Ivan Milat
The Backpacker Murderer
Last updated
He was commonly referred to in media as the Backpacker Murderer.[1] Between 1989 and 1992, in New South Wales, Ivan Robert Marko Milat, an Australian-Croatian, was found guilty of abducting, assaulting, robbing, and murdering two men and five women.[1]
Key facts and history
Born on 27 December 1944, Ivan Milat was the fifth child among 14, with his father being Croatian emigrant Stjepan Marko Milat and his mother being Australian Margaret Elizabeth Piddleston.[2] According to his siblings, as a young child Milat showed antisocial and psychopathic tendencies, including using machetes to attack animals, which resulted in him being sent to a residential school when he turned 13.[3] That same day, Milat was taken into custody and faced accusations of one rape and two armed robberies.[4] In 1974, after his mother was hospitalized for a heart attack, Milat was again arrested; however, with assistance from the family lawyer John Marsden, the robbery and kidnapping charges against him were dismissed at trial.[5]
What the cited sources add
The Casefile podcast notes that between 1989 and 1992, seven young backpackers went missing after hitching rides along the Hume Highway.[6] The same source states that in September 1992, an orienteering group entered Belanglo State Forest and made a shocking discovery.[6] The Crime & Investigation Network account reports that Milat was initially very friendly to Paul Onions, introducing himself as “Bill”, but Onions found Milat’s personal questions unnerving.[7] That source also states that a long curved cavalry sword, suitable for the beheading of Anja Habschied, was found in a locked cupboard at the home of Milat’s mother.[7]
The "Ivan Milat Dead" article confirms that Milat died early Sunday in Long Bay Hospital at the age of 74.[8]
Key facts and description
After raping one of the hitchhikers, the pair managed to flee when they stopped at a café inside a petrol station.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Ivan Milat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brown, "Life never a picnic for the dirt-poor, troubled Milat clan", The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 November 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ivan Milat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Growing up with Ivan Milat: An insight into the backpacker killer", 2021-05-17; Brown, "Life never a picnic for the dirt-poor, troubled Milat clan", The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 November 2010; Kennedy, "Does crime run in the Milat family tree?", The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 November 2010; Kennedy, "Milat case stalked by uncertainty", The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 July 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ivan Milat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Case 109: Belanglo (Part 3)", 6 April 2019; "Case 109: Belanglo (Part 3)", 6 April 2019; "Case 109: Belanglo (Part 3)", 6 April 2019; "Case 109: Belanglo (Part 3)", 6 April 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ivan Milat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ivan Milat Biography", The Biography Channel (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ivan Milat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Case 109: Belanglo (Part 3)", 6 April 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Case 109: Belanglo (Part 1)", Casefile: True Crime Podcast, 2019-03-23. facts only, no text reused. casefilepodcast.com
- "The Trial", Crime & Investigation Network. facts only, no text reused. crimeandinvestigation.co.uk
- "Ivan Milat Dead", 2019-10-28. facts only, no text reused. edition.cnn.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ivan Milat (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
Also in the Codexery
More in Criminals & Outlaws
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Ivan Milat (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced