IN the Northern Territory's biggest case since Lindy Chamberlain was accused of killing her baby Azaria in 1980, Bradley Murdoch sat in court yesterday afternoon flanked by five armed police officers.
Clean shaven and dressed in a green shirt and khaki trousers, Murdoch heard the prosecution had nearly 600 witnesses in their case to try and prove he murdered 28-year-old British backpacker Peter Falconio.
About 60 of them are expected to appear in court with the star witness, Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees, to be flown to Australia from Britain.
Murdoch, 45, is also charged with the unlawful assault and deprivation of liberty of Ms Lees, who managed to escape after a gunman allegedly flagged down the couple as they drove along the Stuart Highway at Barrow Creek, near Alice Springs, on July 14, 2001.
The evidence against Murdoch is contained in three lever arch files.
It will take eight weeks to transfer the files onto a computer. The Northern Territory Supreme Court is expected to be upgraded so evidence can be given electronically.
The Department of Public Prosecutions is bringing in more staff for the trial and has asked the Territory Government for more money.
A team of prosecutors is being put together.
Murdoch, who was extradited from South Australia, was remanded in custody and will appear again on November 28.
His committal proceedings are not expected to start until the middle of next year.
Murdoch, 45, arrived in Darwin early yesterday on board a commercial flight with a heavy police guard, including the man who headed up the NT Police investigation into the Falconio case, David Chalker.
Guarded by 12 armed police officers as he left the aircraft, Murdoch was led through the airport building in Darwin refusing to talk to reporters but occasionally smiling.
Murdoch was driven from the airport to the new city centre police station yesterday morning and charged with:
- MURDERING Peter Marco Falconio;
DEPRIVING Joanne Rachael Lees of her personal liberty; and
AGGRAVATED assault of Ms Lees.
Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wilde could not say when the committal would start.
"We will be doing our utmost to be ready as soon as humanly possible," he said. "But the task facing us, the defence and the court is a huge one."
Mr Wilde said it could be more than a year before it was decided whether Murdoch went to trial in the Supreme Court in Darwin.
"If Murdoch is committed to trial then the case might well be at least a year away from its finalisation in the Supreme Court," he said.
"The precise course that this case will now follow depends, in part, on the court and the defence lawyers.
"We expect that the defence will need some time to digest the papers and decide what their approach should be."
Mr Wilde believed Murdoch would be given a fair hearing.
"We are quite confident that a jury properly directed will limit itself to the issues that are presented before it," he said.