Falconio Case starts in Darwin

[Rob W 0]

Falconio accused 'like CCTV man'

 

The man accused of murdering Briton Peter Falconio in Australia has said even his father thought he resembled a man seen on CCTV after the attack. Bradley Murdoch told his trial that his late father and four friends said he was like the man seen at the truck stop in Alice Springs, but it was not him.

 

Under cross examination at the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin, Mr Murdoch denied that he shot Mr Falconio and wrapped his head in Miss Lees's denim jacket so that his blood did not stain his vehicle when he moved the body.

 

The jacket has never been found.

 

Earlier, prosecutor Rex Wild asked him "Where did you bury Peter Falconio?" He went on to ask: "You've buried Peter Falconio, haven't you?" to which Mr Murdoch replied: "No, I have not."

 

And a series of questions prompted denials from Mr Murdoch

 

It's not my vehicle because I know I was not there at that particular time

Bradley Murdoch

 

But Mr Murdoch denied these claims when they were put to him in court. The defendant also denied changing the appearance of his vehicle "with some urgency". Video footage taken at the Shell service station in Alice Springs in the early hours of 15 July showed a man driving a four wheel drive car stopping to refuel and to buy supplies.

 

Under cross-examination by Mr Wild QC, the mechanic told the court he had agreed the image looked "similar" to him and his vehicle. But he denied it was him, saying the items bought were not what he bought on a regular basis ahead of a long journey.

 

"It's not my vehicle because I know I was not there at that particular time," he said. "It's similar, similar to thousands of other Toyotas that are four wheel drives."

 

Mr Murdoch admitted "lots" of his friends, who knew him well, had said it looked like him, including his former business partner James Hepi, and friend Beverley Allen. Earlier, he said he was in Alice Springs on the same day as Mr Falconio and Miss Lees, just hours before the attack, but had left around 1530 and was about 600km (370 miles) away on the Tanami track, heading towards Broome, when the couple were allegedly attacked.

 

Despite his years of experience as a truck driver, he said he could not have made the 1,800km journey between Alice Springs and Broome any quicker than the 37 hours he said it took.

 

The trial continues.

[Ketsbaia 0]

It's the wife, in the desert, with the pistol!

[Meenzer 15304]

It's Rob, on the forums, with the overactive cut-and-paste finger

[Rob W 0]

Naaaaa

 

This one is really weird - as I said above we normally get to the end and then all take a position

 

by posting updates I think you get a feel for the trial in the same way as the jury might do

 

So far I reckon:-

 

1. the police work is really shoddy

 

2. there are some large holes in her evidence

 

3. this guy is just the sort of loon who would/could have done it

 

4. he has some very dodgy mates who have turned Queens Evidence

 

5. The forensic evidence is ...... variable

 

6. How have they not found the body?

 

So far its a toss up IMHO

Edited November 30, 2005 by Rob W

[Ketsbaia 0]

Naaaaa

 

This one is really weird - as I said above we normally get to the end and then all take a position

 

by posting updates I think you get a feel for the trial in the same way as the jury might do

 

So far I reckon:- 

 

1.  the police work is really shoddy

 

2.  there are some large holes in her evidence

 

3.  this guy is just the sort of loon who would/could have done it

 

4.  he has some very dodgy mates who have turned Queens Evidence

 

5.  The forensic evidence is ...... variable

 

6.  How have they not found the body? 

 

So far its a toss up IMHO       

62803[/snapback]

 

I think he's going to walk free. At the moment there is no proof that puts it beyond reasonable doubt.

[Guest alex]

Naaaaa

 

This one is really weird - as I said above we normally get to the end and then all take a position

 

by posting updates I think you get a feel for the trial in the same way as the jury might do

 

So far I reckon:- 

 

1.  the police work is really shoddy

 

2.  there are some large holes in her evidence

 

3.  this guy is just the sort of loon who would/could have done it

 

4.  he has some very dodgy mates who have turned Queens Evidence

 

5.  The forensic evidence is ...... variable

 

6.  How have they not found the body? 

 

So far its a toss up IMHO       

62803[/snapback]

Re: 6. Rob, you could hide an elephant carcass in Northern Territory and no one would ever find it.

[Rob W 0]

I've been there - I know

 

But it must be close to the site of the incident - otherwise there'd be blood and god knows what all over his van

[Guest alex]

I've been there - I know

 

But it must be close to the site of the incident - otherwise there'd be blood and god knows what all over his van

62841[/snapback]

Unless...he didn't do it

[Rob W 0]

The man accused of killing Briton Peter Falconio has a different build to a man captured on CCTV hours after the 2001 attack, an Australian court has heard. Body structure expert Professor Maciej Henneberg also told the Darwin court the CCTV images from an Alice Springs truck stop were of "very poor quality".

 

Another defence expert also raised "concerns" about some DNA evidence.

 

Prof Henneberg, the head of anatomical science at the University of Adelaide, said on Thursday he had compared the CCTV footage with pictures of the defendant taken between 1995 and 2005.

 

 

It's impossible... to reach 100% certainty in comparisons of images which are not very good quality

Prof Henneberg

 

Asked by the defence what his assessment of the images was, he told the Northern Territory Supreme Court the images showed a man of a particular body build. He assessed this to be a lean body build, and with a body size of medium to medium large, but not excessively large.

 

"What I could tell was that the person of interest in the CCTV image and Mr Murdoch differed in their body build and probably in their overall size and stature." Mr Murdoch is around 6ft 5in, the court heard.

 

Prof Henneberg, an expert in variations in human body structure and a visiting fellow at Oxford University, said he disagreed with earlier evidence by forensic expert Dr Meiya Sutisno. She had told the court Mr Murdoch shared several distinctive face and body characteristics with the man captured on the video footage. They shared features including sloping shoulders, long torso, jaw, chin and walking manner, she had said.

 

But Prof Henneberg cast doubt on Dr Sutisno's conclusions and also accused her of using several scientific terms incorrectly during her evidence. "It's impossible, except where there is some peculiar disfiguration or anatomical anomaly, to reach 100% certainty in comparisons of images which are not very good quality."

 

However, during cross-examination by Rex Wild, QC, the director of public prosecutors, the professor admitted Dr Sutisno carried out further enhancement of the images which he had not undertaken.

 

"She uses the same basic principles of comparing images feature by feature, so to that extent that's the same procedure. I used the original images. I never manipulate images that I receive."

 

DNA doubts

 

But he admitted that Dr Sutisno had different methods and could "see more".

 

On Wednesday, the court heard Mr Murdoch say even his own father had thought he looked like the man pictured on CCTV.

 

On Thursday, doubt was also cast on DNA evidence the prosecution had presented claiming a sample on the handcuffs used to tie up Miss Lees was 100 million times more likely to come from the defendant than anyone else. Dr Katrin Both, part-time forensic scientists at the Forensic Science Service in Adelaide, said she had a "large number of concerns" about the tests used. The method was "very dangerous" and pushed "science to the limits", she said.

 

The trial continues.

[Rob W 0]

Murdoch was set up, lawyer claims

 

The lawyer for murder suspect Bradley Murdoch has suggested that police investigating the Peter Falconio murder may have "set up" his client. Barrister Grant Algie told the Northern Territory Supreme Court a number of factors "don't quite add up".

 

Mr Algie said no blood was found in Mr Falconio's camper van and questioned why his body was never found. "The absence of a body is a legitimate basis for serious concern when you are asked to return a verdict of murder," he said.

 

The prosecution alleges Mr Murdoch killed Mr Falconio after flagging down the couple's orange camper van on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway, near Barrow Creek, about 200 miles north of Alice Springs on 14 July, 2001.

 

But Mr Algie suggested his client may have been "set up" by police.

 

Referring to Mr Murdoch's DNA which was found on a set of makeshift handcuffs, Mr Algie asked the jury: "Could they have been contaminated intentionally? Could it be to attempt, in the vernacular, a set up, a fit up? Is it possible that police or somebody who had access to these items could have fitted him up?"

 

The court also heard that Miss Lees used a piece of lip balm to try to ease the handcuffs off her wrists after escaping from her attacker's vehicle.

Its lid was found under a bush, but the lip balm itself and two pieces of black tape which Miss Lees said she bit off the handcuffs were not found until three months later in October when police returned to the scene on an "orientation" exercise - even though they were discovered in the same place.

 

Mr Algie said: "It's almost embarrassing to suggest that two crime scene officers in these circumstances would not have searched around the area."

The defence lawyer said the most obvious explanation was that "somebody has played around with the evidence to make it look like the lid and the tape was there when it was not. Or is it, as has been suggested in cross examination, that some kangaroo came along and took it away for a few months, and later brought it back - or perhaps it was a dingo?"

 

Mr Algie concluded: "It's yet another example of police manipulating the evidence to perhaps better the case to make it look a little better, with no harm done." The lawyer also said there was "absolutely no rational explanation" why anyone would kill the backpacker in such a remote spot and then move the body.

 

"Why would you possibly pick up a dead body, complete with blood presumably, and put it in your car? Why would you do that? You would have to be nuts."

 

Had the events happened as the prosecution alleged, Mr Algie questioned why was there no blood in the couple's camper van, or a trail from the pool of Mr Falconio's blood found by the roadside, or drag marks.

 

The trial continues.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Here man, she did it. I'm telling you, look at her eyes, well shifty.

[Rob W 0]

Falconio's body 'will be found'

 

The parents of British backpacker Peter Falconio cried in court in Darwin, Australia, as the prosecutor said one day their son's body would be found. Rex Wild, summing up for the prosecution, rejected suggestions from the defence that Mr Falconio faked his own death in the Australian outback.

 

Instead, he said, Mr Falconio was "disappeared by Bradley Murdoch".

 

'Cannabis trucker'

 

Director of public prosecutions Mr Wild told the Northern Territory Supreme Court Mr Murdoch was a "big, strong man" with strong opinions. He said he was an experienced truck driver who took amphetamines to stay alert whilst transporting cannabis from South to Western Australia.

 

Corruption, conspiracy, this innuendo running through the case, there is not one bit of evidence to support it

Rex Wild QC

Director of Public Prosecutions

 

Mr Murdoch, he said, carried guns with him on journeys and cared more for his dog Jack than he did for other people. He also told the court there was no evidence to support defence claims Mr Murdoch, 47, was framed.

 

If the police had wanted to fit him up they would have made the evidence stronger, he said. Mr Wild said: "Corruption, conspiracy, this innuendo running through the case, there is not one bit of evidence to support it.

Every time it's been put in this case, it's been denied."

 

As there was no evidence of corruption, the claims could be disregarded, he added.

 

'Shifting sands'

 

Earlier, Grant Algie, defending, highlighted how the evidence of some prosecution witnesses had changed over the course of the four years since the attack.

 

He said the prosecution's star witness Ms Lees had been confused about how she was forced into the rear of her attacker's vehicle and that she had changed her description of the vehicle.

 

"Is it good enough, when you are told to deliberate on a man for murder, to accept the shifting sands of the description of the man's vehicle?" he said. "Four years down the track, when my client's on trial for murder, we hear, 'I'm not sure, I can't be sure any more'."

 

Closing the defence's argument, he said: "Guilty, members of the jury, is a verdict that carries with it a degree of absolute certainty. It says Brad Murdoch is a murderer. He killed Peter Falconio and you are satisfied of that beyond a reasonable doubt."

 

But not guilty, he told the jury, did not mean you thought Joanne Lees was a liar or that Mr Falconio was alive.

 

"It can simply mean that while something happened at Barrow Creek, you're not sure what it was," Mr Algie concluded.

[Rob W 0]

Falconio accused 'tailored story'

 

The drug runner accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio had the chance to "tailor his story" to the evidence, an Australian court heard. Rex Wild QC, prosecuting, told the jury in Darwin trying Bradley Murdoch to remember he heard the prosecution case before giving his own evidence.

 

"When you think of the evidence, just bear that in mind," he said.

 

DNA evidence

 

The court has heard DNA found on the bloodstained T-shirt worn by Miss Lees on the night of the attack was 150 quadrillion (150 million billion) times more likely to have come from Mr Murdoch than from anyone else.

 

Mr Wild said Mr Murdoch realised an idea that the DNA was planted on Joanne Lees by his own former business partner was crazy. So he gave evidence he went to a Red Rooster restaurant that Mr Falconio and Joanne Lees also attended that day.

 

Previously, during the closing arguments for the defence, the court heard it was possible Mr Murdoch's blood could have been transferred to Miss Lees' t-shirt then, without them realising.

 

But on Wednesday, the prosecutor said the DNA match was the "lynchpin" in the case. "What the database says in this case is the DNA that Bradley Murdoch has matches exactly the DNA that's found in the blood stain, the blood smear on Miss Lees' T-shirt," he said. "It's an exact match. It's an astronomical figure."

 

DNA likely to come from Mr Murdoch was also found "deep inside" cable ties and on the gear stick of the camper van, he said. He also told the jury Mr Murdoch was the man caught on CCTV at the Shell truck stop in Alice Springs on the night of the attack. He said friends and family recognised him and "the way he carries himself."

 

Although there were numerous people on the Stuart Highway that night, he said not all had a dog, a four-wheel drive, carried a gun and walked with a slight stoop.

 

Dog description

 

He also urged the jury to reject evidence which suggested Mr Falconio was still alive a week after the attack. He addressed inconsistencies in Miss Lees' descriptions of her attacker's dog. She did not see her attacker's dog for a long period of time, and her description was the "impression" she had, he explained.

 

Mr Wild said he could suggest only two possible motives - that Mr Murdoch, who was carrying 20lb of cannabis from South to Western Australia told his friend he was being followed and had "dealt" with it. And, he may have seen Miss Lees driving alone, while her partner slept, earlier in the day.

 

He said the jury should find that "Peter Falconio died of gun shot wounds from a hand gun fired by Bradley Murdoch".

 

Beginning his summing up, the judge, Chief Justice Brian Martin, said the jurors had seen a "wonderful kaleidoscope" of characters during the eight-week trial. "Witnesses are not robots programmed to respond in a particular way," he said. Human beings are not like that. Human beings suffer from frailties of observation and of recall."

 

The trial was adjourned until Friday.

[Rob W 0]

Falconio judge sums up evidence

 

The judge in the Peter Falconio murder trial has urged jurors to put aside their emotions as they begin the task of considering their verdict. In his summing up, Chief Justice Brian Martin said although the evidence was "very distressing" jurors must assess it "objectively" and "dispassionately".

 

The Australian jury has listened to two months of evidence in the Darwin court.

 

Emotional influence

 

Mr Justice Martin was forced to pause momentarily as the victim's mother fled the courtroom in a distressed state. He had been talking about the lack of a trail of blood and human tissue at the scene of the alleged murder on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek, 200 miles north of Alice Springs.

 

After a brief pause, he continued: "You may have noticed the family, particularly Mrs Falconio, leaving the court from time to time. You might not think that's very surprising, the evidence is very distressing. But you must put aside any emotion that you see in other people, or that you may feel, and take these questions purely objectively and dispassionately, and without being influenced by these emotions."

[Guest alex]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

[snakehips 0]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

66111[/snapback]

 

Think I'll have mushroom soup for me lunch today. Does that answer your question?

[Guest alex]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

66111[/snapback]

 

Think I'll have mushroom soup for me lunch today. Does that answer your question?

66118[/snapback]

Good choice

[Renton 20944]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

66111[/snapback]

 

Think I'll have mushroom soup for me lunch today. Does that answer your question?

66118[/snapback]

Good choice

66119[/snapback]

 

Poor choice imo, much prefer tomato.

[Guest alex]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

66111[/snapback]

 

Think I'll have mushroom soup for me lunch today. Does that answer your question?

66118[/snapback]

Good choice

66119[/snapback]

 

Poor choice imo, much prefer tomato.

66148[/snapback]

Heinz Cream of Tomato is the daddy like.

[Renton 20944]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

66111[/snapback]

 

Think I'll have mushroom soup for me lunch today. Does that answer your question?

66118[/snapback]

Good choice

66119[/snapback]

 

Poor choice imo, much prefer tomato.

66148[/snapback]

Heinz Cream of Tomato is the daddy like.

66150[/snapback]

 

Actually, I don't like it as much now. They're slowly reducing the salt content, and its spoiling the taste somewhat. Did you know that despite all these government adverts advising you to cut down in salt, there is no real evidence of benefit for most people? Thought I'd add that. Rob will be pleased when he sees this thread has grown until he opens it.

[Guest alex]

What a contrary cunt

 

[Rob W 0]

Brian Martin, Chief Justice of Australia's Northern Territory, said the evidence was very distressing, but jurors must assess it objectively.

 

He spoke after Mr Falconio's mother fled the courtroom in distress.

 

Mr Justice Martin was forced to pause momentarily as the victim's mother, Joan Falconio, of Holmfirth, Huddersfield, stood up from her public gallery seat and left the court.

 

Details of judge's remarks

 

 

In beginning his summing up, the judge said the jury must decide whether to accept Miss Lees' evidence beyond reasonable doubt and whether they were satisfied that, in the absence of a body, Mr Falconio was shot and murdered.

 

"Obviously if you have any doubt about that there can't be any question the accused must be acquitted," he said.

 

"If you accept Miss Lees' evidence that the accused pulled Mr Falconio and Miss Lees over, the Crown will have proved that Mr Falconio was killed."

 

He also instructed the jury to consider a number of other key issues.

 

He asked them to consider the reliability of some of the evidence.

 

This included reference to a claim from two witnesses that they had seen Mr Falconio eight days after the alleged murder. The judge also said that Mr Murdoch's former business partner James Hepi, who gave evidence against the accused, was a cannabis dealer and was "not a good character".

 

And, referring to Miss Lees' identification of Mr Murdoch as her attacker, he said that, although "high emotion" could cause confusion, "traumatic events can also stimulate the mind and cause events to remain vivid long after the incident in question".

 

The case was adjourned until Monday when the summing up will continue.

[Renton 20944]

Brian Martin, Chief Justice of Australia's Northern Territory, said the evidence was very distressing, but jurors must assess it objectively.

 

He spoke after Mr Falconio's mother fled the courtroom in distress.

 

Mr Justice Martin was forced to pause momentarily as the victim's mother, Joan Falconio, of Holmfirth, Huddersfield, stood up from her public gallery seat and left the court.

 

Details of judge's remarks

 

 

In beginning his summing up, the judge said the jury must decide whether to accept Miss Lees' evidence beyond reasonable doubt and whether they were satisfied that, in the absence of a body, Mr Falconio was shot and murdered.

 

"Obviously if you have any doubt about that there can't be any question the accused must be acquitted," he said. 

 

"If you accept Miss Lees' evidence that the accused pulled Mr Falconio and Miss Lees over, the Crown will have proved that Mr Falconio was killed."

 

He also instructed the jury to consider a number of other key issues.

 

He asked them to consider the reliability of some of the evidence.

 

This included reference to a claim from two witnesses that they had seen  Mr Falconio eight days after the alleged murder.  The judge also said that Mr Murdoch's former business partner James Hepi, who gave evidence against the accused, was a cannabis dealer and was "not a good character".

 

And, referring to Miss Lees' identification of Mr Murdoch as her attacker, he said that, although "high emotion" could cause confusion, "traumatic events can also stimulate the mind and cause events to remain vivid long after the incident in question".

 

The case was adjourned until Monday when the summing up will continue.

66198[/snapback]

 

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Rob W 0]

Is anyone other than Rob remotely interested in this case any more?

66111[/snapback]

 

Think I'll have mushroom soup for me lunch today. Does that answer your question?

66118[/snapback]

Good choice

66119[/snapback]

 

Poor choice imo, much prefer tomato.

66148[/snapback]

Heinz Cream of Tomato is the daddy like.

66150[/snapback]

 

Actually, I don't like it as much now. They're slowly reducing the salt content, and its spoiling the taste somewhat. Did you know that despite all these government adverts advising you to cut down in salt, there is no real evidence of benefit for most people? Thought I'd add that. Rob will be pleased when he sees this thread has grown until he opens it.

66153[/snapback]

 

rob is only interested in truth and justice (and the persecution of drug fiends of course)

[Guest alex]

And sandals and commemorative t-shirts and unsubstantiated literary comparisons