Falconio murderer appeals against conviction

An Australian mechanic found guilty of killing a British backpacker on a lonely stretch of Outback highway has filed an appeal to have his conviction overturned, his lawyer said today.

Last month, Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of murdering Peter Falconio on an Outback highway in July 2001 and assaulting and abducting Falconio’s girlfriend, Joanne Lees.

Murdoch’s lawyer Ian Read lodged documents with the Northern Territory Supreme Court today, seeking leave to appeal against the conviction in the Court of Criminal Appeal.

“It’s been lodged,” Read said outside the court, but declined to outline the grounds for the appeal.