Backpacker killer Murdoch was always going to hold his secrets

Hopes that a notorious backpacker killer would reveal where he put the remains of a man he killed in the Australian outback have been dashed.

But the cruel outcome is no surprise to some of those involved in the horrifying case, including one who predicted almost 10 years ago that the "arrogant" murderer would take the secret to his grave.

Bradley John Murdoch, 67, succumbed to throat cancer on Tuesday after being moved from jail in June to a hospital in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

He died under the supervision of correctional officers.

Murdoch was given a life sentence for the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio, 28, and the assault and attempted kidnapping of his girlfriend Joanne Lees, now 51, on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in July 2001.

Falconio was driving along the Stuart Highway with Lees when Murdoch drove up behind them and indicated they should pull over, saying their van might have an engine problem.

Falconio went behind the car with him to investigate, and Lees heard a gunshot. Murdoch grabbed her, cable-tied her and covered her head.

But she managed to escape and hid in bushland for five hours while Murdoch hunted her with his dog, before she flagged down a truck driver.

Murdoch is believed to have hidden Falconio's body, which has never been found despite extensive searches.

He was arrested in November 2003 over Falconio's disappearance, after a jury in South Australia acquitted him of raping and falsely imprisoning a 12-year-old girl.

The SA case allowed NT Police to obtain his DNA, which was later found on the make-shift handcuffs worn by Lees, as well as on her T-shirt, leading to his arrest.

But even with a life sentence, and the NT passing "no body, no parole" laws in 2016, that would see Murdoch spend the rest of his days behind bars, he never revealed the site of the remains.

Fifteen years after the backpacker's disappearance, in 2016, the detectives who worked on the case said they believed Murdoch would remain tight-lipped about Falconio's final resting place.

"He'll always maintain his innocence; he'll take that to his grave, I'd be very surprised if he didn't," Colleen Gwynne, who led the four-person team that put Murdoch behind bars, said in 2016.

"He's an extremely arrogant man, so he still feels like the system's done him wrong."

That prediction proved to be correct.

However, authorities still hope that someone else might know where Falconio's body is.

In June, NT Police announced a AU$500,000 reward to encourage people to come forward.

"It is disappointing for the Falconio family that this case remains unresolved and they are still without the closure they deserve," NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said in a statement on Wednesday after Murdoch's death.

But others have raised doubts about Murdoch's guilt, despite a unanimous jury decision at his trial in 2005.

Author Robin Bowles, who wrote "Dead Centre" after spending 60 hours interviewing Murdoch in prison, described the killer as a "gentle giant" and "very courteous".

She claimed that during the interviews, Murdoch disclosed things that "didn't add up" and came to the conclusion that he was innocent.

"I never had a lie from him," Bowles told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

Murdoch appealed against his conviction in 2013, claiming the prosecution improperly influenced Ms Lees during the trial.

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Bradley John Murdoch was given a life sentence for Peter Falconio's murder and the assault and attempted kidnap of his girlfriend Joanne Lees in July 2001.

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Bradley John Murdoch, who was given a life sentence for murdering 28-year-old Peter Falconio, succumbed to throat cancer on Tuesday

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But his legal team later withdrew the appeal.

Murdoch was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019.