Bradley John Murdoch, the Australian outback trucker serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio, died late Tuesday in the palliative-care unit of Alice Springs Hospital. He was 67 and had been diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019, according to the Northern Territory Department of Corrections, which said the death will be referred to the coroner. Murdoch was convicted in 2005 of shooting Falconio and assaulting the tourist’s girlfriend, Joanne Lees, on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek. Lees escaped after being bound with cable ties and hid in the bush for hours before flagging down help. Falconio’s body has never been found, and Murdoch maintained his innocence through multiple failed appeals. The Northern Territory Police Force said the killer’s death is “deeply regrettable” because he gave no indication of where Falconio’s remains lie. A month before Murdoch was moved from Alice Springs Correctional Centre to hospital care, authorities doubled the reward for information leading to the body’s discovery to A$500,000 under 2016 “no body, no parole” legislation. Falconio’s parents, Joan and Luciano, welcomed news of Murdoch’s death as “a weight lifted” yet voiced disappointment that the location of their son’s remains remains unknown. Investigators say they will continue to pursue leads in the two-decade-old case that partly inspired the 2005 Australian horror film “Wolf Creek.”
🇦🇺 Secrets To The Grave ▫The man convicted of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio has succumbed to throat cancer in Alice Springs Hospital ▫@gera_kazakov @paulashenden #frontpagestoday #Australia @TheNTNews https://t.co/rpB4CLpPrl
Death of Australia’s ‘Outback Killer’ leaves whereabouts of British backpacker’s body unknown https://t.co/AtrM8vWFgN https://t.co/A7vTF2L7oQ
Family of Peter Falconio say ‘weight has been lifted’ after his killer dies https://t.co/xXpXrL79aE