Ivan Robert Marko Milat (27 December 1944 – 27 October 2019 ), commonly referred to in media as the Backpacker Murderer, was an Australian serial killer who abducted, assaulted, robbed and murdered two men and five women in New South Wales between 1989 and 1992. His modus operandi was to approach backpackers along the Hume Highway under the guise of providing them transport to areas of southern New South Wales, then take his victims into the Belanglo State Forest where he would incapacitate and murder them. Milat is also suspected of having committed many other similar offences around Australia.

Early life

Ivan Milat was born on 27 December 1944 at Crown Street Women's Hospital in Guildford, New South Wales, the son of Croatian emigrant and labourer Stjepan Marko "Steven" Milat (1902–1983) and Margaret Elizabeth Piddleston (1920–2001), an Australian national. Ivan was the fifth of their 14 children. The impoverished Milat family initially lived on a rural weatherboard cottage farm in Bossley Park, 36 kilometres west of Sydney, before relocating to Liverpool. By all accounts, Milat's parents were conscientious in raising, educating and disciplining their children and sent them all to Catholic schools. However, family members described Milat's father as having a temper due to his alcoholism. Many of the ten Milat boys were well known to local police and were used to handling knives and firearms, spending their afternoons shooting at targets in their parents’ yard. Siblings recalled Milat displaying antisocial and psychopathic behaviour at a young age, such as attacking animals with machetes during their childhood, leading to a stint in a residential school at age 13. By age 17, he was in a juvenile detention centre for theft, and at age 19 he was involved in a shop break-in. In 1964, he was sentenced to 18 months for breaking and entering, and a month after release he was arrested for driving a stolen car and sentenced to two years' hard labour. In September 1967, aged 22, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for theft. On 7 April 1971, Milat abducted two young 18-year-old female hitchhikers near Liverpool railway station with a knife. He raped one of the hitchhikers before they stopped at a petrol station café, where they managed to escape. Milat was arrested later that day and was charged with one count of rape and two counts of armed robbery. While awaiting trial, he was involved in a string of robberies with some of his brothers before faking his suicide by leaving his shoes at The Gap, a well-known Sydney suicide site. Authorities believe that Milat then fled to Queensland and Victoria before flying to New Zealand, where he lived for two years. However, Milat is suspected of having returned surreptitiously using a fake passport and lived interstate to avoid detection. He was rearrested in 1974 after his mother was taken to hospital suffering from a heart attack, but the robbery and kidnap cases against him failed at trial with the help of the Milats' family lawyer, John Marsden. Milat took on a job as a truck driver in 1975, and by the time of his arrest he had worked on and off for the Roads & Traffic Authority for 20 years. In 1977, Milat unsuccessfully attempted to rape and murder two women who were hitchhiking from Liverpool to Canberra, but he was never charged.

Backpacker murders

Background

By the time of the initial discoveries in the Belanglo State Forest, several backpackers had disappeared. One case involved a young Victorian couple from Frankston, Deborah Everist, 19, and James Gibson, 19, who had been missing since leaving Sydney for ConFest, near Albury, on 30 December 1989. Related was Simone Schmidl, 21, from Germany, who had been missing since leaving Sydney for Melbourne on 20 January 1991. Similarly, a German couple, Gabor Neugebauer, 21, and Anja Habschied, 20, had disappeared after leaving a Kings Cross hostel for Mildura on 26 December 1991. Additionally British backpackers Caroline Clarke, 21, and Joanne Walters, 22, were last seen in Kings Cross on 18 April 1992.

Discovery of victims

On 19 September 1992, two runners discovered a concealed corpse while orienteering in Belanglo. The following morning, police discovered a second body 30 m from the first. Police quickly confirmed, via dental records, that the bodies were those of Clarke and Walters. Walters had been stabbed fifteen times; four times in the chest, once in the neck, and nine times in the back which would have paralysed her. Clarke had been shot ten times in the head at the burial site, and police believe she had been used as target practice. After a thorough search of the forest, investigators ruled out the possibility of further discoveries. On 5 October 1993, a local man searching for firewood discovered bones in a particularly remote section of Belanglo. He returned with police to the scene where two bodies were quickly discovered and later identified as Gibson and Everist. Gibson's skeleton, found in a foetal position, showed eight stab wounds. A large knife had cut through his upper spine causing paralysis, and stab wounds to his back and chest would have punctured his heart and lungs. Everist had been savagely beaten; her skull was fractured in two places, her jaw was broken and there were knife marks on her forehead. She had been stabbed once in the back. The presence of Gibson's body in Belanglo puzzled investigators as his camera had previously been discovered on 31 December 1989, and his backpack later on 13 March 1990, by the side of the road at Galston Gorge, over 120 km to the north. On 1 November 1993, a skeleton was found in a clearing along a fire trail in Belanglo during a police sweep. It was later identified as that of Schmidl, and bore at least eight stab wounds: two had severed her spine and others would have punctured her heart and lungs. Clothing found at the scene was not Schmidl's, but matched that of another missing backpacker, Habschied. The bodies of Habschied and Neugebauer were then found on a nearby fire trail, on 4 November 1993, in shallow graves 50 m apart. Habschied had been decapitated, and despite an extensive search her skull was never found. Neugebauer had been shot in the head six times. There was evidence that some of the victims did not die instantly from their injuries.

Search for a serial killer

Examination of the remains showed evidence that some of the victims had been tortured. In response, on 14 October 1993, Task Force Air, containing more than twenty detectives and analysts, was set up by the New South Wales Police. On 5 November, the New South Wales government increased the reward in relation to the killings to A$500,000. After developing their profile of the killer, the police faced an enormous volume of data from numerous sources. Investigators applied link analysis technology and, as a result, the list of suspects was narrowed from a short list of 230 to an even shorter list of thirty-two. Speculation arose that the crimes were the work of several killers, given that most of the victims had been attacked while as pairs, had been killed in different ways, and buried separately. On 13 November, police were contacted by Paul Onions, 24, in the United Kingdom. A few years earlier, on 25 January 1990, Onions had been backpacking in Australia and, while hitchhiking from Liverpool station towards Mildura, had accepted a ride south out of Casula from a man known only as "Bill". South of the town of Mittagong, and less than one kilometre from Belanglo, Bill pulled out a revolver and some rope to rob Onions, at which point he managed to flee while Bill shot at him. Onions flagged down a passing motorist, Joanne Berry of Canberra, and together they described the assailant and his vehicle and registration number to the Bowral police. On 13 April 1994, detectives re-found the note regarding Onions' call. His statement was corroborated by Berry, along with the girlfriend of a man who worked with Milat.

Arrest and trial

Police surveillance of the Milat house at Cinnabar Street in commenced on 26 February 1994. Police soon learned that Milat had recently sold his silver Nissan Patrol shortly after the discovery of the bodies of Clarke and Walters. Police also confirmed that Milat had not been working on any of the days of the attacks, and acquaintances also told police about Milat's obsession with weapons. When the connection between the Belanglo murders and Onions' experience was made, Onions flew to Australia to help with the investigation. On 5 May 1994, he positively identified Milat as the man who had picked him up and attempted to shoot him. Milat was arrested at his house on 22 May on robbery and weapons charges related to the Onions attack after fifty police officers surrounded the house. The search of the residence revealed various weapons, including a .22-calibre Anschütz Model 1441/42 rifle and parts of a .22-calibre Ruger 10/22 rifle that matched the type used in the murders, a Browning pistol, and a Bowie knife. Also uncovered were items belonging to several of the victims. Homes belonging to Milat's mother and five of his brothers were also searched, uncovering several more items belonging to victims. Milat appeared in court on 23 May, but he did not enter a plea. On 31 May, he was additionally charged with the seven backpacker murders. On 28 June, Milat sacked James Marsden, his family's lawyer, and sought legal aid to pay for his defence. Meanwhile, brothers Richard and Walter were tried in relation to weapons, drugs and stolen items found on their properties. A committal hearing for Milat regarding the murders began on 24 October and lasted until 12 December, during which over two hundred witnesses appeared. Based on the evidence, at the beginning of February 1995, Milat was remanded in custody until June that same year. Milat's trial opened at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney on 26 March 1996 and was prosecuted by Mark Tedeschi. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Milat is reported as having been confident he would be found innocent. In phone recordings made for the ABC's Australian Story program in 2004, Milat stated his grounds for believing he would be found innocent at trial: "My basic defense in my trial was that it wasn't me. I don't know who did it. It was up to them to prove my guilt, not for me to prove my innocence." His defence argued that, in spite of the evidence, there was no non-circumstantial proof Milat was guilty and attempted to shift the blame to other members of his family, particularly Richard. 145 witnesses took the stand, including members of the Milat family who endeavoured to provide alibis. On 18 June, Milat gave evidence himself. On 27 July 1996, after eighteen weeks of testimony, a jury found Milat guilty of the murders. He was given a life sentence on each count without the possibility of parole. He was also convicted of the attempted murder, false imprisonment and robbery of Onions, for which he received six years' imprisonment each.

Victims

1989

1991

1992

Incarceration and appeals

On his first day at Maitland Gaol, Milat was beaten by another inmate. Almost a year later, on 16 May 1997, he made an escape attempt alongside convicted drug dealer and former Sydney councillor George Savvas. The plan failed and Savvas was found hanged in his cell the next day. Milat was subsequently transferred to the maximum-security section at Goulburn Correctional Centre. In November 1997, Milat appealed against his convictions due to a breach of his common law right to legal representation, as established in Dietrich v The Queen. However, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeal. In 2004, Milat filed an application with the High Court of Australia that he be allowed special leave to appeal on new grounds. The application for leave was ultimately dismissed, affirming the Court of Criminal Appeal's decision to disallow his initial appeal. On 27 October 2005, in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Milat's final avenue of appeal was refused. In 2006, two other application attempts were rejected as well, as was one in November 2011. In 2001, Milat was transferred to one of the forty-five new units at the High Risk Management Corrections Centre (Supermax) at Goulburn Correctional Centre. In 2006, a toaster and television given to Milat in his cell caused a public outcry.

Final years and death

In his 2004 interview on Australian Story, Milat denied that any of his family had been involved in the seven murders. On 26 January 2009, Milat cut off his little finger with a plastic knife with the intention of mailing it to the High Court of Australia to force an appeal. He was taken to Goulburn Base Hospital under high security; however, on 27 January, Milat was returned to prison after doctors decided surgery was not possible. Milat had previously harmed himself in 2001, when he swallowed razor blades, staples and other metal objects. In May 2011, he went on a nine-day hunger strike, losing 25 kilograms in an unsuccessful attempt to be given a PlayStation. In May 2019, Milat was transferred to the Prince of Wales Hospital,, and was subsequently diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer. Following his treatment he was transferred to the Long Bay Correctional Centre to continue his custodial sentences. On 9 August 2019, a terminally ill Milat was moved to a secure treatment unit located at the Prince of Wales Hospital following the loss of twenty kilograms in previous weeks; he was also exhibiting a high temperature. His status, however, was reported as not life-threatening. On 27 October 2019, Milat died from oesophagus and stomach cancer at 4:07 a.m. within the hospital wing at Long Bay Correctional Centre. He was 74. Prior to his death, Milat wrote a letter to his family requesting that his funeral be paid for by the New South Wales government. The request was denied by New South Wales Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts. Instead, his body was cremated with the full reimbursement of costs to be paid from his prison account. In his final days, New South Wales Police said in a statement that their officers visited Milat eight times, in prison and in hospital, in an attempt to elicit a confession from him; however, Milat did not confess. "Various strategies were deployed on each occasion, including different combinations of detectives and utilising recorded interviews with victims' families as an investigative technique," the statement said. "No further information was received or provided to police during the interactions." Although Milat died never having officially confessed, he is said to have previously admitted to his mother, with whom he had a close relationship, that he was responsible for the backpacker murders.

Additional investigations

Police maintain that Milat could have been involved in more murders than the seven for which he was convicted. State and territory-wide investigations into the unsolved deaths and disappearances of young persons were started in 1993 by Task Force Air by comparing Milat's known criminal and victim profile along with his known modus operandi to cold cases. Their list ran to 58 people, and included individuals from America, England, Germany, Italy and New Zealand. Also, Milat was very geographically mobile as he started working as a truck driver in the mid-1970s, transporting tyres via Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane to Goulburn, Yass, Canberra and Perth. Based on almost identical similarities in modus operandi, three unsolved murder victims were identified who task force commander Clive Small listed as having a high possibility of being Milat's victims: Other cases of interest which were investigated included a series of unsolved disappearances of young women in the Hunter Region south of Newcastle that were originally thought to be the responsibility of a separate unidentified serial killer: Milat was only identified as a person of interest in the disappearances of Goodall, Hickie and Robinson in a 2001 inquest. Milat, who worked as a road worker in the late 1970s, was of significant interest to the inquiry, according to state coroner John Abernethy, and had “definite links to the Hunter Region”. Milat allegedly boasted to a friend that there were graves and corpse pits scattered across the area. In his testimony, Milat said that, while he had picked up roughly fifteen hitchhikers, they were not in the Hunter Region. “I had nothing to do with whatever happened to their children. I can look at them people, right in the eye, and say, ‘I had absolutely nothing to do with your children going missing’,” he told the court. Milat was also quoted as making comments during the inquest like; "I could ask how could they let a 14-year-old [Amanda Robinson] run around at midnight?“ Although Milat was working in the area at the time of the crimes, no case was brought against him due to a lack of evidence. Similar inquiries were held in 2005 relating to the disappearance of Briffa, but no charges were laid. Other crimes have been postulated in the media to having been committed by Milat:

Personal life

Milat met 16-year-old Karen Duck in 1983, who was pregnant by his cousin. They married in 1984 and had one daughter of their own. However, Duck left Milat in 1987 due to domestic violence; they divorced in October 1989. At trial, she described Milat as "gun crazy", recalling him killing kangaroos on a visit to Belanglo State Forest. Milat's great-nephew, Matthew Milat, and his friend Cohen Klein (both aged 19 at the time of their sentencing) were sentenced in 2012 to forty-three years and thirty-two years in prison, respectively, for murdering David Auchterlonie on his seventeenth birthday in the Belanglo State Forest in November 2010. Matthew struck Auchterlonie with the double-headed axe as Klein audio-recorded the attack with a mobile phone. On 18 July 2005, John Marsden, Milat's former lawyer, made a deathbed statement in which he claimed that Milat had been assisted by his sister, Shirley Soire (1946–2003), in the killings of the two British backpackers. In May 2015, Milat's brother Boris told Steve Aperen, a former homicide detective, that Milat had admitted responsibility for accidentally shooting taxi driver Neville Knight with a shotgun during an attempted robbery on 6 March 1962, when Milat was aged 17. Knight was left paralysed from the waist down. Milat was never caught and an innocent man, Allan Dillon, was subsequently convicted and served five years in prison for the crime. After conducting polygraph tests with Boris and Dillon, Aperen became convinced that Milat shot Knight. Authorities never charged Milat with the crime, although they noted similarities with the way Milat paralysed many of his victims before they were murdered. Similarly, superintendent Clive Small, who led the investigation into the backpacker murders, also believed that Milat was responsible for the shooting of Knight.

In popular culture

Milat has been the subject of several books. A book by Milat's nephew, Alistair Shipsey, The Milat Letters (ISBN 1785547844), was released in 2016. In December 2018, Australian author Amanda Howard was writing a book on his crimes, based on her correspondence with Milat. A miniseries on the Seven Network, Catching Milat, screened in 2015 and focused on the members of Task Force Air who tracked Milat. It was loosely based on the book Sins of the Brother by Mark Whittaker and Les Kennedy. Milat's murders inspired the Wolf Creek films. In 2021, a four-part documentary series entitled Ivan Milat: Backpacker Murderer was released which examined the possibility that Milat had twenty additional victims.