Ivan Milat

Ivan Robert Marko Milat (; 27 December 1944 – 27 October 2019), commonly referred to in media as the Backpacker Murderer, was an Australian-Croatian serial killer who was convicted for the abduction, assault, robbery and murder of 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, some dating as far back as 1962.

Early life Ivan Milat was born on 27 December 1944, to 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, New South Wales. 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, 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. While awaiting trial, Milat 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. Other related cases include: Simone Schmidl, 21, from Germany, who had been missing since leaving Sydney for Melbourne on 20 January 1991

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 from the first. Police quickly confirmed, via dental records, that the bodies were those of Clarke and Walters. 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. 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 to the north. It was later identified as that of Schmidl, Clothing found at the scene was not Schmidl's, but matched that of another missing backpacker, Habschied. Neugebauer had been shot in the head six times.

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. 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 also confirmed that Milat had not been working on any of the days of the attacks, 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. 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. 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.

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 30 December: Australians Deborah Everist and James Gibson, both 19, left Melbourne. The couple first went to Sydney, where they stayed at a backpacker hostel in the inner-city suburbs. After checking out, they were last seen heading for ConFest, planning to hitchhike to Albury. A day after they were last seen, a bushwalker found Gibson's camera by the road at Galston Gorge in northern Sydney. The person took the damaged camera home, and only reported it when Gibson's empty backpack was found in the same area a month later and was linked to the couple's missing persons report. Both were found in Belanglo State Forest on 5 October 1993 with Gibson being stabbed and Everist being beaten to death. 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 2006, a toaster and television given to Milat in his cell caused a public outcry. 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 2019, Milat was transferred to the Prince of Wales Hospital, , and was subsequently diagnosed with terminal esophageal 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 esophagus 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 asking for his funeral expenses to be covered by the New South Wales government. This request was denied by the New South Wales Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts. Consequently, his body was cremated, with the costs reimbursed from his prison account. In his final days, New South Wales Police stated that their officers visited Milat eight times, both in prison and in the hospital, to try to obtain a confession from him, but he did not confess. Various strategies were used during these visits, including different combinations of detectives and the use of recorded interviews with victims' families as an investigative technique, yet no additional information was provided to the police.

Additional investigations Police maintain that Milat could have been involved in more murders than the seven for which he was convicted. Their list ran to 58 people, and included individuals from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and New Zealand.

On 26 February 1971, expectant mother 20-year-old Keren Rowland and her sister were travelling in separate vehicles to a motel in Canberra. On 13 November 1987, unemployed 18-year-old Peter Letcher set off to hitchhike to his parents' house in Bathurst but never arrived. His bones were found by bushwalkers on a woodland track close to the Jenolan Caves tourist site on 21 January 1988. Robyn Hickie (18) went missing four months after Goodall disappeared on 7 April 1979. She was last seen at 7:15 p.m. at a bus stop opposite her home on the Pacific Highway at Belmont North. Police closed their brief investigation on the assumption she had disappeared of her own accord. A later witness claimed to have seen Milat at the Belmont Hotel on the night before Hickie vanished. Amanda Robinson (14) disappeared on 21 April 1979 while returning home to Swansea following a high school dance in Gateshead. She got off a bus and was last seen walking along Lake Road. Police started a thorough investigation, but the teen's case ultimately went unsolved. Susan Isenhood (22) vanished from the Mayfield neighbourhood of Newcastle after being dropped off by her brother close to the Stag and Hunter Hotel, before she hitchhiked to Taree. Her skeletal remains were found in 1986 in rainforest scrub at Possum Brush in the Kiwarrak State Forest, south of Taree. Milat has been considered as a possible suspect because investigators obtained RTA accommodation records that showed he was repairing sections of the Pacific Highway near Taree at that time of Isenhood's disappearance and was staying in a Taree hotel.

Milat was identified as a person of interest in the disappearances of Goodall, Hickie, and Robinson during a 2001 inquest. He had worked as a road worker in the late 1970s and was considered of significant interest in the inquiry, according to state coroner John Abernethy, due to his definite links to the Hunter Region.

On 4 July 1972, Anita Cunningham (19) and Robyn Hoinville-Bartram (18), both graphic design students who shared an apartment, left Melbourne with the intention of hitchhiking to Queensland. Eighty kilometres west of Charters Towers, Hoinville-Bartram's half-nude body was discovered beneath a bridge at Sensible Creek. She had been shot in the head with the same type of .22 calibre rifle that Milat used. Cunningham's remains were never discovered. Although authorities looked into Milat's actions around the time of the disappearances, they never were able to make an official connection. On 5 October 1973, Gabrielle Jahnke (18) and Michelle Riley (16) made the decision to hitchhike from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. Jahnke's corpse was discovered at the foot of a steep slope on the Pacific Highway at Ormeau on the northern Gold Coast, a week after they vanished. Ten days later, Riley's body was discovered in isolated bushland off Waterford-Tamborine Road at Logan Village in southern Brisbane. Her dress had been pushed up and she was not wearing underwear. Over her body, branches had been placed. The crime scene resembled Milat's modus operandi. Lydia Notz (21), a German national, was last seen at a friend's address in the Brisbane suburb of Chapel Hill, Queensland, on 31 October 1976. She left a note saying she would return in about a week, but has not been seen since. In 2021, criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro and forensic anthropologist Xanthé Mallett included Notz as a possible victim of Milat's in the television program Ivan Milat: Backpacker Murderer. Barbara Carol Brown (22) an American national, was last seen in New South Wales on 17 May 1978. Barbara set off from the Sydney suburb of Beecroft home of the brother and wife of her Melbourne boyfriend, intending to hitchhike to Queensland and then going across to Perth. She was never heard from again. In 2021, Brown was included as a possible victim of Milat's in the program Ivan Milat: Backpacker Murderer. On 11 January 1979, Alan Martin Fox (22) and his girlfriend Anneke Adriaansen (17) left Berowra Heights in Sydney to go to Kempsey and Byron Bay by hitchhiking. Fox and Adriaansen were last observed on Byron Bay's Main Street in the late afternoon of 12 January. According to police, the couple's disappearance was suspicious. Milat was mentioned as a potential suspect since he could have been on the NSW North Coast at the time. On 27 July 1979, around 19.30 pm, Toni Maree Cavanagh (15) and Kay Docherty (16) were last seen at a bus stop heading to a disco in Wollongong. A letter from the pair dated 1 August and bearing a Darlinghurst postmark arrived a week later saying they were in Sydney, but they were never seen or heard from again. Both are believed to have been murdered. Milat was investigated as a potential suspect during an inquest in 2013. However, no detailed evidence was provided to support such an assertion. Kim Cherie Teer (17) disappeared in East Melbourne around September 1979 with her black and white Border Collie while she was attempting to travel to Adelaide. She had been travelling across the country and in her final letter to her mother, Kim spoke of her fear of hitchhiking and asked for her birth certificate so she could get her driver's licence. Detectives believe that Kim may have met with foul play while trying to hitchhike. On 1 February 1980, Elaine Johnson (17) and Kerry Anne Joel (18) were last seen at Cronulla in Sydney. They are believed to have encountered violence while hitchhiking to Wyong in the Hunter Region on the Central Coast, New South Wales. Milat, who had been employed in the region they are thought to have been travelling to at the time of their disappearance, is the prime suspect. On 12 June 1980, aspiring nurses Deborah Balken and Gillian Jamieson (both 20) were last seen conversing with a man wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat in a Parramatta tavern in Sydney. Later, Balken contacted her flatmate to say they were taking a ride to a party in Wollongong. Milat, who had been employed in western Sydney in 1980, is known to have been questioned about their disappearances and was mentioned as a person of interest at the women's wrongful death inquiry. Joanne Lacey and Lesley David Toshak (both 20) were reported as missing on 20 April 1981 after leaving Sydney to hitchhike to Byron Bay on a surfing trip in Northern NSW. In 2012, a coroner ruled that both had died under suspicious circumstances. Authorities suspect that the double disappearance was related to the prior cases of missing couples who vanished from the area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On 10 March 1991, Carmen Verheyden (22) was last seen hitchhiking on the Hume Highway in Casula, close to Liverpool Sydney, at 12:30 am. After leaving a party, she was observed sitting outside the Crossroads Hotel with the intention of going back to her home in Westmead. She has not been seen since. There is speculation that Milat might have abducted and murdered Verheyden because she vanished from the same location as the backpacker abductions. In November 1993, Task Force Air detectives investigating Milat's crimes looked at the possibility that Verheyden was one of his victims, but were unable to find evidence. On 23 November 1992, Melony Merrille Sutton (14) and Chad Everett Sutton (16) were last seen by their mother in the Brisbane suburb of Inala, Queensland, at 8:35 am, when they departed for school on foot. It was subsequently discovered that they had intended to hitchhike to Perth to find their father. It is believed they passed via the Belanglo State Forest. They are still classified as missing.

Personal life Milat, aged 38 at the time, met 16-year-old Karen Duck in 1983, who was pregnant by his cousin. However, Duck left Milat in 1987 due to domestic violence; they divorced in October 1989. 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 , 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.