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MODERN FITZTORY: As one of the most recognisable names in Northern Territory history, he’s often discussed, celebrated, reviled and debated.
Author Peter Fitzsimons is dissecting the myth that is Bradley John Murdoch in his new book – revealing the man behind the headlines and getting to the core of the legend.
During his research, FitzSimons was shocked to discover the backpacker killer could actually be considered a ‘bushranger’ by today’s standards – and therefore must be examined closer.
Now halfway through a 30-year sentence at the notorious Berrimah prison, Murdoch was a true highway man.
At 15 years old, he moved from Perth to Geraldton where he started becoming involved in biker gang criminal activities.
In a brief effort to not become a murderous psychopath, he started his own trucking business, but declared bankruptcy in 1983.
He married his partner Dianne in July 1984 – they had a son, but they separated in 1986 due to domestic violence, a conviction that Fitzsimons says only further complicates his legacy.
He was then found work as truck diver once again, a career that overlapped quite well with his side job as a drug smuggler, moving large amounts of cannabis around the Top End.
While FitzSimons describes the now convicted backpacker murderer as a ‘elusive intellectual and a brilliant navigator of the dirt tracks between the Kimberley and the Gulf’ – he admits he has struggled to make peace with some of his political leanings.
Like many of Australia’s great convict icons, Murdoch began to display white supremacist tendencies – particularly following the 1992 Mabo decision, and had himself inked with skinhead tattoos.
“That was the era, though” says FitzSimons.
“It would have been hard to escape that mindset”
By 1998, he was living in Derby, running drugs and driving road trains between Broome and Sedan – before eventually killing British backpacker Peter Falconio and hiding from the cops for five years.
“When they eventually caught him, it was a very bushranger ending.” says FitzSimons.
“He would absolutely roll his sleeves up, and he rose by his own drive.”
FitzSimon’s new book, ‘Bradley John Murdoch: The Boomer Ned Kelly’ is out now.
