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Murder in the Outback

Director: Tilse, Tony
Year: 2007
Type: Film
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Synopsis

Murder in the Outback is a docudrama tele-film that tells the story of Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio, a couple who travel from Bondi Beach in Sydney into the outback in their VW Kombi van in 2001. On the Stuart Highway heading to Alice Springs, they are stopped by a man who claims their vehicle is emitting smoke and flames. Falconio goes with the man to investigate and Lees claims that she overheard a gunshot and then the man threatens her with a gun and ties her up.  She escapes, flees into the scrub by the roadside, and hides for several hours, then flags down a passing car. When Lees tells her story to the police they do not necessarily believe her and her testimony is questioned during the court case because it is alleged that she was unfaithful to Falconio. Eventually DNA evidence helps to bring the accused man, Bradley Murdoch,  to justice, but Falconio's body is never recovered. The murder was one of the true crime stories that influenced the film Wolf Creek.

Narrative Locations

Barrow Creek, Barkley, Northern Territory  

Temporal setting: 2010

Location notes:

Barrow Creek, near the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory, is the narrative setting in which Peter Falconio was murdered.

Barrow Creek was the site of the last major Aboriginal massacre in the Northern Territory, the Coniston Massacre. It took place in 1928 from August 14 until October 18. Historians and local Aboriginal peoples estimate the number dead between 60 and 170. 

Barrow Creek has more recently been noted as the town closest to the 2010 murder of Peter Falconio and abduction of Joanne Lees by Bradley John Murdoch. The crimes were committed thirteen kilometres north of Barrow Creek.

Shooting Locations

Broken Hill, Outback NSW, New South Wales

The Barrow Creek scenes were shot on a very similar-looking stretch of road in Broken Hill, New South Wales.




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Related Texts


Wolf Creek (Mclean, Greg, 2005)

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