CNN The notorious Australian serial killer who inspired the horror film "Wolf Creek" has died after more than 20 years in jail, without confessing to any of the seven murders he was convicted for. Ivan Milat smiles in a police car after attending a court in Sydney, Australia, on November 4, CNN-affiliate 7 News said he had earlier been diagnosed with terminal esophagus and stomach cancer.
Milat was sentenced to life behind bars in over a series of brutal killings in the Australian state of New South Wales. Known as the "Backpacker Murders," the seven victims were men and women who were either tourists to Australia or were traveling through the area. The victims were stabbed, shot or beaten to death, with one decapitated. Their decomposed remains were discovered in the remote Belanglo State Forest, kilometers 85 miles from Sydney, between and There has long been speculation that there were many other victims who were never found.
Despite the abundance of forensic evidence, police made little progress over the following weeks and sought the assistance of a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Rod Milton. He concluded that the killer was in his mid-thirties, had a history of aggression, was familiar with the surrounding terrain and was motivated by the pleasure of inflicting pain. Furthermore, he did not believe that a serial killer was responsible, although it was possible that the killer might have an assistant.
Police progress continued to be slow, as all leads were painstakingly followed, including a thorough investigation of all suspicious disappearances over the previous decade. The discovery of the second set of bodies in October , injected new life into a case that had become stale despite the best investigative efforts.
The badly decomposed remains were those of Australian nationals James Gibson and Deborah Everist, who had gone missing in Despite the environmental damage wrought on the clothing, Gibson's zipper was intact; it was open, but with the top button fastened, in a similar manner to Walters. Post-mortem examinations again revealed paralyzing spinal knife wounds, inflicted in a similar manner to the earlier British victims.
Crime scene similarities included a small fireplace built near the bodies, making the police more certain that they were dealing with the same killer, and Superintendent Clive Small was placed in overall charge of the investigation, setting up a large task force to progress the investigations.
A massive manual search of the extended Belangalo Forest area was initiated, and it took almost a month before the next victim was found on November 1. German national Simone Schmidl had been missing since January , when she had been planning to hitchhike south from Sydney in search of work. The trademark fireplace and discarded. There was no doubt she had fallen victim to the same killer, showing the now-familiar spinal injury.
Three days later, the exhaustive search yielded the final two victims, German nationals Anja Habschied and her boyfriend, Gabor Neugebauer, who had been missing since just after Christmas The boy's jeans had been unzipped, but with the button fastened, and he had been strangled, as well as shot numerous times. The recovered bullets were a perfect match to previous crime scenes. The girl's body was missing its skull completely, which appeared to have been severed by a machete or sword.
Given the new bodies, Superintendent Small was forced to admit to the media that the police were looking for a serial killer, confirming what many already believed.
The wide range of methods employed by the killer, including beating, strangulation, shooting, stabbing and decapitation, as well as the sexual assault of both male and female victims, made it difficult to narrow down the suspect list, and police were also hampered by the sheer volume of calls from concerned citizens, who swamped the task force with information.
Various independent reports had led the police to develop suspicions about the Milat family and, in particular, Ivan, but they had no firm evidence linking him to the crimes. The international media interest served its purpose, however, the case got a break when Onions, the only one of Milat's victims to escape, contacted Australian authorities in April , with information about his attack. His account was further corroborated by an independent call from the woman who had rescued Onions and driven him to the police station, and police recognized quickly that, if Onions could identify Milat as his attacker, then they could perhaps tie him to the other murders.
Onions was flown out to Australia, where he identified Milat from a video line-up, giving police the excuse they needed to seek a warrant for the search of various Milat family properties. A simultaneous raid was carried out in the early hours of May 22, , which revealed a huge amount of evidence linking Milat to the crimes, including personal effects of many of the victims, including clothing, sleeping bags and other camping equipment, as well as vast quantities of ammunition.
They also found parts of disassembled weapons, including a. A long, curved cavalry sword, suitable for the beheading of Habschied, was found in a locked cupboard at the home of Milat's mother. Milat was arrested and taken into custody for questioning, where he was evasive and uncooperative. He was initially charged with the attack on Onions, then subsequently with the seven murders once ballistic evidence matched his weapon to the attacks.
He was remained in custody to await trial. He engaged the same lawyer who had represented him during his rape trial and acquittal, John Marsden, but fired him when he advised Milat to plead guilty.
Milat's trial was set for June , but the case was delayed by wrangles over legal aid, and finally went ahead in the full glare of international publicity in March Milat was charged with the seven murders, as well as the attack on Onions, and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Onions was the first prosecution witness, who was followed by testimony from the family members of the victims. Then followed details of the hundreds of exhibits and crime scene photos, as well as expert witness testimony. The prosecution case took 12 weeks to present. The defense called Milat to the stand; he denied any involvement in the killings, but performed poorly under cross-examination, making a bad impression on the jury.
The defense tried to imply that other members of the Milat family had committed the crimes, and had then set Ivan up, but the case presented was not credible. On July 27, , following a week trial, the jury returned after three days of consideration, finding Milat guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment for the attack on Onions and seven consecutive life sentences for each of the murders. When asked if he had any comment, Milat continued to protest his innocence.
Milat was first incarcerated in Maitland Prison, where he would stay for nearly a year. In May , authorities foiled a well-planned jailbreak attempt masterminded by Milat. After discovering the plot, the inmates were separated. His accomplice George Savvas was found hanged in his cell the next morning. He was then transferred to the maximum-security wing of Goulburn Prison, near Sydney. After a blade was discovered in his cell, Milat spent time in solitary confinement.
Milat has always maintained his innocence, and later staged self-mutilation attacks and hunger strikes in a bid to get his appeals heard. Police maintain that Milat may have been involved in many more murders than the seven for which he was convicted. In the summer of , Milat was ordered to give evidence at an inquest into the disappearances of three other female backpackers, but no case has been brought against him due to lack of evidence.
Similar inquiries were launched in , in relation to the disappearance of two nurses and again in , relating to the disappearance of hitchhiker Annette Briffa, but no charges have resulted. On November 8, , Milat gave a televised interview, in which he denied that any of his family had been implicated in the seven murders.
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