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13-06-2020, 11:37 AM
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Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

Four parts Sunday June 7 - June 10, 2020.


https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbi...es-mystery-c4/

Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery documentary, explores the details and the questions that surround this infamous case.

On July 14, 2001, 27-year-old English backpacker Joanne Lees flagged down a truck on a lonely stretch of the Stuart Highway in central Australia.

She had a horror story to tell. According to Lees, in the dead of night, she and her boyfriend Peter Falconio had been attacked on the highway.

She claimed Falconio had been shot and she had been bound before escaping into desert scrub.

A tip-off led to a small-time drug runner, Bradley John Murdoch, being arrested - Murdoch flatly denied it all, but the jury disagreed and found him guilty of murder, sentencing him to life in prison.

For some experts and onlookers, the guilty verdict in Murdoch’s murder trial has always felt clouded with doubt.
TBH, I'd forgotten all about this case but I started watching the first episode on catch-up and then continued watching until the conclusion 3 hours later.

Since the "documentary" is really a case for Murdoch's defence and an attempt to place the blame elsewhere it was obviously compromised by its' intent. Nevertheless, as an ex-juror, I was fascinated by a trial where there was so little evidence of a "crime" but deep suspicion of the "survivor", Joanne Lees.
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13-06-2020, 12:09 PM
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Re: Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

What I found disturbing after watching all four episodes, was, why was'nt the real defence lawyer on the programme, instead of that disgraced ex con defence lawyer, and his oppo? Plus the fact there was evidence given by the truck drivers who picked up Joanne, that referred to other people on the road, was that presented in court? Also a pair of truck stop owners, who swore blind they saw Peter Falconio alive.Lots of conspiracy theories, but for me they got the right bloke. Shades of the snide treatment Joanne got, reminded me of how the Mccanns are being accused. Pretty grubby programme in my opinion.
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13-06-2020, 12:38 PM
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Re: Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

That Joanne Lees is weird tho .
I found the whole thing creepy .
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13-06-2020, 01:04 PM
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Re: Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

The "documentary" was indeed very grubby and not just from the dusty Outback …..

The "new" verbal evidence, of course, has to be taken with a pinch of salt, since it cannot be verified.

Implying Peter Falconio's complicity in his own disappearance/death was, IMO, unwarranted.

The DNA and identification evidence, on which the case rested, is, however, very flimsy.

Most damning for me, though, were Joanne Lees' contradictory testimonies and her body language under questioning.
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14-06-2020, 03:20 AM
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Re: Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

I've just finished watching "Outback Manhunt: The Search for Peter Falconio - Real Crime Stories (Crime Documentary)" (date unknown) on YouTube.



It's a documentary which is mainly sympathetic towards Joanne Lees. Seemingly the original investigating lead superintendent was replaced by a female officer, Colleen Gwynne, who believed everything that Lees said and replaced any junior officers who didn't. She appeared to be bent on the result of the investigation, i.e. someone found guilty, rather than the truth.

The DNA expert she employed seemed amateurish, using sellotape (called Durex in Australia) to lift body tissue evidence from the Kombi steering wheel and gearstick - the DNA obtained was non-specific (probably contaminated) and had to be "enhanced" to provide a match to Murdoch.

One question raised by a commentator stuck in my mind - why, at the very beginning, were no Aboriginal trackers called in to "read" the story at the alleged murder site?

Procedurally, why the alleged "evidence" of police collaborator James Tahi Hepi was allowed is one of the most disquieting aspects of the trial - if there was a "frame" then he was the fourth side .....
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14-07-2021, 01:04 PM
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Re: Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

Peter Falconio murder: Australian police renew appeal to find body

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-57830808

The Northern Territory police renewed their search appeal on Wednesday, the 20th anniversary of Mr Falconio's disappearance.

They urged "anyone out there with any information" to come forward to police to help "assist Peter's family in gaining some sort of closure".

"We are thinking of Peter's family and friends on this anniversary and remain hopeful that such a milestone may jolt some information and progress the investigation," said Det Snr Sergeant Karl Day.

Mr Falconio's body is believed to have been hidden by Bradley Murdoch somewhere in the vast outback. At his trial, the sentencing judge said he believed Murdoch had taken Mr Falconio's body in his car and dumped it somewhere in the vast outback between Alice Springs and Broome, in Western Australia - a distance of 1,600km (994 miles).

Despite extensive searches and political pressure, police have never found it.

In 2016, the Northern Territory government even brought in a "no body, no parole" law aimed at pressuring Murdoch to reveal Mr Falconio's whereabouts. The law prevents convicted murderers from becoming eligible for parole if they do not reveal the location of their victims. He has continued to resist helping authorities.
Peter's body will only be found if someone "stumbles across" it and that's not likely in the Outback .....
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14-07-2021, 01:37 PM
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Re: Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery C4

How terribly sad never knowing where your child’s body lies .
 

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