What happened to Peter Falconio? – The Sun

PETER Falconio was shot dead in the Australian outback while travelling with girlfriend Joanne Lees nearly 20 years ago.

A corpse was never found, and police have now issued a fresh appeal for information to locate Falconio's body on the 20th anniversary of his disappearance.

Who was Peter Falconio?

Falconio was a British tourist visiting Australia with his girlfriend in July of 2001.

He was 28 years old when he was tragically shot by a man who flagged down the van he was driving in.

His body has never been found.

His girlfriend Joanne Lees survived.

What happened to him?

Falconio and girlfriend Joanne were travelling in a VW Kombi van towards Darwin on a remote highway when they were flagged down by a man who told them he had a problem with the exhaust.

The man was 43-year-old drug smuggler Bradley John Murdoch.

Murdoch shot Falconio in the head before bundling Lees into his car and binding her with cable ties.

She managed to escape and hide in bushes for five hours, before she ran into the road and waved down a passing truck.

She later said: "It was either run, or be raped and killed."

Lees soon became a prime suspect in her boyfriend's murder after claims she appeared "emotionless" after the incident.

But it was later revealed she had taken the sedative Valium to help her handle her horror ordeal.

Police were never able to locate Falconio's remains.

Who was Bradley Murdoch?

Bradley John Murdoch was born on February 29, 1958.

He was a drug smuggler who served 15 months for shooting at people celebrating at an Australian rules football match in 1995.

Eight years later he was charged with seven counts of abduction and rape, but later acquitted.

The same year he was charged with Falconio's murder.

He has always protested his innocence saying he can't reveal where Falconio's body is because he was never there.

He has launched several appeals against his conviction, but Murdoch, now 62, remains in prison in the Northern Territory.

He will be 74 years old when he is eligible for parole in 2032.

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