The underbelly of Oz

[BoSoxGal]

While I was at the library all day hosting a Law Day event, I utilized their free wifi to download from iTunes a rental of:

THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS

I am about to watch it! Very excited - I love true crime.

iTunes says it's still in theatres. Any of you Ozzies seen it?

I'll check in later with my review.

[Gob]

Be warned, they were brutal.

[BoSoxGal]

Download must have malfunctioned; it is not showing up in iTunes!

I am

[Gob]

May be a blessing in disguise, read this. (Not for the squeamish.)

[Scooter]

Ick. You warned us, I definitely should not have read that just before getting into bed.

[Gob]

I can guess which part made your eyes water too!

[BoSoxGal]

Oz breeds some seriously sick fucks!

I thought Wolf Creek was fiction.

[Gob]

Wolf Creek: The True Story
The true Wolf Creek story happened about two thousand kilometres from Wolfe Creek National Park, and not in Western Australia, but in the Northern Territory.

On July 14, 2001, British tourists Peter Falconio (then 28) and Joanne Lees (who in October 2006 finally launched her book, the only true story!) travelled on the Stuart Highway from Alice Springs in the direction of Darwin. It was night time.

Roughly half way between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, just outside Barrow Creek, a mechanic called Bradley John Murdoch managed to make them pull over, and told them that sparks were coming out of the exhaust of their van.

Peter went to the back of the van with Murdoch to have a look, and Joanne was asked to rev the engine. She later said she thought she heard a shot. Then Murdoch, holding a gun, came to her window. He bound her hands and dragged her into his four wheel drive.

Then he disappeared for a while. It is assumed that he dealt with Peter's body during that time. That's when Joanne managed to escape. She hid in the bush as Murdoch was searching for her with his dog. Eventually he gave up.

Joanne waited for hours, making sure that he was really gone and not coming back. When she finally staggered back onto the highway two truck drivers stopped and helped her.

Murdoch was caught in the largest Northern Territory police investigation ever. He had been in Alice Springs the same day as Joanne and Peter, he had also visited the same fast food outlet.

Whether he targeted them at random or followed them from Alice Springs is not known. He claims he wasn't even near Barrow Creek, had taken the Tanami Road instead (a rough bush track from Alice Springs to Western Australia. It runs past Wolfe Creek National Park)

Many questions remain. No weapon or body was found. The motive is unclear, too. But speculations revolve around paranoia and aggression induced by his heavy amphetamine use. Murdoch is a self confessed drifter, drug runner, and regularly transported large amounts of cannabis between Alice Springs and Broome in Western Australia.

His lawyers couldn't explain how his DNA had ended up on the makeshift handcuffs that Joanne was tied up with, if he'd been nowhere near her. After a two month trial he was found guilty in December 2005. The verdict by the jury was unanimous. Murdoch will serve at least 28 years of a life sentence, unless his appeal (due for hearing in December 2006) is successful. (Update: Murdoch's appeal was rejected in January 2007.)

I followed the reports of the trial and admired Joanne Lees' stoicism. I believe it helped her to make an escape, but it often didn't help her before and during the trial. She has remained silent, withdrawn, not revealing her emotions (which are nobody's business in my opinion). No big magazine spreads and TV shows, just four days of testimony during the trial. Unusual in our age of media hype and rampant disclosure...

[BoSoxGal]

The killings in the movie are insanely gory & graphic; I meant my reference as a comparison to the real life SNOWTOWN murders which I've just read details of and now am not certain I wish to see re-enacted.

I still have the occasional Wolf Creek nightmare. One of the scariest movies EVER.

[BoSoxGal]

I figured out my download issues and now feel compelled to watch since I paid good money to rent it. I hope I'm not scarred for life.