Australia’s most notorious serial killer is dead.

The most recent photo of Milat before his death.

At 4:07am on Sunday, 27th October 2019, the backpacker killer Ivan Milat breathed his last breath in Long Bay jail hospital.
Milat, convicted in 1996 of killing seven backpackers was moved from solitary confinement in Goulburn jail to Long Bay in May after being diagnosed with oesophagus and stomach cancer.
While the country breathes a sigh of relief that the oxygen he breathed, and treatment he received (at the expense of the tax-payer) can now go to people who deserve it, many of us are still left feeling cheated.
Ivan Milat went to his deathbed denying any responsibility for his crimes. He admitted nothing, and according to officers at the prison, showed no remorse whatsoever. Check out the video from Sky News below!

The story of the backpacker murders is ingrained in the minds of most Australians. In late 1992, the first bodies were found in Belanglo State Forest south of Sydney. Before long, a total of seven bodies were found, and police confirmed that there was a serial killer on the loose. In 1994, Ivan Milat was arrested at his home in Liverpool. In 1996 after an 18 week trial, he was found guilty of all seven murders.
The story should have ended there, but Milat, described by those who knew him as a psychopath and control freak, had other ideas. During his first few years at Maitland jail, he swallowed razor blades and even planned escape attempts. When Maitland jail closed down he was moved to Goulburn’s maximum security prison.
In January 2009, Milat was in the headlines again after he cut off his little finger with a plastic knife. His intention had been to mail it to the high court to force an appeal, but this went nowhere.
Over the years Milat has had numerous supporters who have protested his innocence. At his trial, the evidence against him was overwhelming, so Milat’s defence was that a member of the Milat family had committed the murders, but not Ivan.

The timeline of victims:

• Caroline Clarke (21) and Joanne Walters (22) from the UK met while grape picking here in Australia. They spent some time in Sydney before hitchhiking to Melbourne. They were last seen alive hitching a lift at Casula on the Hume Highway on April 18th, 1992. Their remains were the first to be found on September 19th, 1992 by joggers in Belanglo State Forest. Clarke had been shot ten times in the head, while Walters had been stabbed multiple times.
• Deborah Everist and James Gibson (19) from Melbourne met in Sydney while backpacking. In December 1989 they planned to hitch a ride to a festival 500km south of Sydney and went missing soon after. Their bodies were found in October 1993. Gibson was found in the foetal position with eight stab wounds. Metres away, Everist had been savagely beaten. Her jaw was broken and there was a knife wound to her head.
• Simone Schmidl (21) was a German backpacker who had been to Australia before. She had hitched to Melbourne from Sydney and thought it was safe. She was last seen on January 20th, 1991 leaving Sydney. Her remains were discovered on 1st November 1993. She had suffered multiple stab wounds; her spine had been severed and her heart and lungs had been punctured.
• The last victims to be found on 4th November 1993 were that of Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied. Neugebauer had been shot in the head six times, while Habschied was decapitated. Her head was never found. The two backpackers were last seen on Boxing Day 1991 heading from Kings Cross hostel to Mildura.

The NSW police had now found all victims in Belanglo, but they were still no closer to catching the killer. However, the investigation drew an ace card when a British backpacker came forward and told police he had accepted a lift from a stranger who called himself ‘Bill’ several years earlier.
After a while, the atmosphere in the vehicle changed, and Paul felt uncomfortable. On the Hume Highway, not far from Belanglo, the driver

Paul Onions during an interview with 60 Minutes.

pulled up and pulled out a gun. According to Onions, he jumped out of the car and ran in zig zags. Two shots were fired before Onions flagged down a passing motorist who picked him up.
From the beginning of the investigation, the Milat family had been one of interest to the police. The parents were Yugoslavian immigrants with ten children; many of whom were well known to police for petty crimes. Several members of the family had even spent time in prison.
The list of suspects began to narrow, and when Onions was shown images of the possible suspects, he picked Milat out immediately.
Upon investigating the movements of Ivan Milat, police found that he was the only member of his family who had no alibi on each occasion the backpackers disappeared.

Milat on his way to court. 1996.

On 22nd May 1994, Ivan Milat was arrested at his home in Liverpool. Upon investigating his home, a treasure trove of evidence was found, including camping equipment belonging to the backpackers, rope with blood matching that of the backpackers, as well as the gun which had been used to shoot them.
Milat’s trial began in 1996. It lasted 18 weeks, and on one of the last days of the trial, when someone was talking about the gloves used during the murders, Milat cried,
“I never used no…’ and went silent. The trial for all practical purposes was over. On 27th July, he was found guilty of all seven murders, plus the abduction and attempted murder of Paul Onions.
The trial judge however, did remark that it was inevitable that Ivan Milat did not act alone when he committed the murders. This was based on the different methods used to slay the backpackers. Many theories have been put forward over the years, suggesting his accomplice may be a member of his family; particularly his sister with whom he shared a house with and was very close to.
Chillingly, as recently as this year, members of the public have come forward and told of their encounters with Ivan Milat. Two people I know personally have told stories of their own personal encounters with the killer.
Members of the Milat family told of how their mother could not go to her grave without knowing the truth. According to members of the Milat family, the last time she went to see him in prison before she died, she received an admission from Ivan.
But the ultimate question is: Just how many secrets did Ivan Milat take with him to the grave?
According to his brother Boris, the total number is around 29-30.
“Everywhere Ivan has lived, people have disappeared.”

One consolation is knowing that this killer can’t hurt anyone else as he now rots in hell.

Until next time friends,
xoxo Brett