British tourists Peter Falconio and girlfriend, Joanne Lees were travelling on the remote Stuart Highway in July 2001, north of Alice Springs, when they were flagged down by a man driving a pick-up. Falconio walked to the back of the vehicle with the man and Lees heard a shot. She was then bound, gagged and bundled into the pick-up. Lees managed to escape into the bush, hiding from her assailant and his dog for several hours. Mr Falconio's body has not been found. Bradley Murdoch, a 44-year-old from Broome, was arrested in August 2002. He was initially named by police leading the Falconio investigation as ‘a person of interest’. A legal appeal was then mounted, and won, to compare his DNA with blood found on the clothes Joanne Lees was wearing the night the crime occurred. This is an interesting case as it involves the use of DNA testing to identify the suspect.
In December 2005 in the Northern Territory Supreme Court Murdoch was found guilty of Falconio’s murder and given a minimum of 28 years imprisonment. He appealed against the decision, but the appeal was dismissed.