Peter Falconio: UK backpacker murderer, Bradley John Murdoch, near death in Alice Springs hospital

One of Australia’s most infamous convicted killers, responsible for murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio, has reportedly been saying his last goodbyes at a palliative care facility in the Northern Territory.

Bradley John Murdoch, 67, is under guard at the hospital after being moved from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, where he has been held in custody since 2022.

Responsible for one of the biggest investigative manhunts in the nation’s history, Murdoch was convicted in 2005 of the gruesome murder of Mr Falconio and the attempted abduction of his girlfriend Joanne Lees in 2001, before being sent to jail in Darwin and later being transferred to Alice Springs.

After pleading his innocence throughout his murder trial, Murdoch has never confessed where Mr Falconio’s body is located, and after witnesses in Alice Springs described him as “just about dead” and looking “very ill”, authorities wait in hope that he may give a death-bed admission.

Sources have confirmed to News Corp publications that corrective services officers have been ferrying Murdoch back to the jail to bid farewell to other inmates as he prepares for his impending death from ongoing complications following a terminal throat cancer diagnosis in 2019.

When quizzed about Murdoch being moved around at taxpayers’ expense, local government representatives were unwilling to comment.

“The Department of Corrections does not comment on the health of individual prisoners,” a statement from NT authorities to News Corp said..

“Additionally, we do not provide details about prisoner movements or escorts for operational security reasons,” they said.

The murder of Mr Falconio captured headlines around the world after Ms Lees managed to escape the clutches of Murdoch before claiming he killed Mr Falconio on a deserted outback road near Barrow Creek.

Mr Falconio and Ms Lees had arrived from the UK were travelling around Australia in a Kombi van when Murdoch emerged in a vehicle alongside them and asked the couple to pull over, before shooting Mr Falconio in the head and trying to abduct Ms Lees.

She managed to run and hide in bushland before waiting until she felt safe enough to flag down a passing motorist who helped her to safety and alerted emergency services.

The Northern Territory Government passed a “no body, no parole” law in 2016 which applies to Murdoch who was sentenced to 28 years for Mr Falconio’s murder. He would have been eligible for parole in 2023.