Bradley Murdoch's death presents glimmer of hope for finding Peter Falconio's remains

Australia Broadcast Center

4 days ago

Bradley Murdoch's death presents an opportunity for a late break in Peter Falconio's cold case murder, a leading forensic anthropologist says.
It comes as NT Police confirmed they had received tip-offs after last month announcing a $500,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of Mr Falconio's remains.
Murdoch died overnight on Wednesday, 24 years after he killed Mr Falconio and kidnapped his partner, Joanne Lees, on a remote stretch of the Northern Territory's Stuart Highway in 2001.
The 67-year-old, who had been receiving treatment for throat cancer, had continued to deny his crimes and was destined to die in prison after refusing to reveal the location of Mr Falconio's body.
After news of Murdoch's death broke, Central Queensland University criminologist Xanthe Mallett said, "a lot can have changed" in almost a quarter of a century, and "people may now be able to speak that couldn't at the time".
"There's always the chance that Bradley Murdoch would have shared some information, and people wouldn't have been able to share that until he's dead, so this may be an opportunity," she said.
Dr Mallett said DNA could "remain active for decades" depending on "exactly how they've been left", making it possible to identify Mr Falconio if a new lead were to reveal his final resting place.
"If human remains are found in the bush … whomever they are, if they're human remains, it's likely that they will be able to get DNA from them, either from the bones or from the teeth," she said.
"So if that person's DNA is on record, as I'm sure Peter's would be, then you could do a match to those remains.
"It's finding those remains in the first place that is going to be the key challenge."
In a statement acknowledging Murdoch's death, the Northern Territory Police Force said it was "deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains".
"The Northern Territory Police Force remains committed to resolving this final piece of the investigation," it said.
"We continue to appeal to anyone who may have information that could lead us to Peter Falconio's remains to come forward, no matter how small the detail may seem."
Last month, NT Police announced a $500,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of Mr Falconio's remains, saying investigators still "hold out hope" of finding his body.
"There may be someone out there that he's confided in — whether that's family and friends — we just don't know," Acting Commander Mark Grieve said in June.
"It's a good opportunity for us to up the ante in regards to the reward.
On Wednesday, an NT Police spokesperson said investigators were yet to verify tips they had received since increasing the reward.
"The Northern Territory Police Force can confirm it has received information since the announcement of the reward; however, the information is yet to be verified," he said.
In a statement to the ABC, Peter's parents, Luciano and Joan Falconio, said they continued to "hold out hope" their son's final resting place would be found.
"We didn't have much faith, but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died," they said.
Upon hearing the news of Murdoch's death, Falconio's parents said their "first feeling was of relief".
"It's like a weight that's been lifted," they said.
"We are only forced to think about [Murdoch] now that he's died, we don't want to let him ruin our lives more than he already has.
"The awful thing is our family's future with Peter was cruelly taken away.
"Today, we instead focus on the three children we have left and our grandchildren."
The family also expressed their "profound thanks" to the Northern Territory Police "for the support and continuing efforts to investigate our son's murder".
During Murdoch's sentencing in 2005, Chief Justice Brian Martin said the killer put Mr Falconio's body into his vehicle before dumping it somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome — a distance spanning almost 1,700 kilometres.
Dr Mallett said, unlike some other "no body cases", "the scale of the territory which the police would have to cover" meant recovering any remains would be challenging unless someone came forward.
"Next year it'll be the 25th anniversary [so] the likelihood of them finding Peter's remains without significant intelligence — which we were all hoping was going to come from Murdoch — it's going to be very difficult," she said.
Initial search efforts in July 2001 involved line and motorbike searches as well as aerial searches 60 kilometres north and south of the location where Mr Falconio was last seen alive.
Extensive searches for Mr Falconio were again held in 2005.
Dr Mallett said the increased scrutiny on the case after Murdoch's death would be "a really difficult time for Peter's family".
"They would have been hoping that Bradley Murdoch would have had a change of heart, knowing that he was terminally ill, and would have shared information to help the police find Peter," she said.
"We have to remember Joanne Lees in all of this, too. She lost a partner, she was devastated, and she was vilified as a result of this case.
"So this will be a very hard time for people who knew and loved Peter, and I'm just sorry that they didn't get any answers before Bradley Murdoch died."