So - here's a summary of what we have on this so far:
Murdoch feels the need to rape somebody so he makes sure he has the right equipment for the job - i.e. manacles and several rolls of tape, plus a bag.
One night, whilst travelling between Alice Springs and Broome, he spots Lees and Falconio in their kombi and follows them up the road for several miles, after ditching his trailer, before flagging the vehicle down. This involves him making a detour off his route.
Falconio sees nothing wrong in stopping for a complete stranger on a deserted road miles from anywhere. He stops gets out, chats with the gunman and comes back to the vehicle for his cigarettes and asks Lees to rev the engine. She does this but hears a bang which she NEVER said was a gunshot.
The gunman then points his gun at her but does not shoot her. He does not indicate what he wants. He struggles with her, punches her in the temple, -( which injuries a doctor never found) - tries to tape up her mouth and legs with different types of tape but fails. He puts manacles on her hands which are behind her back. Then he puts a bag on her head then shoves her into his ute with a silent dog which sheds no hair. She scrambles between the seats and escapes out of the back. Her hands are behind her back but she is able to feel the roof of the vehicle. The police fail to find the type of vehicle described by Lees in the whole of Aus. The gunman leaves no DNA on her apart from one small speck of fluid, despite having struggled with her, punching her, and tying her up.
She runs into the bushes leaving footprints. The man and his dog search for her with a torch. They fail to find her and fail to leave any footprints. The man goes back to the vehicles and tidies up. Shovels a mound of soil onto the blood and somehow manages to heave Falconios bleeding body into his ute without leaving any drag marks or drips. Then he moves the kombi into the bushes and walks back from its hiding place, leaving none of Falconios blood on it anywhere, even though he has been heaving a dead body about.
He drives off the way he came, stopping at the service station for some shopping before rehitching his trailer and continuing the journey. At some point he disposes of Falconios body.
Meanwhile back at Barrow Creek.... Lees hides in the bushes for five hours without once being bitten or scratched, and manages to stay warm throughout those hours, in the middle of winter. Then, when the time is right, she flags down a roadtrain for rescue.
She fails to phone her mother. She fails to phone the Falconios. She is reluctant to answer the police questions and even more reluctant to speak to any of the press. A description of Falconio is not forthcoming. She emails her secret lover asking to meet him in Berlin. When the Falconio family fly out she refuses to meet them. She shows no emotion at the loss of Falconio. Only when an offer of money is on the table does she agree to an interview. When this interview makes her look less than rosy she blames her mother for being swayed.
Yes - sounds like a simple case of thwarted rape to me!!! Not!!
