Australian serial backpacker killer Ivan Milat dies in prison

Australian serial backpacker killer Ivan Milat reportedly died at the age of 74 in Long Bay prison on October 27 without uttering a single detail of the gruesome killings in the early '90s. Milat was in Police custody since 1994 and has kept mum ever since he was interrogated and was expected to give details on his death bed. In May 2019, he was diagnosed with stomach and oesophageal cancer which ultimately took his life. He was sent by the authorities from a hospital last week to ensure he ended behind the bars, officials told media. 

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Mutilated corpses were found near Sydney forest

The road worker and self-styled cowboy who reportedly called himself “Tex” was convicted of murder in the deaths of three German, two British, and two Australian backpackers after giving them rides while they were hitchhiking. Mutilated corpses of the dead backpackers were found in a forest near Sydney over 14 months in 1992 and 1993 which gradually revealed the serial killings. Back in 1994, his convicting judge speculated that Milat has an accomplice in the crimes. He was cited responsible for other homicides and suspicious tourist disappearances. Yet after his death, Clive Small, a former detective who led the murder investigation said the media that he was confident Milat acted alone. He also suspects that there were more than seven victims, including three people whose bodies were found in other forests from as early as 1971.

The detective said that he had no respect for him at all as he should have given details begore his death, which he did not.

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Victims of Ivan Milat serial killings

The first body amongst Ivan's victims was found in September 1992 when two runners orienteering in the Belanglo State Forest southwest of Sydney found it hidden under broken branches and leaf litter. A second body was unearthed nearby, and dental records confirmed the victims were Britons Caroline Clarke, 21, and Joanne Walters, 22. A man searching for firewood found two more of them in 1993 who was later identified as Melbourne couple Deborah Everist and James Gibson, both 19, who’d gone missing in late 1989. Simone Schmidl, 21, and German couple Anja Habschied, 20, and Gabor Neugebauer, 21, who’d been missing since 1991 were also found later found in a mutilated state. 

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The escaped victim helped identify Milat

This led to intense investigation with a 20-person team of detectives and analysts. The Police also posted a reward of 500,000 Australian dollars for information for leads to the perpetrator. Over 300 police personnel spent three months searching 3,800 hectares (9,400 acres) of the forest. Later, the Police were aided by a British man, Paul Onions, who reported that he had accepted a ride from him while hitchhiking out of Sydney in 1990 and managed to escape from the car, running down the road while Milat shot at him. He has reported the Police about the Police in 1990 but it was only after he again contacted them after the serial killer investigation that the detectives could draw a connection. Finally, Milat was arrested on May 22, 1994. 

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(With inputs from Associated Press)