Who was Peter Falconio and what happened to him?
PETER Falconio was shot dead in the Australian outback while travelling with girlfriend Joanne Lees.
A corpse was never found, and despite police launching a fresh appeal for information in 2021, it did not lead them to finding the backpacker's remains.
Who was Peter Falconio?
Falconio was a British tourist visiting Australia with his girlfriend Joanne Lees in July 2001.
He was 28 years old when he was tragically shot by a man who flagged down the van he was driving.
Girlfriend Joanne survived the attack but has never received the closure of his body being found.
What happened to him?
Falconio and Joanne were travelling in a VW Kombi van towards Darwin on a remote highway when they were flagged down by a man who told them he had a problem with the exhaust.
The man was 43-year-old drug smuggler Bradley John Murdoch.
Murdoch shot Falconio in the head before bundling Lees into his car and binding her with cable ties.
She managed to escape and hide in bushes for five hours, before she ran into the road and waved down a passing truck.
She later said: "It was either run, or be raped and killed."
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Lees soon became a prime suspect in her boyfriend's murder after claims she appeared "emotionless" after the incident.
But it was later revealed she had taken the sedative Valium to help her handle her horror ordeal.
Police were never able to locate Falconio's remains.
News surfaced on February 17, 2023, that police had found some bones near Alice Springs that were being tested to see if they were the remains of Peter Falconio.
The reports were rubbished with authorities stating: “No human remains have been located by Northern Territory Police, and a search is not currently being conducted.
“Current media reports are factually incorrect.”
Who is Bradley Murdoch?
Bradley John Murdoch was born on February 29, 1958.
He was a drug smuggler who served 15 months for shooting at people celebrating at an Australian rules football match in 1995.
Eight years later he was charged with seven counts of abduction and rape, but later acquitted.
The same year he was charged with Falconio's murder.
He has always protested his innocence saying he can't reveal where Falconio's body is because he was never there.
He has launched several appeals against his conviction, but Murdoch remains in prison in the Northern Territory.
He will be 74 years old when he is eligible for parole in 2032.