Terror Down Under: The Gruesome Tale of Ivan Milat and The Backpacker Murders
In the early 1990s, serial killer Ivan Milat preyed upon hitchhikers and backpackers in New South Wales, Australia. The vicious brutality of his crimes shocked the nation
Background
In 1992, two bodies were discovered in a remote area of Australia’s Belanglo State Forest. Initially believed to be an isolated incident, these bodies were the first of five such discoveries in the same area over the next year.
The earliest victims dated back to 1989, and most had been visiting Australia for tourism. All of the victims had suffered unimaginable abuse and torture, and the similarities pointed to a single individual being responsible.
The victims had all gone missing while backpacking or hitchhiking. Following a lengthy investigation, police finally located the monster they’d been looking for, thanks to the help of the lone survivor. This is the haunting tale of Ivan Milat and Australia’s Backpacker Murders.
Ivan Milat
Ivan Robert Marko Milat was born on December 27th, 1944, in Guildford, just outside of Sydney, Australia. Ivan was the fifth of fourteen children born to Croatian immigrant Stjepan “Steven” Milat and native Australian Margaret Piddleston.
The family lived a rural farm life, and Steven reportedly had a problem with alcohol and a short temper. With an often angry and intoxicated father and 13 siblings, Ivan’s early life was nothing short of chaotic.
Living in such a rural area, Ivan quickly learned to be adept with a knife and was said to be an avid hunter. Though their parents tried to provide discipline — even sending their children to Catholic schools— the Milat boys earned themselves a reputation as troublemakers.
Trouble with the Law
By his late teens, Ivan had already amassed a notable juvenile record for breaking and entering, home invasions, armed robbery, car theft, and a variety of petty crimes. Yet, none of these more minor offenses could predict the evil that lurked within.
Ivan was described by many as an attractive young man who put effort into his appearance; he was well-groomed and generally well-kempt. Later, his brother Boris would confess that Ivan displayed psychopathic tendencies from an early age, including brutally attacking animals with machetes or similar large knives.
Milat had spent some time in juvenile detention for his petty crimes, and in his early twenties, he was convicted of breaking and entering and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. A month after being released, Ivan was arrested again for car theft and sentenced to two years of hard labor. After his release, he was arrested again for theft and was sentenced to three years.
Escalation of Crimes
In 1971, his crimes took a dark turn. Ivan was arrested for the alleged abduction and rape of two female hitchhikers. The victims claimed that Milat had abducted them at knifepoint with a large hunting knife, raped one of them, then stopped at a café, at which point both young women managed to escape.
Leading up to his trial, Milat continued engaging in petty crimes before faking his death and fleeing the country. It is believed that Milat fled to New Zealand and remained there for at least two years. Somehow, Milat was able to return to Australia without being arrested, perhaps by using false identification.
Then, in 1974, Ivan’s mother, Margaret, suffered a heart attack. When Milat came out of hiding after his mother was hospitalized, he was quickly taken into custody.
Milat was tried for theft, kidnapping, and the rape of the two hitchhikers. However, with only circumstantial evidence, he was acquitted. Milat then began working briefly as a truck driver before beginning a career with New South Wales’ Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA); Milat continued working for the RTA intermittently over the next two decades.
A Gruesome Discovery
On September 19th, 1992, two runners orienteering in Belanglo State Forest had uncovered a gruesome scene. The runners were in an area of the forest that is now known as Executioner’s Drop.
There, they found a badly decaying corpse, which had been left partially concealed. They immediately contacted local police, and a search of the area began.
The following day, a second decomposing corpse was found nearly 100 feet away from the first. Authorities quickly identified the two female victims as Caroline Clarke and Joanne Walters, aged 21 and 22, respectively. The pair were both English tourists who were in Australia on independent backpacking trips.