Serial killer dies at age 74

Ivan Milat, a notorious Australian serial killer who kidnapped and murdered seven hitchhikers  and was serving a life sentence for killing those backpackers between 1989 and 1992 and dumping their bodies in a New South Wales forest. His murder victims were three Germans, two Britons and two Australians. All were aged between 19 and 22. The backpackers were picked up by him  while his victims were hitchhiking with some of them in pairs, others alone on a long stretch of road between Sydney and Melbourne, The victims were Caroline Clarke, Joanne Walters, Simone Schmidl, Anja Habschied, Gabor Neugebauer, James Gibson and Deborah Everist who were deliberate targets because of their vulnerability.

Milat was arrested after targeting another backpacker, British man, Paul Onions, who escaped and alerted the police. A subsequent trial heard that Milat had searched for hitchhikers to abduct from a major highway between Sydney and Melbourne. The bodies of his victims were found buried in the Belanglo State Forest, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south-west of Sydney, in 1992 and 1993.

Milat had pulled over to pick up hitchhiker Mr. Onions in 1990. Seeing a rope and a gun in the car, Mr. Onions realised he was in grave danger. He managed to escape, with Milat in pursuit of him on foot along the Hume Highway, where he ensnared his previous victims.

Mr. Onions avoided the bullets Milat was firing towards him and flagged down another motorist, who took him to the nearest police station, 

Mr. Onions rushed into the station to give a report, but he has said that the police merely handed him A$10 (£5; $7) to get back to the British High Commission in Sydney. The report lay filed in a drawer at Bowral police station for years. That is proof that there will be stupid fools serving as police officers.

Years later Mr. Onions who later was then back in the UK saw media reports about the remains of bodies found in Belanglo State Forest. He called the Australian Federal Police, reminding them of his ordeal. They responded by immediately flying him back to Australia in 1996, where an investigation was under way.

The Media at the time described Mr. Onions as the "star witness" in Milat's four-month trial. Mr. Onions has since spoken publicly about declining a police reward payment of more than $200,000 (£110,000; $140,000. s a reward.

Strong evidence linked Milat to the crimes, including the personal possessions he kept of his victims, such as sleeping bags and camping equipment. Weapons which fitted the ways he had mutilated his victims were found at his house.

"It's not uncommon for serial killers to collect 'trophies' by holding something back from victims," says criminologist Dr. Kirchengast. "It's part of the psychopath's overconfidence and their belief that they can fool everyone through manipulation or charm.

The teenage relative of notorious Australian serial killer Ivan Milat has pleaded guilty to the brutal axe murder of another teenager .The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted killing 17-year-old David Auchterlonie whose body was also found in Belanglo State Forest, south-west of Sydney, last November. Did he do this because he wanted to mimic his older brother’s crimes?

According to papers filed with Sydney's Campbelltown Children's Court, the teenager bragged to a friend the day after the killing in which he said, ''You know me, you know my family. I did what they do." That was a stupid thing to do.

He is said to have gone with David Auchterlonie and two other friends to Belanglo forest on the night of 20 November 2010.

In court, Milat's defence lawyers tried unsuccessfully to shift the blame onto his brother Richard, one of his other 14 siblings.

The murder and the conversation leading up to it were captured in a video recording on one of the friends' mobile phone.

The teenager accused David  Auchterlonie of telling people about money he had stolen which was an accusation the victim was heard denying.  According to court papers, the accused coaxed Mr. Auchterlonie out of the car and swung an axe into his torso. Over the next 10 minutes the boy stood over and threatened the deceased with the axe," according to court documents. David. Auchterlonie pleaded for his life, but sounds of the axe hitting him could be heard on the recording.

These two killers are sociopaths. I say this because sociopaths are most often the individuals who are discovered for their crimes. Their inability to plan properly and their common trait of acting on impulse often leaves behind clues and evidence leading authorities straight to them. They have an interest in violent and heinous activities and showed no remorse for their crimes. Their disrespect for the rules and laws allowed them the freedom to enact their murderous sprees.

Police said Milat's lifelong refusal to admit his crimes had hampered further investigations into the killings and other unsolved cases.

I can understand why he wouldn’t admit to killing his victims when he was arrested but since he has been convicted of killing them and serving a life sentence, why did he refuse to admit to killing any other victims?

There are only two explanations. They were either no other victims he killed or, he killed other victims but he wanted the families of missing family members to suffer by not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones who are either alive or dead.

 Forensic reports showed bullet and stab wounds on the bodies of his victims, with evidence suggesting they may not have died instantly from their many injuries. Once murdered, they were partially buried in a shallow grave, face down, with hands tied behind their backs.

There is an explanation for this. This killer was a sadist. These kinds of killers enjoy watching their victims suffer before they die. Sadism is the opposite of masochism and it means to experience pleasure and gratification (not always sexual) from inflicting pain on others.

Milat was diagnosed with terminal oesophagus and stomach cancer earlier in 2019. He died on October 27, 2019 at age seventy-four on the same day when I turned eighty-six.