Dead Centre

With special guest:

• Robin Bowles
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

In the Northern Territory of Australia there have always been strange, spooky happenings. The disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio can be added to the list with so many fascinating elements and weird explanations offered.

This real life story has even resulted in a horror movie being produced with some clear references to what happened on that lonely road right in the centre of the Australian mainland in the middle of the night in July 2001.

What we do know is that after driving off at night with his girlfriend Joanne Lees in completely unknown and wild country Peter Falconio went missing and the only explanation we have is from that girlfriend whose behaviour was to say the least unusual.

After becoming interested in the case after a telephone call from a friend, Robin Bowles entered the scene and did her usual thorough research. This included more than 50 hours with the accused and interviewing many of the main players. We get a glimpse into a world of criminals, forensic experts, seedy drug underworlds, worldwide media networks and the realities of high profile, high stakes legal process.

Yet Robin does not forsake the real humans caught up in this maelstrom including the accused murderer, Bradley Murdoch who protested his innocence for 23 years before he died in prison. What was Murdoch really like? Is his conviction “safe”?

When the case against Murdoch went to trial in Darwin it is fair to say that it was a big call on the jury made up of Murdoch’s peers in the Northern Territory. They were not forensic or psychology experts. They were confronted with an emotional, pretty girl who described the brutal death of her boyfriend. It was always likely that the jury would side with her when she identified Bradley Murdoch in court as the man who killed her boyfriend. Murdoch was described as a giant of a man with missing front teeth and heavily tattooed who acknowledged that he was involved in the drug trade. The Police wanted him off the street. But was he the killer?

Many, many questions remain unanswered. So many that there are Facebook groups with thousands of members who are demanding that an inquiry should be held into what really happened that night in 2001.

Robin’s main interest is in truth and justice. Listening to her now we can question whether these fundamental expectations were met. It is also an extraordinary story that will draw you in.

Robin Bowles

In 1996 Robin Bowles decided to close her PR consultancy for a year and write her first book, Blind Justice (now in its eighth reprint).  Robin has written a best-seller almost every year since, including the definitive books on the Jaidyn Leskie murder, Justice Denied, and Dead Centre on the disappearance and alleged murder of British tourist Peter Falconio.

During her career as an investigative writer, Robin obtained a university diploma to qualify her as a private inquiry agent. Robin is widely recognised as Australia’s foremost true crime writer.

Song selection by our guest: When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin’ along by Al Jolsen

Podcast (mp3)