associate, James Helpi. The police found traces of Murdoch’s DNA on a pair of homemade handcuffs used in the attack. This, combined with the DNA match on Lees' T-shirt, allowed Murdoch to be charged with the murder. The T-shirt DNA was found to be "150 quadrillion times more likely [to] belong to Murdoch" than anyone else. His DNA was also found on the gearstick of the Kombi in which Falconio and Lees had been travelling, and which, subsequent to the attack on the Stuart Highway, was driven by the perpetrator into the bush. Murdoch's defence argued during the trial that the DNA match could have been due to accidental blood transfer in an Alice Springs Red Rooster restaurant prior to the alleged offence, or could have been simply planted by persons unknown. Further samples were found to be contaminated and were not presented as evidence. Murdoch gave evidence that he had stopped at the restaurant to buy chicken for himself and his dog. During the committal hearing, Lees at one stage mentioned that she and Falconio had stopped at Red Rooster. Eyewitnesses claimed they had seen Falconio at a petrol station one week after he went missing. Prosecutor Rex Wild QC dismissed these claims, arguing that each account gave conflicting information, in particular about the man's hair colour. He pointed out that the police had followed up various eyewitness accounts, all of which had proven fruitless. Falconio's body has never been found "despite one of the most exhaustive police investigations ever seen in Australia". On 13 December 2005, Murdoch was found guilty by a jury in a unanimous verdict and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of twenty-eight years. He was also convicted of other assault-related charges on Lees. Only after the sentencing was it revealed that Murdoch had previously been acquitted of aggravated sexual assault on a mother and daughter in South Australia some years earlier. Appeals On 12 December 2006, Murdoch appealed against his life sentence in the Supreme Court. His lawyers lodged eight grounds of appeal. Murdoch claimed the evidence of Lees was tainted because she had seen a photograph of him on the internet before she was interviewed by police, as well as an article linking him to the murder. On 10 January 2007, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal (NT CCA) dismissed both limbs of the appeal. Murdoch then applied