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NT government to investigate Sunday Night interview

NT's Department of Justice says it is investigating how Sunday Night was able to broadcast an interview with the killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio.

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The Northern Territory Department of Justice says it is investigating how Sunday Night journalist Rahni Sadler was able to broadcast an interview with the killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio.

Sunday Night broadcast audio from inside the Alice Springs jail of Bradley Murdoch, sentenced to life with a non-parole period of 28 years after being convicted of the murder of Falconio in 2001. It also screened police investigation footage.

Falconio’s body has never been found.

Voice recordings of Murdoch, who turned suspicion back onto Joanne Lees, were provided via phone conversations with his lawyer Andrew Fraser.

Fraser said he was 100% convinced that Falconio was still alive after four witnesses had claimed to have seen him -but he had spoken to none.

Interviewing prisoners is against the law in the Northern Territory.

The department says it is investigating the matter and will also be looking at the implications for Murdoch’s future contact with Fraser.

Fraser is also the subject of TV1’s miniseries Killing Time starring David Wenham, which has been unable to be aired in Australia due to a pending court case. It has already screened in New Zealand.

Lees’ story has already been depicted in a TEN telemovie Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback.

Source: ABC

18 Responses

  1. Fraser is 100% sure Falconio is alive, a bold statement for someone that had not even spoken to the so called witnesses. Is this guy for real? Mark my words a movie is coming, his statement was to stir up public sentiment and reignite interest in the case; wet our appetites. Before to long, instead of witnesses, we will see a new telemovie! Surprise, surprise Fraser and Sussman productions present ……….
    These people make me sick, how does that song price song go?..”Its all about the money, money, money”

  2. @MuchoTB “The Joanne Lees Story” pops up on ch 10 from time to time late at night. Was made in 2007 as a telemovie.

    @Ashton, “Wolf Creek” is based more on Ivan Milat, however it was supressed from opening during this case in the NT given its themes.

  4. @ Richard W

    Exactly. It’s all about their precious ratings. Who cares if it might hurt real people like Peter Falconio’s family or Joanna Lees. Definitely not them. I’m just glad they aren’t here, that they are in Britain and hope they never see the story or even the ads for the story.

    Also if a murderer disappears a body I guess they should hope Moanique is on the jury as they’d get away with it.

  5. There’s much that doesn’t add up in this baffling case. No body has ever been recovered, nor has a weapon ever been found. A credible motive has never been established. What possible reason did Murdoch have to shoot Falconio as soon as he got him round the back of the van?? If Murdoch is a thrill killer, I doubt if Falconio was his first victim, so why haven’t we heard of other similar murders in the Northern Territory? Why did he not look harder for Lees when she escaped into the scrub. She was a witness to a murder, he would have looked for her frantically, surely? She wouldn’t have been that difficult for him to find, especially since he supposedly had a dog with him who could have sniffed her out. Her miracle escape from Murdoch has always struck me as odd and not in keeping with the nature of the crime.

    As for Andrew Fraser saying he had evidence of sightings of Falconio – I’m calling BS. What he has is alleged sightings, hearsay. If he had firm evidence, he would be compelled to hand it over to the authorities. Fraser is a former felon so I’d hardly call him trustworthy.

  6. Moanique,psychopathic serial killers rarely have a “motive” they just enjoy murdering people.
    Thankfully Lees who was destined to be another random victim escaped and this nut job finally got caught.

  9. I wouldn’t be surprised if Underbelly made a telemovie about this. Although after the disappointing ratings of the three telemovies they aired this year, they’ll probably just stick with rehashing Ned Kelly-era stories

  10. David, I’m not sure Andrew Fraser is Murdoch’s lawyer, Andrew Fraser of course is normally preceeded by the word “disgraced” after serving 5 years of a 7 year sentence for importing cocaine. He did become the Crown’s star wintess in the Halvargis murder trial after serving that time.

    I’d like to know did Fraser get paid for his involement by Sunday Night?

  11. @Moanique, without knowing too much about the case, I think there would have been more evidence than just a drop of blood on a shirt, just that the Sunday Night did not point those out. Sunday Nights aim is to show a sensational segment to bring the viewers in and create debate like this, not to find the truth or outcome.

  12. Lets face it, Murdoch wouldn’t be the only Australian ever wrongly convicted based on tainted forensic evidence, think Lindy Chamberlain & Graeme Stafford

  14. it comes down to a he said she said thing….i’d hate to be on a jury…. and it does seem extreme that he would fake his own death just to break up with his girlfriend…but then like what Moanique says…not real evidence apart from DNA on one blood splatter…. time will tell the truth

  15. I’m more concerned at the fact that someone can be convicted of murder without a body, weapon, or motive. The only piece of evidence was Murdochs DNA in a spot of blood on Lees shirt, and who knows, that may have been planted. Her story just does not add up and there is definately more to this than meets the eye.

  16. I agree, @TonyBee, particularly when his lawyer stated they had “evidence” of sightings of Peter Falconio after his apparent murder. I think he meant “claims” of sightings. He didn’t put forward any evidence at all, and if he had, it should have been taken straight to police.

  17. Yes, I wondered about the legalities of that. It’s disgusting that the family has to be subjected to the unsubstantiated accusations of a convicted murderer and a lawyer.

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