Joanne Rachael Lees (born 25 September 1973) is a British woman who was attacked and subjected to an attempted abduction while travelling in Australia with her partner Peter Falconio. Lees escaped her attacker, but Falconio was never found. The attacker was identified as Bradley John Murdoch, and in 2005 he was convicted of Falconio's murder. Lees was the chief crown witness in the murder trial, which was conducted in Darwin. She later wrote a book about her experiences, which was made into a television film. Early life Lees was born on 25 September 1973, and lived her first 11 years with her mother Jenny (who had separated from her father). Her mother then remarried Vincent, who already had a son named Sam, and the new family of four lived in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. During high school and later studies, she had several part-time jobs as a barmaid, and bacon packer, before securing a job at her local Thomas Cook travel agency. Lees first met Falconio in a nightclub in Huddersfield in 1996 and began living with him the following year in Brighton, England where Falconio was studying at Brighton University. She then transferred her job to a local Cook agency, before the couple took short trips to Italy, Greece and Jamaica. From 1998, the couple had planned a trip to Thailand, Singapore, and Australia (though recent news of the backpacker murders, Port Arthur killings, and Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire there had made their families anxious). On 15 November 2000, the couple departed, travelling through Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia (where Lees' traveller's cheques and return ticket were stolen). By 16 January 2001, they had arrived in Sydney on a working holiday visa, and Lees then job-hunted, finally securing work at the Dymocks bookstore on George Street. After five months, in which the couple had enjoyed Sydney's nightclub scene, Falconio purchased a car for the next stage of their travel plan, a road trip from Sydney to Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin and Brisbane. Falconio murder Falconio and Lees were travelling at night along the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek (between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek) in the Northern Territory, outback Australia, on 14 July 2001, when a man in another vehicle flagged them down, and told them that he had noticed that their camper van had engine trouble. After Falconio went to the rear of the vehicle with the man