Cops DOUBLE reward for info on murdered Brit Peter Falconio as dying ‘Outback Killer' prepares to take secrets to grave
POLICE have doubled the reward for information leading to the body of Brit backpacker Peter Falconio, who was murdered in the Australian outback nearly 24 years ago.
Cops have increased their efforts to locate the tourist's
- with his
and "just about dead".
6
The cash reward for information leading to Peter Falconio's body has doubled
6
Bradley John Murdoch killed Falconio in front of his girlfriend Joanne Lees in 2001
Credit: AFP
6
Falconio's (L) body was never found
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
The corpse of the
Northern Territory
It comes just before the 24th anniversary of the
The
READ MORE WORLD NEWS
Cops said the major increase was because they are still "holding out hope" that vital information will help them uncover
Acting Commander Mark Grieve said: "We recognise the passage of time that's transpired, however it's never too late to reach out and start that conversation with police.
"There's still people out there who may hold some information.
"This has been a protracted and long
Peter
's remains and now is just the right time we feel to present this reward on offer."
Most read in The Sun
Falconio, 28, from Hepworth in
Ms Lees managed to escape after hiding in the bush for nearly five hours until two passing lorry drivers rescued her.
New clue in search for Peter Falconio's body
Murdoch, now 67, who has always protested his innocence was later jailed for life with a non-parole period of 28 years.
Despite repeated searches, Falconio's body has never been found.
Prosecutors have argued that Murdoch had likely disposed of the backpacker in the vast swaths of desert between Alice Springs and Broome.
Fears are now mounting that Falconio's loved ones will never know where his body was left due to Murdoch being on the verge of death.
He was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019 and is now understood to have been transferred to a palliative care unit in Alice Springs recently.
Police refused to confirm reports that he had been allowed to take brief excursions around Alice Springs in the company of
6
Murdoch has been transferred to palliative care to live out his final days
Credit: Getty
6
The couple were travelling in the Australian outback
Credit: Getty
Sick 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.
The former mechanic, who once drove road trains across the Australian Outback, lost multiple appeals and was denied special leave to appeal to the High
Peter Falconio case timeline
by Harvey Geh
PETER Falconio was shot dead in the Australian outback while travelling with 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.
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.
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.
Reports in February 2023 detailed 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 later rubbished with authorities stating: 'No human remains have been located by Northern Territory Police, and a search is not currently being conducted."
Murdoch has launched several appeals against his conviction, but he remains in prison in the Northern Territory.
He will be 74 years old when he is eligible for parole in 2032.
He was handed a life sentence with a 28-year non-parole period, due to expire in 2032.
But the
Mystery continues to surround the Falconio case because of the absence of a body and no obvious motive for the killing.
6
Murdoch is reportedly nearly dead
Credit: Handout - Getty
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