Bradley John Murdoch dead at 67: Peter Falconio killer succumbs to throat cancer taking his evil secret to the grave
Notorious outback killer Bradley John Murdoch has died of throat cancer aged 67.
Murdoch, 67, was diagnosed with metastasised throat cancer in 2019 and spent his last hours surrounded by prison guards at Alice Springs Hospital in the Northern Territory.
His death means any hope of finding the body of British backpacker Peter Falconio has died with him.
Prison insiders had told Daily Mail Australia the former hulking brute had shrunken to a shadow of his former self as he battled metastasised throat cancer.
He ‘is acknowledging people are there, but very limited in talking,’ the insider said.
Murdoch had spent more than two decades behind bars before he was moved from his Alice Springs jail cell to palliative care unit in late June.
Authorities and the family of Peter Falconio were hoping for a deathbed confession, with Murdoch providing the location of the young backpacker’s body.
Murdoch had always denied killing Peter, protested his innocence throughout the murder trial and refused to give up information despite only having hours to live.
Peter Falconio’s killer, 67-year-old Bradley John Murdoch (pictured) has died of throat cancer
After arriving in Australia via Southeast Asia, Peter Falconio and his then-girlfriend Joanne Lees visited Uluru and Alice Springs before driving 200km north to the Ti-Tree Roadhouse to watch the sunset.
On July 14, 2001, the pair set off in their VW Kombi campervan, bound for the tourist attraction the Devil’s Marbles when they noticed a white 4WD with a green canopy following them.
Behind the wheel was Murdoch, who persuaded the pair to pull over at about 7.30pm after signalling there were flames supposedly coming from the back of their van.
Once stopped, Murdoch shot Peter in the head on the side of Stuart Highway, north of Barrow Creek, before threatening Ms Lees into the back of his vehicle.
Murdoch bound Ms Lees hands behind her back with cable tie restraints and bundled her into the back of his van.
While Murdoch disposed of Peter’s body, Ms Lees managed to escape from under the canopy, running barefoot through the bush where she hid as he hunted for her with his dog.
Five hours after her boyfriend’s murder, Ms Lees eventually flagged down a truck at about 1am and altered the driver who then drove her to Barrow Creek Roadhouse.
The ruthless drug runner was arrested shortly after being acquitted in South Australia over the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl.
Murdoch never divulged the whereabouts of Peter Falconio’s body (pictured, Peter with his then-girlfriend Joanne Lees)
Murdoch was found guilty in the NT Supreme Court and in December 2005 was sentenced to life in prison.
During his trial, Murdoch disputed the DNA evidence found on Ms Lees’ T-shirt and on the gearstick of the couple’s van – which was found dumped about 80 metres into the bushes off the highway near Barrow Creek the morning after the murder.
The former mechanic, who drove road trains and trucks across the Outback lodged two unsuccessful appeals, and was refused special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia in 2007.
He never divulged the whereabouts of Peter’s body.
The only trace of Peter was a small bloodstain on the asphalt of the highway where the shooting took place.
Despite extensive searches, including a five-day operation in 2019 when police emptied an outback well, Peter’s final resting place remains a mystery.
After Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed on March 10 that Murdoch was dying of cancer, the Falconios said they had not been informed by authorities of his imminent death.
Peter’s dad, Luciano Falconio broke his silence on the 24th anniversary of his son’s murder after Daily Mail Australia reported on Monday that Murdoch had ‘a couple of days to live’.
The 83-year-old made a heartbreaking plea for a deathbed confession so that he and his wife can finally bury their son more than two decades after his death.
‘It is very significant, I wish I could find him and make an end to it, bury him…. I know what happened but I don’t know where he is,’ Mr Falconio told News Corp.
‘I still hope, yeah I still hope, but I don’t know, if we (will) live long enough.’
Speaking from their home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Mr Falconio said he and his wife, Joan, have been tormented for years not knowing where their son is.
‘It is important (to find Peter)…but we won’t find anything today. It’s 20-odd years so it’s (the feeling is) not particularly any different,’ Mr Falconio said.
