Australian police release recent images of British backpacker Peter Falconio in bid to ‘find his stays’ | News World

Police in Australia have marked the twenty fifth anniversary of the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio by releasing recent images from their investigation, within the hope it ‘could lead on police to Peter’s stays’.

Bradley John Murdoch was convicted in 2005 of murdering Mr Falconio, 28, and assaulting his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, at gunpoint on a distant stretch of road in Australia’s Northern Territory on July 14, 2001.

Mr Falconio and Ms Lees, each from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, were travelling across the country in a camper van once they were ambushed by Murdoch on the isolated Stuart Highway.

Murdoch was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for a minimum of 28 years.

He died in prison last yr after being diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019, but never revealed the situation of Mr Falconio’s stays.

To mark 25 years since Mr Falconio’s murder, Northern Territory Police have released previously unseen images from the case.

Northern Territory Police Force commissioner Martin Dole APM said the force would exhaust every possibility to search out Mr Falconio’s stays and produce closure to his family members.

‘This was a traumatic and horrific event for Ms Lees, and for Peter’s family who’ve now gone such an extended time without the answers they deserve,’ he said.

‘While a murderer has been held accountable for his crimes, this investigation can never be considered closed until Peter’s stays are found and his family can lay him to rest.

‘It’s deeply regrettable that Murdoch died without, so far as we all know, ever disclosing the situation of Peter’s stays. His cowardly silence has denied his family, friends and family members the closure they deserve.’

He continued: ‘Twenty-five years is a major milestone, and the Northern Territory Police Force stays committed to bringing this investigation to its fullest conclusion and can proceed to pursue every avenue available.

‘The discharge of latest footage could lead on police to Peter’s stays. There should still be someone who knows something, whether that be information they’ve never previously shared with the police or something Murdoch said to them.

‘We proceed to induce anyone with information referring to the situation of Peter Falconio’s stays to return forward. No piece of data is simply too small; what could seem insignificant could prove critical in helping investigators finally resolve this case.’

A reward of as much as 500,000 Australian dollars (£260,000) has been offered for any information that leads on to the invention of Mr Falconio’s stays.

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