Troubling reason Bradley Murdoch may have denied guilt
Bradley Murdoch is among the long list of notorious murderers who never admitted to their heinous crimes, never allowing families to know exactly what happened to their loved ones.
In newly released footage filmed weeks before Murdoch’s death on July 15 last year, the convicted killer claims he has no knowledge of the whereabouts of victim Peter Falconio’s body or the 2001 murder.
Murdoch was convicted of murdering Mr Falconio in 2005 but maintained his innocence despite multiple unsuccessful appeals and ongoing police pressure for information.
Xanthe Mallett, a criminologist at Central Queensland University, explains that denial is not an uncommon response by criminally minded individuals, with notorious backpacker murderer Ivan Milat taking secrets to the grave.
“A lot of these crimes are about power, control and dominance, so this is a way of maintaining power and getting people to deal with them,” Dr Mallett said.
“For example, if you give up your body, people will stop paying attention to you because you have no cards to play.
“So they tend to keep these secrets because then people will keep coming back to them and they’ll feel important. They love the indignity of it.”
In the video, Murdoch aggressively denies knowing where Mr. Falconio’s body is and appears angry and frustrated with the questions.
“I don’t know anything. I’ve been saying this for 22 years. I don’t know anything,” Murdoch tells the police officers.
“I’ve told the same story over and over and now you’re here at the last minute because I’m dying.”
Dr Mallett said experienced liars’ answers may appear convincing because they have learned how to fake real emotions.
“They are very good at manipulating people and faking reactions like anger.
“He’s been doing this for 25 years and he’s a psychopath, so he’s a good liar.”
Ms Lees and Mr Falconio were traveling on the Northern Territory’s remote Sturt Highway when they encountered Murdoch.
After instructing the couple to pull over to the side of the road, saying there might be a problem with their van, Murdoch shot Falconio, bound Ms Lees with a cable and put a blanket over her head.
Managing to escape her bonds, Miss Lees escaped and hid in the woods for hours; Murdoch tried in vain to replace him; The man, who was 27 at the time, managed to stop a passing truck.
