Murder of Peter Falconio

British murder victim

Peter Falconio (20 September 1972 - c. 14 July 2001) was an English tourist who went missing in Northern Territory, Australia in 2001. Falconio was last seen near a place called Barrow Creek.[1] This is one of Australia's greatest murder mysteries. Police say that he is dead. A trial decided that Bradley John Murdoch murdered Falconio.[2]

Story change

Peter Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees had been fighting with each other. Lees was going to leave Falconio because she had a new boyfriend in Australia. Some people think that Lees wanted to kill Falconio because of this. Some people think that she might have asked Murdoch to kill Falconio for her.[3]

History change

Bradley John Murdoch sold drugs to people. Falconio and Lees liked to use drugs. It is thought that they knew each other, and that Falconio and Lees bought drugs from Murdoch. Falconio owed a lot of money in taxes, and he was scared. Falconio had told people that he wanted to fake his own death. Many people say they saw Falconio over a week after police say that he died. It was known that Murdoch had hurt people before this. He had once shot at some aborigines just for fun. He had told people that he thought he was being followed and was going to get rid of them. Some people think that he raped some women too.

Result change

This remains a great mystery and many people have different stories as to what really happened. A movie called Wolf Creek was made that is similar to the story. It was not allowed to be shown until after the trial.[4]

References change

  1. Association, Press (13 December 2005). "Timeline: Peter Falconio murder". The Guardian.
  2. "Peter Falconio murder: Australian police renew appeal to find body". BBC News. 14 July 2021.
  3. Bell, Johanna (7 July 2016). "'We know who did this': how solving Peter Falconio's murder changed a detective's life". The Guardian.
  4. "Channel 4 to investigate the 2001 disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio | Channel 4". www.channel4.com.