Killer ‘cut up Brit’s body and buried it in smell-proof bags’
Mystery letter tells of Falconio’s tragic fate
THE body of murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio was cut up and placed in two “smell-proof” bags, a letter claims.
The bags were then buried in the Australian outback under a makeshift cross, says the anonymous writer.
Police are probing the claims by an Australian expat living in London.
Drifter Bradley Murdoch was convicted of murdering Mr Falconio, 28, and assaulting his girlfriend Joanne Lees, also 28, on a remote highway in 2001. The body has never been found.
The killer, now 59, is serving life in jail with a minimum 24 years more.
The letter from the UK to a newspaper in Australia says: “Murdoch phoned [a named associate, X] and ordered him to fly to Darwin at once, hire a car and meet him in the outback.
“When they met, Murdoch told X he murdered a guy in self-defence.
“Murdoch had cut the body up and put it in two large watertight and smell-proof bags.
“He told X to go back to Perth (by air), dissolve the body in acid and put what was left in a river.” The writer says the mystery man “told me he couldn’t even open the bags – he was sick and petrified”.
The note claims X travelled by rail to Perth, “thinking the two large bags would draw less attention on a train”.
It goes on: “X told me he buried both bags and even made up a cross. Later he realised who he buried and was in a bad way about it. I lost touch and never heard from him again.”
Northern Territory Police said: “We are reviewing the letter.”
Ex-police officer Colleen Gwynne, who led the probe into Mr Falconio’s disappearance, said she was baffled by claims in the “bizarre” letter.
Ms Lees has reportedly planned to seek citizenship of Australia after learning she has a sister there. She is estranged from her Australian father.
Murdoch ordered his associate to dissolve the victim’s body in acid EXPAT IN AN UNNAMED NOTE SENT FROM BRITAIN