OUTBACK KILLER
Friday, Channel 5 HD, 9pm
The mystery surrounding the murder of British backpacker PETER FALCONIO
THE MURDER OF British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian outback almost 20 years ago remains one of the most talkedabout crimes of the century.
On 14 July 2001, Falconio, 28, and his girlfriend Joanne Lees
IN THIS FIVE-PART SERIES, cameras follow staff at two London hospitals, King George and Queen’s, where a trailblazing ‘senior intern team’ – pairing newbies with experienced nursing staff – has been introduced in a bid to help newly-qualified nurses through their toughest year. were driving in their VW Kombi van along Australia’s remote Stuart Highway at night, when they were pulled over by a stranger in a white truck.
After Falconio got out of the van to investigate, Lees suddenly heard a loud bang. Seconds later, the stranger bundled her into the back of his truck at gunpoint.
While Lees managed to escape into the bush before flagging down a passing lorry, Falconio was never seen again.
The story made headlines around the world, with some
THIS FOUR-PART SERIES about Hillary Clinton uses archive footage, interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage to look back on her life and career, including the Monica Lewinsky scandal during her husband Bill Clinton’s presidency, and her defeat to Donald Trump in the 2016 US election. newspapers even pointing the finger at Lees herself – until 43-year-old small-time drug runner Bradley Murdoch was arrested for Falconio’s murder following a tip-off from a member of the public.
His DNA matched profiles found in the van, and a forensic expert advised that DNA found on Lees’ T-shirt was 150 million billion times more likely to have come from Murdoch than from anyone else.
Murdoch was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He won’t be eligible for parole until 2032.
‘The emotion was overwhelming,’ recalls lead investigator Detective Superintendent Colleen Gwynne of the trial. ‘But it’s the Falconio family I think about the most.
They lost their son and brother under some devastating circumstances, and their grief stays with me.’
However, with public speculation about Murdoch’s conviction continuing to this day, and his guilty verdict still clouded in doubt, this gripping C4 documentary
BETTANY HUGHES TRAVELS across the Greek islands to tell the country’s story, from ancient beginnings to the modern day, beginning with a trip to the island of Chios, a visit to a 2,500-year-old shipwreck, and the home of famous mathematician Pythagoras.