- Joanne Lees
Joanne Rachael Lees, (born
September 25 1973 [ [http://www.ginnydougary.co.uk/2006/10/03/joanne-lees-my-story/ Ginny Dougary :: Award-winning journalist and writer » Joanne Lees: My Story ] ] inHuddersfield , England), is a British woman who is most notable for being the girlfriend of Peter Falconio at the time of his disappearance on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek inoutback Northern Territory ,Australia onJuly 14 2001 . Lees was the chiefcrown witness in the subsequent murder trial ofBradley John Murdoch conducted in Darwin.Lees 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 the year 2000, the couple embarked on a world tour toThailand ,Singapore , andAustralia .The disappearance of Peter Falconio
Lees told investigators that while travelling at night along the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek (between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek) in the Northern Territory on 14 July 2001, a man had asked them to stop, claiming engine troubles, and he suddenly took both of them and that she heard a shot fired. The man then tied her up and covered her head, but she escaped, hiding for 5 hours in the bush. The aboriginal trackers could find no evidence of a mans foot prints or a dogs foot prints, only Lees's. The blood found at the scene was described by the aboriginal trackers as very old.
Falconio's body was never found, but Lees went to great lengths to describe her alleged attacker, his vehicle, and his dog. These descriptions were used to conduct an extensive Australia-wide manhunt in which over 200 people were interviewed. An extensive search by Australian federal police was unable to uncover any resident of the
Northern Territory who precisely fit the description given by Joanne Lees, nor any vehicle that was registered in theNorthern Territory that fit her description. However, video footage from a roadstation surveillance camera showed what appeared to be a man who might fit the description given by Lees. Due to their similar appearances to that which Lees gave, some of the interviewees were arrested and briefly held in custody, but none was charged because they had not been in Barrow Creek at the time of the alleged offence.The Prime suspect
Bradley John Murdoch was arrested primarily because he 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 alleged offence. Expert testimony presented at the trial indicated that Bradley John 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 slight resemblance to Murdoch and his vehicle. Joanne Lees claimed she identified Murdoch, first via a UK website in late 2002 where he was declared a suspect in the case, then from police photographs shown to Lees in November 2002 by NT Police, and finally face-to-face during the trial onOctober 18 ,2005 . This, combined with the DNA match on Joanne Lees' t-shirt, formed the basis for Murdoch being charged with the offence. The NT Police placed great emphasis on the specific LC (Low Copy Number) DNA testing procedure and this DNA result greatly assisted in the conviction of Murdoch. In December 2007 the Northern Ireland police have announced the suspension of the use of the same specific DNA technique in the light of criticism by a trial judge who commented that there would be "profound implications for all those convicted utilising the same DNA testing procedure".Fact|date=March 2008 The Crown Prosecution Service also announced it was reviewing upcoming cases in which the so-called low copy number DNA was part of the prosecution; Murdoch's conviction needs to be reviewed.Initial public perception in some of the Australian media implied that Lees was in some way responsible for Falconio's murder, and as a result, she received a lot of hostility during her time in Australia following the disappearanceFact|date=February 2008. Lees has reportedly attempted to sue a number of Australian citizens in relation to their libellous claims about her in the Australian mediaFact|date=February 2008, but withdrew all applicationsFact|date=February 2008.
The investigation continues
As the investigations went on, Lees admitted to use of ecstasy and marijuana, and to having sex with another man, Nick Reilly, in Sydney during their trip through Australia. During the trial, Joanne Lees' credibility was attacked by the defence, which claimed to find inconsistencies in her story. These matters did not relate to the offence under investigation, and were perceived as essentially irrelevant, although voyeuristically interesting to the public.
trategy of the defence
Murdoch's defence argued during the trial that the minute DNA match on Joanne Lees' T-shirt could be due to accidental blood transfer in an Alice Springs
Red Rooster restaurant prior to the alleged offence or simply planted by persons unknown, further samples were found to be to 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.Media interviews
Lees has also appeared on British media since the event, talking not only about her boyfriend's disappearance and the man who killed him, but also about the way that she was treated in the Australian pressFact|date=February 2008, and by Australian citizensFact|date=February 2008.
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 she 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 " on9 October 2006 . [ [http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1757332.htm ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton - episode 124: Joanne Lees (09/10/2006) ] ]On
October 9 , 2006, Lees was interviewed on theToday programme onBBC Radio 4 byJohn Humphrys . He proceeded to attack Lees for cashing in on the tragedy. [cite news |title=Joanne deserves more than scorn |author=James Delingpole |url=http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=817 |publisher=The First Post |accessdate=2006-12-13]Lee's book
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