Suspect's outback trip 'dramas'

The body of Mr Falconio has never been found

The man accused of UK backpacker Peter Falconio's murder told a friend he had to "deal with" someone during an outback drugs run, a court has heard.

Beverley Allan told the Darwin court that Bradley Murdoch, 47, had confided in her that there had been "a few dramas" on his trip to fetch marijuana.

"He suspected that somebody was following him on that occasion and he had to deal with them," she said.

Mr Murdoch denies murder and abducting Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.

He told me that it hadn't been a good trip. There had been a few dramas Beverley Allan

Ms Allan said that Murdoch was "fairly strung out" and "fairly stressed" when he returned to his home town of Broome following his long outback journey from South Australia.

"He told me that it hadn't been a good trip," she told the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

He had not elaborated on his story about having to deal with someone, she said.

'Changed appearance'

The court has already heard Ms Lees describe how she and Mr Falconio, 28, were driving across the outback near Alice Springs in July 2001 when they were flagged down by Mr Murdoch.

He is then alleged to have shot the backpacker and bundled his girlfriend into the back of his van, binding her in make-shift handcuffs.

Ms Lees, 32, of Brighton, says she later escaped and hid in the undergrowth for five hours until her abductor gave up searching for her and left.

The body of Mr Falconio, from Huddersfield, has never been found.

Ms Allan said that, when he got back from the drugs run, at the time of Mr Falconio's disappearance, Murdoch felt unwell and had shaved off his moustache and shaved his hair short.

CCTV pictures of a man filling his pickup truck with diesel in Alice Springs a few hours after Mr Falconio was allegedly shot were released to the media within weeks of his disappearance.

Ms Allan said she had seen the pictures in a newspaper and had thought it was Murdoch.

But he had denied it was, she said.

"I was fairly convinced it was him," she added.

"When you know somebody, you know someone."

The trial continues.