Australia's Most Infamous Serial Killer Ivan Milat Has Died

Australia's most infamous serial killer who murdered seven backpackers has died of cancer.

Ivan Milat, 74, passed away in a Sydney hospital after he was diagnosed with terminal oesophagus and stomach cancer earlier this year.

Despite never confessing to the crimes he committed, Milat had been serving a life sentence for killing the backpackers - including two British nannies, three Germans and two Australians.

Austral Int/Shutterstock

Milat was caught after targeting British backpacker Paul Onions, who managed to escape from the killer and notify the police.

He buried the bodies in shallow graves in Belanglo State Forest, which is situated 75 miles south-west of Sydney.

The murders took place between 1989 and 1992. The two British women were Joanne Walters and Caroline Clarke.

Joanne was stabbed 35 times and 21-year-old Caroline Clarke was shot 10 times in what police say was 'target practice'. Joanne and Caroline met in a backpackers' hostel in Sydney and opted to go hitchhiking.

Australians Deborah Everist and James Gibson, both 19, were last seen in December 1989.

German native Simone Schmidl, 20, died from multiple stab wounds and Gabor Neugebauer, 21 was gagged and shot six times.

Mr Neugebauer's 20-year-old girlfriend Anja Habschied was decapitated and her spinal cord severed.

Wikimedia

Caroline Clarke's dad Ian Clarke, previously told the Sydney Morning Herald: "It's a horrible way for anybody to end their life but then it was even more horrible the way our daughter and so many others lost theirs, so sympathy isn't high on the list, I'm afraid.

"If he was to finally face up to the fact and admit to any others that he has done, if indeed he has, then I think that would be a wonderful thing for those parents, because for the short time that we didn't know, I know just how they must be feeling.

"It was in its way a form of closure, that we'd found her and we were able to lay her to rest properly. It's these other parents who don't have the luxury of being able to do that."

Topics: Australia News, News, crime

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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