A Mysterious Stranger & Unsolved Death - Peter Falconio case

[nivek]

A Mysterious Stranger and an Unsolved Death in the Australian Outback
By Brent Swancer

In July of 2001 British tourists Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees were in a remote stretch of Outback near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia on what was supposed to be a grand adventure for the couple. It was just another leg of a larger journey for the two, and they had already been backpacking through Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia. For this next leg of their adventure they planned to drive out under the lonely skies of the isolated badlands of the Stuart Highway on a trip straight through parched brush land from Alice Springs bound for a place called the Devil’s Marbles, a protected wildlife refuge area in the vicinity of Warumungu and a very sacred place for the native Aborigines. On July 14, this brave couple headed out in their orange Volkswagen Kombi along that bumpy road through the imposing, inhospitable Outback and into the annals of great unsolved mysteries.

At around 8PM, the couple noticed that another vehicle was behind them and had been since a stop at a roadhouse in the tiny Outback community of Barrow Creek, which was odd considering the sheer desolation of the region they were in, far from civilization, where other cars were a rarity and which was so remote it might as well have been the surface of the moon. They figured they would just let the vehicle pass, and at this point it was odd but not particularly alarming, and so they slowed down to allow the white 4-wheel drive utility vehicle overtake them. The truck then pulled up alongside the couple’s van and they could see that the interior light was eerily turned on and that within sat a man in a black baseball cap, long t-shirt, and with a distinctive mustache that drooped down to each side of his mouth, and there was a dog in the vehicle with him. As the mysterious stranger drove alongside them he excitedly waved them over to the side of the road with a look of concern on his face, and still not thinking it was anything dangerous they complied.

Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees

When both vehicles had come to a stop, Falconio got out to see what was going on, and the stranger told him that he had seen sparks flying out of their Kombi and that he was sure they had serious engine issues. The two were talking when suddenly the girlfriend, Lees, says she heard the loud clap of what sounded like a gunshot as she went to try revving the engine to see what was wrong. When she ran back out in a panic the stranger was there with a gun pointed straight at her, and he proceeded to tie her arms behind her back with black cables but was unsuccessful in tying the feet or taping the mouth of the struggling, terrified woman. The frustrated man merely dragged the still kicking Lees to the back of his own truck and unceremoniously threw her in. Although she couldn’t see her boyfriend anywhere, Lees was at this point sure that Falconio was either dead or severely wounded, and she was also certain that the man planned to rape her, so as soon as he was distracted she made a panicked run for freedom, vaulting out of the truck and managing to lodge herself into the surrounding brush.

Managing to stay as quiet as possible, she lay there in the bush as the man frantically searched for her with his dog and drove his vehicle past several times before giving up and leaving her out there alone in the forbidding Outback. Of what had become of Falconio she had no idea, and even after the stranger was gone she stayed there without moving a muscle for the next five hours as the sounds of the wilderness descended upon her. Upon deeming it safe to move, she then stumbled back to the highway, arms still tied behind her, and after a futile search for her boyfriend was lucky enough to flag down a trucker, who took the frightened Lees back into Barrow Creek.

Barrow Creek was not really prepared for this sort of situation. An outpost speck on the map with only 11 souls inhabiting it, they had no idea how to deal with the claims of Lees, and so police were called in from Alice Springs, with a search immediately launched for the missing Falconio and the alleged attacker. There was soon found to be no body remaining at the scene of the crime, although a good splattering of blood was found. This blood would later prove to be that of Falconio, with the odd detail that it had been mixed with animal blood, perhaps placed there on purpose in an effort by the killer to throw people off his trail. The orange Kombi the couple had been driving was also found, having been driven well off the road into the brush to hide it. Roadblocks that had been set up were not successful in apprehending the suspect, not surprising considering many hours had passed by that point, and Aboriginal trackers brought in were unable to find any tracks leading away from the scene except those of Lees, meaning that the killer had driven off with Falconio. However, there was no other clue or trace of either man to be found.

The Stuart Highway

This would launch a full blown investigation the likes of which the region had never seen before, and the case was picking up massive media attention. Police would doggedly pursue numerous leads and suspects with nothing to go on, made more difficult by Lees’ constantly shifting details of what had happened, before catching a break with assumed CCTV footage of the suspect in Alice Springs sometime after the attack, but this led nowhere. It was not until the authorities had exhaustively checked records for any and all vehicles matching that of the perpetrator that they were brought to a man by the name of Bradley John Murdoch, who after intensive questioning and a positive ID by Lees was fingered as the likely perpetrator. The problem was, there was still no body of Falconio found and Murdoch adamantly maintained that he didn’t do it.

Murdoch’s cries of innocence did not help the investigation one iota, and there had still been no trace of the body of the missing man found. Indeed, there had come in tips that seemed to show that Falconio might have actually even still been alive, when witnesses Melissa Kendall and Robbie Brown claimed to have seen the missing man a week after his vanishing in the company of an unidentified man and woman at their service station in the town of Bourke. Nevertheless, police threw everything they could at Murdoch, despite his pleas of innocence and his constant demands to show a body. When the trial began it was a media circus, with the actual courtroom physically renovated to accommodate all of the people, and through it all Murdoch maintained that he had had nothing to do with it. The only real evidence tying him to the crime was his DNA on the makeshift handcuffs used in the attack, but there were arguments from the defense that this could have been transferred to them by accident or through a willful attempt to frame him. In the end, despite questionable evidence, Murdoch was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Bradley John Murdoch in custody

Murdoch continued to deny any wrongdoing even in the face of this conviction, and there would also be later evidence that Falconio himself had perhaps been no angel. There were numerous rumors that he had had financial difficulties and drug connections, as well as possible connections to nefarious underworld organizations, and there were still people claiming that he was still alive somewhere. In the meantime, Murdoch would appeal his conviction on several occasions, but none of these stuck, and the now cancer ridden man remained incarcerated. Through this all, Falconio’s body never has been found, and has been the focus of intense efforts to find it ever since. One idea that has been presented is that his body was thrown into a well or hidden out in the Outback where it could be picked apart by scavengers, but no one really knows for sure. There was also an anonymous letter sent to NT News in 2017 that claimed that Falconio’s body had been cut up into pieces and dissolved in acid, but the veracity of this claim has never been confirmed.

There are also plenty of conspiracy theories that Murdoch is innocent and has been framed, that maybe even Lees had something to do with it, and of course the missing man is still alive somewhere. Indeed, author Dr Keith Allan Noble has insisted in his book Find! Falconio that the whole trial was a miscarriage of justice and that Falconio is still alive, offering a reward of £25,000 to anyone who can prove it. To this day, the reward is unclaimed, Falconio’s body has never been found, there has been no hard evidence to pin it on Murdoch even as he languishes in prison, likely to die before long of cancer, and no other clues or leads of a case that has become mired in conspiracies and mystery. What happened to Peter Falconio out along that dusty stretch of road and where did he go? No one knows, and it has gone on to become one of Australia’s more compelling unsolved mysteries.

.

 

[1963]

A Mysterious Stranger and an Unsolved Death in the Australian Outback
By Brent Swancer

In July of 2001 British tourists Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees were in a remote stretch of Outback near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia on what was supposed to be a grand adventure for the couple. It was just another leg of a larger journey for the two, and they had already been backpacking through Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia. For this next leg of their adventure they planned to drive out under the lonely skies of the isolated badlands of the Stuart Highway on a trip straight through parched brush land from Alice Springs bound for a place called the Devil’s Marbles, a protected wildlife refuge area in the vicinity of Warumungu and a very sacred place for the native Aborigines. On July 14, this brave couple headed out in their orange Volkswagen Kombi along that bumpy road through the imposing, inhospitable Outback and into the annals of great unsolved mysteries.

At around 8PM, the couple noticed that another vehicle was behind them and had been since a stop at a roadhouse in the tiny Outback community of Barrow Creek, which was odd considering the sheer desolation of the region they were in, far from civilization, where other cars were a rarity and which was so remote it might as well have been the surface of the moon. They figured they would just let the vehicle pass, and at this point it was odd but not particularly alarming, and so they slowed down to allow the white 4-wheel drive utility vehicle overtake them. The truck then pulled up alongside the couple’s van and they could see that the interior light was eerily turned on and that within sat a man in a black baseball cap, long t-shirt, and with a distinctive mustache that drooped down to each side of his mouth, and there was a dog in the vehicle with him. As the mysterious stranger drove alongside them he excitedly waved them over to the side of the road with a look of concern on his face, and still not thinking it was anything dangerous they complied.

Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees

When both vehicles had come to a stop, Falconio got out to see what was going on, and the stranger told him that he had seen sparks flying out of their Kombi and that he was sure they had serious engine issues. The two were talking when suddenly the girlfriend, Lees, says she heard the loud clap of what sounded like a gunshot as she went to try revving the engine to see what was wrong. When she ran back out in a panic the stranger was there with a gun pointed straight at her, and he proceeded to tie her arms behind her back with black cables but was unsuccessful in tying the feet or taping the mouth of the struggling, terrified woman. The frustrated man merely dragged the still kicking Lees to the back of his own truck and unceremoniously threw her in. Although she couldn’t see her boyfriend anywhere, Lees was at this point sure that Falconio was either dead or severely wounded, and she was also certain that the man planned to rape her, so as soon as he was distracted she made a panicked run for freedom, vaulting out of the truck and managing to lodge herself into the surrounding brush.

Managing to stay as quiet as possible, she lay there in the bush as the man frantically searched for her with his dog and drove his vehicle past several times before giving up and leaving her out there alone in the forbidding Outback. Of what had become of Falconio she had no idea, and even after the stranger was gone she stayed there without moving a muscle for the next five hours as the sounds of the wilderness descended upon her. Upon deeming it safe to move, she then stumbled back to the highway, arms still tied behind her, and after a futile search for her boyfriend was lucky enough to flag down a trucker, who took the frightened Lees back into Barrow Creek.

Barrow Creek was not really prepared for this sort of situation. An outpost speck on the map with only 11 souls inhabiting it, they had no idea how to deal with the claims of Lees, and so police were called in from Alice Springs, with a search immediately launched for the missing Falconio and the alleged attacker. There was soon found to be no body remaining at the scene of the crime, although a good splattering of blood was found. This blood would later prove to be that of Falconio, with the odd detail that it had been mixed with animal blood, perhaps placed there on purpose in an effort by the killer to throw people off his trail. The orange Kombi the couple had been driving was also found, having been driven well off the road into the brush to hide it. Roadblocks that had been set up were not successful in apprehending the suspect, not surprising considering many hours had passed by that point, and Aboriginal trackers brought in were unable to find any tracks leading away from the scene except those of Lees, meaning that the killer had driven off with Falconio. However, there was no other clue or trace of either man to be found.

The Stuart Highway

This would launch a full blown investigation the likes of which the region had never seen before, and the case was picking up massive media attention. Police would doggedly pursue numerous leads and suspects with nothing to go on, made more difficult by Lees’ constantly shifting details of what had happened, before catching a break with assumed CCTV footage of the suspect in Alice Springs sometime after the attack, but this led nowhere. It was not until the authorities had exhaustively checked records for any and all vehicles matching that of the perpetrator that they were brought to a man by the name of Bradley John Murdoch, who after intensive questioning and a positive ID by Lees was fingered as the likely perpetrator. The problem was, there was still no body of Falconio found and Murdoch adamantly maintained that he didn’t do it.

Murdoch’s cries of innocence did not help the investigation one iota, and there had still been no trace of the body of the missing man found. Indeed, there had come in tips that seemed to show that Falconio might have actually even still been alive, when witnesses Melissa Kendall and Robbie Brown claimed to have seen the missing man a week after his vanishing in the company of an unidentified man and woman at their service station in the town of Bourke. Nevertheless, police threw everything they could at Murdoch, despite his pleas of innocence and his constant demands to show a body. When the trial began it was a media circus, with the actual courtroom physically renovated to accommodate all of the people, and through it all Murdoch maintained that he had had nothing to do with it. The only real evidence tying him to the crime was his DNA on the makeshift handcuffs used in the attack, but there were arguments from the defense that this could have been transferred to them by accident or through a willful attempt to frame him. In the end, despite questionable evidence, Murdoch was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Bradley John Murdoch in custody

Murdoch continued to deny any wrongdoing even in the face of this conviction, and there would also be later evidence that Falconio himself had perhaps been no angel. There were numerous rumors that he had had financial difficulties and drug connections, as well as possible connections to nefarious underworld organizations, and there were still people claiming that he was still alive somewhere. In the meantime, Murdoch would appeal his conviction on several occasions, but none of these stuck, and the now cancer ridden man remained incarcerated. Through this all, Falconio’s body never has been found, and has been the focus of intense efforts to find it ever since. One idea that has been presented is that his body was thrown into a well or hidden out in the Outback where it could be picked apart by scavengers, but no one really knows for sure. There was also an anonymous letter sent to NT News in 2017 that claimed that Falconio’s body had been cut up into pieces and dissolved in acid, but the veracity of this claim has never been confirmed.

There are also plenty of conspiracy theories that Murdoch is innocent and has been framed, that maybe even Lees had something to do with it, and of course the missing man is still alive somewhere. Indeed, author Dr Keith Allan Noble has insisted in his book Find! Falconio that the whole trial was a miscarriage of justice and that Falconio is still alive, offering a reward of £25,000 to anyone who can prove it. To this day, the reward is unclaimed, Falconio’s body has never been found, there has been no hard evidence to pin it on Murdoch even as he languishes in prison, likely to die before long of cancer, and no other clues or leads of a case that has become mired in conspiracies and mystery. What happened to Peter Falconio out along that dusty stretch of road and where did he go? No one knows, and it has gone on to become one of Australia’s more compelling unsolved mysteries.

.

Hi Nivek, … i'm really surprised and a little disappointed that this thread has received no replies yet. Surprised because it really is a top notch 'mystery' that deserves some attention, and disappointed because I would like to know the opinions of my fellow armchair-sleuths around here.
I was drawn to this thread by the search-box in response to my having just finished watching a four part documentary [shown over consecutive nights on channel four] in which the obvious intention was to leave one in no doubt that there had been a gross miscarriage of justice by means of throughout the programmes the narrative was very much to show that Bradley John Murdoch .. though being in no way describable as an angelic character, was in fact innocent of Peter Falconio's murder and without putting too fine a point on it was an intentionally chosen 'patsy'. ..And went even further in planting the seeds of impression that the victim Falconio wasn't even dead.
Interestingly it did manage to demonstrate just how unreliable and quite frankly 'suspiciously strange' the third party and only eye witness Joanne Lees was [and presumably still is, though she refused to participate in the documentary].
All in all from my own point of view, I am the kind of person that such as in this case, I watched the event/case unfold via the usual media snippet route … news programmes, newspapers and the odd t.v special and eventually would readily concede that 'I know nothing for sure because I wasn't involved' but suspect one scenario or the other to be most likely … and will generally stick to this loosely-quiet-conclusion until any solid information surfaces to challenge that notion.
In this case, my initial inclination was in fact along the lines of it all being a humongous hoax. In fact I was strongly thinking that it was a poorly thought out 'insurance swindle' … there were just too many anomalies and inconsistencies in Lees' recounting of the incident, and the very strange and guarded [to say the least] way in which she handled … or should I say didn't handle her media conferences made her , for me at least, look as guilty as hell and definitely trying to hide the truth!
...And then when they eventually rolled out the police's prime suspect … 'Bradley John Murdoch' … I could immediately see that this was indeed a bad man and still easily find it feasible that he is capable of doing such dastardly deeds such as this! … And so recanted my previous suspicions of it being a case of 'insurance-fraud' … and that opinion was compounded by means of … A. I was under the impression that the police had sufficient solid evidence of his guilt … eg the claimed DNA match combined with the I.D and proximity proof from the gas station cctv film etc plus his colourful and nasty prior history. … and B. the simple fact that 'a live and well Falconio' was never exposed even though the eyes of the world + generous-reward were watching out for him!
And to stave-off any more of this numbing digression from me lol, i'll sum up my thoughts by saying that even though this four-part-documentary did a great job in pointing out the flaws in this being a genuinely straightforward 'murder, arrest and conviction job by the police authorities … I do believe that the right man was apprehended and sentenced for this great tragedy [the brutal cold-blooded murder of a young man] … and furthermore, I no longer believe that Joanne Lees is guilty of anything but being a bit of a fruit-loop!

What do you think mate?

ps.. I forgot to mention that throughout the whole saga, that my real sympathies were always with the Falconio family, especially his father whom seemed to be the only one involved in the press conferences that was destroyed so convincingly that I don't mind confessing to make tears well up in my eyes when seeing this man's sheer devastation!
… And also the same reaction to his loving mother and not being able to start and imagine just what hell that they were going through , throughout this global media circus.
...as illustrated in this link to another ignored thread from our beloved and sadly missing soulmate August … Peter Falconios mother distressed by claims.

Cheers Buddy.

 

[nivek]

Hello 1963, I've found the documentary you recently watched and I'm going to give it a viewing tonight...Its a strange case with very weird elements involved, what do you think about the red car and alleged jelly man near the crime scene?...

Here's a podcast I thought I'd post for further listening, some interesting points they discuss...

 

[1963]

Hello 1963, I've found the documentary you recently watched and I'm going to give it a viewing tonight...Its a strange case with very weird elements involved, what do you think about the red car and alleged jelly man near the crime scene?...

Here's a podcast I thought I'd post for further listening, some interesting points they discuss...

Hi Nivek, thanks for the podcast, I just finished listening to it, and to be honest there is nothing on there that isn't already covered in the documentary, in fact the lady -author Robin Bowles [in who's interest it is to commove the mystery] appears on the documentary, along with the truck driver that you refer to 'Vince Millar'.
Well both truck drivers appear and give their 'testimony' actually, but as the second driver [who's name temporarily escapes me?] is said to have been sleeping in the back so is not really relevant to the Vince Millar 'jellyman-story' … which just like everyone else hit me like a brick and initially left me agog at the enormity of that little piece of vital discernment-evidence that I had somehow overlooked before?
… And then came the bit of conspicuous information that in fact this was in fact 'Brand New Evidence'! … Evidence that he had not deemed important enough to share with anyone … even the police in any of his interviews ! …. until now when being temporarily employed by a documentary crew that were obviously keen to boost ratings … ergo any new explosive claim that he makes is not likely to be explored too uncomfortably, and would probably guarantee a whole host of resulting confirmatory paid-interviews throughout the many other media sources … "if you know what I mean mate."
In other words, I of course do not know this for a fact, but generally suspect that by being 'in the right place at the right time' Vince Millar had not only become a bit of a celebrity for some time [which is well known for being addictive] but also might just have gotten fond of the 'appearance-money' that came with this temporary-fame. ...And after such a long time has passed when his minor-celebrity had just about disappeared, .. decided that it wouldn't hurt to claim a bit of extra relevance by pandering to the 'conspiracy theorist that lies within most of us'! … and this was his idea of showing the great irresistible-profundity to enable him to glean his 'fair share of the pie!'
Having said all that , [that without any evidence for it, that I think the 'absent-minded-witness' is a liar! lol] .. I also have to state that I find firming any kind of solid notion of what actually occurred on that fateful night out there in the deep Australian sticks … absolutely mind numbing! … I mean,... well there are so many red herrings , lies and inconsistencies coming from either side of the fence .. so to speak... such as How the hell did Murdoch's DNA get on Lees' shirt? … did someone in the police plant it there? … his own defence to the DNA question was that it was probably transferred 'somehow' to Lees' clothing "when he went to the same chicken place to get some CHICKEN for him and his dog" [he said this in a police interview as well] … but then we have the fact that … In April 2006, The Bulletin reported that Murdoch had refused to be served chicken while incarcerated during the committal and trial, claiming he was allergic to it, and that he has a standing medical certificate at Darwin's maximum security Berrimah Prison where he had a "prison dietitian assigned to create a special menu" due to this allergy, requesting that he never be served chicken!!? … and also on the documentary, the owner of the 'chicken-diner' said that he clearly recalls that the customer that was intimated to have been Murdoch on that day was in fact a whole foot shorter than 'Big Brad' is! … so again, how did his DNA get on Lees' clothes if not from the diner or by means of evidence-planting by the cops? [a fit-up in English parlance, and it is very-much not unknown over here mate. lol] … maybe?
On the other hand, there are many damning aspects of the 'prosecution case' that I could elaborate on … of course you will have a few pertinent questions of your own my friend, … but i'd like to point out the biggest flaw imho of the whole of Joanne Lees' account of the events … perhaps not the most important to most inquirers but to me it is totally unbelievable that she claims that she managed to get [a total measured by the police at the earliest opportunity, and confirmed by Lees and the police on several separate occasions] 'all of 35 yards' away from Murdoch's truck, and hid in light brushes … but aided by a torch and a Australian-working-cow-dog couldn't manage to find her in near enough an hour's searching ["he came close three times" .. she claimed]!? … i'm no grizzly Adams, but have spent much time earlier in life night-time-rabbiting with many faithful dogs [lurchers, greyhound, whippets and mongrels] and can swear that I could not have hidden from any of them [long-gone little beauties] at 350 yards for more than a few minutes , never mind 35 yards for 40-50 mins !!!! … besides all of the other holes in Joanne's story, this one alone compels me to adjudge this girl to be a liar or at the very least an unreliable truth-distorter!
...So to me, this case is a real puzzle, and I have several scenarios running around my head, but am prepared to say that it is destined to frustrate forever, not unlike the Lindberg baby case etc, and we'll always be left with 'only speculation' …and never really know what the absolute truth of the matter is!

...What do you think is the likeliest truth to this case Nivek?

Cheers Buddy.

 

[Rick Hunter]

This reminds me alot of the Stephen Avery case here.

 

[nivek]

...So to me, this case is a real puzzle, and I have several scenarios running around my head, but am prepared to say that it is destined to frustrate forever, not unlike the Lindberg baby case etc, and we'll always be left with 'only speculation' …and never really know what the absolute truth of the matter is!

...What do you think is the likeliest truth to this case Nivek?

Cheers Buddy.

Hello 1963, hope you're doing well my friend, yes this is quite a perplexing case and you have certainly made mention of some good points as well as many inconsistencies which blatantly exist lol...Like you, I carry the notion that Lees is a liar, at least in regards to this case, to me she is without doubt hiding something(s)...If she was really and truly 35 metres away from Murdock's truck then why didn't Murdock's dog take notice of her?...Surely the canine would have smelled her, unless perhaps she was down wind lol...I've had dogs around me for years and I am certain any of my dogs would have took notice of Lees and brought it to my attention...Yes indeed, Lee's is a liar in my opinion and has been hiding something all along...Silence can speak volumes and for me Lees' silence was very suspicious and also very telling immediately after the disappearance of Peter...On a side note, Lees stated that she became intimate with a guy called Nick, he allegedly was someone she met through other friends while working in Sydney,...Could this Nick fellow have been involved in some way or was this telling meant as a distraction, or jealousy perhaps or something else or nothing at all lol?...

Then we have Vince Millar oddly recalling something he has never mentioned before stating that just before he found Lees on the highway he noticed a red car which was parked...He goes on to say that right beside that red car there were two men holding up a third man which he described as looking like "jelly" (I assume he means the guy was completely limp, maybe partially or fully unconscious)...He says that he pulled over to ask if they were all right and they immediately got into the red car racing off and away...Then Vince drops a bomb stating he was fairly certain that the jelly man was Peter Falconio...So perhaps Millar is lying about this for a bit of fame and maybe a little fortune, but what of the eyewitness reporting of Peter Falconio being seen alive and well?...Robert Brown and Melissa Kendall claim to have seen Falconio alive in Bourke, a remote town in New South Wales, which is about 2,000km from where he went missing...Brown swears the person he saw was Peter Falconio, he said he was a metre from that man...Astonishing!...

I have my doubts Murdock killed Peter Falconio, part of me questions whether he is even dead, could he have survived and assuming another identity?...I am certain there are thousands of people in the world hiding their true identities and living their lives under an assumed name or completely under the radars of governments and societies...I really think there are other elements and more people involved than we know about in regards to this case, maybe it wasn't intended on Peter getting injured (if he did survive) or dying, maybe something went sour and the outcome have wasn't meant to be?...

...

 

[1963]

This reminds me alot of the Stephen Avery case here.

Hi Rick, hope you are well mate. … and thanks for the response, i'd not previously heard of the Avery case. I haven't watched that Netflix series, and have just read a couple of articles about the ongoing saga online.
Just like in all of the similar 'Justice or Patsy' cases I am loathed to proclaim a firm stance either way, … but having read about an awful lot of these stories over the years, have to say that nothing really surprises me about the regularity of miscarriage of justice that has occurred since... well, forever! … On the other hand, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be a case of an evil bastard's way of manipulating public sympathy via highlighting past wrongs done to him wilfully , ergo he is the real victim and all of the condemning evidence is either false or insignificant!
It is always hard to seriously look at any of these cases objectively from the outside, … when the fact of the matter is that the ones on the inside that we are getting these 'Facts' from are invariably not objectively presenting them. … whether that be the prosecution, defence or even the documentary makers. .. And it is the latter category that matters the most , because it is their work that we [the outsiders] rely on most, but in all my years of pondering the truth of such cases, I can say that I cannot recall any such article or programme that has been made without such empathetic or inimical biases toward the defendant. And am very aware that there might just be another documentary on the way that turns the whole case around with a bit of un-previously-seen "brand-new-evidence" and stands the first one on it's head!
So , solely going by the texts that I just read about Avery and his long-standing 'possible-injustice-fight', I would initially agree that there is probably a real case for a thorough investigation into the whole process of investigation of Teresa Halbach's disappearance and subsequent arrest and prosecution .. and would suggest that the 'evidence' claimed and subsequently 'unavailable' be scrutinised closely. … And imho, all of this could only be done by an outside organisation, separate from the law enforcement organisation involved. A national special task force that is created specially to police the police that has been granted unimpeachable superiority to act objectively in any given case.
[you can rule me out of the squad though because I would be tempted to let the bastard rot in his cell, if only for what he did to his cat!] … It's not that I am particularly bothered about the 'rough-justice' that many of these so called innocent-scumbags get. [as in this case, unlike for instance young George Stinney jr that I read about a couple of weeks ago, … 14-year-old George Stinney - youngest person ever executed in the U.S. - required a booster seat in the electric chair - Altered Dimensions Paranormal only 14 years of,executed in the United States. … Avery doesn't come across as being particularly guileless and angelic] .. but it is the plain and simple fact that another perhaps even-bigger-bastard is getting away scot-free and could be, … or about to do it again!!
Which brings me to the disgusting case of Henry Lee Lucas ... whom as you probably know, is one of your countries' more famous 'serial-killers' [that I already was vaguely aware of from previous readings] ... but was absolutely astonished and left aghast at the corruption and damn-right irresponsibility shown by several branches of the Texas law enforcement bureaus in the Netflix four-part series that I binged on last night! ..

… So Rick, you probably have followed this case and know it much better than me matey … and what's your musings on the matter.? … should Avery be released?

Cheers Buddy.

 

[1963]

Hello 1963, hope you're doing well my friend, yes this is quite a perplexing case and you have certainly made mention of some good points as well as many inconsistencies which blatantly exist lol...Like you, I carry the notion that Lees is a liar, at least in regards to this case, to me she is without doubt hiding something(s)...If she was really and truly 35 metres away from Murdock's truck then why didn't Murdock's dog take notice of her?...Surely the canine would have smelled her, unless perhaps she was down wind lol...I've had dogs around me for years and I am certain any of my dogs would have took notice of Lees and brought it to my attention...Yes indeed, Lee's is a liar in my opinion and has been hiding something all along...Silence can speak volumes and for me Lees' silence was very suspicious and also very telling immediately after the disappearance of Peter...On a side note, Lees stated that she became intimate with a guy called Nick, he allegedly was someone she met through other friends while working in Sydney,...Could this Nick fellow have been involved in some way or was this telling meant as a distraction, or jealousy perhaps or something else or nothing at all lol?...

Then we have Vince Millar oddly recalling something he has never mentioned before stating that just before he found Lees on the highway he noticed a red car which was parked...He goes on to say that right beside that red car there were two men holding up a third man which he described as looking like "jelly" (I assume he means the guy was completely limp, maybe partially or fully unconscious)...He says that he pulled over to ask if they were all right and they immediately got into the red car racing off and away...Then Vince drops a bomb stating he was fairly certain that the jelly man was Peter Falconio...So perhaps Millar is lying about this for a bit of fame and maybe a little fortune, but what of the eyewitness reporting of Peter Falconio being seen alive and well?...Robert Brown and Melissa Kendall claim to have seen Faconio alive in Bourke, a remote town in New South Wales, which is about 2,000km from where he went missing...Brown swears the person he saw was Peter Falconio, he said he was a metre from that man...Astonishing!...

I have my doubts Murdock killed Peter Falconio, part of me questions whether he is even dead, could he have survived and assuming another identity?...I am certain there are thousands of people in the world hiding their true identities and living their lives under an assumed name or completely under the radars of governments and societies...I really think there are other elements and more people involved than we know about in regards to this case, maybe it wasn't intended on Peter getting injured (if he did survive) or dying, maybe something went sour and the outcome have wasn't meant to be?...

...

Hi Nivek, and yes me and mine are all doing well thankyou old friend. … And yes indeed I do agree with everything that you say. I too believe from the bottom of my heart that Lees is and has been doing an awful lot of lying throughout the whole saga! .. and could just as easily be guilty of injuring or even killing Falconio and then getting help from her 'secret-lover' [Nick Riley + friend] to dispose of the incriminating evidence [ie. Falconio] … Or I could just as easily see the scenario that Falconio is still alive and she was his accomplice in facilitating his disappearance! … but to what end? why would he want to fake his own death and disappearance? … I know that the conspiracy theory is that he was trying to scam the insurance, and is said to have 'told someone as much' beforehand. ..But that begs the obvious question of how would he actually get the insurance money? … was his family in on it … his mother and father whom would have surely been the beneficiaries , unless otherwise he nominated Lees for instance? … in which case i'm sure that we would be aware that she'd been paid out [and how much] .. in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the insurance company would capitalise on the whole 'mystery-aspect' to publicly fight-off any claims made! … And I can also see a scenario in which the 'insurance-job-went-wrong' could have occurred. i.e Falconio , Lees and maybe a friend or two [probably Riley + 1] were involved in the scam, and they had vastly underestimated the enormity of law-enforcement, media and public interest in the case .. and afterward … a couple of days or weeks of mounting-panic and realisation of just how much trouble the other three of them [Lees, Riley +1] would be in if Falconio was found decided that the only way out was to actually dispose of the already presumed dead Falconio properly. … There is other scenarios that have run through my head as to what really occurred on that night if it wasn;'t actually as it was presented by Lees, but in truth they are all variables of those general thoughts mate. have you got any others you'd like to share ? lol. … No matter how I look at Lees 'story' I can't help thinking that it's all very murky and that 'this girl is very much a stranger to the truth'... .. but then it's the DNA evidence of Murdoch on her clothes that for me is the real sticking point in declaring this man innocent! … there's also the fact of 'the chicken thing' that I mentioned earlier! … and the fact that he was obviously desperate enough to churn out a lie as blatant as this one seems to be, when the much better fit of him have actually helped out Falconio and Lees by mending their truck earlier , hence the legitimate DNA-proximity [that Robin Bowles in your podcast mooted] was dismissed out of hand by Murdoch himself! that makes him seem as guilty as 'a Jack Palance character' to me. lol
… But yeah! … she's a liar,... he's a liar, … the truck-driver's a liar, … and the 'face-to-face $50,000 reward' witnesses are more than likely liars too! … which makes all of this a freaking frustrating but fascinating event that we can only hope gets a little clearer some time soon before it's too late and passes into historical-mythology like 'The Black Dahlia case' and so many others have.

Cheers Buddy.

 

[Toroid]

This story reminds me of a Mad Max scenario.
Murder of Peter Falconio - Wikipedia.

An orange Volkswagen T2 Kombi Camper van similar to the one used by Falconio and Lees

 

[1963]

This story reminds me of a Mad Max scenario.
Murder of Peter Falconio - Wikipedia.

Hi Toroid, hope you are well matey, … Yes I can see what you mean lol. … but I think that 'Wolf Creek' is a lot more appropriate in this case …
… great film if you haven't already seen it [and like a bit of good horror] … it was made in 2005 and was actually banned from being shown in Australia for a time before Murdoch was found guilty and imprisoned, .. because it was deemed that it would prejudice Murdoch's case as it was too near the bone to the Falconio case [so to speak] , an allegation that Director Greg McLean refuted! … but later confessed that the maniac 'Mick Taylor' was inspired by both Bradley Murdoch and Ivan Milat [another Aussie-psycho]! The Grisly True Crime Stories Behind The Infamous Australian Horror Movie 'Wolf Creek'

Cheers Buddy.

 

[nivek]

Hi Nivek, and yes me and mine are all doing well thankyou old friend. … And yes indeed I do agree with everything that you say. I too believe from the bottom of my heart that Lees is and has been doing an awful lot of lying throughout the whole saga! .. and could just as easily be guilty of injuring or even killing Falconio and then getting help from her 'secret-lover' [Nick Riley + friend] to dispose of the incriminating evidence [ie. Falconio] … Or I could just as easily see the scenario that Falconio is still alive and she was his accomplice in facilitating his disappearance! … but to what end? why would he want to fake his own death and disappearance? … I know that the conspiracy theory is that he was trying to scam the insurance, and is said to have 'told someone as much' beforehand. ..But that begs the obvious question of how would he actually get the insurance money? … was his family in on it … his mother and father whom would have surely been the beneficiaries , unless otherwise he nominated Lees for instance? … in which case i'm sure that we would be aware that she'd been paid out [and how much] .. in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the insurance company would capitalise on the whole 'mystery-aspect' to publicly fight-off any claims made! … And I can also see a scenario in which the 'insurance-job-went-wrong' could have occurred. i.e Falconio , Lees and maybe a friend or two [probably Riley + 1] were involved in the scam, and they had vastly underestimated the enormity of law-enforcement, media and public interest in the case .. and afterward … a couple of days or weeks of mounting-panic and realisation of just how much trouble the other three of them [Lees, Riley +1] would be in if Falconio was found decided that the only way out was to actually dispose of the already presumed dead Falconio properly. … There is other scenarios that have run through my head as to what really occurred on that night if it wasn;'t actually as it was presented by Lees, but in truth they are all variables of those general thoughts mate. have you got any others you'd like to share ? lol. … No matter how I look at Lees 'story' I can't help thinking that it's all very murky and that 'this girl is very much a stranger to the truth'... .. but then it's the DNA evidence of Murdoch on her clothes that for me is the real sticking point in declaring this man innocent! … there's also the fact of 'the chicken thing' that I mentioned earlier! … and the fact that he was obviously desperate enough to churn out a lie as blatant as this one seems to be, when the much better fit of him have actually helped out Falconio and Lees by mending their truck earlier , hence the legitimate DNA-proximity [that Robin Bowles in your podcast mooted] was dismissed out of hand by Murdoch himself! that makes him seem as guilty as 'a Jack Palance character' to me. lol
… But yeah! … she's a liar,... he's a liar, … the truck-driver's a liar, … and the 'face-to-face $50,000 reward' witnesses are more than likely liars too! … which makes all of this a freaking frustrating but fascinating event that we can only hope gets a little clearer some time soon before it's too late and passes into historical-mythology like 'The Black Dahlia case' and so many others have.

Cheers Buddy.

There's many lingering questions still unanswered, why was there no trail of blood and so little blood?...Why was there only Lees' footprints at the scene?...Was there anyone else on that road that night?...Is Peter really dead?...Honestly I don't think Murdoch killed Falconio, yes I know there's evidence to the contrary lol, I really think Lees was directly involved in some way to this whole incident...Is Peter alive, it's very possible, I really don't buy into the insurance scam conspiracy though...People sometimes feel a really strong desire to cut ties with their current lives and live another way without anymore ties to that previous life, I can see that happening...We could be way off on all of our thoughts and ideas as to what transpired, if only a couple facts were to surface and connect some dots in a significant way lol...

...

 

[Rick Hunter]

I have zero sympathy for Stephen Avery. He is an evil man no question about it, and I can buy the possibility that he killed Theresa Halbach. Certainly, many people have been executed with less evidence and investigation. The one thing that stands out and bothers me about the case is, the cops got their first real breakthrough when Halbach's ex-boyfriend noticed her car in Avery's junkyard. And, the car had Avery's blood in it. That has always struck me as more than coincidence, just a little too convenient.

 

[nivek]

Shocking twist in Peter Falconio murder as stepfather of British backpacker Joanne Lees says killer Bradley John Murdoch is INNOCENT of the outback slaying that shocked Australia

The stepfather of British backpacker Joanne Lees says he now believes Australian killer Bradley John Murdoch is innocent of murdering her boyfriend Peter Falconio in 2001 - after watching a controversial documentary on TV.

Mechanic Bradley John Murdoch, from Broome in north-west Australia, was convicted of murdering Mr Falconio, 28, and assaulting his partner Joanne Lees, then 27, on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory in 2001.

He pleaded not guilty to the infamous outback murder and has maintained his innocence despite a court sentencing him to life in jail following a DNA match found on Ms Lees' T-shirt. Murdoch, now 62, is believed to have hidden Mr Falconio's body, which has never been found despite extensive searches. Ms Lees hid in bushland for five hours while Murdoch hunted her with his dog, before she managed to flag down a truck driver.

Speaking from the town of Huddersfield, where the couple grew up, her stepfather Vincent James said his opinion on the case has been swayed by a British documentary series which aired last month.

'I'm convinced Bradley Murdoch is innocent, I didn't at the time but I do now,' Mr James told News Corp.

'I watched the program and [from] all the forensic evidence it would appear that he's not guilty,' the stepfather said.

'At the time when I was there I thought he was guilty but now I don't.'

Though the conviction was largely based on Ms Lees' DNA being found on Murdoch's shirt, Mr James said the new evidence in the documentary swayed him. The series entitled Murder in the Outback - broadcast on the UK's Channel 4 - is geared towards exploring alternative evidence, not provided at court during Murdoch's trial and point to other parties having been involved. Roger Maynard, one of the first journalists on the scene, discussed the most convincing piece of new evidence with 7news.com.au.

Vince Miller, the truck-driver who picked up Joanne on the night after her assault, said that while on the same stretch of road just a few miles before he picked her up, he saw a red car at the roadside. Three men were by the car, two of them holding up a third. According to Maynard, the men didn't want to be interrupted by the trucker when he asked if they needed help. They bundled the third man 'like jelly' into the back seat and drove away. The truck driver said he now believes the man being held up could have been Mr Falconio.

Ms Lees reportedly still owns property in Huddersfield but is rarely seen in the town - in West Yorkshire, 14 miles outside of Leeds. Mr Falconio's parents also still live there and have spent much of the past two decades dedicated to finding his body.

In June's episode of Murder in the Outback, a former defence lawyer made a shocking claim from one of Peter's friends who said the backpacker was 'capable of faking his own death and committing life insurance fraud'. Police in Australia have discounted suggestions Mr Falconio faked his own death. The lawyer, Andrew Fraser, said a person claiming to be a friend of Mr Falconio's suggested he had committed life insurance fraud. He told the cameras: 'One such theory that came to our attention is that Peter Falconio may have faked his own disappearance.

'It's a statement that comes from somebody who describes himself as a mate of Peter's. And that statement paints a picture of Peter Falconio that many people may find surprising.' The anonymous friend - who was working three nights a week for an insurance company - told Australian authorities that the backpacker was known as 'dodgy Pete' because he was always known for scamming. He explained he'd chatted to Peter about how people were taking out life insurance policy cover for a couple of months before going to a foreign country and putting in a false claim.

In a statement, the unnamed friend said: 'There is no doubt in my mind that Peter Falconio is capable of carrying out the scam. 'I would not be in the least bit surprised if he attempted to defraud a life insurance policy just for the money. Before he went away he told me he had taken out a policy.' Last year, Murdoch was diagnosed with cancer, triggering a last-ditch attempt from police to elicit a confession in exchange for moving him to a prison closer to his family.

The murderer is being held in the Darwin Correctional Centre where he spends his days in the kitchen as a pastry chef and has become known for his desserts. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, according to the NT News. Police hope the 'backpacker killer' will reveal where he buried the body in exchange for being transferred from his Northern Territory jail to a Western Australian prison to be closer to his family as he battles cancer.

Murdoch can apply for parole from 2033 but unless he reveals the location of Mr Falconio's body, the application will be denied.

.