British tourist Peter Falconio emerged from hiding today to applaud the conviction of Bradley Murdoch for murdering him. Falconio said he agreed with the jury’s verdict that Murdoch was guilty, even though a body had never been found.

“The end of the trial is a great personal relief. Now I can get on with my life,” Falconio said, flanked by his new wife Cathleen. “I just hope that one day Bradley Murdoch will reveal where he buried my body, so that my family and Joanne can have some closure.”

This was Falconio’s first public appearance since he went missing on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway in July 2001, apart from a brief cameo on Neighbours in 2003.

Falconio revealed that since his disappearance he has lived in Adelaide, where he works as a copyboy for the Adelaide Advertiser. He acknowledged that observing the trial from a distance was difficult. “When it came out that Joanne was having an affair I was really hurt,” he said. “I was sorely tempted to confront her. But I realised that I was the one who faked my own death to get away from her, so I can’t really be angry with Joanne.”

Falconio declined to give a victim’s impact statement, outlining the effect the murder had on him, because he feared it might influence the proceedings. But legal experts say evidence from Falconio was unnecessary because the case against Murdoch was so strong. “The jury was never going to believe Murdoch’s defence that a dingo stole Peter Falconio,” said criminal barrister Charles Ho QC. “We know what Territorians think of arguments like that.”

Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin has welcomed Murdoch’s conviction. “The Falconio case has been the worst thing for tourism in the Territory since the Darryl Somers’ ‘You’ll never never go’ campaign,” she said. “We all want to kill a British backpacker now and then, but this verdict sends the right message that you can’t actually do it.”

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