almost 12 years later, after an appeal to the High Court of Australia, his conviction was quashed and a retrial ordered. However, the charges against him were dropped and Mallard was released. At the time, the Director of Public Prosecutions stated that Mallard remained the prime suspect and that if further evidence became available he could still be prosecuted. He was released from prison in 2006 after his conviction was quashed by the High Court, and was paid $3.25 million compensation by the state government. The Western Australian Commission on Crime and Corruption investigated whether there was misconduct by any public officer associated with this case and made findings against two policemen and a senior prosecutor.

<i>Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback</i> Australian TV series or program

Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback is a television film produced by Channel Ten and ITV Productions, which first aired in Australia on Channel Ten on 18 March 2007 and in the UK on ITV on Sunday 8 April, where it was titled Murder in the Outback. It is based on the real life disappearance of Peter Falconio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Daniel Morcombe</span> Murder of an Australian boy

Daniel James Morcombe was an Australian boy who was abducted from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland on 7 December 2003 when he was 13 years old. Eight years later, Brett Peter Cowan, a former Sunshine Coast resident, was charged with Morcombe's murder. In the same month, DNA tests confirmed bones in the Glass House Mountains were Morcombe's. On 13 March 2014, Cowan was found guilty of the murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and indecently dealing with a child and interference with a corpse.

Celia Natasha "Tasha" Douty was a British-born Australian resort worker who was murdered on Brampton Island in Queensland, Australia. The crime remained unsolved until 2001, when Sydney motor industry finance Business Manager, Wayne Butler, was found guilty. It was the first murder in Australia to be solved using DNA profiling. The prosecution relied heavily on DNA evidence and it became a case study for the use of the technique in court.

Tina Watson was a 26-year-old American woman from Helena, Alabama, who died while scuba diving in Queensland, Australia, on 22 October 2003. Tina had been on her honeymoon with her new husband, fellow American Gabe Watson, who was initially charged by Queensland authorities with his wife's murder. Watson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Milat</span> Australian serial killer (1944–2019)

Ivan Robert Marko Milat, commonly referred to in media as the Backpacker Murderer, was an Australian serial killer who abducted, assaulted, robbed and murdered two men and five women in New South Wales between 1989 and 1992. His modus operandi was to approach backpackers along the Hume Highway under the guise of providing them transport to areas of southern New South Wales, then take his victims into the Belanglo State Forest where he would incapacitate and murder them. Milat is also suspected of having committed many other similar offences and murders around Australia.

The Lin family murders occurred in North Epping in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 18 July 2009. The victims were newsagency proprietor Min Lin; his wife, Yun Lin; their sons, Henry and Terry; and Yun Lin's sister, Irene Lin. The family was bludgeoned to death. Min Lin's sister, Kathy, discovered the bodies. Jun "Brenda" Lin, 15, was the only surviving immediate family member after the incident; she was on a school trip in New Caledonia with Cheltenham Girls High School at the time.

The murders of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce Pearce were initially treated as unrelated. The skeletal remains of Pearce-Stevenson were found in Belanglo State Forest, New South Wales, Australia in 2010. Her daughter Khandalyce Pearce's remains were found near Wynarka, South Australia in July 2015. The two cases were not linked until positive identification was confirmed by DNA testing in October 2015. The mother and daughter were last seen by family in 2008 in Alice Springs, Northern Territory and reported missing in 2009; however, the report was withdrawn. It was discovered Pearce-Stevenson's mobile phone was used for years following her death to send false "proof of life" messages to family and friends. The mother and child's identities were exploited by third parties to commit social security and other types of identity fraud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Grace Millane</span> 2018 killing of a British tourist in New Zealand

Grace Emmie Rose Millane was a British tourist whose disappearance in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2018 sparked international attention. A 26-year-old man, Jesse Shane Kempson, was charged with her murder on 8 December 2018, and her body was found in the Waitākere Ranges to the west of Auckland the following day. Kempson's name was suppressed by New Zealand courts, meaning it could not be published in New Zealand; however, some international media outlets chose to publish it contrary to the New Zealand court order.

Simone Monika Strobel was a 25-year-old German kindergarten teacher and backpacker whose body was found at a sportsground in Lismore, New South Wales, six days after being reported missing from the caravan park where she had been staying. An initial inquest in 2007 found insufficient evidence to lay charges over her death.

References

  1. "Falconio detectives swoop on trucker". The Scotsman. 10 November 2003. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. Murdoch, Lindsay (15 December 2005). "Paranoid, armed and deadly". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Case 44: Peter Falconio – Casefile: True Crime Podcast". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  4. Murdoch, Lindsay (19 October 2005). "Lees relives night she feared she'd die". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. "'I thought I was going to die', says sobbing Lees". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 October 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. Churchman, Fiona (22 April 2004). "Darwin prepares for the Falconio case". ABC News . Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  7. "NT Chief Justice Martin retires". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  8. "Outback murder trial begins". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 October 2005. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  9. Barkham, Patrick (28 July 2001). "Outback case doubts echo dingo baby hue and cry". The Guardian . Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  10. Mercer, Phil (13 December 2005). "Outback killer trapped by DNA link" . Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  11. "An insight into Bradley John Murdoch's mind - the killer of Peter Falconio". News.com.au. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  12. Murdoch, Lindsay (8 December 2005). "QC says Murdoch a cunning killer" . Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  13. Mercer, Phil (9 May 2014). "Bradley Murdoch takes the stand" . Retrieved 30 November 2005.
  14. "Timeline in the disappearance of Peter Falconio". The Australian. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  15. "Only Bradley John Murdoch knows where Peter Falconio is buried". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  16. Evidence questioned in Murdoch appeal Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 12 December 2006
  17. Murdoch v The Queen [2007] NTCCA 1
  18. Falconio killer loses appeal, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 January 2007.
  19. "Falconio killer in second appeal". BBC News. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  20. "Falconio killer in new appeal". NT News . 4 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  21. Hinde, Suellen (17 March 2009). "Bradley Murdoch doing easy time". News.com.au . Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  22. 1 2 "New twist in Falconio case". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 11 April 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  23. Murdoch, Lindsay (15 August 2007). "Will outback's big murder secret be revealed?". The Age . Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  24. "Author who offered £25,000 reward for evidence that Peter Falconio was alive answers his critics". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  25. NOBLE, KEITH ALLAN (1 January 2012). FIND! FALCONIO. ENGLISH PRESS INTERNATIONAL. ISBN   9783950313611.
  26. Ellis, Scott (16 May 2012). "Uproar in the Alice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  27. Williams, Matt (20 April 2017). "NT Police investigating claims by letter writer that Peter Falconio's body was 'cut up and dumped'". NT News . Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  28. Bradtke, Birgit. "True Story: The Australian Outback Murder" . Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  29. "'Flaws' in evidence of Outback murder victim's girlfriend". telegraph.co.uk. 20 October 2005.
  30. "Murder in the outback". The Times. London. 2 October 2006.
  31. "Lees attacks 'sensational' media". BBC. 9 October 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2007.
  32. "Murder In The Outback". Channel 4. Retrieved 10 June 2020.