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I love a sunburnt country a land of sweeping plains of ragged mountain ranges of droughts and flooding rains I
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love her Far Horizons I love her jewel see her beauty and her terror the wide brown land for me the desert roads of
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the Northern Territory are as long as they are desolate if you stand still your own heartbeat is the loudest sound
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you'll hear [Music] Alice Springs it's almost equal distance between Darwin and Adelaide and is close
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to the very center of Australia it is the third largest town in the Northern Territory with a population of just
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under 30,000 people it welcomes up to four hundred and seventy five thousand visitors each year which is 1,300 new
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tourists every day tourists are drawn to Alice Springs as it is the closest Big Town to uluru also known as Ayers Rock
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uluru is the single sandstone rock the city out of the ground 450 kilometres 280 miles southwest of Alice Springs it
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is a sacred holy place for the indigenous Aboriginal people in the area and carries great spiritual meaning The
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Rock's most famous feature is the way it appears to change color at different times of the day most notably when it
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glows red at dawn and sunset listed as a World Heritage Site all the roof sits at
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an enormous 348 metres high and has a girth of 9.4 kilometres or five point eight miles there is two and a half
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kilometres or one and a half miles worth of rock that sits beneath the surface that's a mesmerizing and some times a
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year you place most travellers tend to fly into Alice Springs and hire cars and camp events for the six-hour drive
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Tallulah Ruth the closest campground is 20 kilometres 12 miles away many stretches of Road
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have no services you will give an advice at the rental car depot to fill up where
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you can't and to carry provisions at all times maps can be misleading and distances between two places can be much
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longer than they seem the vast stretches of horizon and flat experiences of desert make things seem a
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lot closer than they really are and this mixed with the crisp clarity of the air
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means you can literally see for hundreds of quiet desolate miles more adventurous
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travelers make their way by Road during their driving tour of Australia often driving north from Adelaide after coming
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from Australia's East Coast or more uncommonly across the Nullarbor plain about a twenty eight hour drive from
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Perth the Northern Territory covers nearly one and a half million square kilometers or
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just over five hundred and twenty thousand square miles of red dry hot dusty and mostly impenetrable desert in
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the north-central part of the country most of the residents territory ins as they are known live in the cities of
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Darwin Palmerston Alice Springs Catherine Mullen boy and Tennant Creek with small numbers living in more remote
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communities the Australian outback is one of the least populated places on earth this part of Australia is one of
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the driest flattest most arid and least hospitable places on the planet temperatures vary dramatically with the
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average maximum temperatures in summer of 36 degrees Celsius ninety six point one degrees Fahrenheit but temperatures
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can easily reach forty-five degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter months of June July and
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August the plummets to an average of five point one degrees Celsius forty one point two degrees Fahrenheit and that
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not can easily drop to minus five degrees Celsius twenty-three farinelli there are basic
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rules for driving in parts of the Australian desert you need to have a suitable vehicle carry enough water and
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enough petrol have a map tell somebody what react you are taking and when you expect arrive at your destination and
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have a two-way radio because a lot of the area is without mobile phone coverage if you don't follow these rules
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you risk death this trailing desert has killed more than a few people over the years
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there is a single highway that links southern Australia directly north through our springs to darwin known to
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locals simply as the track the track is the stuart highway an almost straight road cutting through the red barren
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desert for 2834 kilometres 1761 miles from top to bottom there are only 17 junctions in total up until 2007 the
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roads of the Northern Territory actually had no speed limit restrictions the Stuart Highway is mainly used for
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transporting goods from one end of Australia to the other most commonly fuel mineral ores and cattle but also
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food and other goods you can drive an entire day on some remote stretches without seeing another vehicle if you do
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happen to see another vehicle it is likely to be an infamous Road train these enormous trucks which can be over
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50 metres long and weigh in at 200 tonnes plough up and down the Stuart Highway at speeds so great the tourists
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are reminded in their guidebooks of the dangers of getting in the way of these monsters of the road the thrill of the
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open road and the sheer experience of the hot desert is an exciting draw card for many but for those used to beach
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city's busy beaches or in this case the relentless rain and dark Liautaud skies of England driving from Adelaide to
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Darwin was the thrill of a lifetime and unlike anything they had experienced before on the 6th of October 1958 in the
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port town of Geraldton Western Australia 424 kilometres 263 miles north of Perth
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Colin and Nancy Murdoch brought a son into the world already in their 40s with two sons of eleven and fourteen years a
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new baby was a shock their third son Bradley John Murdoch was brought back to their humble three-bedroom fibro house
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52 kilometers north of Geraldton to their hometown of Northampton a small rural community once thriving a hundred
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and fifty years before as Australia's first iron ore mine but the mine eventually ran dry and the community
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came to rely on wheat farming as its main source of income agriculture in dry areas like Western
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Australia is risky when the rain is good the wheat production thrived but the many times of drought saw poor crops
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which resulted in hard times for the area [Music] Bradley Murdock spent his youth in the
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cliquey town that was well known for its resistance to change Northampton had three pubs and three
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churches and often the town would be closed by lunchtime Murdock's parents colon and Nancy were liked in the area
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they were not wealthy but : no mechanic was never sure to work it was a quiet man who the community came to rely on
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for fixing almost anything Nancy was the only hairdresser in town and would convert her kitchen and bathroom into
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the local salon most days though a firm but fair but after already bringing up two teenage boys they would find
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bringing up another son more difficult the eldest brothers Robert and Gary were close they didn't have a lot of time for
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their younger brother and Bradley Murdoch wouldn't receive much attention Robert was born with only one ear and
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was a sickly kid he spent his whole childhood in and out of hospital and had many operations
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Bradley Murdock became a bit of a nuisance and started to rebel he would be described as having a false sense of
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bravado he craved attention was difficult to control was defiant disengaged and felt like any outsider
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even within his own family he knew from an early age he had to be tough to survive and he wasn't going to take any
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[ __ ] from anyone it was a bully and would often get into fights at 12 years old and increasingly harder to control :
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and Nancy decided to move to Perth and give Murdoch a fresh start he didn't cope well he didn't fit in
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rebelled further and started getting involved with bogies in 1973 at 15 years old he left school and made his way back
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up to Geraldton and Northampton this time with the gang influence he came to be known for his involvement with the
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alcohol drugs and guns not long after this move his brother Robert after a lifetime of illness and operations died
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and Bradley Murdoch became even more bitter he started to have brushes with the law and in the late 70s he faced his
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first firearms offences things got worse for Murdoch when in 1980 at 21 years of
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age he received a suspended sentence for death by dangerous driving after he hit
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and killed a motorcyclist he was at a crossroads and he made the move to alberni the southernmost tip of Western
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Australia an isolated and remote Harbor town the oldest town in the state Albany
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is known for its wild and unpredictable weather there was lots of work there for
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a skilled mechanic like Murdoch as a child he had watched every single thing his father did fixing cars and without
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even realizing it he had managed to become a more than confident mechanic himself
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he enjoyed the transient life people didn't ask questions in these sorts of terms and he could be left alone in 1980
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while visiting his brother Gary and Gary's wife PMR he met dying in Pamela's niece a spark flew that day and within a
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year Diane had moved in with Murdoch on the outskirts of Perth Barnea Murdoch had his own trucking business he used
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his own truck and had contracts the bigger hauling companies however the business didn't do too well and he ended
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up filing for bankruptcy in 1983 Murdoch and Diane were married on the 14th of July 1984 they had a son in 1986 but
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soon after their son was born their relationship was over Murdoch had fallen back in with the bikee crowd he
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started to disappear for days on end and found it difficult to be a good husband
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and father when their son was 18 months old Murdoch he'd died in hard it's unknown
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whether it really was the first time but that day Diane left with their son and was glad to see the back of Murdoch
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forever they never had any contact again there was no surprise Murdoch didn't do well
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with routines and found no thrills in the life of the family men a member of a bikie gang offered Murdoch
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a job driving road trains up north Murdoch was a model employee who never said no to work and made him feel strong
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and powerful a road warrior always with a gun and he saw it it's necessary to have a gun if what you're carrying is
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very important and at was large amounts of cannabis in fed amines and cash were driven all over the country alongside
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the legal roads some trucks character it was easy money and if there was a lot of
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it Murdoch could drive 16-hour shifts a day easily and if something went wrong with
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the truck it was also the right person to fix it Murdoch had gone almost 15 years without a brush with the law he
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was a fairly unnoticed figure in the vast experience of the Australian outback he kept his head down and his
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eye on the money he was able to earn driving back and forth across the country he was fuelled by alcohol and
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drugs on those long journeys speed to keep him awake for sometimes days at a time and cannabis for when he wanted to
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get to sleep Murdoch was up and down and when he wanted to escape he was able to
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take his truck into the outback and go camping far away from anyone else by 1995 Murdoch was living in the remote
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Kimberley region of fitzroy crossing around 400 kilometers or 248 miles inland from Broome Western Australia
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there was a higher demand for good mechanics where he lived on Brooking Springs a large cattle station there was
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a good location for picking up driving jobs - with its proximity to Bru Murdoch didn't much like the local area it was
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known to regularly reach temperatures in the high 40 degrees Celsius and he was becoming increasingly racist towards the
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indigenous locals there were rumours of the KKK having members in the area although no one would admit it the
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non-indigenous community rarely saw eye to eye with the indigenous community Bradley Murdoch didn't exactly hide his
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high level of racism he had a tattoo on his left arm of an Aboriginal man hanging from a noose over a fire with
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the initials KKK from the time of British settlement Australian law considered all Australian
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land as terra nullius meaning nobody's land giving the British crown rights over the land has black and white
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communities live side-by-side through generations of divided trouble started to brood over claims the indigenous
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community had to their own land in 1992 the High Court of Australia made a monumental decision they overturned to
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the legal doctrine of terra nullius meaning aboriginal communities would be able to lay claim to their sacred land
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in response the West Australian state government attempted to pass their own laws to stop this new agreement by
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issuing dummy freehold leases to land all over the state challenging the federal law one of these freehold leases
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was issued to Bradley Murdoch for a small piece of land he had hoped to build a petrol station on just off the
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local highway he had even received money from the bank to fund it but this plot was earmarked for Aboriginal land
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entitlement and when the federal law was finally passed avoiding all the dummy leases the West Australian government
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had issued Murdoch lost the land he was furious he personally blamed local Aboriginal leader Joe Ross who had been
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vocally campaigning for Aboriginal rights on the night of August 20th 1995 a 500 strong group of the local
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Aboriginal community were celebrating the Magpies second grand final win the Magpies being a local Australian rules
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football team Joe Ross and his girlfriend sat in the front seat of their car chatting a little way back
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from the main party a Russian backpacker suddenly ran into the crowd yelling and
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waving his arms around but he was yelling in Russian so nobody could understand what he was saying he ended
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up leaving shortly after that Joe Ross's girlfriend leaned over in the passenger
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seat while talking and a bullet suddenly went straight past her head into the seat after Joe Rossi Audia to get down
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another shot came luckily missing again in the darkness a drunken Bradley Murdock was pointing his rifle directly
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at them and then the crowd as the crowd hid in a gully they heard the thumping footsteps of the six-foot-four Mad Men
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running back to his car Murdock had been at his favorite drinking hole the fitzroy lodge where he would go most
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days drinking with mates as he had at home drunk he was stopped by a roadblock telling him he had to go the long way
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home because of the grand final party he was furious he drove home collected his
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guns and drove back to where the celebration was on November 10th that same year Murdock found himself in court
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in Perth over the incident he pleaded guilty to owning and operating stolen guns but said he had only wanted to
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frighten the group not kill anyone he was charged with possession of a 22 Magnum pistol with a telescopic sight
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and a 308 bolt-action rifle both stolen the Aboriginal community were outraged they knew Murdock had targeted Ross and
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his girlfriend and were horrified that he wasn't being charged with attempted murder until that point
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Bradley Murdock hadn't seen the inside of a jail cell but that drunken act would seem sentenced to 21 months jail
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of which he served 15 months before being released for good behavior when Bradley Murdock was released he was
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nudging 40 he was a large intimidating men six foot four with large ease a large forehead and he no longer had any
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front teeth he had a permanent sneer and kept to himself more than ever there was
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no question in his mind that he would move back to the Kimberley it was where he felt the most at home in the untamed
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rugged harsh land he set up home in Derby briefly before making the sea changed the broom in 1998 he was driving
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for a number of truck companies and again he was recruited by Bacchus he knew had a ferry drugs across the
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country amongst his loads which at times were up to for trailers long they would
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build false floors and walls surrounding legal Goods and filled them with huge quantities of cannabis and speed a
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perfect combination for fueling his own drug needs in fed amines to stay awake Cannabis to help him sleep and the drink
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was never far away Murdock loved being his own boss he was never short of a girlfriend either
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he had women in a lot of different towns he passed through and most would describe him as a good guy broom a
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remote tropical town on the kimberley coast is famous all over the world for its pearl farming and white exotic
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beaches it has a rich luxurious tourist market where cruise ships dock on a jetty on the southern tip of the
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peninsula locals tend to live and shop on the outskirts and it's known for its transience it's the end of the road for
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a lot of truck drivers both legitimate and drug quarries broom was another place where nobody asked too many
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questions small talk was the norm this suited Murdock perfectly a friend of Murdock's
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brother Brett Duffy Elliott Murdock to live in a caravan on his property with his dog a boxer while he took driving
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jobs Murdock got work easily and quickly became well-known for his skills as a mechanic locals said that although he
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was a moody bugger with a menacing look he warmed after a wall and seemed like a
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good bloke one thing Duffy noticed was that Murdock was forever updating his car he had a white four-wheel drive
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Toyota Land Cruiser which he often changed to bits and pieces on in reality it wasn't just a hobby to change his
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vehicles look no not feeling that by updating its appearance he would be able to stay under the radar of the police if
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someone had seen him doing something he shouldn't have been like moving drugs he
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changed his back tray and created a false floor so he could conceal drugs money and weapons
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he built a secret compartment by his driving seat he had an extra large fuel tanks which could be taken off and
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refitted when he needed this meant that he could travel an extra 1,800 kilometers further than his regular
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petrol allowance none of this was suspicious to the people of the outback it was normal to go camping and fishing
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for weeks on end and that's exactly what Murdoch did he would work a few months or do a big truck trip to South
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Australia and back and then disappear for a few weeks he had met Beverly Allen by then and by October 2
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thousand she was his girlfriend Allen would describe Murdock as a gentle giant but she did say that he would disappear
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in his four-wheel-drive and reappear again weeks later she never asked any questions though and rarely did he tell
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her where he had been Murdock ended up moving into a small unit on the northern edge of town just near the Palms Resort
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he walked out for the palms most evenings for a drink the owner said he never said much but they always said
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hello to each other Murdock always had different guns stashed around the place and kept the Magnum 357 under his spare
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bed and the 22 revolver taped under the kitchen table in 1998 Murdock met James hippy a large rough New Zealand Maori
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who had gone to Brune to be a pill diver they fast became friends and shared the
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ability to work hard and get the job done Pepe moved into Murdock's apartment and he told Murdock of the property he
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had bought in the remote South Australian town of sedan an isolated property in a barren and desolate part
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of the state Pepe had a business in sedan sourcing cannabis and amphetamines and driving them to Broome to sell you
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can see why their relationship flourished Pepe introduced the Murdock to his wife and daughter and another
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friend this South Australian crew took a liking to Murdock and even gave him a puppy when he lost his beloved boxer
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replacing it with a Dalmatian cross named Jack Jack and Murdock became inseparable and Murdock made him a
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cushion to sit on in the cab of his truck for the long journeys they would share he was a loopy dog who wasn't led
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out of the truck often as he would run away but Murdock loved him James happy nine years younger than Murdock felt his
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Stars had aligned when he had met Murdock Murdock knew the roads of South Australia the Northern Territory and
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Western Australia not the back of his hand he knew the back roads to avoid being pulled over by
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cops or Rangers checking for fruit fly they planned to their drive from sedan to brew him into the perfect route of
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back roads and tracks by going north through the Simpson Desert and cutting left along the Tana my track they could
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shorten the trip by one thing 50 kilometers or 652 miles it was a monotonous dirt road but one they would
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be sure to see no one on very often they could turn the 8600 kilometer trip 5343
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miles around in about a week as for the money a parent or half a kilo of cannabis that they brought for just
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under three thousand dollars would easily sell for fifteen to twenty thousand dollars once it reached Broome
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and they could easily transport ten kilos over 20 pounds if they needed to business was thriving
00:22:36
Peter Falcone Oh was born on the 20th of September 1972 in the small West Yorkshire village of Hepworth
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Huddersfield in England born to Joan and Luciano the second youngest of four boys
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got along well with these three brothers Nicolas Paul and Mark Peter was a naturally bright kid with a larrikin
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quality a junior school he enjoyed being the class entertainer and had a lot of mates his ambition and confidence took
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him to study locally for his diploma in building construction while studying he worked part-time at a bowling alley and
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a local nightclub he was driven to succeed and after graduating and working a while as a surveyor he bought himself
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a small cottage close to his family people didn't tend to move far in these areas family was important and with
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working-class mindsets the majority of people worked hard and stayed put but Peter had the ambition for bigger
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and better things in 1996 while in a local nightclub Peter noticed a striking girl with a dark pop
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and piercing blue eyes it didn't take long for him to build up the courage to approach her and from that night on they
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were inseparable Joe and Lise born on the 25th of September 1973 was a year younger than
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Peter she had lived the first eleven years of her life with her mum Jenny after the separation of her parents but
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then her mom met her stepdad Vincent when Jenny married Vincent Joanne gained a younger brother Sam
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they didn't have much money but Jenny worked hard to make sure Joanne had a happy childhood there were times when
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Joanne would catch a man sitting at the kitchen table crying with a pile of bills in front of her Joanne although
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only a child would always try to make her mom feel better these difficulties only made Joanne a more independent
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person who appeared to others older than her years Joanne enjoyed her small village life in
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Huddersfield she went fairly unnoticed at school and was more interested in her social life than her studies she was
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quiet but happy after school she went on to study her a-levels while working part-time as a barmaid and filling in
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shifts as a bacon packer at a local factory after her studies she got a job at the local Thomas cook travel agency
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and Tver would grow a love for travel Peter decided that he would be better equipped to move up the ladder of
00:25:02
success if he had a degree after a brief stint in Northampton in the East Midlands he decided he would move down
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to Brighton along England's south coast to Brighton University Brighton was known as the London by the sea and was a
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happening University city for the first year Joanne stayed in Huddersfield and Peter travelled the 400 kilometres 248
00:25:23
miles to see her when he could Joanne was enjoying her job at the travel agency and was nervous to leave her mum
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jenny was suffering from arthritis and Joanne and her mum had always been there for each other but her mum had remarried
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and the seed of independence began to grow inside Joanne so when Peter asked if she would move to Brighton she did
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she got a transfer with the Thomas Cook and was soon working in two bustling offices in Brighton the ones
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conservative and quiet Joanne was starting to find the sort of self-confidence that goes with becoming
00:25:58
independent the infectious spirit of Peter and his motivation for travel and bigger and better things made them a
00:26:04
perfect match Peter and Joanne had travelled together on short trips to Italy Greece and Jamaica and in 1998
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they started planning for the world trip of their dreams at night after Peter had
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been at uni and Joanne had been hard at work helping to plan other people's trips
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that was sitting there flat in a steeper Brighton Street full of houses and flat
00:26:25
shares occupied with students and young people like themselves and to make travel plans when they broke the news to
00:26:32
their parents of their upcoming trip their families were notably anxious after all the couple planned to spend
00:26:38
most of their time in Australia and unfortunately the land down under had been making headlines for the wrong
00:26:45
reasons in the early 90s seven young backpackers had been found murdered and buried in the Berlanga Lowe State Forest
00:26:53
in New South Wales five of them were foreign tourists in 1996 35 people were killed and 23 more injured at the
00:27:01
Tasmanian historical site Port Arthur by a lone gunman and only months before Joe
00:27:07
and Peter plan to leave in 2000 a drifter with a hatred of backpackers set fire to a Queensland hostel killing 15
00:27:15
people seven of those were British but Peter and Joanne promised their parents that would take care
00:27:21
never hitchhike and always look out for each other the trip would be a big stall
00:27:27
impede his career and to me the Peter or Joanne had been away for that long before they were due to go in the late
00:27:34
summer of 2000 but when Peter got an offer to finish a college project he had been working on
00:27:39
they agreed a few months would not make much difference and they would still make it to Australia for part of the hot
00:27:45
busy summer they had heard so much about the trip couldn't come quick enough for
00:27:50
the couple the last three months before they left were the wettest on record for
00:27:54
England the incessant rain and constant flooding only made the trip more worthwhile and on the 15th of November
00:28:01
2000 Jolyon and Peter who was wearing the patron saint of travelling st. Christopher around his neck
00:28:07
boarded their plane their journey started with the trek in Nepal then they found themselves on a long bus journey
00:28:15
from Singapore to Malaysia and event on to Thailand they had started to get into
00:28:20
the swing of backpacking life and decided to swap Bangkok with its constant flow of Western backpackers for
00:28:26
the temples rice paddies and swaying sugar parts of Cambodia but on their second day in Cambodia Joe Ian realized
00:28:33
that her as checks and returned flight tickets have been stolen and if they only had a
00:28:38
small amount of money on them they reported it to police but struggled to replace them in Cambodia that rattled
00:28:46
the couple enough that they made a quick exit from the country with the help of a
00:28:49
fellow traveler who paid their tickets back to Bangkok in Bangkok they were able to easily sort themselves out and
00:28:55
get the money checks reissued after a brief thought of going home Peter and Joanne decided that they would continue
00:29:02
with their plans and not let this disaster ruin their trip off they flew to Australia and as dawn broke on the
00:29:10
morning of the 16th of January 2001 with the Sydney Harbour Bridge like a beacon
00:29:15
outside the plane window they touched down in Sydney blending easily on their feet at the Springfield Lodge a quiet
00:29:23
English style Lodge it was in pots point just a stone throw from the centre of Kings Cross and thousands of miles from
00:29:30
the blustery winter back home the area was unlike anywhere they'd ever seen before
00:29:35
Kings Cross the red-light district of Sydney was renowned for sex drugs and a mischief the buzz in the air was
00:29:43
infectious but Peter and Joanne had their heart set on finding a place of their own they settled on a flat share
00:29:49
in bond on this way they could have their own space and a permanent base they planned on finding work and
00:29:56
traveling the vast landscape of Australia life was good with Bondi Beach just a few minutes walk away and if
00:30:03
their clifftop walks along to Bronte Beach and other coves making their new home a dream place to live days after
00:30:11
days of endless blue skies and the nights were filled with bustling nightclubs and hostel bars they were
00:30:16
having the time of their lives Peter and Joanne were on a working holiday visa which only allowed them to
00:30:23
work in one place for up to six months this meant that finding a job in their careers was difficult as employers
00:30:29
didn't want to train you in their business only to see you go a short time later this encourages English working
00:30:35
holiday makers to take jobs in the many bars clubs and stores around Sydney as well as other transient jobs like fruit
00:30:42
picking outside of the major cities it's common to work a few months then travel and then work again an easy way
00:30:50
to fund your trip while meeting fellow travelers Peter found a job easily installing office furniture around
00:30:57
Sydney while Joanne printed off her CV and whence thought is thought looking for
00:31:01
retail work in the main center she dropped the CV into the demyx bookstore chain on George Street and it wasn't
00:31:09
long before the manager caught her at a start they soon got into the swing of things and started making friends in
00:31:15
Sydney Joanne made some strong friendships at her job and started going out regularly
00:31:21
her closest friend was Amanda who was from New Zealand they regularly went to the st. Patrick's Tavern in central
00:31:27
Sydney on Friday nights and most Thursday nights Joanne would go with her friends to the Cooper's Arms
00:31:33
Hotel a backpackers in new Tionne with a pool table cheap drinks and a fun mix of
00:31:38
fellow travels she would stay the night at a friend's house sometimes with up to
00:31:42
four other people and to then go to work in the morning from there Peter didn't join her very often he was more
00:31:49
interested in planning the next leg of their adventure into planning what sort of vehicle they needed for their big
00:31:54
drive Joe Ian had come out of her shell and was even called a livewire by some of her friends and workmates it was on
00:32:04
one of these nights here the Joe Ian tried ecstasy for the first time her and Peter had never doubled in recreational
00:32:10
drugs but the Sydney social scene was rife with party jogs and they just went with the flow
00:32:16
Peter was Restless ready to take on the road but Joe Ian wanted to prolong their
00:32:21
stay in Sydney soon their three months had almost become five she was having too much fun to leave just yet Peter
00:32:30
went to the Sydney travelers car market an underground car park in Kings Cross especially for travellers to buy and
00:32:37
sell vehicles he had been told to try the market rather than trawling the classifieds every week he knew he would
00:32:45
find the best vehicle for their trip and he was excited they would head down the
00:32:49
East Coast to Melbourne across the Adelaide and Dan and up to Darwin from there they would go across the Brisbane
00:32:56
installed the van the plan was then to go over to New Zealand Peter couldn't wait
00:33:02
on a Saturday morning at the market he spotted an orange combivir that looked as though it had a new paint job that
00:33:08
looked well looked after and after meeting the owners who had just finished their own backpacking tour of Australia
00:33:13
he took it for a test drive it had around 85,000 miles or 136 thousand kilometers on the clock which seemed too
00:33:22
good to be true for a car 30 years old the couple who owned it said it ran like a dream I had a sink a fridge a fitted
00:33:29
gas cooker a camp bed in the back and curtains across the back window they wanted $3,000 for it but Peter wasn't a
00:33:37
pushover he knew his way around cars he left it that day thought about it and within days he had bought the combi for
00:33:45
$1,800 Joanne was dubious about the old van it didn't go over 80 km/h without shaking and shuttering
00:33:53
and with around 5,000 kilometers or 3,000 miles in total to drive many of them through the desert she didn't much
00:34:00
like the idea but Peter was so confident Joey and two became swept up in the excitement of their little home on
00:34:07
wheels Peter spent every spare minute tinkering with it Hince thought a lamp in the back for reading and a shelf
00:34:14
under the dashboard for things like drinks his ventolin inhaler and e-cigarettes and Peter wasn't taking any
00:34:20
chances with their money he built a safety deposit box and was determined not to go through another
00:34:25
incident like what happened in Cambodia on the morning of the 25th of June 2001 five months after they'd landed in
00:34:34
Australia they left Sydney behind and set off south driving through Canberra and on to Melbourne it wasn't long
00:34:41
before they had already traveled 1,500 kilometres 932 miles and found themselves in Adelaide six days before
00:34:51
Peter and Joanne left for their trip on the 19th of June 2001 on a remote stretch of road in Western Australia
00:34:59
heading toward the South Australian border 22 year old barmaid Julie was driving solo from Perth to Adelaide when
00:35:07
she noticed the what 4-wheel Drive approached her from behind rearview mirror she had consumed a lot
00:35:13
of alcohol and was feeling weary the four-wheel drive overtook her and stayed in front of her lining up the road she
00:35:21
was grateful and at the next truck stop a few hundred kilometers from the border
00:35:25
she stopped with the four-wheel drive and met the male driver they continued to stop at each truck stop when the
00:35:32
driver shared speed alcohol and cannabis with her to help her with the lock drive
00:35:37
they agreed to stop over the border and camp the night they stopped 200 kilometers over the South Australian
00:35:43
border and parked next to each other they started chatting and realized that they knew some of the same people back
00:35:51
in Perth he seemed like a nice guy and when he set up his bed in the back of his suit under the heavy canvas canopy
00:35:58
Julie noticed how well-equipped he was he had everything he needed to live in that truck Julie laid out a swag and
00:36:05
slept between the two cars Julie told the man she was meeting a friend and heading up to Alice Springs in a combi
00:36:13
she planned to travel in the van through the Barrow Creek area and visit less Pilton the owner of the Barrow Creek
00:36:20
Road house Julie said he was a top bloke she remembers the men looking at her thoughtfully when she said this they set
00:36:28
off again in the morning and at their first stop of the day Julie mentioned she was looking to buy a revolver she
00:36:34
got spooked when the man pulled out a small silver gun and shot it into the bushes asking if she wanted to buy it
00:36:40
Julie wasn't sure if she was spooked because of the mean and the gun or fur it was just a comedown I thought the
00:36:46
drug she had taken the past 24 hours with him either way Julie had had enough and they parted ways Joe Ian and Peter
00:36:57
liked Adelaide with its quiet relaxed fuel they saw most of the sights and took a walk down on Glenelg Beach
00:37:03
Glenelg Beach apart from its whale watching and boardwalk is most famed for the disappearance of the three Beaumont
00:37:10
children which resulted in one of the largest police investigations in the country and remains one of Australia's
00:37:16
most the infamous cold cases they looked forward to driving through the Barossa Valley the wine district of
00:37:23
South Australia responsible for a quarter of the country's wine production Adelaide has been referred to as the
00:37:30
murder capital of Australia a term shared in Chinese whispers through backpacker hostels all over the country
00:37:36
and whilst it has definitely had its fair share of bizarre murders and disappearances over the years the
00:37:43
Australian Institute of Criminology has said statistics don't support this claim
00:37:47
at all studies actually show the Northern Territory is the murder capital of Australia after visiting the Barossa
00:37:55
Valley Joanne and PETA traveled through snow town see case 19 for further information on that town the Stuart
00:38:03
Highway is what lay ahead of them there was a 17 hour drive to uluru and who they knew that once they passed the
00:38:09
sprawling town's past adelaide they would have little or no radio or mobile phone reception it allowed them plenty
00:38:16
of time to spend alone talking about what lay ahead both on their trip and when they got back to the UK Joey and
00:38:23
knew that Peter was likely to propose before they got home and she knew a life together back home was right for her
00:38:30
they stopped at Port Augusta for supplies for the desert driver head the drive to coober pedy a town of 3,500
00:38:38
people and the opal capital of Australia if not the world would give them a taste of the landscape
00:38:44
to come in the red centre arid landscapes and hot springs salt plains sand dunes and maybe even the odd
00:38:52
straight camel it was at this same time that three other British tourists were also doing a tour in a remote part of
00:39:00
the country they too were in a combi but we're a good 1500 kilometers 932 miles northeast of Alice Springs driving west
00:39:09
towards me and Iser and further onto the Northern Territory border two women were
00:39:14
in the front and their male friend was lying down and out of you in the back and first they were thrilled to see
00:39:21
another driver in their revision mirror but as he gained speed and drove close to their tail they became spooked the
00:39:30
other vehicle was a white four-wheel drive with a green canvas canopy the driver made the move to overtake the
00:39:36
British backpackers as he drew up alongside them the driver led over at them with a long
00:39:41
stare before hitting the accelerator and speeding off filthy purvey fought as they neared the top of a hill only a
00:39:50
little further up the road they got a fright to see the same you pull to the side the male driver was halfway out the
00:39:57
door smoking a cigarette as they passed him he got back in his car and pulled back onto the road within a minute he
00:40:04
was back on their table this time he felt so close they thought it was going to hit them once again he made the move
00:40:11
to overtake and as he pulled up alongside them they looked over in horror as he held his hand up to his
00:40:16
head gesturing with two fingers he mimicked shooting himself they followed his guests in the back seat of their
00:40:23
combi where their male friend had just put his head up to see what was going on it was then that the men in the white
00:40:29
four-wheel-drive floored it and sped off they were so spooked they discussed reporting it to police when they got to
00:40:36
me Eliza but they didn't end up reporting it for three weeks Peter and Joanne's Orange combi was slow and
00:40:45
chugging but it had been good to them only backfiring a few times coober pedy was unlike anywhere in the world they
00:40:52
had ever seen the town famous for its opal morning had most residents living in bunker type homes underground a way
00:41:00
to keep cool weather long boiling hot days coober pedy seemed to like the middle of nowhere and it was a desolate
00:41:08
dusty speck in the vast desert it even had to have water truck in for the residents it was no surprise for Peter
00:41:15
and Joey in to learn that this is where Mad Max 3 was filmed they treated themselves to staying at the local
00:41:22
backpackers where they slept in an underground room not too different to a cave jo-ann's sent a postcard to her mum
00:41:29
stepdad Vincent her brother Sam and even the doc saying they were looking forward
00:41:34
to the hot weather up north both Joanne and Peter were good at staying in touch with their families
00:41:39
back home calling often and always sending postcards from each major place they visited a little further past coober
00:41:47
pedy the road takes you east along the hills from the dog fence this two meter high wire barrier stretches for over
00:41:54
five thousand three hundred kilometers three thousand two hundred and ninety three miles across three states to
00:42:00
protect the sheep country in the south from the native dog the dingo the desert like a moonscape along the fence with
00:42:08
its fossilized shells gray soft clay dirt and cracks that appear to be bottomless has been nicknamed the moon
00:42:15
plane you get the feeling you're encountering a Mars landscape out there a million miles from Earth huge rocky
00:42:23
cabins dry dusty and cracked red desert floors as far as the eye can see the occasional whirlwind picking up dust and
00:42:31
dry foliage in tiny turbulent circles in the distance Peter and Joanne were surprised how cold the desert was after
00:42:39
the sunset unbelievable that it was almost as cold as Huddersfield in the winter there were thousands of miles
00:42:45
from home and the landscape made them feel as though they were on another planet they took a left turn at elbow
00:42:52
towards uluru and made it to the Y alaric ambient in time to shower eat and settle for the night they decided to do
00:43:00
the climbing Walkerville Aroo and wanted to do it at dawn to see the magical colors they had heard so much about and
00:43:06
to escape the scorching afternoon Sun they hadn't done a proper hike in ages and at the national park around uluru
00:43:13
the olgas and king canyon was exactly what they were after it is difficult to stay at the Y lraa
00:43:20
campground without thinking about the Azaria Chamberlain case another infamous Australian case Peter and Joanne also
00:43:28
heard the standard campfire stories of man-eating crocodiles and the deadly snakes and spiders of Australia thorn at
00:43:35
uluru was as magical as they imagined it was warm and clear and when they reached
00:43:40
the summit they took a picture of themselves on July 11th after hiking at the olgas they met Canadian backpackers
00:43:48
Mark and Isabel who were looking to travel to the Kings Canyon and event to Alice Springs which is the same plans
00:43:54
Peter and Joanne had Peter and Joanna invited them along and they spent a couple of days together walking the
00:44:00
sandstone gorges and the famous kings canyon rim walk before heading to Alice Springs where they would part ways Alice
00:44:08
Springs would be their last major stop before Darwin there they would have creature comforts which they would
00:44:14
utilize as much as possible before leaving on the last leg of their Outback adventure as the four travelers were
00:44:20
approaching Alice Springs Peter noticed the van pulling unusually over to one side they stopped and Peter
00:44:27
and Mark took a look at the steering rod they decided they would find a mechanic
00:44:31
to take a look Peter and Joanne dropped the Canadians offer their hostel and drove back out of town to a mechanic who
00:44:39
said he should be able to see to it on the Friday morning which happened to be Friday the 13th of July Peter and
00:44:46
Joanne's stayed in a caravan park the next couple of nights they used the couple of days in Alice Springs to
00:44:51
sightsee and treat themselves to some creature comforts while in Alice Peter called his parents
00:44:57
telling them everything was great and they were enjoying themselves they met a couple who told them that
00:45:03
they really shouldn't miss the camel Cup races the next day there was a yearly event Canales and the reason the town
00:45:10
was buzzing with people but Peter and Joanne weren't sure how they would fit the races in and still leave Alice
00:45:16
Springs in time to start the drive north towards Darwin before it got dark Peter
00:45:22
and Joanne had also made a change to their plans when they got to Darwin Peter would fly on a loan to Papua New
00:45:27
Guinea to meet a friend for a walking trip Joanne would fly to Sydney then they would meet back up in Brisbane and
00:45:34
fly to New Zealand together to meet her friend Amanda early on Saturday the 14th
00:45:40
of July Peter picked up the combi van from the mechanics the mechanic said that if they didn't push it too hard it
00:45:46
would easily make the journey at 10 a.m. later that morning Peter visited an accountant in Alice Springs who told him
00:45:54
he owed the tax office money because he had been paying tax as an Australian resident rather than as a non-resident
00:46:00
while working in Sydney meanwhile Joanne went to the library in Alice Springs to
00:46:05
check her emails between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. they met back up again to have breakfast
00:46:11
together at the green frog cafe after breakfast at 11:30 a.m. Joanne went to a payphone and caught her
00:46:18
friend Amanda who was in Sydney at the time she told her that her and Peter were going to the camel Cup races that
00:46:24
afternoon then they were heading back out into the sparse experience of the Aussie outback Peter and Joey then went
00:46:32
to the Alice Springs Airport and purchased Stowe in a return flight ticket going from Brisbane to Sydney she
00:46:38
collected her ticket then they went onto the camel Cup races for the afternoon they were seen on video footage watching
00:46:45
the races and the miss camel Cup beauty pageant that same morning Bradley Murdoch
00:46:51
arrived in Alice Springs after camping the night before a hundred and twenty five kilometres south at the Finke River
00:46:57
crossing he was on one of his typical drug runs from South Australia to Broome he arrived at 10:30 a.m. as always the
00:47:06
first thing he did was visit Red Rooster then on to Cooter's garage to wash his car then barbecues galore and
00:47:13
then on to the BP petrol station to refuel at 1:30 p.m. he visited the rep Coast thought about some plastic fuel
00:47:20
containers then the bi-lo supermarket at 2:00 p.m. to purchase some provisions he
00:47:26
said he left Dallas between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. to travel back to groom via the 10 mi track it was after 3 p.m. when
00:47:34
Peter and Joann realized how late it was they raced back to the caravan park to shower and get on the road they went to
00:47:41
the Red Rooster where they were seen by staff late in the afternoon they would try and make it to a place called
00:47:49
Devil's marbles also known as car looky-loo another Aboriginal conservation reserve around 400
00:47:55
kilometres of 248 miles north of Alice they wanted to see the Sun Rise over the marbles but they knew in the slow combi
00:48:03
it would take around 6 hours to get there and they would have to split the driving shifts they knew they shouldn't
00:48:09
be driving at night so we're open to pulling over and sleeping if they had to Joanne hated driving at night mostly
00:48:15
because of the Kangaroos and other unpredictable wildlife as the Sun started going down Joanne got herself
00:48:22
comfortable for their next leg of their adventure she was driving so Peter pulled out a book they passed the last
00:48:29
petrol station before exiting Ellis and then headed north they knew they were behind schedule but the trip had taught
00:48:36
them to be laid-back and they didn't worry Peters head began to droop as they passed the right-hand turn to the Tana
00:48:43
my track just 20 kilometers of the road which is the shortcut Murdoch and heavy used Joanne put a CD on of Scottish rock
00:48:51
band Texas but it didn't keep Peter awake so she suggests that Nettie climb in the back which he did and before Joey
00:48:58
inure Peter was asleep it was nearing 6:00 p.m. when they approached the tire tree Roadhouse Joanne was tired of
00:49:06
driving and the Sun was setting in its vibrant colors across the sky there were about halfway and she decided Peter
00:49:13
could take over she pulled over to the left with the Roadhouse on the right Peter woke up and got out as she made a
00:49:20
drink they shared a joint as they watched the sunset Peter got into the driver's seat
00:49:26
they did a u-turn back around to the Roadhouse where he bought some lollies and purchased fuel before heading back
00:49:31
north again the receipt was time-stamped 621 p.m. about 20 minutes down the road
00:49:39
they noticed the glow in the scrub on the side of the road as they need they realized that there were two small fires
00:49:47
Peter suggested that they stopped to see what was going on but Joey and begged him not to
00:49:52
she felt uneasy and a bit scared they saw two more and at this time Peter just kept driving without either of them
00:49:59
saying a word it was 7:30 p.m. when they passed the Barrow Creek Road house both
00:50:06
a little buzzed from their joint and busy eating lollies they drove straight boy Peter had put the Stone Roses CD in
00:50:13
and they were now past halfway to their destination Aboriginal trucker Teddy Egan who will come up again later in
00:50:22
this story said that Indigenous Australians avoided burocratic as it had bad spirits bad things happened to it
00:50:30
horrific slangs had occurred in the area in the past and it would forever carry a
00:50:35
bad name as they were passing Barrow Creek Peter noticed headlights in his rearview mirror Joanne turned around
00:50:44
they hadn't seen many people at all on the road and on a moonless night the lights were bright as the vehicle
00:50:51
approached Peter slowed down but the driver didn't pass Peter complain that the lights were
00:50:58
blinding him Joanne turned but all she could see with the lights behind them they were close almost right at their
00:51:05
back window the car behind then accelerated and started to overtake them on the right only it didn't overtake it
00:51:12
kept at their speed driving alongside Joanne and Peter both looked to their right as the man slowly glanced over to
00:51:20
them it was pulling faces and gesturing wildly towards the back of their bed he went down his window and started yelling
00:51:28
out Peter and Joanne made out the words Sparks and exhaust Peter slide down as did the other driver
00:51:36
and as Peter pulled over to the left of the road the white Toyota four-wheel drive with the dark green canvas canopy
00:51:42
pulled up behind Joanne didn't want to stop but it happened so quickly she didn't like the look of the guy Peter
00:51:52
immediately got out leaving the door ajar telling Joanne to stay put with the door opened Joey and noticed how cold it
00:51:59
was outside the interior light had stayed on and Joanne looked back trying to hear what Peter and the other man
00:52:06
were saying as Peter bent down towards the exhaust she heard the other man say he had been
00:52:11
seeing sparks coming from their exhaust for a while back down the road she heard
00:52:16
Peter say cheese mate thanks for stopping Joanne felt a quick sense of relief that the man had actually
00:52:22
bothered to stop and tell them Peter stood up and walked back to the driver's side door opening it to reach under the
00:52:29
- the grabby cigarettes he then asked Joanne if she would grab the engines so they could see how bad it was Peter walk
00:52:36
to the back of the combi Joanne got into the driver's seat and looked in the rearview mirror she saw the men looking
00:52:42
at her she read the engine and it rattled loudly before she heard a loud bang it sounded like it could have been
00:52:49
the Kombi backfiring she turned around quickly to see what had happened but the man was at her window with a gun pointed
00:52:55
at her head he pulled the door open and yelled at her to turn off the engine but she
00:53:00
fumbled and froze the man pushed her across the seat as he started to climb in she screamed for Peter as he angrily
00:53:07
pushed her over and turned the Kombi off himself he shoved Joanne right over to the passenger seat and he got him behind
00:53:13
the wheel he leaned over grabbing her telling her to put her head down and her hands behind her back she was in shock
00:53:19
and struggled so he started yelling put your head between your lakes and your [ __ ] hands behind your back she felt
00:53:26
the end of his revolver hard up against the side of her head she did as he said and he fastened a thick black plastic
00:53:33
homemade handcuffs to her wrists they were made out of cable ties and electrical tape
00:53:38
he opened the passenger door and threw it to the ground Joanne hit the ground hard before he
00:53:43
stepped out and got on top of her she fought hard kicking and screaming as he tried to tie her ankles together over
00:53:50
and over she would kick and screaming up for Peter as she kicked and thrashed he
00:53:55
tried harder and harder to tie her ankles together finally he let go of her legs with one big blow he punched her
00:54:01
hard in the side of the head before yanking her up and dragging her to his vehicle he couldn't take the risk of
00:54:07
someone driving past and seeing the mess he was in it's unclear if Joanne blacked
00:54:11
out at all but she didn't notice whether Peters body was lying anywhere between the two vehicles he attacked a pool
00:54:19
Joanne over to his vehicle attempting to stretch wide electrical tape over her mouth she was thrashing and resisting as
00:54:25
he struggled to find a face and he got the tape stuck in her hair lifting up the corner of the back canopy he
00:54:31
retrieved a cloth bag which he shoved over her head he opened at the front passenger door of his four-wheel-drive
00:54:37
and shoved her under the passenger seat she was still screaming for help and screaming for Peter at this point she
00:54:45
saw the dog in the front of the attackers car sitting on the driver's seat the dog didn't move and didn't
00:54:50
react to what was going on at all the interior light was on and the man's face was only about 18 inches away from her
00:54:58
he had a scruffy face grey specks all through his hair his jaw was long and he had a mean scale the next thing doing
00:55:06
knew she was in the back tray under the canopy she didn't know how she had gotten there possibly he shoved her
00:55:12
through the canopy on the side of the vehicle she didn't know she was lying on his stomach
00:55:17
but rolled onto her back as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she noticed a small light towards the back which she
00:55:23
thought must have been the tail light she heard the crunching of the ground under the means fading outside she heard
00:55:29
scraping and dragging she was absolutely terrified and for the first time had found some clarity over
00:55:36
the seriousness of the situation she again found herself yelling for Pete she heard the man say be quiet or I'll
00:55:45
[ __ ] shoot you it was at this point that Joann became absolutely terrified that the man was going to rape her she
00:55:53
was more terrified of that than of him killing her with the man still out of sight she said what is it you want is it
00:56:01
money the van just take it are you going to rape me have you shot Pete all she got in response was no the dragging she
00:56:13
on started up again and this is when she edged her feet towards the back of the Ute ray hanging
00:56:18
her legs over the back she waited until she heard nothing outside and she dropped us off over the edge running for
00:56:26
her life into the scrum on the west side of the highway she ran with her heart beating out of her chest for what seemed
00:56:32
like forever falling twice before not being able to run anymore she hid under a bush that was about a
00:56:39
meter tall and curled up into a ball her hands were still tied behind her back but she laid there motionless she
00:56:47
didn't want to move petrified he was going to come looking for her she tried to control her breathing
00:56:53
but the deafening silence meant that everything she entered lay out to her the next thing go in you the man was
00:57:01
flashing a torch around the area where she had run the torch was lighting up areas close to where she was she heard
00:57:08
him say good boy stay she could hear him crunch the gravel and then the Sun changed as he stepped onto the
00:57:17
undergrowth she was shaking with terror and could not find it in herself to risk
00:57:22
getting up and start running again encase he saw her he continued sweeping his torch across the branches Joanne
00:57:30
expected he would find her any second he walked past there three times not far from the bush she was called under
00:57:38
but then he turned and walked back to the road Joanne heard heavy sounds in the gravel
00:57:45
and the men getting into his car he slammed his door and started the engine slowly the white four-wheel drive pulled
00:57:52
out onto the road but to her horror instead of driving off he backed up and faced the car so the headlights lit up
00:58:00
the scrub Joanne's whole body froze he was looking for her again after what seemed like an eternity he drove off
00:58:11
confused and frightened Joanne was too scared to move it was at this time that a local family were driving south from a
00:58:21
family trip they'd had a flat tire and received help from some nearby campers by the time they got on the road again
00:58:29
it was dark they drove slowly as they didn't want to risk another flat tire especially with nine people in the car
00:58:36
they saw another car approaching and commented how strange it was it didn't look like a tourist vehicle and it was
00:58:44
strange to see locals driving out there at night there was a white high vehicle with a canopy not much further along
00:58:51
they noticed an orange Kombi van parked on the side of the road they kept driving
00:58:58
Joanne confused and disorientated believed that the man was coming back she realized that the handcuffs he had
00:59:06
put on her behind her back were fixed with cable ties and tape she had a looped space of about 10
00:59:11
centimeters in the middle she twisted them around and tried to wriggle out but she couldn't she then tried to get her
00:59:18
hands back up to her front and by curling her knees up to a chest in sliding her tied wrists down over her
00:59:24
bottom and underneath her legs she was able to pass one leg through at a time she tried different ways to break the
00:59:30
toys but nothing worked she got the chapstick lip balm out of her pocket to grease up her wrists but it was no use
00:59:38
Joanne was sobbing and shaking it was 11 degrees Celsius by then and she only had
00:59:43
shorts and a shirt on she remained hiding for over 40 hours in case he came back she crawled towards the road where
00:59:51
hidden long grass enormous headlights then emerged up along the road it was a 90-ton three carriage road train
00:59:59
traveling at a steady 90 km/h she knew it couldn't be the man coming back as it approached she got herself up and took a
01:00:07
couple of steps onto the road holding her handcuffed hands in front of her before stepping back to the roads edge
01:00:12
and running alongside the truck the driver saw her and slammed on the brakes the truck took over one kilometer to
01:00:19
stop it was near 12:35 a.m. Sunday the 15th of July the driver Vince Miller was driving a load down from Darwin and his
01:00:30
co-driver was asleep at first he thought he had run Joanne over but then he saw her running towards the truck
01:00:36
hysterically sobbing he couldn't make much sense of what she was saying she had cable ties around her wrists and
01:00:43
duct tape in her hair he called out to his co-driver and together they helped her to remove everything they knew
01:00:51
something was wrong and they agreed to help but look around for her boyfriend who she was saying was missing they
01:00:57
disconnected the trailer and drove around noticing various different tire tracks in the area it wasn't until
01:01:03
Joanne mentioned that the man had a gun that they stopped looking and went for help three minutes after the truck had
01:01:11
stopped for Joey 12:30 8 a.m. a man bearing similar characteristics to Joanne's attacker was caught on security
01:01:17
footage at the Scheldt truck stop in Alice Springs the man purchased a large amount of fuel ice and iced coffee he
01:01:26
paid a hundred and thirty dollars in cash the driver left the Roadhouse at 12:50 a.m. the vehicle was a 75 series
01:01:33
diesel Toyota Landcruiser with a canvas canopy over the tray that was reported to be virtually identical
01:01:40
to the vehicle that Murdoch owned at the time friends and family of Murdoch believe it was his vehicle and the man
01:01:46
was him at 1:30 a.m. Joanne and her rescuers arrived at the Burr Oak Creek Road house the pub was open and the bar
01:01:55
was busy Vince Miller went inside and alerted the owner les Pilton Hilton thought he was
01:02:01
joking at first but then rang the police Joanne was terrified and didn't want to go inside the
01:02:06
Roadhouse Hilton made her a cup of tea and Joanne started to count down but she was still in shock
01:02:13
Cathy Curley a barmaid kept Joey and company it took the Alice Springs Police a couple of hours to get there they
01:02:20
arrived at 4:20 a.m. they examined Joey and her clothes took statements and asked though lots of questions about
01:02:28
what had happened they noted that she was clearly in shock they took her clothes as evidence so
01:02:34
Joanne had to borrow something Miller drew a map for the police to show them where they'd pick Joey enough
01:02:39
Joanne described her assailant to the police as being a tall man around 45 years of age she said he had a longish
01:02:46
face with deep-set eyes sunken cheeks and scraggly hair coming out from under a black baseball cap there was a lot of
01:02:53
gray in his collar length hair and he had great flecks in his eyebrows and mustache the mustache was Mexican style
01:03:00
that drooped at the ends his eyes were drooping and his face was very lined he wore a check pattern shirt
01:03:06
with a dark t-shirt under it and heavy-duty trousers possibly jeans at 7:00 a.m.
01:03:13
Northern Territory police launched a search for Peter and their gunmen Saini constable Abbot and detective Sullivan
01:03:19
set out with other officers to cordon off the scene together we've been smaller they looked for anything
01:03:24
suspicious they found a pool of blood covered with dirt beside the Stuart Highway this
01:03:31
blood was later DNA matched to Peter Falcone oh the police also found the orange calm be parked well off the road
01:03:37
80 meters further on it would be 80 hours after the last sighting of the attacker before Northern Territory
01:03:44
police set up checkpoints and roadblocks it was entirely plausible the man had gone to ground or was hiding in a remote
01:03:50
area of the outback it was also possible he could have already gone interstate around 12:00 roadblocks were eventually
01:03:58
organized covering the main routes from Catherine to the South Australian border
01:04:02
to the Queensland border to the West Australian border every Road house and cattle station in the area was also
01:04:09
contacted but the Tanner my road was not blocked their prime concern at that stage was
01:04:15
locating Peter Falcone oh the crime-scene examiner from Alice Springs went to the Burr Oak Creek Road house
01:04:22
and interviewed Joey taking photos and videos of her injuries and taking DNA swabs in the area around the crime scene
01:04:30
her team of officers walked two kilometers in both directions east and west of the road doing a sweep of the
01:04:36
land with sticks Joanne's footprints being the only thing of note they found after this Sergeant Bruce grant and
01:04:44
eight other officers formed the team to comb even more of the area with metal detectors for six days they searched
01:04:51
only finding rubbish there would be three months later that a new search would locate the lead of Joanne's lip
01:04:57
balm and some duct tape a request was put in for Aboriginal trackers but they were unable to get to their location for
01:05:04
a few days Joanne was taken to the spot where the combi was found to see if anything was
01:05:09
out of place and later taken to Alice Springs to help further with the investigation and to receive appropriate
01:05:15
medical attention Joanne didn't have a proper medical check-up for a couple of days she was
01:05:21
offered no counselling victim support or care the Northern Territory police were
01:05:25
scratching their heads they found her story so unbelievable that there was an air of uncertainty amongst the officers
01:05:31
over whether or not she was telling the truth no one was advising Joanne on what she
01:05:37
should and shouldn't say to the press she was becoming increasingly anxious apart from the pool of blood there was
01:05:44
not a single trace of Peter or any of the belongings he had on him Alice Springs detective Colin Quinn
01:05:51
received a call in the middle of the night from her sergeant who said a bloke is missing and his girlfriend reckons
01:05:57
that someone shot him but she's okay Colin had been back in Alice Springs for six months after a year working in Port
01:06:04
Moresby Papua New Guinea she was a tough woman who had seen a lot in Port Moresby
01:06:09
when she would go on her daily run she would be accompanied by an armed guard with a rifle she had a rape gate fitted
01:06:16
on her living quarters there were huge drug and alcohol issues there and attacks were common a female cop was a
01:06:23
good target Colleen had no idea what she the rest of the police or the town of Alice Springs were in for media from all
01:06:32
over the world would take no time to land in the town there was an attractive English girl small and shy recounting a
01:06:39
story that defied belief escaping a nightmare attack in the middle of the desert by a huge man with a gun that had
01:06:46
tied her up and shot her boyfriend everyone wanted the story and they dissected every word most of these
01:06:54
people were Juby Asst Joanne remained tight-lipped to the media she gave only one interview directly after the
01:07:00
incident while still at the Roadhouse but later her story changed while recounting details with the police
01:07:06
although she was in shock and could be forgiven for her slightly confusing account although the falcone o--'s had
01:07:13
given short press conferences in the immediate aftermath of the event Joann kept the waiting this planted a seed of
01:07:19
doubt that would grow within the media the girlfriend of the missing men not speaking for ten days when Joann gave an
01:07:27
official press conference there was a request for public help she wore a t-shirt with the words cheeky monkey
01:07:33
across the chest although the press and the public found this hard to swallow Joanne would reveal that the police had
01:07:40
taken all her clothes and belongings and so she had practically nothing to wear she never gave the shirt a second
01:07:46
thought but the press had a field day with it back home in England the tabloids printed headlines horror troops down
01:07:54
under reminding people of the terrifying backpacker motors as well as other attacks people started to feel a
01:08:01
reminiscence Helene Chamberlin and her cool sometimes negative demeanor to the press and the
01:08:06
public in the wake of the disappearance of her baby Azaria Joanne was not too different avoiding the media and
01:08:12
speaking through Falcone OHS brother Paul who had arrived from England unfortunately for Joey and
01:08:19
inconsistencies in her story started to appear her lack of explanation to the media caused them to draw their own
01:08:25
conclusions from the information they had her description of the dog was muddled people couldn't understand how
01:08:31
she got her hands from the back to the front she came across as cool and aloof in the midst of her world falling apart
01:08:38
when CCTV footage finally came out of the men who fit the description stopping for petrol in the early hours of July
01:08:44
15th Joey initially told police it wasn't her attacker then changed her mind and said it was the media and the public
01:08:52
sword is Joanne being untrustworthy even Moyne responding to early public alarm and media scrutiny commander Bob fields
01:09:01
who led the investigation in its early weeks relied on an analogy to explain the magnitude of the task that lay ahead
01:09:08
quote we're looking for a needle in a haystack and you don't get a haystack much bigger than the Northern Territory
01:09:16
Joanne's account suggested a crime of opportunity perhaps even impulse the backpackers were in the wrong place at
01:09:23
the wrong time so the suspect population was defined merely by its capacity to be
01:09:29
at the crime scene on that particular evening the case was no ordinary investigation there was unrelenting
01:09:35
media attention in Australia and abroad police promised an extremely proactive inquiry stating that they were
01:09:42
determined to leave no stone unturned there had been no further leads on Peters body Aboriginal trucker Teddy
01:09:50
Egan found signs of stones kicked over and footprints belonging to Joanne although he said that tracking humans
01:09:56
was a lot easier than tracking animals because humans make such a mess neither he nor the three other trackers used by
01:10:02
police found any trace of Peter or the attacker a photo fit had already been released based on Joanne's description
01:10:09
and on August third another one was released showing how the men would look without a moustache and
01:10:15
short-hair Joey and stadion Alice Springs to help with the investigation for a few weeks before traveling back to
01:10:21
England this was viewed by some as her running away but something else would start to evolve in the story that would
01:10:28
take Joey and by total surprise and she would be so scared she would not tell a single soul until sometime later the day
01:10:36
before she was due to leave Alice Springs and returned home she was at the local RSL club for dinner with Paul
01:10:41
Falcone Oh Peters brother they had always had two police chaperones with them to protect them at around 8 p.m.
01:10:48
Joanne received a call from the police asking her to come down and give an interview she was confused and scared
01:10:55
throughout the interview she started to feel that she was being suspected they asked her to clarify inconsistencies in
01:11:01
her statement it became apparent they were trying to get a confession out of her the interview ended with them saying
01:11:08
they wanted to get closure for Peters family and could she tell them where the body was she felt betrayed and scared
01:11:15
she didn't want to tell the falcone others because she was worried what they would think
01:11:19
well appearance vehicles movements and personality require time to observe and are fairly easy to disguise DNA is
01:11:28
impossible to mistake a tiny cut on the back left sleeve a Joanne's t-shirt gave
01:11:33
police the opportunity to use DNA or identification the resulting tiny brown smudge in an otherwise unstained section
01:11:41
of the light blue t-shirt yielded the only significant DNA profile in the investigation up to that point it didn't
01:11:48
match Peter Joanne or her rescuers it was a full profile belonging to an unknown male this DNA profile was
01:11:56
obtained in the police forensic lab in Darwin just a few days after the attack it was plugged into the Australian DNA
01:12:03
register but no match was found swabs taken from the gearstick steering wheel and cuffs were tested
01:12:10
partial DNA was found to be present but the process was not sensitive enough to provide a reliable result however the
01:12:17
results did provide partial matches to the same unknown male whose profile was found on Joe Ian's t-shirt but they
01:12:24
needed more testing to be done to link those pieces of evidence so the investigators had the
01:12:29
silence DNA profile but it didn't match anyone on the database a little used alternative when there is no database
01:12:36
match is a public appeal for volunteers to provide samples they had only been to
01:12:41
significant mass screenings of DNA in Australia at that time one being the screening of Perth taxi
01:12:47
drivers in Claremont a mass screening would also be used soon after this case on Norfolk Island whilst investigating
01:12:54
General Patton's motor however these initiatives were aimed at tightly defined and geographically narrow groups
01:13:00
who were susceptible to both the social pressure and a degree of police surveillance but the geographical and
01:13:07
social scope of this case was too wide and a public appeal for DNA wasn't going to work the 250,000 dollar reward for
01:13:16
any information leading to a conviction and strategy of troop feeding the media to generate new interest yielded over
01:13:22
2,500 phone calls in the first three weeks of the investigation before long their Person of Interest list totaled
01:13:29
several thousand names initially the task force had trouble dealing with the influx of information and it was
01:13:37
difficult also that Joanne's description of the attacker although vivid in her mind was somewhat
01:13:42
generic the initial Northern Territory police investigation came under fire when in October 2001 three months after
01:13:50
the disappearance of Peter another examination of the crime scene found the lid of the lip balm belonging to Joanne
01:13:56
as well as duct tape the attacker had attempted to place on her Colleen Wynn would remember the investigation later
01:14:03
saying quote there was nothing about what the Northern Territory police were doing at the time that was actually very
01:14:09
flattering or made us look like a group of people who knew what we were doing the police
01:14:15
carried out covert suspect DNA testing with help from police officers across the country over the next year there
01:14:21
were approximately 30 people from the list of suspects who were considered hot prospects based on their proximity to
01:14:27
the crime scene description and vehicle so this is who they focused on the other
01:14:32
crucial piece of evidence they focused on was the CCTV footage captured at the truck stop the night of the attack
01:14:39
Joanne's initial reaction to the footage was the me too old though enhance footage shown to
01:14:45
her later led her to concede he's somewhat of a man I described police believed it was significant that after
01:14:52
the stills were released to the public no one claimed to be the man pictured either he had somehow missed all the
01:14:58
publicity or he had decided not to come forward out of fear of being linked to the Barrow Creek incident although there
01:15:05
was one man who received phone calls from friends and family after stills of this CCTV footage were released to the
01:15:11
media Bradley Murdoch's father called him and said he'd seen him on the TV the good
01:15:17
thing for Joann and the investigation was that the men on the footage did fit her description examination of the
01:15:23
footage revealed that not only was the vehicle a Toyota Landcruiser but it was a particular model a Haj saïd j7 5
01:15:30
series manufactured between May 1991 ended November 99 a list of registered owners of such vehicles included Bradley
01:15:38
Murdock who had purchased the white 93 H said J 75 Toyota Landcruiser secondhand
01:15:44
Murdock was also one of 36 men who callers had claimed to recognize as the man in the truck when the images were
01:15:51
released with this information the police visited Murdock in his broom flat on the 1st of November 2001 while there
01:16:00
are no official descriptions of this visit one journalists account is that local police officers attended on behalf
01:16:06
of the task force according to the account Murdock chatted politely with the officers who reported back to the task
01:16:12
force that neither Murdock nor his vehicle resembled Joanne's descriptions groomed police collected information
01:16:18
around town about Murdock and tried to get information from close acquaintances although both housemate and drug running
01:16:26
mate happy and girlfriend Beverly Allen would later admit to Murdoch's absence from the broom area the weekend of the
01:16:32
crime and his strange behavior in the days following they didn't volunteer this information to police at the time
01:16:39
Murdock was not asked for a DNA sample on the day as far as the record shows but they did ask him to participate in
01:16:46
an ID parade to which he declined Murdock stayed on the list of suspects but with no escalation
01:16:54
so after four months with the original investigation not getting very far and constant criticisms of bungled police
01:17:01
work a new team needed to be formed Killeen Gwyn was handed the reins of being chief investigator she knew that
01:17:09
the original investigation could have been better managed but there were not enough resources for a crime and manhunt
01:17:14
of that magnitude Killeen described receiving the case as a huge sugar rush followed by extreme crashes with periods
01:17:21
of insomnia she didn't feel very confident she felt she didn't have a strong team of players on the Northern
01:17:28
Territory police force and Peter and Joanne's family in the UK had lost confidence in their ability so she built
01:17:34
a small strong task force of officers she believed would help us solve the case when she took over the task force
01:17:41
the roadblocks had long been lifted and the trail was well and truly cold so the
01:17:46
investigators faced the difficult drug determining movements and appearances of potential suspects from months earlier
01:17:52
the timing of the Barrow Creek attack at night in the middle of a weekend worked
01:17:58
against relying on employment records instead inquiries were turn on the recollections of potential suspects and
01:18:04
their acquaintances as well as circumstantial evidence derived from documents such as receipts and video
01:18:10
footage the first step was to compile a list of persons and vehicles of interest
01:18:16
we interview as many people as they could and re-examine the scene the task force had a lot of potential suspects
01:18:22
that fit Joanne's description of her attacker a British documentary later quoted the view of local police that the
01:18:29
published photo fit looked like a third of the population of the Northern Territory a local newspaper said quote
01:18:36
there is no shortage of what four-wheel-drive utilities on top and roads is the vehicle of choice of both
01:18:42
the bushy and of the office worker who enjoys a weekend fish Colleen Wynn said the case got very real
01:18:49
for her when she got dropped off a loan at the scene of the crime and walked into the scrub to where Joanne was
01:18:55
hiding alone she got her colleagues to drive away she could hear her own heartbeat and said that she had never
01:19:01
been so terrified or vulnerable in all her life she wanted to cry even though she could use her phone at any time to
01:19:08
call someone to come and get her the task force analyzed government and commercial records to identify
01:19:15
approximately 17,000 people in transit in the Northern Territory in the week surrounding the attack however this
01:19:22
methodology would not have detected people who were avoiding or simply not using public and private services many
01:19:29
auerbach travelers would fit this category including Murdoch who was running cannabis from South Australia to
01:19:35
Broome and always to extreme measures to avoid surveillance the task force relied
01:19:40
heavily on tips and informal ways of getting information like chatting to the public
01:19:45
Colleen flew to England to meet Joanne and the falcone a family she knew that Joanne had no confidence in the Northern
01:19:52
Territory police after a 12-hour interview kollene ascertained that there was no
01:19:57
problem with Joanne's account of the incident she was clear and her memory was strong she found Joanne's
01:20:03
recollection of small details uncanny she heard no inconsistencies and from that moment on was convinced that the
01:20:10
problem was bad investigation she believed Joanne was an amazing witness and regained her trust the task
01:20:18
force got that break on the 17th of May 2002 police pulled over James happy after receiving a tip and found four
01:20:26
kilos of cannabis in his suit he was facing a lengthy prison term so he decided to start talking pepe informed
01:20:34
police he had once seen his former business partner bradley Murdoch making handcuffs with cable ties apparently
01:20:40
identical to the ones used to be on Joey he also said that Murdoch had once told
01:20:46
him how he would dispose of a body in a spoon drain like those on the edge of the 10 mi track
01:20:52
other information haeppy gave was that Murdoch was on a drug run the weekend of the attack and when he arrived in Broome
01:20:58
he had mentioned he had gotten into some unspecified trouble during the run he also dramatically changed his vehicle
01:21:05
and his appearance immediately afterward it was at this same time police learned
01:21:10
that Murdoch had fallen out with his brother Gary so armed with this information police asked Gary if he
01:21:16
would provide a sample for DNA analysis which he did possibly because he didn't believe his brother was responsible
01:21:23
Gary's DNA result confirmed that Bradley Murdoch was their suspect as they had a
01:21:28
partial DNA match this match proved that the person who owned the blood smudge on
01:21:33
Joanne's t-shirt was a blood relative of Gary's the police soon learned that Gary
01:21:39
had called Murdoch straight after the test and warned him that the police were after him
01:21:43
Murdoch disappeared and he knew the area like no other it wasn't until several months later the 22nd of August 2002
01:21:53
that Murdoch was arrested in South Australia for an unrelated case the rape and abduction of a mother and daughter
01:22:00
near Swan reach this offence allegedly occurred only weeks after Peter and Joanne's attack at Barrow Creek a
01:22:07
paranoid Murdoch bound a young girl and her mother so tightly with handcuffs chains and toys that he had to use tools
01:22:14
to freedom the mother was an acquaintance of Murdoch and welcomed him often to her home in South Australia it
01:22:21
was alleged that her and her daughter were kidnapped and sexually assaulted in a panic toy dear Murdoch had to use them
01:22:27
as insurance if the police closed in on him he subjected them to a 25 hour ordeal fueled by drugs and alcohol
01:22:34
before finally letting them free after his arrest for this crime the task force investigating Peters murder was finally
01:22:42
able to catch up with Murdoch and they were able to get his DNA while Murdoch was imprisoned in Adelaide Colleen and
01:22:50
her team flew down to question him Colleen said we arrived at the prison the media was everywhere outside I
01:22:57
walked through the three sets of secured doors my heart is beating like you wouldn't believe I finally got to meet
01:23:03
this man Colleen was not just overcome with the intensity of meeting the murderer of an
01:23:10
investigation that had consumed her but also with the surprising and personal connection to her past they saw her
01:23:16
having to battle demons she had not anticipated Colleen said there was a remarkable resemblance between my father
01:23:23
who was the most intimidating and violent men who I've ever had anything to do with my past flashed before me and
01:23:30
at the same time Murdoch was playing a game of intimidation with me he stood over me
01:23:35
this tall intimidating figure and I was so small under his frame he was yelling at me he was spitting on my face and I
01:23:43
was never going to take a backward step and I didn't I played the game and I won
01:23:47
he took the backward step in November 2002 police flew to the UK and Joanne was shown a photo board containing 12
01:23:57
photographs including one of Murdock that process was filmed than a transcript produced the officer
01:24:04
conducting the exercise advised Joanne the following what I proposed to do is show you a number of photographs of
01:24:10
persons you should take as much time as you require and look at all the photographs before making a decision the
01:24:17
person involved in the incidents on 14 July 2001 may or may not be amongst these photographs if you see a
01:24:24
photograph of the person you should indicate to me which photograph it is by clearly pointing to it or by touching
01:24:29
the photograph do you understand Joanne nodded and pointed to a photograph and said I think it's number
01:24:37
10 that photograph was of Bradley Murdoch the DNA was sent to England for testing by leading forensic examiner dr.
01:24:48
Jonathan Whittaker of Britain's forensic science service based in West Yorkshire
01:24:53
he used what was then a new DNA technique called low copy number DNA analysis dr. Whittaker was able to
01:25:00
establish a DNA profile from previously undiscovered traces more new traces that
01:25:05
the Australian lab was unable to test Australian forensic experts had already established that the DNA on the t-shirt
01:25:12
was an exact match to Murdoch 150 trillion times more likely to have come from murder
01:25:17
than anyone else but they were unable to link his DNA to the handcuffs dr. Whittaker using his low copy method was
01:25:25
able to retest the DNA found on the innermost layer of tape used to construct the handcuffs he found it was
01:25:31
100 million times more likely to have come from Murdoch than anyone else dr. Whittaker also carried out tests on
01:25:39
swabs taken from the gearstick of the combi and found a partial DNA profile matching Murdoch after a trial in the
01:25:47
South Australian District Court in Adelaide Murdoch was found not guilty of raping and abducting a woman in her 12
01:25:54
year old daughter he was immediately arrested for the murder of Peter Falcone oh and the unlawful detention of his
01:26:00
girlfriend Joanne Lise Murdoch was extradited to Darwin where he was charged with murder and kidnapping in
01:26:08
May 2004 media descended on Darwin to cover the committal hearing of Bradley Murdoch at this hearing it would be
01:26:16
decided if there was sufficient evidence to send Murdoch Patrol that would take three weeks to hear witness testimonies
01:26:22
and other evidence before a decision was made during the committal the Director of Public Prosecutions hired a PR firm
01:26:30
to facilitate the needs of the media ensuring coverage didn't prejudice the trial and that the Northern Territory
01:26:35
justice system was seen as professional to cope with the demands of the troll and the huge media contingent the
01:26:42
Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin was renovated at a cost of $900,000 two witnesses gave evidence at
01:26:50
the committal hearing who claimed to have seen Peter Falcone Oh on July 22nd 2001 a week after what was now known as
01:26:57
the Barrow Creek incident the attack on Peter and Joe Ian the couple Robert Brianna and Melissa Kendall said they
01:27:04
were working at a service station 2,500 kilometres away in Burke outback New South Wales they said a man they
01:27:12
recognised as the missing tourists from newspaper photographs entered their shop
01:27:16
Robert and Melissa both said they were certain it was him he was travelling with another man and a dog in a dark
01:27:22
green utility vehicle Robert said he noticed a slight accent and that he was not Australian he said the man bought a
01:27:29
chocolate bar and the man's companion was a very rough looking person skinny with dark hair a
01:27:36
loose skin and a dirty white t-shirt covered with red dust who bought two packets of dog biscuits Melissa said she
01:27:43
was shocked and didn't know what to do she had seen a photograph of Falcone Oh in the newspaper that day and
01:27:49
immediately recognized him Peters mother Joan and brother Nick left the court and
01:27:54
remained our sight for most of this testimony Robert and Melissa's account of the sighting varied Melissa described
01:28:02
the man in his late 20s as solid with a shaved head and dark stubble a fair complexion and an injury to the left
01:28:08
side of his face Robert meanwhile described the man as being in his early 30s solid with sandy colored short hair
01:28:15
and an injury to the right side of his face Melissa said she sold the missing man a drink and then told Robert after
01:28:22
he had left the shop what happened the Sun was still up at the time Robert meanwhile said the men was still in the
01:28:29
shop when Melissa came and got him and he sold him a coke and a mars bar and that it was getting dark when he left
01:28:36
Melissa stated she didn't notice if he spoke with an accent whereas Robert recognized he had an accent but he
01:28:42
couldn't place it Melissa was adamant it was Falcone oh she saw that day she said the people
01:28:48
were acting very strangely and she was unsure what she should do the people he was with a man and a woman were in an
01:28:55
open-back truck which they parked out of sight of the office part of the petrol station they had to stretch the fuel
01:29:01
hose right here to make it reach it was as if they didn't want to be seen she stated that Robert and her both went out
01:29:08
very carefully to look at them the other men who is with the guy who looked like
01:29:12
Peter match the photo fit pictures the police had put her she said when they drove off
01:29:18
they didn't drive out onto the main road they went up a back lane which led off in the direction of Brisbane the
01:29:24
policeman who took their statement apparently mocked them and made a comment about Elvis although labelled as
01:29:30
a red herring this sighting fits in with rumours that had started circulating at
01:29:34
the time conspiracy theories that Peter Falcone Oh had faked his own death because he had money troubles at home a
01:29:40
story that was spurred on by the tax agent in Alice Springs telling he owed money for tax in Australia so he
01:29:47
faked his own death but never expected his story to make international headlines Joanne and Peter's family have
01:29:54
made repeated pleas for the rumors to stop Murdoch's lawyer green algae raised the fake death scenario when he
01:30:03
suggested that the British couple had stopped by the side of the road near Barrow Creek to meet with a third man
01:30:08
who they had arranged to take Peter away alive what would also emerge was the secret
01:30:14
Joe Ian had been keeping Joanne admitted she and a friend called Nick overstepped
01:30:19
the boundary of friendship back in Sydney but that it had now ended she had confided in Peters brother back in 2001
01:30:26
about this but she did not wish to personally tell his parents she let Paul falcone oh do that it was
01:30:33
never spoken about but Joanne knew she had the full support of the Falcone OU family during the cross-examination of
01:30:40
Joey and bought Murdoch's defense attorney in green algae she was asked if she had a sexual relationship with Nick
01:30:45
while her and Peter were living together in Sydney Joanne replied I'm going to answer yes
01:30:51
but I wouldn't classify it as an affair or a relationship Nick was an Irishman Joanne had met on a
01:30:59
night out in Sydney when she was staying over with friends on her Thursday night
01:31:03
out in New Tampa there was actually a mix place where the group of friends would study and it
01:31:08
would be Nick who she would have coffee with at the cafe before getting the train to work on a Friday their affair
01:31:14
grew in intensity but Joanne wasn't sure if it was merely the thrill or if she truly had feelings for Nick she briefly
01:31:21
flirted with the idea of leaving Peter for Nick but deep down she knew Nick was just playing the field a young single
01:31:27
guy who was about to leave Sydney and go traveling again she soon dismissed the idea as a silly thought they had a
01:31:35
farewell together in Sydney and Nick set up a secret hotmail account under the name Steph so that she could secretly
01:31:40
email him without Peter knowing she was then asked in court if she had emailed Nick or Steph when she was in
01:31:48
Alice Springs to make arrangements to meet up with him in Berlin to which Joe Ian said no she had merely made a
01:31:55
suggestion the media enjoyed the news of the affair immensely Joe Ian also denied
01:32:01
that she and Peter had an argument at the backpackers in Alice Springs the night before reaching Barrow Creek or
01:32:07
that there was trouble in their relationship she saw the affair with Nick Moore as a blip on her and Peter's
01:32:12
otherwise smooth five-year relationship Murdoch's defense team were using the affair to try and plant reasonable doubt
01:32:21
Joanne was questioned that length about her account of the breed of dog she saw in the front seat and why she had
01:32:27
changed her mind over what breed the dog was her initial description of the dog at the time of the incident was medium
01:32:33
sized brown and white or black and white and short-haired which would then changed the following day to medium size
01:32:39
the blue heeler Brienne and wire short-haired Jolene explained that when she was taken to the Roadhouse of Barrow
01:32:46
Creek and met Kathy curly the barmaid who had been comforting her she also meant Kathy's doc which he felt
01:32:52
resembled the attackers dog in Kathy's dog was a blue heeler although more Dalmatian in appearance
01:32:59
Murdoch's dog was a Dalmatian blue heeled across after extensive back-and-forth it was decided by the
01:33:05
court that Joanne had identified Murdoch's dog with the evidence heard at the committal it was decided there was
01:33:12
enough evidence to proceed to trial the trial was set to start in October 2005 it would run for eight weeks and hear
01:33:20
from 85 witnesses and have more than 300 exhibits tendered the world would see a
01:33:26
very different Joey and Leigh's of the trial instead of ignoring the media and hiding in the backseat of a car and
01:33:32
being hurriedly swept into an underground car park and back entrance of the court Joanne would walk the front
01:33:37
steps of the court happily greeting the press on the morning Joanne was due to give
01:33:43
evidence at trial a police woman approached her and told her that back in Alice Springs during the first few weeks
01:33:49
of Peters disappearance the Northern Territory police had bugged her room the officers justification for the bugging
01:33:55
was in case her attacker tried to contact her Joanne was livid she paced up and down the room swearing and crying
01:34:02
then suddenly she decided she needed to focus her anger channel it towards the person that caused all of this and that
01:34:09
was Bradley Murdock Murdock formally pleaded not guilty to the murder and to assaulting Joanne and depriving her of
01:34:16
her Liberty he sat behind a glass enclosure flanked by two officers who stayed with him every minute as Murdock
01:34:23
stood he towered above them Murdock was described as having an immensely strong presence
01:34:29
he sat filling out exercise books concentrating intensely as he studied the evidence and maps
01:34:35
he sat behind the glass watching Chief Justice judge a Brian Martin prosecutor Rex Wilde his own defense barrister
01:34:42
grant LG the six men and six women of the jury plus the three reserve jurors and sometimes he would glance over at
01:34:49
the public gallery we're in the front row sat Luciano and Joan Falcone oh and behind them
01:34:55
Joanne Lee's on day one Murdock shook his head as Joanne walked to the witness box
01:35:02
the prosecution presented the video footage that was captured at the Alice Springs truck stop in the early hours of
01:35:08
July 15 2001 just the hours after the murder of Peter Falcone Oh the defense argued that this footage could have been
01:35:16
of anyone the judge ordered the jury to dismiss defense arguments and to accept the prosecution's statement that the man
01:35:23
in the video was in fact Murdock but stressed that this alone was not enough to convict the Modoc of the murder they
01:35:30
presented that Murdock boasted to friends about how he would be able to easily make handcuffs from cable ties
01:35:35
and actually explained to people how someone would be able to attack Joanne kill her and get away with it they also
01:35:42
highlighted Murdock was an admitted drug courier who always had a gun on him several eyewitnesses including a
01:35:49
mechanic is stated that Murdock had major modifications made to his car in August 2001 just weeks after the attack
01:35:56
experts testified that road conditions across the top end of the Northern Territory were good on July 14 and July
01:36:02
15 2001 making it possible to complete the trek from Alice Springs to Broome in less than 16 hours and the Murdoch
01:36:10
actually had 20 hours to make that drive so it was well and truly possible narcotics experts testified the people
01:36:18
who are regular users of amphetamines are capable of driving up to 36 hours with high levels of concentration it
01:36:25
also came out that prior to Murdoch's arrest police were tipped off by four different people that he was the killer
01:36:32
British forensic scientist dr. Jonathan Whittaker took the witness stand to talk
01:36:36
about the tests he had carried out in his lap after receiving items of DNA he confirmed the positive match for Bradley
01:36:43
Murdoch - the blood stain on Joanne's t-shirt as well as the match to the blood found on the gearstick of the
01:36:47
combi he stated he did tests on the layers of the black tape that made up the cable ties in particular the inner
01:36:54
layers of the tape and on one particular swab that he tested he found a partial DNA profile although not a complete
01:37:01
match he was able to calculate the probability that that particular DNA was 100 million times more likely to be
01:37:08
Bradley Murdoch's than any other person in the population dr. Whittaker was an expert in low copy number testing or LCM
01:37:16
when you have very very long amounts of DNA to test he is able to extract what is there there was a different type of
01:37:23
test - the ones already carried out in Darwin and in fact it's only been in use since 1999 in the UK dr. Whittaker is
01:37:31
one of the scientists that perfected this technique the higher sensitivity of the tests put the result into question
01:37:38
because of the probability of cross contamination of the other DNA green algae Murdoch's defense lawyer raised a
01:37:44
lot of questions about the potential for cross-contamination between the cable ties in particular and other possessions
01:37:49
that belong to Murdoch stating that the cable ties have been stored in the same freezer as a known profile of DNA from
01:37:56
murder thus the sample was contaminated the defense had a slew of arguments their
01:38:03
main defense was in relation to the DNA evidence but the forensic labs that conducted all DNA testing in this case
01:38:09
were not up to accreditation standards and hence all DNA tests were unofficial and the DNA from some samples could have
01:38:16
contaminated others they argued that DNA was mixed up and when items were recovered at the scene three months
01:38:23
after the incident they must have been planted by police they argued that both Peter and Joanne were heavy users of
01:38:29
marijuana and occasional users of ecstasy they had a joint just 20 minutes prior to the offence so Joanne may have
01:38:35
been stoned at the time they continued to point out the misidentification of the breed of dog and Joanne's confusion
01:38:42
over the description of her attackers vehicle compared to what Murdoch's vehicle looked like at the time of his
01:38:46
arrest the prosecution had to remind the court of the changes Murdoch made to his
01:38:51
vehicle prior to that arrest Murdoch argued that he did not have a compartment from which you could go from
01:38:57
inside his vehicle to the back tray Joanne had not been sure how she'd came to be in the back tray and suggested
01:39:03
that this could have been helped the defense made the point that police nor Aboriginal trackers had found any trace
01:39:10
of Peters body they also argued that Joanne did not have injuries consistent with the type of attacks she suffered
01:39:16
the defense then said that Murdoch Peter and Joanne were all positively identified at the same fast-food
01:39:21
restaurant Red Rooster in Alice Springs on the day of the attack so Joanne and Murdoch made bumped into each other
01:39:28
there the prosecution argued that the times they were seen were different but even if this was true they did bump into
01:39:35
each other this would only account for finding contact DNA whereas they had Murdoch's blood Murdoch claimed that
01:39:42
he'd been set up by James heavy that happy was gunning for a deal to reduce his own jail sentence and the police
01:39:48
were trying to pin the murder on him James hippies ex-girlfriend Rachel Maxwell told the court that she met
01:39:54
Bradley Murdoch a number of times in 2001 she said she saw Murdoch and happy with a gun and hippies property at sedan
01:40:01
in South Australia the gun had a silver barrel and wouldn't handle kind of like a gun you seen a Western a John Wayne
01:40:09
style gun when Joanne gave evidence at the beginning of the trial she described the gun used in her attack as having a
01:40:16
silver barrel and looking like a western style of gun Julie MacPhail was then called to the stand Julie was the 22
01:40:24
year old barmaid who had driven alongside Murdoch shared drugs with him and camped with him one night for weeks
01:40:30
before the incident at Barrow Creek she told the court that she shared a campsite with Murdoch On June 19 2001 it
01:40:37
was there that she told Murdoch of her plans to travel in a combi van through the Barrow Creek area with a friend as
01:40:43
she was a witness she was not allowed to hear other evidence given in the court so that's why Julie said it was only
01:40:49
that week the week of the trial when she read snippets of Joanne's book which featured in The Herald Sun newspaper
01:40:54
that she realized how close she may have been to tragedy she stated that even the
01:41:00
way Murdoch drove beside Joanne and Peters combi was eerily similar to her own experience she confirmed that
01:41:06
Murdoch had scared her off when he pulled out a gun and fired it into the bush Beverley Allen Murdoch's girlfriend
01:41:13
said that Murdoch showed her the newspaper page containing in the CCTV images she was pretty convinced that it was
01:41:20
Murdoch and his vehicle on the front page but Murdoch sat her down and pointed out all the differences of the
01:41:26
vehicle Murdoch also said that he was telling a camper trailer so could not have been
01:41:30
him but Beverley said that the picture of the person concerned her because it just looked like Murdoch when asked what
01:41:37
made her think that Beverly said I just remember the way he walked the way he sort of he held himself you know his
01:41:44
body posture when James hippy took the witness stand he stated that in August 2001 he saw the
01:41:50
same newspaper images seen by Beverly Allen he said the images on the front page of the newspaper were discussed
01:41:56
between him and Murdock Murdock also denied to happy that it was him or his four-wheel drive in the images in court
01:42:04
happy was shown in the same images asked if he recognized the man in the picture
01:42:08
hippy responded that it was Murdock asked how he recognized him hippy said he knew by the stance by the look and by
01:42:16
the mustache Pepe also said Murdock had told him the best place to bury a body was in a spoon drain and that he saw
01:42:23
Murdock making cable tie handcuffs after his testimony happy and Murdock shared this exchange in the courtroom Murdock
01:42:31
you're a [ __ ] lawyer heavy [ __ ] you judge all right thank you that's enough when Murdock took this then he was
01:42:40
relentlessly cross-examined by the prosecutor Rex Wilde who questioned Murdock in close detail about his
01:42:46
movements in Alice Springs on Saturday the 14th of July 2001 Murdock admitted he was in Alice Springs that day but
01:42:53
they he left around half past three and was hundreds of kilometres away when the
01:42:57
attack occurred Rex wall challenged Murdock about the timing of his trip on the Tanner my
01:43:02
track suggesting it could have been much quicker than he claimed Murdock testified that he took 24 hours to
01:43:08
travel the 1,100 kilometres 683 miles from Alice Springs to halls creek saying he'd let the toys down because of the
01:43:16
rough track and had to stop twice for repairs after further questioning Murdock raised his voice at the
01:43:22
prosecutor your pinpointing me on a hell of a lot of things here that was a long
01:43:26
long time ago Murdock repeatedly denied it was him in the shell truck stop security footage
01:43:33
and he gave numerous reasons why the men and the vehicle in the footage were different but after more
01:43:39
cross-examination he started to admit that there were similarities he admitted the parts of the vehicle were similar
01:43:45
like the shape and the height of the vehicle he admitted that the wheels and the rims were the same but said the
01:43:50
tires and zips on his canopy were not the same as the one in the video when asked directly if it was his vehicle
01:43:56
Murdock said firmly it's not my vehicle because I was not there at that particular time
01:44:01
the jury were then showed the video footage the prosecutor said it looked like Murdoch to which he replied the
01:44:08
image should look like a lot of people Murdoch was then reminded that his own father called him to tell him he had
01:44:13
seen him on the television when asked to explain his DNA on Joanne's t-shirt Murdoch simply said I can't
01:44:21
another deeming piece of evidence was found when an officer of the task force meticulously trawl through the thousands
01:44:27
of belongings confiscated as evidence from Murdoch's car and trailer the officer found a single twisted hair tie
01:44:34
with a silver clip that Joann had lost in her struggle to get away it was wrapped around Murdoch's shoulder gun
01:44:41
holster when presented with this small elastic at trial Murdoch recalled and wouldn't touch it
01:44:48
during their closing argument the prosecution said that Murdoch saw Joanne and Peter while in Alice Springs and
01:44:53
believed they were following him so he drove behind them as they traveled along the Stuart Highway and then stopped them
01:45:00
because he feared they may be spying on him and make contact police in relation to his drug running after stopping them
01:45:06
he panicked and killed Peter then abduct the Joanne boning her with cable ties and putting her in the back
01:45:12
of his vehicle after which Murdoch was trying to dispose of Peters body Joanne then escaped into surrounding shrubland
01:45:19
Murdoch searched for her with his dog and a flashlight but gave up Murdoch been buried Peter in a place unknown in
01:45:26
the central Australian air back having wrapped Peters head with Joanne's denim jacket so as to prevent any blood
01:45:32
getting in his vehicle then Murdoch panicked and rather than driving through the bush strength of groom he drove all
01:45:38
the way back to Alice Springs where he was spotted on closed-circuit television at a truck stop hitting suppliers before
01:45:44
heading out to Bru where he travelled non-stop at great speed taking amphetamines to keep himself awake and
01:45:50
alert Murdock then altered his physical appearance as well as his vehicle's appearance so as to avoid detection and
01:45:57
immediately stopped running drugs because he feared that he might be linked to the murder the prosecution
01:46:03
said that there was no evidence whatsoever of any police corruption or planting of evidence and urged jurors to
01:46:10
dismiss any suggestions as an unfounded conspiracy theory they said that all of the evidence pointed to one obvious
01:46:17
conclusion that Murdock killed Peter Falcone and that whilst no body had been found yet it would be eventually it was
01:46:24
only a matter of time they asked the jury to ignore the evidence of the sightings of Peter after the attack to
01:46:31
dismiss them as not accurate highlighting discrepancies in the stories of the various people who said
01:46:36
they saw him alive the DNA was a match there was no chance that it was not Murdock's DNA and hence the jury must
01:46:44
find him guilty in their closing argument the defense said that Peter Falco neo faked his own death and that
01:46:52
when Peter and Joanne stopped by the side of the road near Barrow Creek it was to meet with a third man of
01:46:58
description unknown in order to take Peter away alive police planted evidence with the assistance of Murdock's former
01:47:05
drug running partner James heavy who had both motive and opportunity to frame Murdock they pointed to the lack of a
01:47:12
body the alleged sightings of Falcone Oh in the days thereafter the inconsistency
01:47:17
of Joanne's testimony and the poor police procedures in handling evidence they suggested to the jury that from
01:47:24
time to time for reasons best known to themselves people just disappear sometimes they are found again sometimes
01:47:31
they aren't after all of the evidence was heard judge Brian Martin gave the following
01:47:37
instructions to the jury how you approach the evidence is a matter entirely for you there are many issues
01:47:44
that have been raised for your consideration you may or may not be able to resolve all the issues you must put
01:47:51
aside the flamboyant suggestions of counsel that we do not need experts from the mother country to teach us colonials
01:47:56
a thing or two please put aside all the hyperbole and concentrate on the evidence before you that's why you look
01:48:03
at all the evidence not just the experts the question to be considered by you is
01:48:08
whether you are satisfied the accused blood came to be on the t-shirt in the course of attacking Miss Lee's are you
01:48:15
satisfied that the DNA came to be on the item because of contact in the course of
01:48:19
the accused attacking Miss Lee's or is it a reasonable possibility that the DNA came to be on the item through an
01:48:25
innocent contact or through some form of contamination either deliberate or accidental if you are satisfied the
01:48:33
creon submission is correct and you were satisfied that the men who attacked miss
01:48:37
Lee's killed Peter Falcone yet then the crown will have proved its case of murder
01:48:42
you must not reason that because of those other activities the accused this is the type of person who is likely to
01:48:49
have committed the offenses charged it provides the setting for the accused to travel and explains why he was on the
01:48:55
road that weekend if from a consideration of all the other evidence you are satisfied it was the accused and
01:49:01
his vehicle at the truck stop it will follow that you are satisfied that the accused has not been truthful with you
01:49:07
and others on the 13th of December 2005 over four years after Peter Falcone ou disappeared the jury spent eight hours
01:49:17
deliberating before reaching their verdict they found 47 year old Bradley Murdock
01:49:24
guilty he was sentenced to 28 years jail without the possibility of parole judge Brian Martin said to the jury I
01:49:33
entirely agree with your verdict there would be no temporary or permanent release of Murdock before the expiry of
01:49:41
his sentence meaning Murdock will be 74 years old when he is released Murdoch showed no emotion when his
01:49:48
sentence was read currently the Northern Territory is one state that is considering following South Australia's
01:49:55
lead introducing a nobody no parole law this law sees that any convicted murderer who has not revealed the
01:50:02
location of their victim will never be granted parole Bradley Murdoch is the only person in
01:50:08
the Northern Territory who this law would apply to if past when the jury's verdict was read out Joanne who was
01:50:15
sitting in the public gallery leant forward and put her head in her hands Peters brother Paul placed his arm
01:50:21
around her shoulder and his parents Joan and Luciano gripped her hands in a gesture of support : Gwynn was also in
01:50:29
the gallery after the verdict was read she glanced over to Jane Falcone oh who mouthed the words thank you at that
01:50:37
point Colleen removed herself from the courtroom unable to contain her emotions outside court Joanne Lee said to the
01:50:45
press I would like Bradley John Murdoch to seriously consider telling me Joan and Luciano and peach brothers what he
01:50:53
is done with Pete on the 12th of December 2006 Murdoch appealed against his life sentence in the Supreme Court
01:51:00
his lawyers lodged eight grounds of Appeal the appeal was dismissed a month later a further appeal to the High Court
01:51:08
of Australia was also unsuccessful police said Murdoch's methodology and criminal profile would be carefully
01:51:15
scrutinized for possible links to several missing women across the state in 2010 28 kilometres north of the spot
01:51:23
Peter Falcone was shot two plumbers retrieved an old-fashioned Remington new army model 44 dated to 1858 and with all
01:51:32
six chambers allotted and bore a striking resemblance to the western-style gun described at trial it
01:51:39
was found way down in a long drop Danny or outdoor toilet wrapped in Iraq due to
01:51:45
its poor condition it couldn't be determined if it was the gun used the location of Peter falconeri's body
01:51:52
remains a mystery however in mid-august 2007 some sections of the media speculated that Murdoch may
01:51:59
reveal the location of his body in exchange for a transfer to a prison in Western Australia seeing that all
01:52:06
avenues of Appeal for Murdoch have now been exhausted but Murdoch the noise this speculation he maintains his
01:52:13
innocence and says that although he would love a transfer back closer to where his terminally ill mother lives he
01:52:19
cannot give information on something he knows nothing about [Music] you