Ivan Milat

Ivan Robert Marko Milat, a.k.a. The Backpacker Killer, was an Australian serial killer who murdered at least seven backpackers.

Background
Milat was born on December 27, 1944 in Guildford, New South Wales. His parents were Croatian emigrant Stjepan Marko Milat and Australian native Margaret Elizabeth Piddleston, the latter of whom was only sixteen years old when she got married. Milat was the fifth of fourteen children in his family. Many of his ten brothers were known all too well by police, and he himself would become no exception. He displayed antisocial behavior at a young age, leading to a stint in a residential school when he was thirteen years old. At the age of seventeen, he was in a juvenile detention center for theft; at nineteen, he was involved with breaking into a shop. In 1964, he was sentenced to eighteen months for a break and enter. Only a month after his release, Milat was arrested for driving a stolen car, causing him to be sentenced to two years hard labor. In 1967, he was sentenced to three years for theft. In 1971, he suffered a devastating blow in life when one of his sisters died in a car accident. Also that year, he was charged with abducting two 18-year-old hitchhikers and raping one of them. While awaiting trial, he was involved in a string of robberies with some of his brothers. Before fleeing to New Zealand, Milat faked his own suicide. Unfortunately for him, he was arrested in 1974. However, the robbery and abduction cases against him failed at his trial.

In 1975, Milat got a job as a truck driver. It was at this point he met a 16-year-old girl who was pregnant by his own cousin. They married in 1983, but she left him in 1987 due to domestic violence. They officially divorced in 1989. By the time of Milat's first crimes, he had been working on and off for two decades for the Roads & Traffic Authority all over the state.

Killings, Capture, and Incarceration
James Gibson and Deborah Everist, a Victorian couple, were last seen on December 30, 1989 while on their way to Albury. Their bodies were found in October 1993, both displaying stab wounds. Everist had also been beaten so violently that her skull was fractured in two places, and her jaw was broken. Knife marks were present on her forehead as well.

On January 25, 1990, Paul Onions was on his way to Mildura when he was picked up by a man who called himself Bill. The driver eventually pulled out a revolver and some ropes, telling Onions this was a robbery. The hitchhiker escaped, managing to avoid the bullets being fired at him by Bill. Onions was picked up by a motorist; they told Bowral police about the man and what kind of vehicle he had been driving.

Simone Schmidl, a German woman, left for Melbourne on January 20, 1991 when she went missing. She was found dead on November 1, 1993, having been stabbed to death.

German couple Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied vanished on December 26, 1991 while hitchhiking to Mildura. They turned up dead on November 4, 1993. Neugebauer had been strangled and shot; Habschied had somehow been decapitated. Her head remains missing.

On April 18, 1992, two British women, Caroline Clarke and Joanne Walters, were last seen in Kings Cross. Their bodies were discovered on November 1, 1993, showing signs of sexual assault. Clarke had been shot and Walters had been stabbed.

On February 26, 1994, police began to survey Milat's residence. There was evidence that he had not been working on the days when the attacks took place, and he sold his car soon after the bodies of Clarke and Walters were found. He also sometimes used "Bill" as an alias, which was the name of one of his brothers. Paul Onions participated in the search for the killer, eventually identifying him as Milat on May 5.

On May 22, 1994, Milat was arrested. When his home was searched, it was revealed that he had various weapons, some of which were exactly the same ones used in the killings; there were also items belonging to several of his victims. The homes of his mother and five of his brothers also revealed more weapons and items.

The next day, Milat appeared in court, but he did not enter a plea. On May 31, he was charged with the murders. On June 28, he sacked his lawyer and sought legal aid to pay for his defense. A hearing regarding the killings started on October 24 and ended on December 12. The trial opened on March 26, 1996. Despite the evidence against him, Milat's defense argued that he was innocent and even attempted to blame members of his family. On July 27, he was found guilty of all the murders and given a life sentence for each count without the possibility of parole; he was also found guilty of the attempted murder, false imprisonment, and robbery of Onions.

Milat's prison life was unpleasant. He was beaten by an inmate on his first day at Maitland Gaol. On May 16, 1997, he attempted to escape alongside a drug dealer. The plan failed, and said drug dealer was found dead in his cell the next day. Milat was then transferred to a maximum security prison in Goulburn, New South Wales. For the next few years, he would constantly make appeals, but not a single one would ever be successful. However, he was given a toaster and TV in 2006.

Milat had also committed self-harm while incarcerated. In 2001, he swallowed razor blades, staples, and other metal objects. On January 26, 2009, he cut one of his fingers off with a plastic knife and was taken to a hospital, only to be taken back the next day when surgery proved to be impossible. In May 2011, Milat went on an unsuccessful hunger strike that lasted nine days so he could get a PlayStation.

In 2019, Milat was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He died on October 27.

Modus Operandi
TBA

Profile
TBA

Known Victims
''All of the following were killed in New South Wales. Dates denote when the victims were last seen.''
 * December 30, 1989: James Gibson and Deborah Everist :
 * James Gibson, 19
 * Deborah Everist, 19
 * January 25, 1990: Paul Onions
 * 1991:
 * January 20: Simone Schmidl, 21
 * December 26: Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied :
 * Gabor Neugebauer, 21
 * Anja Habschied, 20
 * April 18, 1992: Caroline Clark and Joanne Walters :
 * Caroline Clarke, 21
 * Joanne Walters, 22

On Criminal Minds
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