Police have launched a major fresh probe into the legacy of the "Backpacker Killer," Ivan Milat, fearing the serial killer may have taken dozens more lives. Thirty-five years after Milat slaughtered his first known victims, authorities now suspect he was executing innocent travellers for decades before he was finally caught.
Officially, Milat was jailed for life for seven horrific murders, but cold case investigators suspect his true body count could be much higher.
From petty crime to serial murder
Born in 1944 in Guildford, New South Wales, Milat was the fifth of 14 children. By age 22, he was a seasoned criminal with a long rap sheet of theft, break-ins and stolen cars. His crimes took a sadistic turn when he began hunting along the Hume Highway.
Offering unsuspecting hitchhikers rides towards southern New South Wales, Milat instead drove them deep into the dense Belanglo State Forest, where he bound, tortured and butchered them.
The discovery of the victims
Milat's murder spree began in 1989, but the nightmare was only exposed in September 1992 when two runners stumbled upon a decomposing corpse in the forest. Police quickly located a second body just feet away, identifying the victims as British backpackers Caroline Clarke, 21, and Joanne Walters, 22.
A string of further horrific discoveries soon followed. In October 1993, a local searching for firewood stumbled upon the remains of Victorian teenagers Deborah Everist and James Gibson, both 19, hidden in the brush. Just weeks later, on November 1, police unearthed the body of 21-year-old German backpacker Simone Schmidl, followed three days later by the discovery of German couple Gabor Neugebauer, 21, and Anja Habschied, 20, cementing the forest's reputation as a serial killer's graveyard.
Arrest and the new inquiry
A major police task force caught its biggest break when a British tourist revealed he had miraculously escaped a driver named "Bill" who pulled a gun on him. The survivor memorised the vehicle's registration number, pointing officers straight to Milat.
Milat was arrested in 1994 and handed seven life sentences without parole in July 1996. He died in prison in October 2019 aged 74.
Investigators believe Milat's violent spree started decades earlier. A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry was launched in June to re-examine potential cold cases. While the head of the NSW Homicide Squad identified 11 cold cases with potential ties to Milat, experts have warned the actual total could be far higher.
Criminologist Xanthe Weston told the inquiry that Milat's escalating violence began long before his 1989 attacks. "He didn't go from zero to seven backpackers," he said. "There was a long trajectory building up to that, and so we have some evidence that began as early as 1971."
Retired British detective Hugh Hughes believes Milat was responsible for the 1971 disappearance and murder of 20-year-old Keren Rowland, whose body was dumped in a pine plantation near Canberra. "If he did kill Keren, and I am 95 to 98% certain he did, then she was his first victim," Mr Hughes told The Guardian, citing unmistakable hallmarks including body positioning and brush concealment matching the Belanglo forest victims.
The parliamentary inquiry is continuing to analyse evidence and will deliver its final findings in February 2027.
