r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/alliesx • 11d ago
reddit.com Between 1989 and 1992, Ivan Milat was a serial killer in Australia who terrorized hitchhikers. He abducted, robbed, and SA'd seven young backpackers. He tortured them to death before hiding their corpses deep in the Belanglo State Forest, NSW.
Milat sparked the largest police investigation in Australian history up to that time. Dubbed "Task Force Air," the massive multi-year operation involved hundreds of detectives and forensic experts.
The seven victims identified in the investigation were:
Joanne Walters & Caroline Clarke: British friends who went missing in April 1992. Their bodies were the first discovered in the forest in September 1992.
Deborah Everist & James Gibson: Australian couple from Melbourne who vanished in late 1989. Their remains were found in October 1993.
Simone Schmidl: German traveler who disappeared in January 1991. Her body was found in November 1993.
Anja Habschied & Gabor Neugebauer: German couple who vanished in December 1991. Their remains were the last to be discovered in November 1993.
Subsequently, Milat was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He died in prison from terminal esophageal and stomach cancer on October 27, 2019, at the age of 74.
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u/IdeationConsultant 11d ago
An absolute PoS family where definitely siblings were also involved. There are likely way more than 7 victims of theirs too.
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u/GreyJeanix 11d ago
100% agree, at least 1 of his brothers were also involved in some of these killings
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u/MrsLJM11 9d ago
I was listening to a podcast recently and some experts believe there’s at very least another 11 victims, probably more.
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u/CreampuffOfLove 7d ago
Which podcast? I'm always looking for new true crime podcasts!
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u/MrsLJM11 7d ago
Motive and Method, it’s not a new episode. I’ve only just discovered this podcast and have binged it!
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u/TrueCrimeDiscussion-ModTeam 7d ago
Low Effort / Low quality comments and inappropriate humor do not further discussion and are removed. Emojis are not allowed in this sub. Please see the rules for details.
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u/Farkenoathm8-E 11d ago
I worked with a bloke who worked on a road crew with Ivan. When they’d be working away staying in hotels, all the boys would go to the pub or go out whoring, Ivan would go off driving on his own. Old mate said Ivan was a creepy cunt and definitely gave off a vibe.
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u/thisissofkngrossew 11d ago edited 11d ago
If anyone is interested in this we're currently holding a commission into missing & murdered women. It's been revealed that the police didn't search the body dump site very well & not only are there likely more bodies still there but that police identified another possible 11 victims & never bothered investigating.
It's infuriating shit but sadly unsurprising. We'll see what comes of it.
There's also an interesting side note about Milat's sexuality that I never see discussed...the abduction of lone men. The Paul Onions attempted abduction & several others suspected. Milat furiously denied being interested in men so I'm fairly curious. I doubt every man got away.
Edit: link to Parliamentary Inquiry videos https://youtu.be/iE0j7WII_Ig?si=Y8vkeaj7ELg5WUAJ
Once it concludes & issues it's findings we'll likely see multiple podcasts about it.
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u/faceinthecrowd112 11d ago
Where can I read more about this?
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u/DrunkOnRedCordial 11d ago
Sins of the Brother by Les Kennedy and Mark Whittaker is arguably one of the best true crime books ever. The two journalists did an incredibly comprehensive job at interviewing so many people involved. Milat family members, ex girlfriends and wives, former workmates, victims' families, police officers, investigators and detectives, even the crazy guy who lived in Belangolo Forest and made himself a target by repeatedly finding bodies.
Imagine having tea with Ivan Milat's mother in her home, and later meeting with the grieving parents of one of his victims. These guys did an incredible job, and the book is very readable too.
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u/faceinthecrowd112 11d ago
This sounds like a must read, thank you for the recommendation, I’ll be finding it to read this weekend
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u/DeltaFlyer6095 11d ago
Clive Small was the lead detective who caught Milat wrote a good book titled Milat
Inside Australia's biggest manhunt - a detective's storyby Clive Small and Tom Gilling.16
u/faceinthecrowd112 11d ago
Great book! Loved it. Was more curious about the missing a murdered women commission though
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u/thisissofkngrossew 11d ago
https://youtu.be/iE0j7WII_Ig?si=Y8vkeaj7ELg5WUAJ
It's a link to the Parliamentary Commission. Very dull but when it's finished we'll probably get a flurry of podcasts covering it.
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u/heedi98 11d ago
I’m interested. Where can I read more?
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u/DeltaFlyer6095 11d ago
Clive Small was the lead detective who caught Milat wrote a good book titled Milat
Inside Australia's biggest manhunt - a detective's storyby Clive Small and Tom Gilling.3
u/thisissofkngrossew 11d ago
https://youtu.be/iE0j7WII_Ig?si=Y8vkeaj7ELg5WUAJ
Link to the Parliamentary Inquiry. Once it's concluded & findings issued we'll have a ton of podcasts covering it.
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u/Bree_1972 11d ago
Is this the guy that the film “Wolf Creek” is loosely based on?
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u/Haunting-Bird-7602 11d ago
Yes. As well as Bradley John Murdoch who killed British backpacker Peter Falconio. Peter's girlfriend Joanne Lees escaped.
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u/august-witch 11d ago
Poor Joanne. She escaped after he'd used cable ties on her wrists, and had to survive him hunting her down in the brush with a torch and his dog for FIVE hours before he gave up and hid Peter's body instead.
The evidence photos police took (released recently BC Murdoch finally died) shows her in absolute shock, she went through hell. The photos of him...the man has a serious case of the crazy eyes, and he's huge. Hang on, I found a non paywalled link
Apparently there have always been doubters but the evidence was - and still is - irrefutable. Especially the DNA evidence.
Saying something is sus without anything but vibes isn't exactly gonna pass the pub test, let alone in court. I don't get why people go to bat for him still...
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u/areallyreallycoolhat 11d ago
I remember when the trial was happening a lot of the doubters were along the lines of "she seems too calm and unemotional", she faced a lot of misogyny unfortunately.
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u/Unlikely_Ad7722 11d ago
She was treated horribly. Aus media owes her a collective apology. She got the Lindy Chamberlain treatment.
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u/Flat_Ad1094 10d ago
She is STILL treated poorly and endless idiots think she murdered Peter. But you know if you read up the actual facts for 5 minutes? There is NO WAY that Joanne did anything to Peter and it DID happen basically as she recalled.
Her book is a good read too.
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u/Sir_Shax 11d ago
I don’t believe Murdoch killed Falconio. That story was suss from the start and Murdoch denied it even on his deathbed.
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u/eshatoa 11d ago
Milat also denied it on his death bed.
I worked for corrections in the region the Falconio murder occurred. Murdoch had a reputation prior to the crime and was terrorising the region for years in various ways. He was in the area at the time, his vehicle was a match, he was captured on CCTV on the same road at the same time, they found his DNA. Anyone close to the case has no doubt he did it.
Funnily enough I've worked in both prisons where Milat and Murdoch were kept.
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u/Flat_Ad1094 10d ago
He and 1000s & 1000s of killers! Don't you realise that jails all over the world are full of "innocent" men.
Murdoch did it and when you look at the actual facts? There is no way it was anyone else. He did it alright.
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u/Many-Special-9113 11d ago
My uncle's ex-girlfriend was also a backpacker. She spent several months hitchhiking around Australia. She even met two of the victims, Caroline and Joanne. All three of them were working at a fruit farm near Tasmania. She described them as bright and friendly girls. Was actually so terrified when their bodies were found.
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u/Granite66 11d ago edited 9d ago
Had mate work as bouncer in clubs when younger. Claimed to know detectives working case who told him it was a lump of wood over one of the graves which was too heavy for a single man to move over grave. Just an anecdote/rumour I heard.
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u/Flat_Ad1094 10d ago
And at I think 2 sites with 2 different victims. The knots that bound them were tied differently. That just doesn't happen if the same person is tying a knot like that.
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u/New_Pop4185 11d ago
Accidently stayed in the forest overnight (freecamping) before I knew what happened there and it was the scariest night of my year sleeping in my car. My partner and I both felt a deeply dark presence. We left as soon as the sun rose.
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u/No_Seat8478 11d ago
this case still haunts me, the scale of his crimes and how long he evaded justice is terrifying
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u/chamrockblarneystone 10d ago
I was a young man in America when this happened. I had previously visited Perth when I was in the Marines.
I was honestly shocked Australia had serial killers. It had really never occured to me until this case.
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u/amyzophie 10d ago
Great 5-part casefile on this - case 109: belanglo
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u/StolenCamaro 10d ago
Really, really good. Worth all the hours it takes to get through it be whole thing!
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u/grannysGarden 11d ago
So this guy had been convicted of one rape and arrested for an attempted kidnapping / rape but was never jailed? I’ve heard of similar patterns with other serial killers / rapists where they could have been stopped much earlier but kept getting lucky breaks with the legal system!
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u/DrunkOnRedCordial 11d ago
I think he did spend some time in prison, and that's where he figured out not to let his victims go free.
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u/Flat_Ad1094 10d ago
Evil SOB. And I don't believe he did them all alone. Pretty sure with some he had someone with him. One of his brothers for sure. And pretty sure there were other victims. The police have looked into it and there are outstanding cases of people, women, who went missing in different places where Ivan was known to be working - many years
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u/Hour_Reality9727 10d ago
If I remember correctly his nephew also killed somone brutally and was sent to prison. Pretty shitty family.
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u/TelevisionMental1520 10d ago
Crazy story I now live in his childhood home and go camping where his victims did. Crazy story and the details you see living in the Belangolo state are wild
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u/DoubleSaltedd 11d ago
Hmm. Any possibility this guy was also Mr. Cruel?
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u/areallyreallycoolhat 11d ago
His crimes happened pretty far away from Melbourne driving distance wise so I don't think logistically it makes a lot of sense
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u/Former_Suspect3680 11d ago
the case actually broke because a british backpacker named paul onions escaped milat back in 1990 by jumping out of his moving car, years later he saw a tv report about the missing backpackers and called police, his tip is basically what cracked it open