Bradley Murdoch spent the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio. Those who knew him behind bars say he was a 'lone wolf' and a master manipulator, who was uncooperative until the end.
To Bradley John Murdoch 's family, he was known as "proud Poppy" and a "gentle giant with a heart of gold". To those who knew him in prison, the convicted murderer was a "lone wolf", a skilled mechanic and a master in manipulation.
As the world comes to grips withBradley Murdoch's murder of Peter Falconio partly inspired the film Wolf Creek.He was serving a life prison sentence for fatally shooting 28-year-old British backpacker Peter Falconio, near the remote Northern Territory town of Barrow Creek in 2001. Murdoch was also convicted for assaulting and trying to kidnap Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees, tying her wrists with cable ties before she escaped into bushland. Peter Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were attacked by Bradley Murdoch after he tricked them into pulling over on the Stuart Highway on July 14, 2001.Murdoch never revealed the location of Mr Falconio's body, which authorities believe could be anywhere between Alice Springs and Broome."We didn't have much faith, but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died," Mr Falconio's family said in a statement this week. Twenty-four years ago, the brutal and unprovoked nature of Murdoch's attack on the side of the Stuart Highway prompted intense international media attention and made tourists and truck drivers look over their shoulders on Australia's outback roads. His death has cast a spotlight on the case once more, but little is known about the man's character behind bars. Murdoch spent more than 20 years inside correctional centres in Alice Springs and Darwin, alongside some of the NT's most hardened criminals. Bradley Murdoch was first arrested in 2003 and convicted two years later, spending more than 20 years as a prisoner.Zak Grieve, who served 12 years in Darwin's Berrimah and Holtze prisons, described Murdoch as a "lone wolf" who expected special treatment from prison guards. He recalled an incident in 2014 when the Australian horror film Wolf Creek played on free-to-air television inside the Darwin Correctional Centre.Grieve said Murdoch was surprised to learn the film was loosely based on his murder of Mr Falconio and attempted kidnapping of Ms Lees."He said, 'I f***ing didn't know about this, it f***ing had nothing to do with me.'" Grieve said Murdoch later let him borrow a copy of Ms Lees's biography, which he kept in his prison cell. He also said Murdoch manipulated prison guards and inmates by sharing personal information behind their backs. Bradley Murdoch was one among a small group of prisoners serving life sentences in the Northern Territory."It didn't matter whether you were a prisoner or an officer, if he could use you to gain something, he'd give you up in a heartbeat," he said. One former prison guard, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, agreed that Murdoch could be calculating. "If he got jealous, he could set things up in a way that would cause suspicion on another prisoner," the former guard said.Photo shows A biologist in a lab coat holding a shirt with blood stains on it. Conspiracy theories about the murder of Peter Falconio dogged his family and girlfriend Joanne Lees for as long as Bradley Murdoch denied his guilt. He said Murdoch was popular with other correctional officers who appreciated his dry sense of humour and work ethic. An experienced bush mechanic, Murdoch had a knack for trade skills and was known for sharing his expertise with other prisoners. He also had a reputation as a decent cook while on kitchen duty, baking desserts for correctional officers on Christmas Day."If you were a female officer, he hated your guts … but if you were a male officer he'd try and get into your good books," Grieve said.Before his arrest for Mr Falconio's murder, Murdoch had faced charges of abducting and raping a 12-year-old girl and her mother in South Australia, but was ultimately acquitted. Bradley Murdoch previously faced charges of raping a 12-year-old girl and her mother in South Australia, but was acquitted.He had also served jail time in Western Australia for shooting at a crowd of Aboriginal football fans in Fitzroy Crossing. The sentencing judge at the time said Murdoch fired up to 10 rounds during "a fit of rage", and that it was clear he had "a long-standing hatred of Aborigines". Gerry McCarthy, who was appointed NT corrections minister in 2009, said Murdoch was mostly well behaved in prison. "He was a high-profile prisoner, and he was listed as high security because of his ingenuity," he said.In 2020, Murdoch gave evidence at a coronial inquest into the death of Darwin inmate Christopher Malyschko, who died from asphyxiation after using synthetic cannabis, known as kronic.Murdoch told the inquest he condemned the use of the drug, and said he'd warned prisoners "someone's going to die from this" just days before Malyschko died. While Murdoch said he had never used kronic, he'd previously worked as a truck driver and drug smuggler in the outback, using amphetamines to stay awake on the road. The common view is Murdoch was reserved in prison, and even those on his good side never knew the real him. "I think a lot of the prisoners were a bit intimidated by him, and felt that he was a pretty tough sort of fellow," the former prison guard told the ABC.AAP: Rob HutchisonOn multiple occasions, the officer said he probed Murdoch for answers about what happened on that night in 2001, but to no avail. "I made a joke with him when he first came in, with the idea of trying to get his trust and breach the truth … but he never gave any indication whatsoever of the truth behind what happened," he said.For Mr Falconio's family, their quest for answers continues.News in Language
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