Joanne Lees was travelling through the Australian outback with her boyfriend Peter Falconio in 2001 when Bradley John Murdoch shot Falconio and attacked Lees before she escaped
A warped murderer who killed a British backpacker tore many lives apart – including his victim’s girlfriend.
And now his final days are set to be examined in a one-day hearing, after he took dark secrets to the grave. Bradley Murdoch, 67, died last July from throat cancer, and had spent 20 years behind bars for the murder of Peter Falconio, a tourist from the UK who disappeared in Australia more than 30 years ago. The traveller vanished in the remote region of Barrow Creek and his body has never been found.
Murdoch was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years before parole. He had twice appealed his conviction, with both failing. Australia has a “no body, no parole” rule, which means if Peter’s remains were not uncovered, Murdoch had no hope of release.
In a hearing on March 19, a one-day inquest will look into his death in custody. It was revealed shortly after his death that the convicted killer had spent the last days of his life, hoping his conviction would be overturned in a “petition for mercy”. It remains to be seen if any new information about the 2001 murder will come to light during the inquest which will examine Murdoch’s “death in custody”.
READ MORE: British backpacker Peter Falconio update after Aussie killer takes secrets to grave
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Peter’s murder sent shockwaves across Australia and the UK, and saw his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, thrust into the spotlight. She endured a horrific assault whilst travelling with her partner, who was killed during their journey through the Australian outback.
Their attacker Bradley John Murdoch – infamously dubbed the “Outback killer” – never told police where he left Peter’s remains. Joanne and Peter were driving through the isolated outback during the night when Murdoch gestured for them to stop, claiming there was sparks coming out the back of their van.
According to Lees, then 28, Murdoch shot Falconio and restrained her at gunpoint, but she succeeded in fleeing, concealing herself in the undergrowth for hours before attracting the attention of a passing lorry. “For me, there was no choice. It was either run or be raped and killed,” she told 60 Minutes.
Lees initially captured public attention when she described the terrifying experience she shared with Falconio, her long-standing boyfriend whom she had met in 1996. The couple had explored much of Southeast Asia before spending five months in Sydney and embarking on their ill-fated road trip across Australia.
Following the attack, Lees’ account sparked fierce debate amongst the public, particularly after Murdoch’s trial, which resulted in his conviction and a life sentence. Throughout the court proceedings, it was revealed that Lees had engaged in a relationship with fellow British backpacker Nick Reilly in the period leading up to Falconio’s vanishing.
This disclosure, combined with Lees’ frank discussion with Martin Bashir, generated significant public debate. In her conversation with Bashir, Lees acknowledged the relationship was an error in judgement. “I did love Pete with all my heart,” she explained, “and when that happened I did overstep the boundaries of friendship, but it made me, like, love Pete even more and value what we did have.”
Throughout the discussion, she remained silent on whether she would have voluntarily disclosed the affair had police not uncovered her emails. During police questioning, she dismissed the correspondence as “irrelevant” despite Nick adopting the alias ‘Steph’ when arranging a Berlin rendezvous following the killing.
Lees faced scrutiny and suspicion over her behaviour during media appearances and for modifying elements of her police statement, though she insisted her Bashir interview, for which she received £50,000, was intended to maintain public attention on the case.
She also responded to additional criticism, including the ‘cheeky monkey’ T-shirt she was photographed wearing afterwards, clarifying it was merely the only clothing available to her at that moment. She rejected accusations of appearing emotionless, stating she “wears her heart of her sleeve,” before adding: “Well, I do in the company of my mates.”
In 2006, Lees released her autobiography No Turning Back, chronicling her formative years, including a childhood marked by financial struggles alongside her late mother. She is understood to have secured a £25,000 advance for the publication. Subsequently, Lees pursued sociology studies at Sheffield University and has since established herself as a social worker in West Yorkshire.
In 2017, she made the remarkable discovery of a half-sister, Jessica McMillan, living in Sydney – the daughter of Lees’ estranged Australian father. The siblings rapidly developed a strong connection, prompting Lees to pursue Australian citizenship in order to remain closer to Jess.
Within her memoir, Lees, now in her fifties, offered limited information regarding her father, though she disclosed growing up in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, alongside her mother Jennifer James, stepfather Vincent James, and step-brother Sam. “We didn’t have much money but she worked hard to make sure I had a happy childhood,” she penned.
In conversation with The Daily Telegraph in Australia, Lees characterised the reunion as “almost like a mirror” and expressed it left her feeling “less alone in the world.”
During an appearance on Nine’s 60 Minutes, Lees contemplated the lasting effects of the tragedy, stating: “Pete lost his life that night but I lost mine too. I’ll never be fully at peace if Pete’s not found, but I accept that that is a possibility.”
She even revisited the location of the assault in an attempt to comprehend the perpetrator’s mindset, motivated by her unwavering devotion to Peter. Since her return to the outback to try and find Peter’s body in 2017, she has stayed out of the spotlight.
