Newly released bodycam footage shows the man who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio repeatedly denying any knowledge of where his victim’s remains are – as police made a last-ditch attempt to get answers weeks before the killer died.
In the video, recorded weeks before Bradley Murdoch succumbed to throat cancer in jail last year, an officer can be heard saying: “I need you to have a think about if Peter Falconio was your son… and somebody knew something about where his body was.” Murdoch, 67, dressed in a green prison jumper, replies: “Don’t beat around the bush because I’m just going to cut you short every time, okay? I know nothing. I’ve said this for 22 years. I know nothing. You keep asking these questions. I know nothing.”
“Bradley Murdoch, killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio, died without revealing body location; new video shows him refusing police.”
The footage was released by Northern Territory police ahead of the 25th anniversary of Falconio’s disappearance, with the force saying it “remains committed to bringing this investigation to its fullest conclusion”. Falconio, from Huddersfield, was shot dead on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek, about 186 miles north of Alice Springs, in July 2001. He had been travelling around Australia with his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, also from Huddersfield.
During his trial in December 2005, the court heard that Murdoch, then 43, pulled up beside their camper van claiming to have seen sparks. He shot Falconio in the head as he inspected the vehicle, then took Lees into his car and bound her wrists with cable ties. She escaped and hid in outback scrub for several hours before waving down two men in a truck. Murdoch was convicted by a unanimous jury verdict of murder and of assault and attempted kidnap of Lees. He always maintained his innocence despite DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
In the video, when the officer invites Murdoch to think again, he gives an expletive-filled answer: “I’m not thinking about it. I’ve thought about it. I thought about it for 22 fucking years. I’ve said the same story over and over and over, and now you’re here at the last minute because I’m dying. I don’t have information. This is what I’m trying to say to you. I don’t have this information.”
After Murdoch’s death, police said he had not provided any fresh information. In a statement, Northern Territory police said: “It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio’s remains. His silence has denied the Falconio family the closure they have so long deserved.” Falconio’s father, Luciano Falconio, told News Corp: “I wish he left something for me to find him.”