A British tourist whose boyfriend was shot dead in the Australian outback 15 years ago has spoken about her ordeal and revealed how she escaped his killer. 
Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio were travelling in a Kombi van on a remote highway in central Australia in 2001 when they were flagged down by Bradley Murdoch.
In what was one of Australia's most notorious backpacker murders, Murdoch shot dead Mr Falconio, 28, before handcuffing his girlfriend and dragging her into his vehicle.
Ms Lees, who was 27 at the time, managed to escape, kombi Servisi hiding for more than five hours among desert scrub.





Ms Lees (right) and Peter Falconio (left) were travelling in a kombi Servisi van on a remote highway in central Australia in 2001 when they were flagged down by Bradley Murdoch






Ms Lees said: We thought we had the rest of our lives together' 






Ms Lees, now 43, has returned to Australia and given harrowing details of her ordeal

Ms Lees heard a gun shot but didn't know if her partner had been killed.
She said her will to escape was driven by the thought that Mr Falconio may not be dead.
Ms Lees fought off Murdoch and made her getaway with 'the thought that Pete was still alive'.





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Mr Falconio's body has never been found. Flying in a helicopter in the area he was murdered, north of Alice Springs, Ms Lees said: 'I know that he's somewhere here.' 
The world was suspicious of Ms Lees' story that Murdoch had shot dead her boyfriend when she appeared emotionless after the incident.
It was later reported that she had taken Valium to numb her grief. 





Murdoch, now 58, is serving a life prison sentence in the Northern Territory and has always protested his innocence






It was later reported that Ms Lees had taking Valium to numb her grief. Here she is pictured leaving the Darwin Supreme Court in 2005, after the first day of Murdoch's trial







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