Joanne Rachael Lees (born 25 September 1973[1] in Huddersfield, England) is a British woman who is most notable for being the girlfriend of Peter Falconio at the time of his murder on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek in outback Northern Territory, Australia on 14 July 2001. Lees was the chief crown witness in the subsequent murder trial of Bradley John Murdoch conducted in Darwin.
Lees first met Falconio in a nightclub in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England in 1996 and began living with him the following year in Brighton, England where Falconio was studying at university. In 2000, the couple embarked on a trip to Thailand, Singapore and Australia.
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Lees and Falconio were travelling at night along the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek (between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek) in the Northern Territory on 14 July 2001, when a man (later identified to be Bradley Murdoch) in another vehicle had flagged them down, claiming engine troubles with their Volkswagen Kombi van. After Falconio went to the rear of the vehicle with the man to investigate, Lees heard a shot fired. The man then threatened Lees with a gun, tied her up and covered her head, but she escaped while he was distracted (apparently moving the body). She hid for five hours in nearby bushes before running out onto the road and flagging down a truck driver who removed her cable ties and took her to safety.
Falconio's body has never been found,
Bradley John Murdoch Murdoch was found to have left Alice Springs at a time and in a direction that may have led to him being at or about Barrow Creek at the time of the murder. Expert testimony presented at the trial indicated that Murdoch was the man captured in the CCTV footage at the service station. Furthermore, the identikit drawings of the attacker and his vehicle bore a strong resemblance to Murdoch and his vehicle. Lees identified Murdoch from police photographs shown to Lees in November 2002 by NT Police and finally face-to-face during the trial on 18 October 2005. This, combined with the DNA match on Lees' t-shirt, formed the case for Murdoch being charged with the murder. DNA testing procedure and this DNA result greatly assisted in the conviction of Murdoch. Murdoch was found guilty by a jury in a unanimous verdict. A susequent appeal was also quashed as was a final high court appeal. He is serving a 28 year sentence. Only after the sentencing was it revealed that Murdoch had previously been charged with aggravated sexual assault on a mother and daughter in South Australia some years earlier.
Murdoch's defence argued during the trial that the DNA match on Lees' T-shirt could be due to accidental blood transfer in an Alice Springs Red Rooster restaurant prior to the alleged offence, or could have been simply planted by persons unknown. Further samples were found to be contaminated and were not presented as evidence. Murdoch had given evidence that he had stopped at that restaurant to buy chicken for himself and his dog: "Chicken roll, box of nuggets for Jack... full chicken for the trip". During the committal hearing, Lees at one stage mentioned that she and Falconio had stopped at Red Rooster. However, The Bulletin newspaper reported in April 2006 that Murdoch was allergic to chicken undermining his claims. Currently serving time in Darwin's Berrimah Jail, a maximum security prison, Murdoch has a "prison dietitian assigned to create a special menu" due to this allergy.[2]
Lees also agreed to an interview with Martin Bashir, which was later televised in Australia, for which she was paid £50,000. She later testified in court that she had agreed to this interview to raise awareness of the case in Australia, as she felt the public profile of the case had diminished.
A lengthy interview with Lees was aired on Andrew Denton's show, Enough Rope on 9 October 2006.[3]
On 9 October 2006, Lees was interviewed on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 by John Humphrys.[4]
In July 2011, Lees was interviewed by Australia's Woman's Day (Australian magazine) in the leadup to the to the tenth anniversary of the murder of Peter Falconio, stating that she was still single and living a solitary life. Joanne has worked at a travel agency and as a social worker with disabled people. She has also studied sociology at Sheffield University.[5]
Lees wrote No Turning Back, a book about her life, for which she reportedly received an advance of GBP 250,000.[6] She went to the UK for the launch of the book in October 2006 and a serialisation appeared in The Times newspaper on 2 and 3 October.[7]
On 10 October 2006, Lees was interviewed by BBC News 24.[8]
In March 2007, Channel Ten in Australia showed an account of what happened, covering the period from the night of the murder through to sentencing, from Lees' perspective. It was also shown by ITV1 in the UK on 8 April 2007, by TV1 in New Zealand on 10 June 2007 and by RTL 2 in Germany on 12 January 2009.