Peter Falconio's killer launches second appeal against 2005 murder conviction

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/17/peter-falconios-killer-launches-second-appeal

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The man who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio has launched a second appeal against his conviction, claiming Falconio’s girlfriend, Joanne Lees, was “groomed” in how to give her evidence.

Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of the desert murder of Falconio in 2005 and sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in jail.

He launched an appeal at the time but it was quashed by judges in 2006 who found the evidence against him was “overwhelming” and the murder was “cold-blooded and pre-meditated”.

Murdoch launched a fresh appeal on Tuesday with his barrister, Peter Faris QC, questioning the conduct of the crown prosecutor, Rex Wild QC.

"This is an allegation that the crown prosecutor at the original trial, Rex Wild QC, improperly groomed the star crown witness Joanne Lees in how to give her evidence," Faris said in a statement.

"This allegation brings into question the entirety of Lees' evidence."

The body of Falconio, 28, was never found and Murdoch has maintained his innocence since the original trial which heard his DNA matched blood found on Lees’ shirt as well as the gearstick of the van.

In 2001 Falconio and Lees were travelling through Australia’s outback when Murdoch flagged them down about 320km from Alice Springs saying there was smoke coming from their orange van.

He shot Falconio in the head before threatening Lees with a gun, taping her mouth, putting a sack over her head and tying her hands behind her back.

Lees managed to free herself and hide for five hours while Murdoch, with the help of a dog, searched for her.

In the original appeal, his lawyer argued Lees’ identification of Murdoch in a police line-up should be dismissed because she had seen his photo in a magazine before, but the argument was not accepted.

On Tuesday, Murdoch filed the application for leave to appeal in the Northern Territory criminal court of appeal.

Wild was contacted for comment.

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