Australian police offer £240,000 reward to find remains of murdered British backpacker

Telegraph

7 hours ago

Police in Australia have offered a A$500,000 (£240,000) reward for fresh information that leads to the discovery of a British backpacker's remains, nearly 25 years after he was murdered in the desert.
The fate of Peter Falconio, from Huddersfield, is one of Australia's most longstanding crime mysteries.
His body has never been found despite one of the most intensive searches in Australian history, involving Aboriginal trackers, outback roadblocks and helicopters.
The then-28-year-old was on a backpacking holiday in 2001 with his girlfriend Joanne Lees when they were held up by a violent drifter named Bradley Murdoch.
As the couple were travelling on a remote stretch of highway about 190 miles north of Alice Springs, Murdoch flagged them down and said their van might have an engine problem.
Mr Falconio went behind the car with Murdoch to investigate and was shot in the head.
Miss Lees was then tied up but managed to escape and hide herself for hours in the scrub while Murdoch and his dog hunted for her.
She was eventually rescued by truck drivers on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway near the dusty settlement of Barrow Creek.
Murdoch is believed to have dumped Mr Falconio's body somewhere in the vast expanse of the Outback.
He was convicted of murder after a high-profile trial in Darwin in 2005 but has always refused to reveal the location of his victim's remains.
The prosecution suggested Murdoch may have killed Mr Falconio because he earlier saw Miss Lees driving the vehicle while her boyfriend slept in the back and thought she was alone.
Police are now offering A$500,000 – double the previous reward – to anyone who comes forward with credible information about the location of Mr Falconio's body.
Detectives 'hold out hope' that someone has information that could lead to the discovery of the British backpacker's body, said acting commander Mark Grieve of the Northern Territory Police.
When asked what had prompted the decision to offer the new reward, he said it was now the 'right time'.
'There was a previous reward of up to $250,000, so we've upped that to up to $500,000. It's like any ongoing police investigation, you want to solve it. You want to try and at least bring some sliver of resolution to Peter's family, by bringing home his remains.
'We are asking for anyone that may believe they have information that can assist, to please come forward and contact police.
'You just never know how beneficial that information that you may hold, may be – essentially you just don't know what you know.
'There may be someone out there that he's confided in – whether that's family and friends – we just don't know.'
Murdoch is serving a life sentence in jail in Alice Springs, with a non-parole period of 28 years.
Even after that period has elapsed, he may still not be granted parole if he continues to refuse to divulge what he did with the body of Mr Falconio.
During his trial in 2005, Murdoch, a drug-runner and former mechanic, was also found guilty of assaulting Miss Lees and depriving her of her liberty.
At the end of the trial in Darwin, Ms Lees appealed to Murdoch to tell her and her boyfriend's family 'what he has done with Pete.' But he refused.
Despite police repeatedly appealing to him for information, 'on all occasions he has chosen not to positively engage,' said acting commander Grieve.
Mr Falconio's family in the UK have been informed of the new reward on offer.
'We keep them appraised of what we're doing … any new information and leads. They're appreciative of the ongoing commitment we're providing,' he said.