Backpacker Falconio’s body ‘was cut up and dumped miles away’
POLICE are probing claims that the body of British backpacker Peter Falconio was cut up after his murder and dumped hundreds of miles from where he disappeared.
The claims were made in an anonymous typed letter, sent to Australia from London, which has appeared in local newspaper the Northern Territory News.
The writer, an Australian expatriate, claimed Bradley Murdoch – who is serving 28 years in jail for the murder – had rung a criminal associate asking to meet him in the outback following the killing.
Mr Falconio, 28, was shot in the head by Murdoch after he and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were tricked into stopping their camper van on a remote stretch of highway in 2001. Miss Lees was threatened with a gun, punched in the head and tied up before she escaped. Murdoch is believed to have hidden the body, which has never been found.
The Northern Territory News said it knew the alleged criminal associate’s identity but did not name him. The letter states: ‘Murdoch phoned [the associate] and ordered him to fly to Darwin at once, hire a car and meet him in the outback.
‘When they met, Murdoch told [the associate] that he had murdered a guy in self-defence … Murdoch had cut the body up and put it in two large bags that were watertight and smell-proof.’
The writer claimed Murdoch told the associate to go to Perth, in Western Australia, and dissolve the body parts in acid. He was then to put the remains into the Swan River, which runs through Perth.
But the letter adds: ‘[The associate] told me he went way past Geraldton [north of Perth] and buried both bags unopened in a nice spot and even made up a cross. Later he realised who he had buried … I did tell him better to go to the police … After that I lost touch.’
The writer noted he was once involved in criminal activity with the associate. A police spokesman said officers were reviewing the contents of the letter.