WE SMOKED DOPE BEFORE KILLING

Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio smoked marijuana shortly before a man
stopped their van at an isolated Territory spot, a magistrate heard yesterday.

Ms Lees told Darwin Magistrates Court of attending the Camel Cup at Alice
Springs on July 14, 2001, before they left the town about 4pm. They had no
planned destination, just to travel on the "one long road heading north" in
their Kombi camper van.

She said she had been driving and Mr Falconio, reading in the back, fell
asleep.

"We got to Ti-Tree just before sunset and pulled into a lay-by," she told
the court.

"I braked quite heavily ... and Peter woke up.

"He rolled a joint and we shared it and watched the sunset.

"It was a beautiful evening, warm."

They left Ti-Tree, Mr Falconio driving, refreshed after his sleep, with the
plan to camp beside the road when he felt tired.

She said they must have passed Barrow Creek (90km further north) when the
white four-wheel-drive pulled alongside them, the driver pointing to the
rear of their van.

Ms Lees said: ``Peter told me he was going to stop. I asked him not to,''
she said.

She told the court of her terror some hours later as she escaped and ran
from a man she thought may have shot her boyfriend.

She said she was forced into the man's vehicle after she tried to punch him
in the crotch. He punched her in the temple, stunning her.

Still with hands tied behind her, she managed to slide out the back. It was
pitch dark.

She told of the man searching for her with a torch as she curled up under a
bush.

Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wild QC, leading Ms Lees through her
evidence, asked: ``Were you being quiet?''

``I wasn't even breathing,'' she said.

Ms Lees is due to continue her evidence today in the committal hearing for
Bradley John Murdoch, 45, charged with the murder of British backpacker
Peter Falconio, 28, and the aggravated assault and deprivation of liberty
of Ms Lees on July 14, 2001.

The hearing before relieving magistrate Alasdair McGregor in Darwin's
Supreme Court is set down for three weeks.

Ms Lees was called to the stand about 2.35pm yesterday and Mr Wild asked
that the court break for the day about 4.10pm, saying he was about to lead
Ms Lees on a different line of evidence.

Ms Lees was smartly dressed in a tailored black skirt and white,
long-sleeved blouse, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Her voice dropped and she cleared her throat frequently as she told of
leaving her hiding place many hours later.

She was ``too scared'' to flag down a car that passed and hid in long grass
at the side of the road, waiting for a road train.