Falconio girlfriend: Where is Pete?

Joanne Lees today urged her boyfriend’s killer to tell her and the Falconio family “what he has done with Pete”.

Ms Lees, 32, from Brighton, East Sussex, was speaking on the steps of the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin after Bradley Murdoch, 47, of Broome, Western Australia, was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering Peter Falconio.

Standing side by side with members of the Falconio family, Miss Lees said: “I would like Bradley John Murdoch to seriously consider telling me, Joan and Luciano (Mr Falconio’s parents) what he has done with Pete.”

Ms Lees said they were “obviously delighted with the unanimous verdict” after a “traumatic” four years.

She said that to see justice done at last “eases the burden” they have all faced.

She told reporters: “It’s the conclusion of an intense period of stress for myself and the Falconio family.

“This will enable us to take another step in the grieving process for Pete.”

Ms Lees also stressed that she had not co-operated with any of the several books which have been written about the case.