The Peter Falconio murder

by Guest 11.10.10 20:58

Following on from the earlier topic I posted about Azaria Chamberlain taken by a dingo, this case has always fascinated me as well.

Peter Falconio (September 20th, 1972 - 14th (?) July 2001) was a British tourist who disappeared in the Australian outback in July 2001, while travelling with girlfriend Joanne Lees and is now presumed dead.

He was 28 years old at the time of the disappearance. Falconio's body has never been found. Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of his murder on 13 December 2005. The case attracted considerable public and legal attention worldwide.

More info here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Falconio

Some of the public don't believe that Murdoch comitted this crime. It is theorised by some that Falconio faked his own death.

The defence closing argument was[again taken from link above}

Defence's closing argument
Grant Algie and Mark Twiggs, the lawyers representing the accused, Bradley John Murdoch, argued the following:[citation needed]

“ Peter Falconio faked his own death, and that when Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees stopped by the side of the road near Barrow Creek, it was to meet with a third man, of description unknown, in order to take Peter Falconio away, alive.
Police planted evidence, with the assistance of Murdoch's former drug-running partner James Hepi, who had both motive and opportunity to frame Murdoch, after Murdoch had been central to Hepi's arrest.
”

Algie and Twiggs pointed to the absence of blood at the crime scene, the mix-ups with DNA, the lack of a body, apparent sightings of Falconio in the days thereafter, inconsistencies in Lees' testimony, the poor police procedures in handling evidence, and the lack of a positive identification of Bradley John Murdoch.

The defence suggested that sometimes, for reasons best known to themselves, people just disappear. The defence said that sometimes they are found again, sometimes not

A book entitled..... Bloodstain - The Vanishing of Peter Falconio .... looks like a good read.

Synopsis
Through numerous sources in the police force and local indigenous communities, Bloodstain is the most in-depth analysis of the Falconio trial. Richard Shears is the only journalist who has interviewed the parents of Brad Murdoch, the South Australian drug-runner acused of Falconio's murder. Before the trial Shears studied the crime scene with local aboriginal trackers and helped highlight the glaring contradictions in the court's evidence. He was also uniquely privy to police reports and witnesses' statements in the build up to the trial. Bloodstain reveals the changing testimony of key witnesses, Joanne Lees' secret affair before Falconio's disappearance, the mystery of the bloodstains and the conflicting evidence upon which the whole trial was based.

by littlepixie 11.10.10 21:39

I havent followed this case but the first thing to strike me was that Peter Falconio was declared dead in four years yet Maddie still hasn't been even though there was blood in the apartment and car and a scent of a cadaver.

by littlepixie 11.10.10 21:46

"But human blood was found on the road where Peter Falconio was allegedly shot. DNA was extracted from that blood sample and used to identify Peter Falconio by comparing it with the DNA extracted from the Asthma "Puffer" identified as belonging to Mr Falconio, found at the scene of the crime. This comparison in itself does not prove that the blood is that of Peter Falconio - it only proves that these two blood samples are from the same person. Has the blood sample found on the road ever been compared directly with a known sample of Peter Falconio's blood/hair/tissue OR compared to his real parent's DNA for conclusive identification? "

Does anyone know?