Amazing story of most notorious murder

By Phil Mercer BBC correspondent in Darwin

Joanne Lees stood feet away from the man accused of murdering her boyfriend Peter Falconio in the Australian outback three years ago.

Ms Lees, 30, of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, appeared as the star prosecution witness at the committal hearing of Bradley Murdoch in Darwin.

She spoke for 90 minutes - at times almost in tears, and coughing nervously - as she relived her night of terror.

For the first time in public, Ms Lees described her ordeal at the hands of a lone gunman in the pitch-darkness near the township of Barrow Creek in the rugged Northern Territory.

She wore a white blouse and a dark knee-length skirt.

Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees were ambushed in the outback

Her hair was wrapped up in a neat ponytail.

Her every move and word were scrutinised as she responded to questions posed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Rex Wild QC.

The world was watching.

The outcome of Australia's most notorious murder investigation could well hinge on her testimony.

Her precise recollections of that terrible day - Saturday 14 July 2001 - will be crucial.

The hearing will decide if Mr Murdoch will eventually face a trial before jury.

'Tricked by gunman'

Ms Lees told how she fought and struggled with her attacker after Mr Falconio had apparently been killed.

I tried to struggle, and he pointed the gun to my head Joanne Lees

The young British backpackers were heading north from Alice Springs in a camper van they had bought a few months earlier in Sydney.

The committal hearing was told how a man driving a small truck tricked them into pulling over.

Mr Falconio got out to investigate, and was shot dead as his girlfriend sat in the front of the camper van.

"I heard a bang," Ms Lees told a packed courtroom.

"I turned around to look through the window, and I saw a man stood there with a gun."

Ms Lees told the magistrate she was punched in the head by the gunman after being tied up.

"I tried to struggle, and he pointed the gun to my head."

"I was shouting for Pete, and shouting for help," she said.

"The man told me to be quiet, and if I wasn't he'd shoot me.

"I was quiet for a moment, and then I asked him if he was going to rape me and if he'd shot Pete."

'Too scared to breathe'

Ms Lees, who works with people with learning difficulties in East Sussex, has travelled thousands of miles to give evidence.

For months, the disappearance of Mr Falconio, a 28-year-old graduate from Brighton University, baffled investigators.

His body has never been found.

Prosecutors have insisted "the evidence that he is dead is compelling".

Bloodstains found at the side of road match his DNA profile.

His girlfriend has described an amazing story of survival at the hands of a rogue gunman.

She managed to escape after being dumped in his truck.

She told the magistrate how she hid "for hours" curled up under a bush.

The court heard how she could hear and see the man looking for her with a torch as his feet trampled on dried grass and branches close to her.

She said she was too scared to breathe just in case she made too much noise.

She eventually found the courage to return to the highway and flag down a passing truck.

Mr Murdoch, who has denied the charges, watched attentively from behind the security glass panels.

Flanked by two burly guards, the 45-year-old former mechanic wrote notes as the evidence was presented.

Mr Murdoch, who was casually dressed with short, cropped grey hair, shook his head as Ms Lees left the court.

She is expected to return to the witness box on Wednesday.