Transcript: 33. The Backpacker Murders (Part 2) - Ivan Milat | Australia

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Our cases have been researched using open source and archive materials. It deals with true crimes and real people. Each episode is produced with the utmost respect to the victims, their families and loved ones. 

Note:

Today’s show is the second episode of a two-part case. We recommend you listen to our episode “Australia – The Backpacker Murderer (Part 1)” before listening to Part 2.

Bruce Pryor, a potter who lived in Bundanoon near Belanglo State Forest, took an interest in the case of the Backpacker Murders in 1992 and had a feeling that there could be more bodies in the forest. It is a vast and rugged terrain and not many people go there. Bruce went into the forest occasionally to collect firewood, so he knew it well. After Joanne Walters and Caroline Clarke were found in September 1992, he made a point of going to the forest every week, looking, searching… Perhaps even if he saw a hunter or someone else that were there often, who he could identify, it would be a clue. Or evidence, anything… It became his personal obsession.

Then, in October 1993 he found a human skull. The reality of what he was dealing with, hit home with Bruce, knowing that he was walking in the killer’s footsteps. It was a creepy feeling, so he left as quickly as he could and notified authorities. What Bruce didn’t know, was that at the scene, were the remains of two people. The bodies were identified by dental records. Bruce had found the young missing couple from Victoria, James Gibson and Deborah Everist, who had disappeared four years before. 

James had been stabbed eight times. A large knife cut through his upper spine – which would have paralysed him. Deborah’s skull had several fractures, she was viciously beaten. Her jaw was broken and she had knife wounds to her head. Her tights were used to tie her up.

Their remains were found just about 600 yards from the scene where Caroline and Joanne were found, in an area called “Miner’s Dispair”. There was the same make-shift firepit near their remains with multiple cigarette butts. A tree stump at the scene was riddled with bullet holes.

>>Intro Music

Police officers from across NSW arrived at Belanglo to conduct a search and journalists weren’t far behind. It turned out to be the biggest search ever conducted in Australia. But even with more than 300 officers, they were dwarfed by the enormity of the task. Belanglo stretches over 25 square miles (that’s 40 square kilometres). With both crime scenes within 50 yards of a dirt track, rows of searchers started from the roads and worked their way into the forest.

A community meeting was called in Bowral to appease local residents – over 200 people showed up. Bowral is a grand little town with weekend homes and estates, crimes like these murders were very uncommon. Police assured residents that they were increasing their presence in the area and that they were working around the clock to achieve results. 200 people showed up. The biggest concern was, because the forest was not much of a tourist attraction, was the murderer a local. Could the monster be one of their own?

A task force was created to give their undivided attention to the case. It was called ‘Taskforce Air’ and consisted of 15 detectives, two intelligence officers and additional forensic support. It eventually grew to 33 detectives and 11 analysts, supported by ballistics and crime scene investigators.

A good starting point was to look at the man who found the bodies: Bruce Pryor. It is not uncommon for a killer to inject himself into an investigation and police were suspicious of his explanation. Was he only an amateur sleuth, or did he know more? Bruce was caught off-guard, he thought he was helping and could not believe that he had become a suspect. It didn’t take investigators long to exclude him as a person of interest and they were back to square one.

During an organised police search of Belanglo on November 1st 1993, officers lined up, side by side, off a dirt track running through the forest. As they were about to start their search, the officer at the very end of the line noticed a boot in the shrubs. The body of a woman was covered with branches and leaves so as to conceal her. Dental records confirmed that it was 22-year-old German backpacker, Simone Schmidl.

Simone had eight stab wounds to chest and back, two of which had severed her spine. A piece of string, tied like a noose was found near her body. It looked like it was used as a restraint. 22 calibre shell casings were found at the scene. Also at the scene, was another signature make-shift fireplace. The scene was deep into the forest, about a 30-minute drive. Simone must have known that she was in serious danger before she was murdered. 

Eventually, Simone’s camping equipment and round, black-rimmed eyeglasses turned up in the bush near Wangaratta, a small town in Victoria, about 4 hours’ drive south from Belanglo.

Sadly, before NSW police could inform Simone’s mother, Erwenia Schmidl, she heard that her daughter’s body was discovered on the news.

Two days later, another grisly discovery was made: the bodies of Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Hapshied. Their bodies were found in close proximity to Simone Schmidl’s resting place. 

20-year-old Anja was decapitated. Gabor was shot six times in the head. Like Caroline Clarke, Gabor was used for target practice. The zipper on his jeans was undone, with the button fastened. It wasn’t clear if Anja watched Gabor die or if he witnessed her decapitation before he was murdered. To this day Anja’s head has never been found.

Anja’s rings and bracelet were still on her body. Travellers cheques, student cards and airline tickets with Anja and Gabor’s name were found at the scene, inside a plastic bag. This made investigators conclude that robbery was not the motive.

Bullets and cartridges were found and compared to ballistic evidence found at the other scenes. Altogether close to 200 bullet casings were found. All bullets were fired by the same weapon, with the same distinctive defect. There was a definitive link between all the murders, the same person was most likely responsible for all seven.

The Habschied and Neugebauer families were notified by NSW Police by phone, as they were in Germany at the time. The truth about what happened to their bright and adventurous children must have been far worse than anything they could ever have imagined.

By mid-November, the two week search of the Belanglo State Forest was called off. 300 police had grown to 400 in the course of the search and at the end of the last day, all 400 police paused for a minute’s silence in respect to the victims of the Backpacker Murderer.

Police felt they had to act soon, as backpackers and tourists didn’t want to travel to NSW anymore. The murders had a negative impact on tourism to the state and it also tainted Australia’s image as a carefree, safe place to visit. 

There was tremendous pressure on police to catch whoever had committed these heinous crimes. Their best evidence at that moment in time, was still the spent bullet casings. A call to hand in any Ruger 10-22 semi-automatic rifle in NSW was made and each one that was brought in, was tested by the ballistics centre in Sydney. Again, this was a very time consuming exercise. 

All time and resources could not be focussed on ballistics alone. Police had to look had what the victims’ profile’s, what did they have in common? Firstly, they were all backpackers and no one was local to the area where their bodies were found. They were all hitch hiking and many had stayed in hostels in Sydney before using public transport to Liverpool Station. All the bodies had been stabbed multiple times, some bodies were shot. The victims were shot at the scene in the forest where they were found – the locations were scenes of torture and murder, they were not simply dumping spots.  

Due to the brutal, physical nature of the attacks, and considering the profile drawn up the previous year by forensic psychologist Dr Milton, police concluded that the killer was male. He left some of the victims’ personal effects to serve as clues, but he was not consistent in what he left behind and what he took with him as trophies. The travellers’ backpacks were mostly missing, and police hoped that this would be the evidence to tie a person to the crimes, when they eventually surfaced. 

The typical victim was a backpacker, without anything of great monetary value on his or her person. Joanne Walters and Caroline Clarke were made to undress and then dress again. Caroline was shot repeatedly and Joanne stabbed multiple times. It was suggested that victims, both males and females, had been sexually assaulted. But due to the advanced stage of decomposition, it could not be proved. Whoever was behind the murders, seemed to be killing for sport, nothing else.

All the bodies were covered with branches and leaves and left in a disturbingly symmetrical manner. The scenes were always located, just off dirt roads that run through the forest. What concerned investigators, was the fact that there was an increase in the nature of the ritualistic aspect of the murders: each body was found lying in a north-south direction, with heads to the south. The murders seemed to be taking longer. The killer he was enjoying himself more and more.

The post-mortem examinations showed that the killings were extremely violent. The victims had no defensive wounds, which shows that they had no chance to escape or fend off their brutal and controlling attacker.

Besides the physical violence, the story of psychological torture emerged from evidence at the crime scenes. Shattered beer bottles indicated that he had lined the bottles up on a tree stump and used them as targets, possibly showing off his marksmanship to his petrified victims, before he turned on them. He would sever the spine of the victim who posed the biggest threat, like Gabor Neugebauer, for instance. Gabor was left paralysed and could not do anything to defend himself or Anja Habschied as the killer went about his work.

A second forensic psychologist, Tim Watson-Munro, said:

“I believe this person is bad rather than mad. He's not suffering from insanity. It may well be that, as with other serial killers, he is able to mask his badness between episodes of killing. It may be that the person goes to work every day, is in a relationship with someone and has children.”

There was a madman on the loose, living amongst the general population. It was a ticking timebomb, police needed all the help they could get. An appeal went out to the public for any information that could lead to the capture of this monster. A $500,000 reward was offered – at the time it was the largest reward ever offered in Australia. 

Police had to admit at a press conference that they were indeed dealing with a serial killer. The story spread like wild fire and the press dubbed the killer: ‘The Backpacker Murderer’.

Because the victims were from three different countries, the story made international news.

Police were hopeful that there were people who had managed to get away from the killer and publicised the story widely, hoping that someone could come forward.

Within the first 24 hours of the hotline, 5000 tips were called in. Eventually more than one million people called the hotline.

One caller was a woman, who had an unsettling story of an incident that took place in 1977. She was hitch hiking with a female friend from Liverpool to Canberra. A man in his early thirties had given her a ride and shortly after Mittagong, he turned onto a dirt road, explaining to them that it was a shortcut. He pulled over and said that he needed to urinate. He walked around the car and flung open her door, trying to pull her out. He said: 

“Ok girls, who’s first?” 

The woman punched him and both women managed to run away, into the bush, where they hid, scared to death as they could hear him searching for them. Fortunately, the man gave up and drove off. The two women found a farm house, where the home owners helped them, and gave them a ride back to the highway where they continued on to Canberra. They never reported the incident.

Another woman called to say she was flagged down by a young man who was running away from a pick-up truck, parked on the side of the road. She stopped when he screamed: 

“Help! He has a gun!” 

The woman was Joanne Berry and she remembered the young man was from England and his name was Paul Onions. Two days later, Paul Onions himself called the hotline. Paul was back in England and read about the case in a newspaper. He realised that the bodies were found close to where he had his encounter with the man who gave him a ride four years before. He called the hotline to give police a description of the man. Tragically, his statement got lost in the volume of tips being called in. Nobody followed up with Paul.

Police buckled under the pressure of the mammoth investigation. Their systems weren’t designed for a search of this magnitude. It was the early 90’s and the world was in a phase of transition from paper filing systems to computer databases. It was a nightmare to cross-reference reports in the NSW police administrative system. A more sophisticated computerised system had to be set up, ready for use as soon as possible. A team of computer technicians was created and they set up a functional database in record time. But it was still a time consuming system, as reports and statements were often taken down by hand, then had to be manually entered onto the database and checked to was done, data ensure it was correct and could be easily referenced when needed. 

A programme called Netmap was also implemented, which showed satellite images of areas with new growth in the Belanglo State Forest where possible additional burial sites were located. It showed change of colour in satellite imagery on the days of the abductions, proving that the victims were murdered on the same day they disappeared.

Police asked an American anthropologist, Dr Basham to look at the crime scene at Belanglo. Like Dr Milton in 1992, Basham also felt there were two people committing the murders. One was more dominant and the other one more subservient. He also remembered his home in Georgia, where it was common for people to go into the woods and shoot at targets, anything they could find: watermelons, dead animals... The people who typically did this, were very close – lifelong friends or brothers. The solidarity between the band of brothers would typically override rules and laws of society. Dr Basham suggested that the Belanglo killer was from a large family who saw themselves as a unit, existing separate to the rest of society. Dr Milton, the forensic psychiatrist, agreed and also felt the family was isolated from the community and owned many firearms.

Police remembered the man called Alex Milat and his strange eyewitness statement. When they looked into his background before, they learnt that he was from a large gun-loving family. The Milat-family was the exact kind of family described by the profilers.

The problem was: there were so many Milat brothers. How could they narrow it down? First they looked at who lived in the Southern Highlands or Southwest Sydney. Who would have the best opportunity to kidnap the hitch hikers? Police found a property on Wombeyan Caves Road that was owned by three Milat brothers. It is located roughly half-way between Liverpool and Belanglo State Forest.

At this point of the investigation, fortunately, Paul Onions’ statement was found amongst the thousands of tips and police followed up with him. His statement fitted exactly what they thought had happened to all the victims, they realised that Paul would be a crucial witness. NSW Police arranged with British police to interview Paul at his home in England. Paul had a lot of detail in his description of the man who had picked him up. Of all the Milat brothers, Paul’s description fit Ivan the best. Ivan was also the only one who had owned a vehicle that fitted Paul’s description: a Nissan Patrol pick-up.

But Ivan did not own his Nissan anymore – in fact he had sold it shortly after Joanne Walters and Caroline Clarke’s bodies were discovered. Police managed to track down his car. The man who had bought it off him, told police that he had found a bullet under the front seat. It was a .22 Winchester bullet, similar to those found at the crime scenes.

Police looked at the dates of the abductions and checked the movements of all the Milat brothers on the days in question. Ivan was the only one who was not accounted for on the days of all the abductions. 

Ivan and Richard Milat both worked at Boral at the time of the murders. Richard was always known to be wild and unpredictable, where Ivan was reliable. Work records showed that on each day the victims were abducted, Richard was clocked in at work. Ivan was not. Interestingly it also showed, that around the time James Gibson’s backpack was found at Galston Gorge, Ivan was working close-by.

The net was closing in on Ivan Milat. In 1993, he lived in Eagle Vale, in the Liverpool area, southwest of Sydney. Neighbours knew him to be polite and friendly. He was often seen outside, washing his car – he took a great deal of pride in it. He had worked for The Department of Main Roads, as a road surface sprayer for 16 years. After that, he found a job at Boral. 

He had a criminal record, but all his offences seemed to be non-violent. On the surface, he didn’t look like he could be the guy they were looking for. Of all the Milat brothers, he was probably the least likely suspect, but all evidence said otherwise.

Then, researchers discovered a 23-year-old document, about the sexual assault case against Ivan in 1971. He followed the same pattern of behaviour back then: he had offered the two women in the Bowral-area a ride, drove them into the forest and proceeded sexually assaulting the first woman. The other woman was in the back seat and tried her best to fend him off, but he was too strong. He shouted at her, ordering her to look the other way. He didn’t want her to see him having sex. This became significant in the Backpacker Murders case, as the victims in the crime scenes were separated, which strongly suggests that someone was in fact sexually assaulted.

This was the case where Ivan was not convicted as his defence convinced the court that it was a case of consensual sex. But with the power of hindsight, that case looked a whole lot different too.

Paul Onions was flown to Australia where he was presented with a photo line-up. He positively identified Ivan Milat as the man who had given him a ride all those years before, The man who had introduced himself as ‘Bill’. Paul had no doubt whatsoever that he was the right man.

Detectives decided it was time to pay Alex Milat a visit, as he was the first person to cast a spotlight onto the Milat family. They went to Alex Milat and his wife, Joan’s home in Woombye, Queensland and interviewed them both. Alex and Joan were shocked when they were told that Ivan was most likely The Backpacker Murderer, and co-operated as much as they could. When investigators were about to leave, Joan remembered about a backpack that Ivan had given to them. Ivan had said that it belonged to a friend of his who returned to New Zealand and didn’t need it anymore. The backpack belonged to Ivan’s third known victim, German-born Simone Schmidl.

Police don’t know why Joan handed over the backpack. And why they waited so long give it to police if they thought it was suspicious. Police concluded that both Alex and Joan realised Ivan was guilty during that interview, and there was no use covering for him anymore. Police checked Alex’s home phone records, and found it interesting that Alex did not call Ivan to tip him off and warn him about the investigators being hot on his trail. 

On Sunday, the 22nd of May 1994 at 6:30am, armed police descended onto Ivan Milat’s home at 22 Cinnabar Street, Eagle Vale. Police called him on his home telephone to wake him up and ordered him to come out of the home. He was asleep in bed with his girlfriend, Chalinder Hughes. He hung up the phone and went back to sleep. Police called a second time and threatened to force their way inside if needed. This time, Ivan and Chalinder came outside. When asked why he didn’t respond the first time, Ivan said that he thought it was a prank.

Police served a warrant for his arrest and entered the home to commence their search for any evidence that would link Ivan Milat to the Backpacker Murders. They found their first evidence by just walking into the home. Milat’s home was referred to as an ‘Aladdin’s cave of evidence’ by Clive Small, lead investigator into the murders. There was a map of the Belanglo State Forest and a photo of Chalinder Hughes wearing Caroline Clarke’s striped Benetton sweatshirt, Later Shirley said it was hers. But that particular design was only ever sold in England, somewhere Shirley had never been. 

In their search of Ivan’s house, police found firearms, ammunition, a large hunting knife and a sword. Simone Schmidl’s tent, Deborah Everist’s sleeping bag and more camping equipment were all found in the garage. In the ceiling of the garage, there was a sort of attic, a roof cavity used for storage. One of the forensic technicians climbed into the area to have a closer look. At first it looked like there was nothing of significance, but once the insulation was removed, he could see a plastic bag, tucked into a hole in the wall. Inside the bag was a complete breach bolt assembly, a complete trigger assembly and an after-market magazine for a Ruger 10-22. The breach bolt held the key, it was literally the smoking gun: the individual marks made on cartridges found at the crime scenes, and it was a definitive match. 

After his arrest Ivan Milat denied having anything to do with the Backpacker Murders, despite all evidence found at his home, tying him to the victims.

On the same day, at the same time, police raided six other properties belonging to the Milat family. Multiple weapons and ammunition were seized, enough to fill two rooms with evidence at the police station. Ivan’s brothers Walter and Richard were also taken into custody that day on firearms charges and suspicion of being Ivan’s accomplices. 

Arrest & trial & sentence

Prosecution, or ‘The Crown’ as it is called in Australia, took three months to prepare the case against Ivan Milat. He was in remand, without the possibility of bail. Walter and Richard were released after they were fined for their firearm offences.

Shirley and William were the only two Milats who attended Ivan’s hearings. At his first hearing (when charges were laid against him) he sat emotionless as he pleaded innocent.

Ivan fired his lawyer of many years, John Marsden, in court and said that he preferred to defend himself. 

He accused police of framing him, planting evidence at his home, which meant that they had no way of linking him to the victims. He later claimed it was his family who planted the evidence to frame him. 

After some confusion as to his legal representation, Ivan settled on Terry Martin and Brisbane lawyer, Andrew Boe. 

On news footage, as a handcuffed Ivan Milat was and taken from an armored vehicle into court, he notoriously smiled and looked upbeat. Lead investigator, Clive Small said he believed that he was still in control at that point, he thought he would be released at any minute. He honestly thought he would get away with it.

Mark Tedeschi QC, argued for the state, keeping it simple and to the point:

“The backpackers were killed in ferocious and sustained attacks during which vastly more force was used than necessary to kill them. These killings were for killing’s sake.”

In the course of the trial, jurors were transported to Belanglo State Forest. The whole forest was closed off for an entire day, to protect the anonymity of the jury members. They were taken to each murder scene and could see where the bodies of all of the seven backpackers were found. No doubt that was an eerie and emotional experience as the deafening silence of the vast forest engulfed them. 

Back in court, Ivan’s ex-wife, Karen was brought in to testify against him. She had not seen him in the seven years since she’d left him. It was Karen who confirmed that Ivan sometimes used the name Bill, in fact, some people called him Bargo Bill (Bargo is another town in the Southern Highlands area). She said that they often went to the Belanglo State Forest while they were married and that Ivan knew his way around – he never needed a map. This statement contradicted Ivan’s testimony that he had never been to the forest. She also said:

“Ivan just loved guns. Ivan knew how to handle them and was confident about handling guns.”

Karen had the difficult task of testifying about their troubled marriage and painted the picture of Ivan being a violent and controlling man. After the trial, she was placed in witness protection. 

A clean cut Ivan, dressed in a navy blue suit, took the witness stand in his own defence. He denied having had anything to do with the backpacker murders or ever giving Paul Onions a ride. He also had no explanation as to how property of the victims happened to be in his possession and insisted that someone had planted it there in order to frame him.

Mark Tedeschi QC pointed out how ridiculous Ivan’s claim was:

“So, you ask the jury to accept that someone broke into your locked house, despite the burglar alarm, planted a Ruger rifle bolt in the ceiling of your garage, dropped the weapon’s receiver in one of your boots in the hall cupboard – making sure both gun parts were painted in the same camouflage colours you use on your firearms – then left a single fired cartridge, linked to the murder of Ms Caroline Clarke, in a plastic bag on the bed in a spare room?”

Ivan, who was usually confident and arrogant, was deflated and had no answer. His defence team could never quite bounce back from there. 

In his final address, Mark Tedeschi QC said:

“It is my submission there is only one person in the whole of Australia who matches all of those descriptions – the man, the car, the equipment and the place – and that is the accused. It’s almost as though the accused left a fingerprint in the forest because of the incredible coincidence of all the items being linked to him.” 

The jury deliberated for four days. On the 27th of July 1996, Ivan Milat was convicted of all seven backpacker murders and sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences with an additional 18 years. It is safe to say, he will never get out of prison.

Manfred Neugebauer, Gabor’s father, said that Gabor was a big and strong young man who stood over 6ft tall (that’s about 1.86cm). He remembered Gabor fetching firewood in the forest in Germany – he would cut large logs and carry whole stumps. Manfred was convinced that it would have taken more than one man to kill Gabor.

During the trial, Ivan’s defence blamed Wally and Richard Milat for the murders, but they were never charged. By turning the blame to his brothers, Ivan broke the Milat-code. But they understood why it needed to be done, even if it was only to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the jury members. But it did not work. 

Wild-card Richard Milat did speak about the murders at work. He said there were more bodies out there, that they hadn’t found the two Germans yet. That was before Gabor and Anja were discovered. But Richard claimed he was only speculating after reading the newspaper. A tent and sleeping bags belonging to Joanne and Caroline were found at Richard’s home. He claimed he found them at his mother’s house and took it. 

Police didn’t buy it, but they did feel that Richard was too disorganised and too much unlike Ivan to have been involved in such a dark and private past-time with his older brother. But it would also be unlikely for Ivan to have involved anyone outside of the family. So, if one or more of his brothers did assist him, which one was it? What police forgot to take into consideration, was Ivan’s close relationship to one of his sisters.

Throughout his life, there were only two women who could not do any wrong in Ivan’s eyes. They were his mother Margaret and one of his sisters, Shirley. He shared his house at Eagle Vale with Shirley and there was talk that their relationship was incestuous. Some members of the Milat clan said that it was definitely the case, others said they didn’t believe it was possible. Shirley could never confirm or deny this story, as it only came out after her death. She suffered a long illness and passed away in 2003.

Interestingly, a theory emerged, naming her as Ivan’s accomplice in the murders. If she were present when Ivan picked up the hitch hikers, the presence of a woman perhaps made it appear to be safe. They would simply look like a friendly couple heading down south, offering a rides to backpackers. Ivan’s own defence lawyer admitted shortly before his own death, that he did not think Ivan acted alone. He was adamant that it would not have been one of Ivan’s brothers, but he highlighted the fact that, of all the Milats, Shirley was the closest to Ivan, and the most likely accomplice – if he did in fact have one.

All the witnesses who managed to escape – Paul Onions and Ivan’s sexual assault victims – all said that Ivan Milat was alone when he picked them up. He never stopped to let anyone else into the vehicle either. Perhaps the fact the victims were shot and stabbed does not indicate that there were two attackers. Perhaps that was Ivan indulging in the act of torture – he stabbed his victims to kill them, then shot at them, using them as targets. Remember, although most of his victims were travelling in pairs, he severed spines of three: James Gibson, Gabor Neugebauer and Joanne Walters, paralysing them, so they posed no threat to him any longer. And after witnessing all of that, the other victims were probably too scared to fight him. 

Lead Investigator, Clive Small concluded that Ivan was a loner and a control freak who would never have trusted anyone to help him kill. 

Although murderers would typically have a specific method of preference, either stabbing or shooting for instance, Ivan Milat used both. He enjoyed the violence of the stabbings. The shooting was purely for sport, to practice his marksmanship.

Police also wondered why Ivan stopped his murder spree after the murders of Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied. More than a year had passed after the first bodies of his victims were discovered. Perhaps he was laying low. Perhaps his relationship with Chalinder Hughes was the reason. When he was married to Karen, he also did not commit any known murders. As long as he was in a controlling relationship and had a submissive woman in his life, he did not have the need to go out and kill. All the murders were committed when he was not in a stable relationship where he felt HE was in control.

Another question that plagued investigators was: when did Ivan Milat start killing people? How many murders were unsolved and forgotten, perhaps before he was involved with Marilyn and later Karen in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. What was his actual body count?

One of the many lawyers hired and then fired by Ivan, claimed that he believed Ivan had killed more than 100 people over two decades.

Police also believe he committed more murders than the seven that he was convicted for. Lead Investigator Clive Small estimates the number to be an additional four or five, not quite as many as 100. But Ivan never admitted to the murders he was convicted of, so chances are, no one would ever know the exact scale of his terror.

Other suspected murders and charges

In January 1988, bush walkers found a badly decomposed body in Jenolan State Forest, near the Blue Mountains, about a 100 miles, or 160kms west of Sydney. The victim was 18-year-old Peter Letcher. He was last seen alive three months before when he had hitched a ride from his girlfriend’s home in Sydney’s southwest. He had just asked his girlfriend to marry him, but she said no, as she was only 15 years old and felt she was too young. Rejected and aimless, Peter left Sydney.

There were many similarities in Peter’s murder to the Backpacker Murders and police feared that the Jenolan State Forest could be a second murder and burial site. On the 8th of August 1996, a team of investigators began searching the area of the Blue Mountains. No evidence of any further killings was found.

In 2001, Ivan Milat testified at an inquest into the disappearances of three young women. 20-year-old Leanne Goodall, 14-year-old Amanda Robinson and 15-year old Robyn Hickie all vanished from the Newcastle area within four months of each other in the summer of 1978 to 1979. Strike Force Fenwick was set up in 1998, after Ivan’s conviction, to reopen the cases of the missing Newcastle girls. They found that Ivan was working on the roads and staying at the local Star Hotel at the time of the disappearances. There was not enough evidence to charge him and that was the end of that. Milat is still the prime suspect in the murders, however.

Two years later, there was another inquest into the disappearance of hitchhiker Annette Briffa, but again the evidence was insufficient to press charges. 

In 2006, Ivan was named a suspect in the disappearance of two Sydney nurses in 1980. Gillian Jamieson and Deborah Balkan, both 20, were last seen at the Parramatta Hotel and unsubstantiated reports placed them at a party in Wollongong south of Sydney on the same night. But again, the case lacks evidence.

If you listened to the podcast Teacher’s Pet, you’d know that Chris Dawson was recently arrested for the murder of his wife, Lynne in 1980. Chris’ defence team are trying to sell the theory that Lyn was also one of Ivan Milat’s victims. But that does not look very likely.

In May 2015, Boris Milat came forward and claimed that Ivan had shot a taxi driver called Neville Knight in the 1960’s. An expert was brought in to conduct a polygraph on Boris and Allan Dillon, who was convicted of the shooting which paralysed the taxi driver. Both polygraphs indicated that the men were telling the truth: Ivan Milat was the one who shot Neville Knight.

Ivan was never charged for the shooting. But there is some comfort in the fact that he is in prison and he will never get out. He has appealed his conviction, but he was not granted a new trial. In protest, he cut off his little finger with a plastic serrated knife, let the blood drain out in the urinal of his prison cell, then placed it in an envelope addressed to the High Court of Australia.

Back in 1996, on Ivan’s first day in Maitland Gaol, while he was lining up, waiting to be assigned a cell, he was beaten up by another inmate.  

A year later, in May 1997, Ivan made an escape attempt with another inmate, George Savvas, a former Sydney councillor and convicted drug dealer. The plan was foiled and Savvas hung himself in his cell the same night. The very next day, Ivan was moved to the maximum security super prison in Goulbourn, less than an hour’s drive from the Belanglo State Forest.

Conclusion

Ivan’s brother George said Ivan confessed the murders to his mother before she died. None of the other members of the Milat family ever wanted to comment on this.

Ivan’s case has ripped the family apart. A family that once had a bond so strong, nobody would ever have thought it possible. The majority of Ivan’s siblings think he is innocent, while George, Boris and Richard believe him to be guilty. Boris even went so far as to accuse Ivan of more murders, he said in an interview on Australian Story: 

“Wherever Ivan has worked, people have disappeared.”

Seeing as Ivan worked on roads all over New South Wales for 16 years, that is a very unsettling thought. Boris has changed his name and won’t tell his family where he lives. They see him as a traitor because he would speak openly about the family to police and in television interviews.

In a sombre twist of fate, Ivan’s nephew, Matthew Milat, decided to follow in his infamous uncle’s footsteps. In 2010, Matthew and two friends Cohen Klein and Chase Day, took their childhood friend, David Auchterlonie to the Belanglo State Forest on his 17th birthday. David thought they were going to drink beer and smoke weed, but Matthew Milat had other plans.

As soon as they had reached an isolated spot, he started an argument with David, accusing him of talking about him behind his back. Chase Day, knew what was about to happen and tried to stop Matthew, who ordered him to go back to the car. Cohen Klein, on the other hand, took out his mobile phone and recorded the whole gruesome event.

Matthew Milat produced a double bladed axe, and hacked at David, all the while tormenting him with insults. Cohen kept rolling the recording until David expired. Matthew and Cohen were arrested two days later. They were tried and convicted, Matthew Milat received 42 years in prison with 30 years no parole. Cohen Klein received 32 years for his involvement.

Matthew showed absolutely no remorse and went so far as to say:

“You know me, you know my family. You know the last name Milat, I did what we do.”

If you’d like to hear more about the David Auchterlonie murder, our podcasting friend, Felon, covers the case in detail in Episode 6 – The Belanglo Forest Axe Murder.

If this case interested you, have a look at the resources used for this episode in the show notes. 

Also visit and like our Facebook Page at facebook.com/evidencelockerpodcast/” to see more about today’s case.

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