Bloodstain

On a cold July night in 2001 a panic-stricken woman dashed out of the desert scrub, bringing to a halt a huge semi-trailer thundering down the highway. The story Joanne Lees subsequently told spread a chill among backpackers everywhere and launched Australia’s most intense manhunt in living memory. A cool, calculating killer had tricked her and her boyfriend Peter Falconio into stopping their campervan on an isolated stretch of highway. He shot Falconio, leaving the stain of the Englishman’s blood on the road, but Joanne managed to escape and hide in the undergrowth. But was her account entirely accurate? What secrets was she holding back? And where was Falconio’s body? Award-winning journalist Richard Shears has covered the incredible story from the time it broke through to the dramatic trial of Bradley Murdoch, who was accused of Falconio’s murder. Richard Shears is the Australian and South East Asian correspondent for London’s respected Daily Mail newspaper. He has covered wars and other stories around the world for more than 40 years, written numerous books on crime and says the Falconio affair is one of the most curious he has encountered.