Unsolved
Northern Territory
The Barrow Creek Saga.. continues 
| Page 1 | Page 2 |Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7

Murder Evidence Ignored (April 02)
Expert query on Falconio probe (April 02)
Falconio murder evidence (April 02)
Falconio murder evidence 'ignored' (April 02)
Falconio clue may have been missed  (April 02)
Police questioning man over Falconio disappearance (June 02) 
DNA may link prisoner to Falconio (June 02)
Possible breakthrough in Falconio case (June 02)
The Courier-Mail, 12 June 20002 p1 "Suspect in UK tourist Murder."

April 26, 2002 (The Australian)
www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4204913%255E421,00.html
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,4204913%255E421,00.html

Expert query on Falconio probe
A BIOLOGIST who testified in defence of Lindy Chamberlain at her murder trial has criticised forensic biologist Joy Kuhl's role in the Peter Falconio murder investigation.
Emeritus Professor Barry Boettcher, who retired as head of biological sciences at Newcastle University in 1993, failed to debunk Mrs Kuhl's crown evidence that foetal blood was found in the Chamberlains' car following the disappearance of baby Azaria.
Mrs Chamberlain was found guilty in 1982 but was later exonerated after Mrs Kuhl's evidence was found to be wrong.
Prof Boettcher has now locked horns again with Mrs Kuhl, 20 years later.
He has analysed a video tape of Mrs Kuhl's examination of the campervan Mr Falconio was driving on July 14 last year before he was apparently shot by a gunman north of Alice Springs.
The tape of Mrs Kuhl's and forensic officer Senior Constable Bill Towers' work was made by Alice Springs filmmaker Chris Tangey at a police compound soon after the tragic ambush.
Prof Boettcher found that a blood test applied to the driver's door appeared to reveal a partial handprint.
"Such a conclusion is a reasonable conclusion, but one that is not certain," Prof Boettcher said.
Mrs Kuhl is heard to say: "It can't be blood. I went right over that this afternoon."
"It is surprising that Mrs Kuhl and Bill Towers appeared not to show any interest in the brightest luminescence found during the taping of the tests on the Kombi," Prof Boettcher said of the potential handprint.
"Had they considered it to be a strong false positive reaction, I would have expected them to have chatted about such a strong false positive reaction rather than simply to have dismissed/ignored it.
"I conclude that the possible handprint luminescence on the driver's door of the Kombi was something that Mrs Kuhl and Bill Towers did not want to be brought to attention.
"The situation was one of a puzzling apparent murder, and since the investigators were taking unusual pains with the investigation, it seems inappropriate that the brightest luminescence result was dismissed in such an apparently casual manner."
Northern Territory Police Commander Col Hardman said at the time Mr Tangey made his tape public in February that the examination taped by Mr Tangey did not identify anything of additional forensic value.
Mt Tangey has submitted his tape and Prof Boettcher's comments to an independent review of the Falconio investigation.
AAP
 

April  2002
Falconio murder evidence
Falconio clue may have been missed  (The Advertiser) 
Falconio murder evidence 'ignored' (The Courier Mail)
 

June 2002
Possible breakthrough in Falconio case (National Nine News)
The family of Joanne Lees has welcomed news of a possible breakthrough in the hunt for the suspected killer of her missing boyfriend, Peter Falconio.
As revealed on National Nine News last night, NSW police will compare blood samples found on the jumper of Ms Lees with DNA samples taken from a man charged with a Sydney murder.
Mr Falconio disappeared last July in the Northern Territory when he and Joanne Lees were ambushed near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory.
Since his disappearance a nationwide manhunt has failed to track down the attacker.
Now Sydney police holding a man for an unrelated murder charge are working with their counterparts in the NT to establish if there are any links between the 29-year-old man being held in custody and the outback ambush.
A spot of blood taken from Ms Lees’ jumper is crucial to the breakthrough.
The blood is believed to be that of her attacker and will be compared with a DNA sample taken from the murder suspect and the stolen car he was arrested in.
NSW Police Minister Michael Costa has confirmed the exchange of forensic information between jurisdictions has been discussed with Attorney General Bob Debus, so as to allow the DNA sample to be sent interstate.
It is understood the man was identified some months ago as one of a number of suspects in the outback case.
 

June 12, 2002
Police questioning man over Falconio disappearance 
Sydney police holding a man for an unrelated murder charge are working with their counterparts in the NT to establish if there are any links between the 29-year-old man being held in custody and the outback ambush.
Police questioning man over Falconio disappearance
Northern Territory police have confirmed a man arrested in New South Wales is being questioned over the disappearance of British tourist Peter Falconio last year.
New South Wales police have refused to release details about the man, but say they are cooperating with their Northern Territory counterparts in the investigation.
Mr Falconio was abducted near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory in July last year and is believed dead. His girlfriend Joanne Lees escaped and has since returned to England.
Mr Falconio's brother Nick says police have contacted his father about the development in the case.
"He told me that the police have been in touch with him in Australia just to tell him what was happening," he said.
"But the police aren't convinced, they're only 50 per cent sure that it might be him."
 

June 12, 2002
DNA may link prisoner to Falconio
DNA taken from a NSW murder suspect could solve the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Northern Territory last year.
NSW police confirmed they had been working closely with their Northern Territory counterparts following the arrest of a man in Sydney last week for a stabbing murder.
The suspect, a 29-year-old unemployed drifter, faced court over the stabbing murder and was denied bail.
A DNA sample was taken from him under NSW laws requiring samples to be taken from any person charged with a serious indictable offence including murder, rape and serious assault.
The samples are placed on a national DNA database to help police in other jurisdictions link prisoners to unsolved crimes.
The suspect was understood to have been identified as a person of interest by the Alice Springs-based police task force investigating the case some months ago.
But no-one from the task force had been sent to Sydney and the DNA had not yet been compared, a source said.
NT Assistant Police Commissioner John Daulby said the prisoner was one of a number of suspects.
Mr Falconio, 28, was shot by a gunman who attempted to abduct his girlfriend Joanne Lees on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek, north of Alice Springs on July 14 last year.
His body was never found.
A spot of blood recovered from Ms Lees' jumper and believed to be that of her attacker was crucial to the case. It is to be compared with the DNA sample taken from the man in custody in NSW.
NSW Police Minister Michael Costa said police were doing all they could to assist investigators in the Northern Territory.
Mr Costa met Attorney-General Bob Debus on Tuesday to discuss the exchange of forensic material following a request by NSW police over the weekend.