Falconio suspect faces trial

A mechanic was ordered today to stand trial for the alleged murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian Outback three years ago.

After a five-week preliminary hearing in Darwin Magistrates court, magistrate Alasdair McGregor found there was enough evidence against Bradley John Murdoch, 45, for him to stand trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court charged with the murder of 28-year-old Falconio on July 14, 2001.

Murdoch also will be tried for deprivation of liberty and unlawful assault of Falconio's 27-year-old girlfriend, Joanne Lees. No date was immediately set for the trial, which is expected to be held next year.

Murdoch, who has yet to formally enter a plea to any of the charges, said he was innocent.

"I am not guilty of any of these allegations, your honour," Murdoch said when the magistrate asked if he wanted to say anything in his defence.

The court heard from more than 50 witnesses over five weeks, including Lees and Falconio's brother Paul.

The prosecution alleges that Lees and Falconio were travelling in a camper van along a remote desert highway shortly after dark when Murdoch pulled along side in his pickup truck and flagged them down on the pretence of a mechanical problem.

He allegedly shot Falconio and bound and gagged Lees before she managed to flee into the desert night after a brief struggle and raise the alarm, sparking one of the biggest manhunts in Australian criminal history.