Backpacker Murders

The Backpacker Murders is a name given to a serial killing case that occurred in New South Wales, Australia during the 1990s. The bodies of seven missing young people were discovered partly buried in the Belanglo State Forest, 15 kilometres south west of the town of Berrima, New South Wales. Five of the victims were international backpackers visiting Australia, and two were Australian travellers from Melbourne. Ivan Milat was convicted of the murders and is serving seven life sentences in prison.

The term "Backpacker murders" specifically refers to the seven murders for which Ivan Milat was convicted. There is some speculation that Milat may have committed up to thirty more killings, but this has never been determined.

The Backpacker Murders

First and second cases

On 20 September 1992 Ken Seily, Keith Caldwell and Mark Hurry discovered a partially decaying corpse while orienteering in the Belanglo State Forest. [Brown, Malcolm: Bombs, Guns and Knives: violent crime in Australia (Syd, New Holland 2000) ISBN 1864366680 p. 148 ] The following day, police constables Roger Gough and Suzanne Roberts discovered a second body 30 metres from the first. Early media reports suggested that the bodies were of missing British backpackers Caroline Clarke and Joanne Walters, who had disappeared from the inner Sydney suburb of Kings Cross the previous April. However a German couple, Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied, had also disappeared from the Kings Cross area sometime after Christmas, 1991 and Simone Schmidl, also from Germany, had been reported missing for more than a year. It was equally possible that the bodies were of a young Victorian couple, Deborah Everist and James Gibson, who had been missing since leaving Frankston in 1989 . Police quickly confirmed, however, that the bodies were those of Clarke and Walters. Walters had been stabbed 9 times, and Clarke had been shot several times in the head. In spite of an intense search of the forest over the following five days, no further evidence or bodies were found by police. Investigators categorically ruled out the possibility of further discoveries within Belanglo State Forest.

Third and fourth discoveries and body identification

In October 1993 , local man Bruce Pryor discovered a human skull and thigh bone in a particularly remote section of the forest. [ Ibid. p. 149] He returned with police to the scene and two more bodies were quickly discovered and identified as Deborah Everist and James Gibson. The presence of Gibson's body in Belanglo was a puzzle to investigators as his backpack and camera had previously been discovered by the side of the road at Galston Gorge, in the northern Sydney suburbs almost 100 kilometres to the north.

Fifth, sixth and seventh discoveries

On 1 November 1993 a skull was found in a clearing in the forest by police sergeant Jeff Trichter. The skull was later identified as that of Simone Schmidl from Regensburg, Germany. She had been last seen hitch hiking on January 20, 1991. Oddly, clothing found at the scene was not Schmidl's, but matched that of another missing backpacker, Anja Habschied. Simone Schmidl was found to have died from numerous stab wounds to the upper torso.

The bodies of Habschied and her boyfriend Gabor Neugebauer were found on 3 November 1993 in shallow graves 55 metres apart. They had, like the other victims, been either shot or stabbed, or both.

earch for the identity of the serial killer

While aspects of each murder were similar, each murder had been committed somewhat differently. The killer had evidently spent considerable time with the victims both during and after murdering them, as campsites were discovered close to the location of each body and shell casings of the same calibre were also identified at each site. However, no two victims had been slain the same way. Joanne Walters and Simone Schmidt, for example, had been stabbed whereas Caroline Clarke had been shot numerous times in the head and stabbed "post mortem". Anja Habscheid had been decapitated and other victims showed signs of strangulation and severe beatings. Speculation arose that the crimes were the work of several killers, at least two, and Ivan Milat's sworn statement had suggested anywhere up to seven people were involved.

On 13 November, police received a call from Paul Onions in Britain. Onions had been backpacking in Australia several years before and had accepted a ride south out of Sydney from a man known only as "Bill" on January 25, 1990. South of the town of Mittagong, New South Wales, Bill pulled a gun on Onions who managed to escape, flag down passing motorist Joanne Berry and reported the assault to local police. Onions' statement was backed up by one from Berry, who also contacted the investigation, along with the girlfriend of a man who worked with Ivan Milat, who thought he should be questioned over the case.

Milat becomes suspect and eventually found guilty

Milat very quickly became a suspect. Police learned he had served prison time and in 1971 had been charged with the abduction of two women and the rape of one of them, although the charges were later dropped. It was also learned that both he and his brother Richard worked together on road gangs along the highway between Sydney and Melbourne, that he owned a property in the vicinity of Belanglo and had sold a Nissan Patrol four-wheel drive vehicle shortly after the discovery of the bodies of Clarke and Walters. Acquaintances also told police about Milat's obsession with weapons. When the connection between Onions and the Belanglo murders was finally made, Onions was asked to fly to Australia to help with the investigation.

On 5 May 1994, [ Ibid. p. 153] Paul Onions positively identified Ivan Milat as the man who had picked him up and attempted to tie up and possibly shoot him.

Milat was arrested on May 22, 1994 at his home at Cinnebar Street, Eagle Vale, a northern suburb of Campbelltown, New South Wales after 50 police officers surrounded the premises. Homes belonging to his brothers Richard, Alex, Walter and Bill were also searched at the same time by over 300 police. The search of Ivan Milat's home revealed a cache of weapons that included rifles, hunting knives, swords, automatic pistols and a home-made silencer, plus clothing, camping equipment and cameras belonging to several of his victims.

Milat's trial lasted fifteen weeks. His defence argued that in spite of the amount of evidence, there was no proof Ivan Milat was guilty and attempted to shift the blame to other members of his family, particularly Richard.

On 27 July 1996, a jury found Ivan Milat guilty of the murders. He was also convicted of the attempted assault and robbery of Paul Onions, for which he received six years' jail. For the killings of Caroline Clarke, Joanne Walters, Simone Schmidl, Anja Habschied, Gabor Neugebauer, James Gibson and Deborah Everist, Milat was given seven life sentences. On his first day in Maitland Gaol, he was beaten by another inmate. Almost a year later, he made an escape attempt alongside convicted drug dealer and former Sydney councillor George Savvas. Savvas was found hanged in his cell the next day and Milat was transferred to the maximum-security super prison in Goulburn, New South Wales where he remains.

References

* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/milat/discovery_1.html?sect=3 Crime Library profile]
* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/24/1074732652603.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true Article] in "The Age" about possible extra inquiries
* [http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2004/s1236866.htm Interview with Ivan Milat] in ABC-TV's "Australian Story".
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/milat-accomplice-claim-rejected/2005/07/16/1121455930170.html?oneclick=true Interview] with Clive Small, refuting John Marsden's suppositions.
*The Backpacker Murders - Foxtel May 2006 Producers Graham McNeice and David Allender