Victim advocates have hit out after reports one of Australia’s most notorious killers has been given special treatment for his final days after being moved into palliative care.

Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of the 2001 murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio and is serving a life sentence for the crime that occurred near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory.

Today, NT officials refused to deny reports he has been moved to palliative care and that he has been permitted outings into the community and even back to the prison to say goodbye to his mates.

“I find it difficult to accept that a person who has murdered someone should be able to be out and about on the street unless it is only for the purpose of treatment,” victims’ rights advocate Michael O’Connell said.

“He shouldn’t be engaged in other activity other than prison to hospital, hospital to prison.”

Murdoch ambushed Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees on the Stuart Highway on July 14, 2001. He fatally shot Falconio and attempted to abduct Lees, who managed to escape and was later rescued. 

Murdoch was extradited from Adelaide to the Northern Territory in 2003 and convicted over Falconio’s death. 

“I love Pete so much, and I want to bring him home – I need to bring him home,” Lees said in an interview with the Nine Network in 2017.

Murdoch has consistently maintained his innocence and has never disclosed the location of Falconio’s remains.

“She has made it quite clear that she’ll never fully be at peace until she finds Peter’s body. There’s an opportunity here now for Bradley Murdoch,” O’Connell said.