Bio

Bradley John Murdoch was born on February 19, 1958, in Geraldton, Western Australia. He grew up in Northampton before his family moved to Perth when he was 12. He struggled to adjust to city life and left school at 15, later returning to Geraldton. As a young man, Murdoch became involved with biker groups and criminal activity. He worked as a truck driver and also ran a trucking business, but declared bankruptcy in 1983. He married Dianne in 1984 and had one son, but the marriage ended by 1986 because of domestic violence.

Murdoch later worked as a long-distance truck driver and became involved in drug smuggling. He admitted in court that he transported large amounts of cannabis across Australia. By the late 1990s, he was living in Western Australia and continued driving trucks while involved in illegal drug transport.

Before the Peter Falconio case, Murdoch already had a criminal record. In 1980, he received a suspended sentence for causing death by dangerous driving after killing a motorcyclist. In 1995, he was jailed for shooting at people during a football celebration in Fitzroy Crossing. In 2003, he faced serious sexual assault and abduction charges in South Australia, but was acquitted.

Murder Story

On July 14, 2001, British backpacker Peter Falconio and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, were travelling at night along the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory. Murdoch pulled alongside their Kombi van and signalled for them to stop, suggesting there was a problem with the vehicle. Falconio got out to speak with him, and Lees later reported hearing a gunshot.

Murdoch then assaulted Lees, bound her wrists with cable ties and electrical tape, and forced her into his vehicle. Lees escaped into nearby bushland and later raised the alarm. Falconio was never seen again, and his body has never been recovered.

Murdoch was arrested on November 10, 2003, after leaving an Adelaide court where he had been acquitted in an unrelated case. He was charged with Falconio’s murder and with offences against Lees. The Crown case relied heavily on Lees’ identification evidence and DNA evidence linking Murdoch to the crime scene.

On December 13, 2005, Murdoch was convicted of Peter Falconio’s murder and offences against Joanne Lees. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 28-year non-parole period. The sentencing judge urged him to reveal where Falconio’s remains had been hidden, but Murdoch never did.

Murdoch appealed his conviction and sentence, but the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeal on January 10, 2007. The High Court of Australia later refused special leave to appeal.

In 2016, the Northern Territory introduced “no body, no parole” laws, meaning Murdoch would not have been eligible for parole unless authorities were satisfied that he had cooperated in locating Falconio’s remains. Had he lived, he would have become eligible for parole on November 10, 2031, subject to those laws.

Bradley John Murdoch died in custody at Alice Springs Hospital on July 15, 2025, from metastatic adenocarcinoma. He was 67 years old. He died without revealing the location of Peter Falconio’s body.