by Sue Williams
Moreover, he told the jury, there was no rational explanation why anyone would kill someone in such a remote spot and then move the body. ‘Why would you possibly pick up a dead body, complete with blood presumably, and put it in your car?’ said Algie. ‘You would have to be nuts.’ He said there was no evidence even that a gun had been fired, and questioned Joanne’s version of events, and her identification of Murdoch as her attacker. As for the DNA evidence, he said police may have framed his client, a known drug-runner, planting his DNA on the cable ties which were already at high risk of contamination on their journey to South Australia and then to the UK. The blood on Joanne’s T-shirt might have been left on a chair at the Red Rooster all three had visited earlier that same day. There were just too many holes in the prosecution’s case to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that Murdoch could be guilty of the charges. ‘It’s in the interests of the community in the broad sense that people are not found guilty of a serious crime unless there is a degree of proof and certainty,’ he said. He reminded the jury of the Lindy Chamberlain case, where a similar reliance on ‘experts’ and no body led to a dreadful miscarriage of justice.
The prosecution case was similarly direct: Joanne had managed to survive the most terrifying experience of her life, Peter’s parents and brothers ‘a close and loving family’ had been forced to endure the heartbreaking disappearance of a man with everything to live for, and Murdoch was a cunning and fastidious killer who’d gone out on a premeditated expedition with pre-made handcuffs. Wild said Murdoch may have murdered Peter because, fuelled with amphetamines, he’d come across the tourists’ Kombi on his drug run and thought they were following him. He may also have thought Joanne was alone. Any discrepancies in her testimony, he said, as she wiped her eyes in the public gallery, had to be taken in this context. ‘This has been a terrifying experience for her,’ he told the jury. ‘What we’ve got to remember is the agony of the moment — her focus is on the man, her focus is on where she finds herself, her focus is on escaping … This young woman is in a state of emergency. She is, in fact, fighting for her life.’
He said the DNA evidence ‘especially the blood at 150 quadrillion times more likely to be Murdoch’s’ which linked him to the pair was indisputable. While the defence had claimed police set up their client, they’d offered no evidence for this suggestion. ‘Corruption, conspiracy, this innuendo running through the case, there’s not one bit of evidence to support it,’ said Wild. ‘Every time it’s been put in this case, it’s been denied,’ he added. Finally, Peter did not stage his own vanishing: ‘He’s not disappeared himself, he’s been disappeared by Bradley Murdoch.’ And both Luciano and Joan Falconio wept as he said that, eventually, the young man’s body might be found. ‘But it might take some time,’ he said. As he spoke, Murdoch made faces, and mouthed obscenities, towards his girlfriend, Pittman.
AFTER THE JUDGE HAD ALSO summed up, the jury retired to consider their verdict. If they found Murdoch not guilty of the charges, he would obviously walk free that day. If they found him not guilty of some of the charges, he could still be released, since he’d already spent so long in prison awaiting trial. But if Murdoch were found guilty, the sentence would be automatic: life. The judge might then set a non-parole period of either twenty or twenty-five years depending on whether the crime was considered as ‘aggravated’ within the terms of the legislation, or might decline to set a non-parole period. In that case, Murdoch would be behind bars for the course of his natural life.
ON THE 37TH DAY OF THE TRIAL, on a dark, overcast day of driving rain and gusting winds in Darwin, the jury left the court at 12.50 p.m. to consider their verdict. Eight hours later, Chief Justice Brian Martin asked them to return to inform them they could deliver a 10–2 majority verdict if they couldn’t reach a decision on which they were all agreed. In the middle of telling them this, however, he was interrupted by the court sheriff informing him they had, in fact, reached a unanimous verdict. He stopped his speech, startled, and a ripple ran around the courtroom. He then slowly asked the foreperson for their verdict on each of the counts.
Joanne’s whole body started shaking, and she grabbed the arm of Paul Falconio sitting beside her. She then stared fixedly at the floor, waiting for the first verdict on the murder charge. And finally it came: Guilty. As the word echoed around the room, Joanne collapsed sobbing into Paul’s arms. In front of her, Luciano Falconio put his arm around his wife Joan’s shoulders, and she buried her face in his shirt. Bradley Murdoch gazed blankly, impassively, at the judge as he was, one by one, found guilty on every count. He continued to look straight ahead as Martin thanked the jury and then made the extraordinary admission: ‘I utterly agree with your verdicts.’ He then told Murdoch he would be sentenced to life imprisonment, and the prisoner was led away, as the Falconio family and Joanne embraced each other, the tears flowing freely.
It was a gripping finale to a tragic drama played out over four-and-a-half years. One life had been lost, several had been destroyed, and dozens more had been fractured forever by twenty seconds of madness on a lonely stretch of road in the Australian outback. And both Australia and Britain had become nations divided over the evidence of the lonely heroine, a woman treated in exactly the same way as Lindy Chamberlain twenty-five years before, another bruised survivor of a desert horror.
For Joanne, these verdicts had come as her final vindication, and she could hardly be blamed for savouring the moment. Later, on the steps of the court in front of a battery of cameras, she came out once more, flanked by the Falconio brothers, to face the press. She started to say something, but no words came out. She whispered to Paul to read her statement for her, but he told her it was time for her to speak up. She took a deep breath, and finally spoke.
‘I am obviously delighted with the unanimous verdict given here today,’ she said, softly. ‘The past four years have been very traumatic for myself and the Falconio family and to see justice done here today eases a great burden for us all.’
Her relief at the verdicts, however, could not mask her distress at the continuing agony of not knowing where Peter Falconio lay. ‘Finally, I would like Bradley John Murdoch to seriously consider telling me, Joan and Luciano and Pete’s brothers what he has done with Pete. Today marks the conclusion of an intense period of distress for myself and the Falconio family that will enable us to take another step in the grieving process for Pete.’
Paul then stepped forward, echoing her concern about her lost boyfriend. ‘The most important thing now is to find Pete’s body,’ he said. Nick too was sombre. ‘Today isn’t a celebration for us,’ he said. ‘We’ve waited for four years for this day. We are pleased with the verdict, but this will not bring Pete back.’ Luciano fought back tears as he finally spoke too. ‘I’m very, very happy — but my son is dead. There will not be any closure for us until we know where the body is.’
Friends say Joanne is unlikely ever to heal fully from the experience. She’ll always be the woman who lived through a terrifying ordeal and staged an extraordinarily courageous escape — and then who came close to drowning in the doubts of a sceptical press and public. As for Murdoch, he’s left a trail of destruction and despair as choking as the thick plume of red dust that billowed from his four-wheel-drive as he thundered through the desert with marijuana in the back, speed in his veins, and evil in his heart.
And for Joan and Luciano Falconio, his conviction brings no end to their nightmare. They know they’ll never have any peace until the day they’re able to bury their son. And that day, they know, might well never come.
PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERT
Peter’s quiet green village of Hepworth, nestling in the hills of the West Yorkshire countryside.
(Sue Williams)
Joanne with her friend Amanda Wealleans at her farewell party at Dymocks booksellers in Sydney before leaving on her ill-fated trip around Australia.
(Friends of Joanne Lees)
Joanne enjoys a night out with friends at a Sydney hotel.
Peter on top of the world at the Blue Mountains.
Peter in the red heart of Australia.
Joanne and Peter’s beloved Kombi. Peter spent many evenings fixing it up for the couple’s trip around Australia.
(NT Police)
The lonely outback road north of Barrow Creek where Peter was lured out of the vehicle, never to be seen again.
(Sue Williams)
The electrical cable ties skilfully knotted together to form homemade handcuffs from which Joanne struggled so hard to escape.
(NT Police)
The Bull’s Transport road train, driven by Vince Millar, which carried Joanne to safety.
(NT Police)
Les Pilton, the owner of the Barrow Creek Roadhouse, pictured behind his ‘colourful’ bar — and the unlikely refuge for Joanne.
(Sue Williams)
A distraught and devastated Joanne, photographed by police at the Barrow Creek Roadhouse shortly after the attack.
(NT Police)
Joanne’s blue T-shirt is marked with the blood of another man.
(NT Police)
Joanne’s injuries to her elbows, sustained in her fight with her attacker and subsequent escape, recorded by police at Barrow Creek.
(NT Police)
Joanne’s injuries to her knees, also recorded by police at Barrow Creek.
(NT Police)
The mystery white 4WD ute pictured in the Shell Truckstop video.
(NT Police)
The shadowy figure in the grainy Shell Truckstop video. Was it Bradley Murdoch?
(NT Police)
Famed Aboriginal tracker Teddy Egan crouches down to examine the area stained by Peter’s blood, and marked by police.
(Sue Williams)
Teddy Egan examines the ground beneath the mulga bush where Joanne lay curled into a ball, hiding from her attacker.
(Sue Williams)
An artist’s impression of the gun with the distinctive scrolling pattern Joanne described to police.
(NT Police)
The police artist’s drawing of the man being hunted by police, drawn from Joanne’s description of her attacker.
(NT Police)
Northern Territory Police Superintendent Colleen Gwynne who worked 18-hour days in her determination to crack the case.
(Sue Williams)
Joanne took only a few seconds to identify Bradley Murdoch (number ten) as her alleged attacker from the 12-man ID board she was shown at a police station close to her home in Hove.
(NT Police)
One of Murdoch’s vehicles, which were constantly being altered. In this shot, taken shortly after his arrest, it is fitted with an aluminium cage on the back.
(NT Police)
Jack the dog, Murdoch’s pet Dalmatian cross, now living at the home of former friends.
(Sue Williams)
Jan Pittman, Murdoch’s girlfriend who stood by him.
(Jimmy Thomson)
Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wild QC who led the case against Murdoch, and two of his assistants, Crown Prosecutor Anne Barnett (middle) and DPP legal officer Jo Down (left).
(Jimmy Thomson)
Peter’s mother and father, Luciano and Joan, holding hands, with Peter’s brothers, Paul and Nick behind them, leaving the courthouse after the second day of Murdoch’s trial.
(Jimmy Thomson)
The defence team. Left to right: Ian Read, Mark Twiggs, Grant Algie. They said their client had been framed by police and former friends.
(Sue Williams)
The Falconio brothers, Paul and Nick (in the foreground), with Joanne. She had just finished giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial.
(Jimmy Thomson)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOR THE FALCONIO FAMILY, this is one of the most tragic stories that’s ever been told. They’ve been remarkable for the courage and dignity with which they’ve borne the loss of a treasured son, and much loved brother. Many thanks to you all for your help with this story. May you one day find the closure you so desperately need.
For Joanne Lees, it’s also been a nightmare. I want to thank her family, her neighbours, her many friends and work colleagues, both in the UK and Australia, who spoke to me about her and her ordeal.
And, of course, it’s been a grim experience for the family and friends of Bradley Murdoch. I’d like to thank his mum and dad particularly for talking to me, his girlfriends, his friends and former workmates.
The other people who’ve worked so long and hard to bring this ordeal to an end have been the many police officers in the Northern Territory and around Australia who did their tireless best to unravel the mystery, and try to solve it. For their help and cooperation with this book, as well as their priceless insights into the tragedy, I also offer my sincere thanks.
And to the bit players all around the UK and Australia who helped with my research, the people whose lives were touched by this dark journey far into the brutal heart of this beautiful country, I wish to record my gratitude.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sue Williams is an award-winning journalist and columnist. She has written for all of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines, as well as having her own opinion segment on a TV show. Born in England, she has also worked in print and TV in the UK and New Zealand and spent many years travelling around the world.
She has written seven other books: Powering Up (co-authored); Getting There: Journeys of an Accidental Adventurer; Peter Ryan: The Inside Story; Mean Streets, Kind Heart: The Father Chris Riley Story; Apartment Living: The complete guide to buying, renting, surviving and thriving in apartments (co-authored); Death of a Doctor: How the medical profession turned on one of their own; and World Beyond Tears: The ongoing story of Father Chris Riley.
COPYRIGHT
Names have been changed, or withheld, where requested.
The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used
under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia.
First published in January 2006
This edition published in 2011
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Sue Williams 2006
The right of Sue Williams to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication
Williams, Sue.
And then the darkness: the disappearance of Peter Falconio and the trials of Joanne Lees.
ISBN: 978-0-7333-1296-0
ISBN: 978-0-7304-9663-2 (epub)
1. Falconio, Peter. 2. Lees, Joanne. 3. Murdoch, Bradley. 4. Murder - Investigation - Northern Territory. 5. Trials (Murder) - Northern Territory - Darwin. I. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. II. Title.
364.1523099429
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