Latest news with #AliceSprings
ABC News
9 minutes ago
- Politics
- ABC News
How inquest into fatal police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker lays a path for Warlpiri control
Sitting around the campfire in the red dust of Yuendumu, Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves tells me stories of the ancient Warlpiri customs that created clear lines of authority, and then, about his old people who were forced to work on pastoral stations for meagre rations. In the shadow of the protection era (1890s-1950s), Warlpiri people lived as wards of the state — bound by invisible chains, forbidden to roam their homelands, and silenced from speaking their language. Generations have fought to reclaim control, and the community continues to demand the return of autonomy — something they say could prevent deaths in custody. "We want to control our business," Ned said. "We don't want Kardiya (non-Indigenous people) to come and tell us what to do; that's got to stop." It is the day after Coroner Elisabeth Armitage visited the community — three hours north-west of Alice Springs — to deliver her findings on the 2019 police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker. In the glow of the central desert community's live music stage, Ned's face grows serious as a sad and soulful reggae song hums. He shares with me that as the six-year fight for justice for Walker draws to a close, he must wake up tomorrow and meet with lawyers for a new fight. His jaja (grandson), Kumanjayi White, another Warlpiri man who lived with cognitive disabilities, died while being apprehended by plain-clothed police on the floor of the confectionery aisle at the Alice Springs Coles in May. Exhausted does not begin to describe how Ned and his family are feeling, but they are also frustrated. Frustrated that his vision, resilience, and deep understanding of what is best for Yapa (his people) has been ignored for decades. The Walker Inquest found the constable who shot Walker in Yuendumu in 2019 and was acquitted of all charges, Zachary Rolfe, held racist views. Walker's death "was avoidable", it found, and "a stark example of officer-induced jeopardy." Judge Elisabeth Armitage identified "clear evidence of entrenched, systemic and structural racism" within the institution Rolfe worked for — the NT Police. This is not something you can fix overnight with the rollout of an anti-racism plan. Systemic change can take generations. Kumanjayi Walker's cousin, Samara Fernandez-Brown, says asking the NT Police to become "safe" for Aboriginal people is unsustainable. "It's a band-aid solution, so I'd like to see a structure that replaces that altogether," Ms Fernandez-Brown said in Yuendumu last week. The Walker findings backed Aboriginal-led solutions and a return to Warlpiri controlling their own affairs. Judge Armitage called for the development of a 10-year youth strategy for Yuendumu, the expansion of night patrol services, a comprehensive review of available youth programs — including on-country rehabilitation and diversion options — and the potential establishment of a local leadership group to guide these efforts. "The solutions have already existed prior to the [2007 federal government] intervention," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "We're hoping that these recommendations around community authority and a leadership group allow us to get back to that spot." In the wake of these findings, there is a unique opportunity for organisations and agencies to recognise Warlpiri leadership and build genuine partnerships, a move Ms Fernandez-Brown says will "prevent deaths in custody." The inquest into Kumanjayi Walker's death dug deep into a long history of colonial violence and the wounds it left behind. From the 1920s, hordes of gold prospectors and pastoralists moved to Warlpiri Country, putting strain on the only permanent water source, Pikilyi. Judge Armitage found that Warlpiri people were denied access to water and forced to work in conditions resembling slavery, with reports of people being "tied up and flogged," and women and girls raped and abducted. In 1928, the Coniston Massacre saw dozens, possibly hundreds, of Warlpiri, Anmatyerre, and Kaytetye people killed in state-sanctioned reprisals after the death of a dingo trapper. Led by a former WWI veteran turned NT police constable, the attacks went unpunished, with no convictions for any of the killings. The massacre lives on in Warlpiri memory, passed down through generations. Yuendumu became a rations depot in 1946 with the stated aim to "control the shift of Aborigines (sic) to towns", and some children were stolen from the community and institutionalised in hopes they would "integrate" into white society. Finally, in the 1970s, the idea returned that Warlpiri could lead. Federal government policies enabled community governance structures grounded in Warlpiri customary decision-making until the mid 90s, when Yuendumu had at least 13 community-controlled organisations. Judge Armitage heard evidence that this period was one of "vibrant … intercultural activity, involving Warlpiri and Western attitudes and cultural practices being worked into new and productive engagements, in the context of mutual respect relationships." She found that during the 90s, elders in Yuendumu had strong lines of communication with police. But she documented how the so-called "Intervention" systematically undermined and dismantled Warlpiri authority from 2007 onwards. It imposed compulsory income management, compulsory leasing of Aboriginal land, dispossessed traditional owners of recognition and authority, levied financial penalties for failure to comply with the Community Development Program, boosted police numbers, and brought powers allowing police to enter houses without a warrant. Community government councils were abolished by the NT government and amalgamated into eight centralised shires. Judge Armitage found this undercut Warlpiri authority and further diminished job opportunities. Housing was used as a practical example: instead of local workers fixing issues like a blocked toilet immediately, the centralised shire system left tenants waiting three to four months for minor repairs. The federal government's Intervention was meant to last for five years, but blew out another decade under the "Stronger Futures" legislation introduced in 2012. Judge Armitage heard evidence from associate professor Melinda Hinkson that, without consultation, the intervention's core measures snatched authority from traditional owners and were an increase in "the punitive governance and policing of the Warlpiri community by external authorities and officials". Kumanjayi Walker's family would have liked stronger recommendations about police accountability, but the question remains, what worth are such suggestions when the government is in no way legally obliged to implement them? Barrister John Lawrence SC, who didn't work on Kumanjayi Walker's case but represented families in many coronial inquests into Black deaths in custody and the royal commission into NT youth detention, said the inquest's value was in providing a comprehensive historical analysis of racism in the NT Police. "Its findings on that are unequivocal and damning: a force riddled with systemic racism which allowed a totally inappropriate man (Rolfe) into the force and who then permitted him and others to, it seems, have a ball at the expense of Aboriginal people," he said. "He should have been fired way before the killing incident." Rolfe has rejected the coroner's findings and says his actions were "never about race". He is considering appealing the inquest's findings. Judge Armitage called the racism within the NT Police "grotesque". Hearing this was validating for Kumanjayi Walker's family, but without police accountability reforms, Yuendumu is focusing on alternate ways they can avoid it happening again. Families see a clear path toward greater autonomy and believe that with increased resources and support, Yuendumu can shape a future where youth are no longer caught in the justice system, and where the excessive use of force by police against Aboriginal people is truly a thing of the past. "Our people have the solutions; we need to take back our rights to run our community and to have peace," Ned said. "If I could have one (recommendation implemented) today, it would be an independent ombudsman for NT police complaints, but we want investment in community and divestment from police," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "We want that to be centred around Warlpiri and mob, by doing that it's going to prevent deaths in custody because there will be programs that offer alternative pathways." Our communities don't need saving. Our communities don't need saviours … and that is what Judge Elisabeth Armitage's 683-page report confirms.
ABC News
12 hours ago
- ABC News
The police officer who took the Falconio call
The killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio has died. Bradley John Murdoch died in palliative care, serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder. It was an event that changed the town of Alice Springs forever. Erica Gibson was a shift sergeant working at the local police station 24 years ago when the call came in from Peter's partner, Joanne Lees. Gibson says while she understood the seriousness of the call, she could never have foreseen the gravity of the event over the next two and a half decades. She spoke to ABC Darwin's Lillian Rangiah about that fateful night.
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- News.com.au
The unanswered questions about Peter Falconio's murder as outback killer dies aged 67
The location of British backpacker Peter Falconio's body is just one of many questions that could go unanswered in the wake of his killer, Bradley John Murdoch's, death overnight. In an eerie coincidence, Murdoch, 67 – who was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019 – died just one day after the 24th anniversary of the infamous killing. Despite continued efforts by police, Mr Falconio's remains have never been found. In a statement acknowledging Murdoch's death on Wednesday morning, NT Police said it was 'deeply regrettable that (he) died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains'. 'His silence has denied the Falconio family the closure they have so long deserved. Our thoughts are with the Falconio family in the United Kingdom, whose grief continues.' In 2020, Britain's Channel 4 released Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery, an AACTA-award winning, four-episode documentary that explored the circumstances of the case – and mysteries surrounding it – two decades on. On July 14, 2001, Mr Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were travelling on the Stuart Highway north of Barrow Creek, about 208km north of Alice Springs, when a car pulled up alongside their Kombi van and motioned for the couple to pull over. Behind the wheel was Murdoch, who told the young backpackers there were sparks coming out of their van. As the 28-year-old went to inspect the back of the Kombi, Murdoch pulled a gun on him and shot him in the head. Murdoch then forced Ms Lees out of the van, binding her wrists with cable ties and forcing her into the back of his Land Cruiser. She was somehow able to escape, hiding in the outback's sparse scrub for five hours before she was able to stop a road train and get help. Murdoch in the Outback creator, former defence lawyer Andrew Fraser raised a number of questions about Mr Falconio's murder – including the location of his body, Murdoch's motive, why there was no blood spatter when Mr Falconio had been shot, and the so-called 'jelly man' and red car spotted up the road from the crime scene. 'I saw this bloke who looked like jelly' Vince Millar was the lorry driver who picked up Ms Lees on the highway. In Murder in the Outback, Mr Millar recalled seeing a red car parked near the crime scene – near which he claimed he saw 'two blokes' holding up a third. 'I saw this bloke who looked like jelly,' Mr Millar said. 'He was in the middle of two blokes.' Mr Millar said he pulled over to check if the men were all right, only for them to get into the car and speed off. 'I'm pretty sure that the bloke in the middle (being held up) was Peter Falconio,' he claimed. Lack of DNA at the crime scene The lack of DNA at the crime scene has been another point of speculation over the years. Murdoch's DNA was initially found on Ms Lees' T-shirt, but Mr Fraser questioned why, if the killer had wrestled her to the ground like she'd said, it wasn't on other parts of her body. In 2011, Justice Dean Mildren, author of the book Big Boss Fella, All Same Judge, also raised questions about the reliability of the DNA testing that helped convict Murdoch (though it wasn't the only evidence against him). 'If the body were to be found, that would clear the matter up completely one way or the other,' Justice Mildren told AAP. 'If Peter Falconio was shot, the body is likely to have marks on the skeleton showing there was a bullet. 'Maybe if the bullet was still in the body when it was buried … then it would not just be beyond reasonable doubt, but beyond any doubt at all.' During Murdoch's murder trial, it was revealed the killer put Mr Falconio's body into his car, before dumping him somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome – towns almost 2000km apart. 'The difficulty is that one of the things that can't be excluded is that the body was taken a long way from the area before it was buried, if it was buried,' Justice Mildren said. 'No one knows where else to look. 'There's always a chance that the body might turn up through accident, but I think after all this time the chances are starting to look pretty remote.' 'There was no blood splatter' Blood expert Professor Barry Boetcher also questioned why, given Mr Falconio was shot in the head by Murdoch, there wasn't much blood at the scene. Though police found blood on the road in three places, there was no sign of a body being dragged to Murdoch's car. 'If a body had been shot and then dragged somewhere you would expect a blood trail,' Professor Boetcher said. 'There was no blood trail in this case. Further than this, there was no blood spatter found at the scene.' Dad's sad plea before Murdoch's death On Tuesday, Mr Falconio's elderly father Luciano told the NT News he still clings to hope his son's remains will be found. Twenty-four years to the day that Mr Falconio was killed, the 83-year-old said: 'I wish I could find him and make an end to it, bury him … find where he is buried and what happened to him, even me, I don't know.' 'I know what happened but I don't know where he is,' Luciano said. 'I still hope, yeah I still hope, but I don't know, if we (will) live long enough (to find out).' After Murdoch's death was announced, Luciano again said he wished the killer 'left something for me to find (Mr Falconio)'. 'I wish he left something,' he added. Police launch fresh appeal for information Police launched a new appeal for information on the whereabouts of Mr Falconio's body when Murdoch was transferred to palliative care in June, offering a potential reward of up to $500,000. At a press conference, NT Police Acting Commissioner Mark Grieve said authorities 'still hold out hope that someone will be able to provide some vital information to assist in this search'. 'As such, a fresh reward for information is now on offer of up to $500,000, for information that leads to the discovery of Peter's body,' Acting Commander Grieve said. 'We're asking for anyone that may believe they have information that can assist to please come forward and contact police … We recognise the passage of time that's transpired, however it's never too late to reach out and at least start that conversation.' Authorities have repeatedly searched the area where Mr Falconio was killed. A previous reward of up to $250,000 had been offered to anyone with information. Police have doubled that amount, Acting Comm Grieve said, in the hope of trying to 'at least bring some slither of resolution to Peter's family by bringing home his remains'. 'We have been unwavering in that regard in the 24 years up to this point,' he said.
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- The Guardian
Australian outback killer Bradley Murdoch never revealed where Peter Falconio's body was. Now he's taken his secret to the grave
The unofficial policy of the Northern Territory Department of Corrections was to 'destabilise' prisoner number 257128. For more than 20 years, Bradley John Murdoch was sent back and forth from the Alice Springs correctional centre, surrounded by outback red dirt and scrub, to the maximum security prison at Berrimah in Darwin's industrial outskirts. Murdoch, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio, died in custody on Tuesday, aged 67. The 'outback killer', whose crimes partly inspired the horror film Wolf Creek, was convicted of murder by a jury in 2005. He maintained his innocence until his final breath. Falconio's body has never been found. The 1,500km prison transfer bus trip up the Sturt Highway between the Northern Territory's two maximum security prisons would have passed through Barrow Creek, the remote town with 11 inhabitants, where Murdoch ambushed the VW Kombi van of Falconio and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, in July 2001. Most of the searches for Falconio's body have focused on the area that surrounds the town, but the outback is vast. The distance from the nearest towns – Alice Springs, in one direction, to Tenant Creek in the other – is more than 560km, the equivalent of a journey from London to Dusseldorf. Kate Vanderlaan, the retired former acting commissioner of the NT Police Force, was the head of the Alice Springs crime division in 2001 and recalls the days and weeks immediately after Falconio went missing. Lees told police she managed to escape and hide in the bush for hours while Murdoch searched for her, with the help of his dog, until she flagged down a truck driver and called for help. 'My most significant memory was that it was a very difficult investigation in the early days,' Vanderlaan said. 'It wasn't clear cut [at the outset] as to who did it, [and] there was significant media interest. 'I'd never dealt with such media scrutiny before. We had a description of the vehicle and the recollection [of Lees], but at the end of the day, it was starting from scratch because you don't know the motive … other than it was such a random thing. 'We got so much information, sometimes that was quite overwhelming – how to deal with it.' Vanderlaan recalls searching for Falconio's body in the first few weeks after he disappeared. 'The initial search was concentrated along the road or within a kilometre of the road. But it's vast, and the burial evidence would probably dissipate pretty quickly. They were pretty thorough in their searches, but it's like a needle in a haystack,' she said. 'We've had so many different suggestions and thoughts since, and they've all been followed up. It was always the case that if we had some leads, it was always followed up. We had the psychics and those people thinking they knew where the body was.' Murdoch was convicted by a jury in December 2005 and sentenced to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 28 years. In the time since, he has steadfastly maintained his innocence, including several unsuccessful attempts to appeal against his conviction. His family released a statement on Wednesday, acknowledging his death. 'To many, Bradley Murdoch is known only for the events that led to his conviction in 2005 for the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio, a crime for which he has always denied responsibility from his arrest until his death,' the statement said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'But to those who truly knew him, he was much more than the headlines. When given the opportunity, Brad was a devoted father, father-in-law, and proud Poppy who never missed a chance to brag about his grandchildren. He was a beloved brother, uncle, and friend.' The family said Murdoch maintained his innocence until his death. 'We understand that the public perception of Bradley will always be shaped by his conviction, but our intention is simply to share the man we knew, the version of him that was rarely, if ever, seen beyond our family and close friends,' his family said. 'He was deeply loved. He will be deeply missed.' The statement said Murdoch had assisted First Nations prisoners, who had called him uncle. Such accounts are at odds with others that have emerged about Murdoch, including from within the prison system over the years. Murdoch spent 21 months in prison after he shot at a group of Aboriginal people who had been celebrating after an Australian rules football match in Western Australia in 1995. He was known to have a racist tattoo, depicting an Aboriginal man. Within the prison system, he was reported to have developed significant influence. The search for Falconio's remains has fascinated police, journalists and amateur sleuths for years. In 2014, Australian current affairs program Today Tonight claimed to have discovered a possible location for Falconio's body in a well at Neutral Junction, about a kilometre from the crime scene at Barrow Creek. It later emerged the segment had been filmed three years earlier. After decades of fruitless searches, the best hope remained the possibility, however remote, that Murdoch might confess and reveal where Falconio was buried. Sources familiar with the Northern Territory's dealings with Murdoch say they tried 'all manner of things' to elicit a confession. In 2016, the NT introduced 'no body, no parole' laws. There was only one prisoner in the Territory's jails who was affected. But Murdoch remained silent. He contracted throat cancer in 2019, and the possibility of parole would have seemed impossible. Last month, as the 67-year-old appeared close to death, Northern Territory police announced a new reward of $500,000 for information about Falconio's disappearance. Murdoch died in palliative care at the Alice Springs hospital. He took the secret – the best hope of finding Falconio – to his grave. 'Let's hope someone might come forward now that he's dead,' Vanderlaan said.
ABC News
16 hours ago
- ABC News
Bradley John Murdoch's death means the body of Peter Falconio may never be found
Bradley John Murdoch, the convicted killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio, has died overnight in the palliative care unit of Alice Springs Hospital. In 2001, 28-year old Peter Falconio and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, were exploring Central Australia together in what was supposed to be a memorable outback holiday. One would never return and the other would become subject to intense media scrutiny and the trauma of reliving her attack during the trial of her boyfriend's murderer. Although Murdoch was convicted for the murder in 2005, key questions about what happened to Peter Falconio could now never be answered, including the location of his body. Here's what happened. Early on the evening of July 14 2001, the couple were travelling north in their Kombi van on the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory when the driver of a ute, Bradley Murdoch, pulled up alongside Mr Falconio and gestured at him to pull over. The two men met and spoke at the rear of the Kombi and Ms Lees heard them talking about sparks coming from the engine. Mr Falconio asked Ms Lees to rev the engine and as she was doing it, she heard a loud bang. Murdoch shot Mr Falconio and then turned the gun on Ms Lees. He then assaulted Ms Lees, bound her wrists with cable ties and electrical tape, and forced her into his car. Ms Lees managed to escape into nearby bushland, waiting until Murdoch drove off into the darkness. She was rescued by two men driving a road train who attempted to help her search for her boyfriend. But Peter Falconio was never seen again. Mr Falconio's family and Ms Lees were thrust into the spotlight in both Australia and the United Kingdom, with Ms Lees subjected to particularly intense scrutiny. It partly inspired the 2005 Australian horror film Wolf Creek. In 2016, former chief investigator Colleen Gwynne told the ABC said she could still vividly recollect the call made from Barrow Creek Roadhouse, 280 kilometres north of Alice Springs. "As soon as the information started filtering back I knew this was something big and this wasn't going to be a small investigation," Ms Gwynne said. Ms Gwynne was in charge of the police for the Alice Springs region at the time but after four months of limited progress on the investigation, she was promoted to lead detective on the case. Operating in such a remote place presented major challenges. "We had over 600 persons of interest at that time and 700 vehicles of interest." And the media storm that engulfed the case, which would go down as one of Australia's most notorious crimes, added pressure. The British and Australian press began to point fingers at Ms Lees, treating her as a suspect. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald for her 2006 book No Turning Back, Ms Lees described her reaction to media coverage at the time. "Hindsight is a great thing, isn't it? If I'd known what I now know . . . but I didn't have a media adviser and I wasn't given any practical advice or support by the police. I was completely on my own, without friends or family. The friends that did come to support me were encouraged to leave by the police." Police continued to interview multiple potential suspects. Ultimately it would be another frightening case one state over which narrowed their hunt for the killer. In November 2003, Bradley John Murdoch had just been cleared of rape and abduction charges unrelated to Mr Falconio's disappearance. He had been facing charges of raping a woman and her 12-year-old daughter in South Australia. The South Australia District Court heard he had told the pair he was "on the run", according to reporting at the time. "He believed, for whatever reason, the police were after him for this well-publicised murder trial," prosecutor Liesl Chapman told the court. The investigation into Mr Falconio's death had been ongoing for two years. When Murdoch was arrested for the rape case, police allegedly found a newspaper clipping about Mr Falconio in a guest house where their suspect was staying. He had first been interviewed by police in Broome in November 2001, as the owner of one of three dozen Toyota LandCruisers identified by tip-offs. Almost a year later, Ms Lees saw a photo of Murdoch alongside an article detailing his arrest in the rape case. She immediately recognised him. "In a statement given on the same day, Ms Lees said that she picked the offender from the photo board [of 12 photos]," Judge Brian Ross Martin wrote in his findings. "It would not matter what the person did to his appearance, she would always recognise him." A jury ultimately found him not guilty on charges of rape, false imprisonment, indecent assault and common assault of the 12-year-old and her mother. He spent just minutes as a free man – police were waiting outside the Adelaide courthouse to arrest him. Murdoch's car matched the one seen in CCTV at a nearby service station shortly after the attack on the British backpackers, and his height matched that of the driver. His DNA was found on a pair of homemade handcuffs used in the attack, on Ms Lees' T-shirt and on the gearstick of the van the couple had been driving. Still he denied responsibility. The trial of Bradley John Murdoch for the murder of Peter Falconio and assaulting and attempting to kidnap Joanne Lees began on October 17, 2005. Before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Murdoch pleaded not guilty. The trial captured such attention, the court building was renovated at a cost of $900,000 with special areas for the large media contingent covering the case. In that courtroom, Ms Lees came face to face with Murdoch again while she gave evidence during the eight-week trial. The court heard how she managed to hide and survived for hours while she waited for Murdoch to leave. The court has heard DNA found on Ms Lees' bloodstained T-shirt worn on the night of the attack was 150 million billion times more likely to have come from Murdoch than from anyone else. According to prosecutor Rex Wild QC, Murdoch realised his previous idea, that the DNA was planted on Joanne Lees by his own former business partner was crazy. Instead, he gave evidence the DNA may have gotten on her T-shirt when he visited the same Red Rooster restaurant as the couple that day. Previously, during the closing arguments for the defence, the court heard it was possible Murdoch's blood could have been transferred to Ms Lees' T-shirt then, without them realising. A vital piece of evidence was a small elastic hair tie. The hair tie had been taken from Ms Lees during the attack. It was found among the thousands of Murdoch's belongings confiscated by police. "He probably didn't know how significant the hair tie was and had it wrapped around his holster inside his belongings," Ms Gwynne said. "I think it was a trophy but no-one will ever know." When it was presented in evidence, Ms Gwynne said, Murdoch recoiled and refused to touch it. The jury ultimately found Murdoch guilty on all charges and he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Mr Falconio and attempted kidnapping of Ms Lees, with a non-parole period of 28 years. The court heard Murdoch had put Mr Falconio's body into his ute before dumping it somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome. During sentencing, Chief Justice Brian Martin described Murdoch's offending as "nothing short of cowardly in the extreme". He said Murdoch's prospects of rehabilitation were low given his "complete lack of remorse" and prior offending. In the 20 years he spent behind bars, Murdoch always maintained his innocence and made two attempts to appeal his conviction. But he was unsuccessful. In 2016, the NT government introduced "no body, no parole" laws with the aim of eliciting a confession from Murdoch by removing his right to parole in 2032. When that didn't work, the NT police launched a fresh appeal by offering a reward of $500,000 for information on Mr Falconio's remains. Acting Commander Mark Grieve said police still held out hope of finding him. "We recognise the passage of time that's transpired," he said. "However it's never too late to reach out and start that conversation with police. "You just never know how beneficial that information that you may hold, may be — essentially you just don't know what you know." At the time, Murdoch had already been diagnosed with terminal throat cancer and was in palliative care at Adelaide Hospital. Repeated pleas by the police for him to reveal the location of Mr Falconio had proved fruitless. "There may be someone out there that he's confided in — whether that's family and friends — we just don't know," said Acting Commander Grieve. By 2016, police said they hoped people might come forward with 'information that they've held onto for a very long period of time". "Whenever human remains are found it's one of the first questions we receive from people," Acting Deputy Commissioner Jamie Chalker said. In 2017 an anonymous letter sent to newspaper The NT News alleged Mr Falconio's body had been cut up, dumped and transported across three states. The newspaper's article publishing the letter later became the subject of an Australian Press Council (APC) complaint, lodged by Mr Falconio's mother. The NT News said it had presented the letter to police before publication, however the complaint was upheld by the council, who said it caused "substantial offence and distress" to the Falconio family. The Falconio family have repeatedly begged for information. Mr Falconio's father, Luciano Falconio, told media he wished Murdoch had "left something for me to find Pete". "I wish he left something," he told a News Corp reporter just hours after learning Murdoch had died. "The sadness is always there, if you have something done to you wrongly whatever it is, you have got to look after yourself. "You harden with it." In 2022, Peter's mother Joan Falconio contacted South Australian politician Frank Pangallo, sparking a call for the reward money to be raised even further. "We want to bring Peter home where he belongs near his family," she wrote. "Our pain is always with us. "Peter has a beautiful niece and two lovely nephews who he never got to see or know. "I am appealing to anyone with a conscience to help me however small to tell me where he was put." Born in the West Australian town of Northampton in 1958, Murdoch spent most of his life living in Broome working as a mechanic. Murdoch had a history of violent crime, serving time in a Western Australian jail in the mid-1990s for shooting at a crowd of Aboriginal football fans. During the trial, a witness told the court Murdoch also was a drug runner. He had smuggled cannabis from South Australia to Western Australia and reportedly sipped amphetamines mixed in with hot tea to stay alert on long drives. Murdoch was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019. He received chemotherapy at Alice Springs Hospital and was put in palliative care until he died there on July 15, aged 67. In a statement, NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said: "It is disappointing for the Falconio family that this case remains unresolved and they are still without the closure they deserve. "We remind the public that the reward for information relating to the disappearance of Peter Falconio has been recently increased."
