Ivan Robert Marko MILAT

The story....

In 1992, Caroline Clarke and Joanne Walters, who were British travellers, met in Australia and teamed together with the aim of touring around the south of the country. In April that year, they left a backpackers hotel in Sydney and headed for the south-east of New South Wales. In September their bodies were found buried in an area known as "Executioners drop".

In October 1993, two more bodies were discovered along the same stretch of the remote Belanglo Forest. The bodies were identified as those of 19 year old James Gibson and Deborah Everist, also 19. Both had gone missing since 1989. It then became apparent that a serial killer had been responsible for all these murders.

On 1 November the same year, a fifth body was found. This body was only able to be identified by dental records. It was established that this body, was that of Simone Schmidl, who was a twenty year old German national who had vanished in January of 1991.

An intensive search of the area (by more than 300 police officers) was conducted and two skeletons were found on November 4. These proved to be remains of 21 year old Gabor Kurt Neugebauer and his 20 year old girlfriend, Anja Susanne Habschied, who were German tourists that had vanished two years previously. Anja had been decapitated. At the same time police revealed that all victims had been killed by multiple stab wounds.

Progress continued to be made in the forensic examinations of evidence gathered at the scene - Cartridges from a .22 Ruger rifle had been found near the body of 22 year old Caroline Clarke and these were being tested against some cartridges that had been taken from a farmhouse outside Sydney. A possible eighth victim was provisionally added to the list of victims in November. An examination of unsolved murders, turned up the name of Diane Pennacchio.

Diane was a 29 year old mother who's body had been found in a wood in 1991. She had been stabbed to death and the body (as in the case of previously discovered bodies) had been placed face down with hands placed behind her back. All bodies had been found near a fallen tree. A triangular canopy of sticks had been built over the bodies and covered with ferns.

It was not until the end of February 1994, that there was a breakthrough in the police investigation. Two British hitch-hikers came forward, following accounts of the murders. A 20 year old woman, stated to police that while she had been backpacking in January 1990, in New South Wales, she was offered a lift, which she had accepted. While in the vehicle the driver had behaved strangely and because of this she had got out of the vehicle and ran into the Belanglo Forest. As she had done so, the driver fired shots at her, but they had missed.

The second British tourist was Paul Onion, who told police that in 1990 he had accepted a lift from a driver in the same area. The driver of the vehicle had produced a gun from the glove compartment of the vehicle. Paul ran away from the vehicle but the driver had fired shots at him. Paul was able to identify this man from police photographs and identify the vehicle that had been used in that incident.

In May 1994 police carried out seven dawn raids on properties and as a result three men were taken into custody. One of these men was 49 year old Ivan Milat, who was charged with armed robbery and discharging a firearm - he was later to be charged with the murders. Another of the men was Ivan Milat's brother; Walter. During the raids police found a .22 calibre rifle that matched the type used in the backpacker murders.

Ivan Milat appeared in court on May 23. He did not enter a plea. Police investigations continued and on May 30 Ivan Milat was charged with the murder of seven backpackers. At the beginning of February 1995 Milat was remanded in custody until June that same year. In March 1996 the trial of Milat finally opened and in July he was sentenced to "life" imprisonment.