Outback Murder Trial Opens

An Australian mechanic pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering a British backpacker on a lonely Outback highway four years ago in one of Australia's most mysterious and high profile slayings.

Former truck driver and diesel mechanic Bradley John Murdoch, 47, from Broome in Western Australia state, his gray hair closely cropped, pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Peter Falconio and to the assault and deprivation of liberty of his girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Murdoch, who faces a life sentence if convicted, sat between two security guards in the dock at the Northern Territory Supreme Court in the city of Darwin.

Falconio, a 28-year-old surveyor from Yorkshire, disappeared after he stepped from his camper van on a winter's night north of Alice Springs in central Australia on July 14, 2001.

Prosecutors allege Murdoch flagged Falconio down and shot him.

Falconio's body has never been found, despite one of Australia's biggest ever searches, involving police in helicopters and on motorcycles and even aboriginal trackers combing through the red dirt of the central Australian desert.

The only trace of the missing tourist was a pool of his blood staining the highway.

The only witness to the crime was Lees, now aged 32, who has flown from Britain to testify. Lees, a travel agent, is expected to be one of the first witnesses called by the prosecution.

Prosecutors allege Murdoch assaulted Lees and attempted to abduct her but she escaped and hid among bushes for hours as he searched for her with a torch and the pistol that killed Falconio with a single shot.

Falconio's parents Luciano and Joan and brothers Nick and Paul appeared relaxed as they arrived at the Northern Territory Supreme Court building in the northern port city of Darwin 35 minutes before the selection process began for the 12-member jury.

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.