Falconio murder suspect faces rape trial

The man accused of murdering British tourist Peter Falconio has been committed for trial charged with raping a mother and her 12-year-old daughter.

Bradley Murdoch, aged 44, was committed by Adelaide District Court today to stand trial on January 20 for the rape and abduction in August of a woman and her daughter from their home in South Australia state.

Murdoch, an acquaintance and neighbour of the mother and daughter, also faces related charges of assault and possession of a loaded firearm.

He was not required to enter a plea today.

Murdoch, a mechanic and truck driver, has also been charged with the murder of Mr Falconio, 28, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on a remote Outback highway in the Northern Territory last July.

No trace has been found of Falconio since a gunman attacked him and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees.

Miss Lees escaped to alert police. Her clothes provided the DNA evidence that led to Murdoch’s eventual arrest after one of Australia’s biggest manhunts.

The rapes and Mr Falconio’s murder occurred in different states – and judicial jurisdictions – and Murdoch faces prosecution in each state for the crime committed there.

He faces maximum life sentences in both cases.

South Australian police arrested Murdoch in August for the rapes and then realised he fitted the description of the man wanted for Mr Falconio’s murder. He was charged after police investigating Mr Falconio’s killing tested Murdoch’s DNA.

Whatever the outcome of the rape and abduction trial, authorities in both jurisdictions have agreed he will immediately be transferred to the Northern Territory for the murder hearing. If found guilty on both sets of charges he is expected to serve both sentences in the Northern Territory.