R v Murdoch

Infobox Court Case
name=R v Murdoch
court=Supreme Court of the Northern Territory


date_decided=13 December 2005
full_name= Regina v Murdoch
citations=
judges= Brian Ross Martin
prior_actions=
subsequent_actions=
opinions=

The Queen vs Bradley John Murdoch is a case that was before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in which Bradley John Murdoch was charged with the murder of Peter Falconio on a remote part of the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek on 14 July 2001. Murdoch was arrested in 2003. Falconio's body has never been found.

Committal hearings were heard in December 2004, with a voir dire in April 2005, in which some prosecution evidence was removed (most notably, the cable ties which were contaminated with DNA from the director of forensics).

The trial proper began on October 18, 2005. Early estimates had suggested that the trial would last from 6-8 weeks, ending in early-mid December 2005. The jury was out on 13 December 2005, and returned with a verdict of guilty on the same day after 8 hours of deliberations.

References

* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/2005/80.html The Queen v Murdoch 2005 NTSC 80 (15 December 2005)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/2005/79.html The Queen v Murdoch 2005 NTSC 79 (15 December 2005)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/2005/78.html The Queen v Murdoch 2005 NTSC 78 (15 December 2005)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/2005/77.html The Queen v Murdoch 2005 NTSC 77 (15 December 2005)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/2005/76.html The Queen v Murdoch 2005 NTSC 76 (15 December 2005)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nt/NTSC/2005/75.html The Queen v Murdoch 2005 NTSC 75 (15 December 2005)]