Ivan Milat

By the time of the first Belanglo State Forest discoveries, several backpackers had been reported missing. One case involved a young Victorian couple from Frankston, Deborah Everist (19) and James Gibson (19), who had been missing since leaving Sydney for ConFest, near Albury, on 30 December 1989.[8] Another related to Simone Schmidl (21), from Germany, who had been missing since leaving Sydney for Melbourne on 20 January 1991.[8] Similarly, a German couple, Gabor Neugebauer (21) and Anja Habschied (20), had disappeared after leaving a Kings Cross hostel for Mildura on 26 December 1991. Another involved missing British backpackers Caroline Clarke (21) and Joanne Walters (22), who were last seen in Kings Cross on 18 April 1992.[9]

A sign at the entrance to the Belanglo State Forest

On 19 September 1992, two runners discovered a concealed corpse while orienteering in Belanglo.[10] The following morning, police discovered a second body 30 metres (98 feet) from the first.[11] Police quickly confirmed, via dental records, that the bodies were those of Clarke and Walters.[8] A search of the area failed to uncover any of the other missing backpackers.

In October 1993, however, a local man searching for firewood discovered bones in a particularly remote section of the forest.[12] He returned with police to the scene where two bodies were quickly discovered and later identified as Gibson and Everist. The presence of Gibson's body in Belanglo puzzled investigators as his camera and backpack had previously been discovered at Galston Gorge, over 120 kilometres (75 miles) to the north.[9][8]

On 1 November 1993, a skeleton was found in a clearing along a fire trail in the forest during a police sweep.[13] It was later identified as that of Schmidl.[9] Clothing found at the scene was not Schmidl's, but matched that of another missing backpacker, Habschied.[8] On 4 November 1993, the bodies of Habschied and Neugebauer were then found on a nearby fire trail in shallow graves 50 metres (160 ft) apart.[14]

Examination of the remains showed evidence that some of the victims had been tortured and did not die instantly from their injuries.[15] In response, on 14 October 1993, Task Force Air, containing more than 20 detectives and analysts, was set up by the NSW Police.[16] On 5 November 1993, the NSW government increased the reward in relation to the killings to $500,000.[16] After developing their profile of the killer, the police faced an enormous volume of data from numerous sources.[17] Investigators applied link analysis technology, and as a result, the list of suspects was narrowed from a short list of 230 to an even shorter list of 32.[18] Speculation arose that the crimes were the work of several killers,[19][20] given that most of the victims had been attacked while as pairs, had been killed in different ways, and buried separately.

On 13 November 1993, police received a call from Paul Onions (24) in the U.K. On 25 January 1990, Onions had been backpacking in Australia and, while hitchhiking from Liverpool station towards Mildura, had accepted a ride south out of Casula from a man known only as "Bill".[21][22] South of the town of Mittagong, and less than 1 km from Belanglo State Forest, Bill stopped and pulled out a revolver and some ropes stating it was a robbery, at which point Onions managed to flee.[23][24] Onions flagged down a passing motorist, Joanne Berry of Canberra, and together they described the assailant and his vehicle to the Bowral police.[25] On 13 April 1994, detectives re-found the note regarding Onions' call. Onions' statement was corroborated by Berry, along with the girlfriend of a man who worked with Milat.[26]

Police surveillance of the Milat house at Cinnabar Street Eagle Vale commenced on 26 February 1994.[6] Police learnt that Milat had recently sold his silver Nissan Patrol four-wheel drive shortly after the discovery of the bodies of Clarke and Walters.[27] Police also confirmed that Milat had not been working on any of the days of the attacks[28] and acquaintances also told police about Milat's obsession with weapons.[29][30] When the connection between the Belanglo murders and Onions' experience was made, Onions flew to Australia to help with the investigation.[31] On 5 May 1994, Onions positively identified Milat as the man who had picked him up and attempted to assault him.[32]

Milat was arrested at his home on 22 May 1994 on robbery and weapon charges related to the Onions attack after 50 police officers surrounded the house.[28][33] The search of Milat's home revealed various weapons, including a .22-calibre Anschütz Model 1441/42 rifle and parts of a .22-calibre Ruger 10/22 rifle that matched the type used in the murders, a Browning pistol, and a Bowie knife.[34] Also uncovered were items belonging to several of his victims.[34][35] Homes belonging to his mother and five of his brothers were also searched,[36] uncovering several more items belonging to the victims.[34]

Milat appeared in court on 23 May, but he did not enter a plea.[37] On 31 May, Milat was also charged with the seven backpacker murders.[34] Milat sacked his defence lawyer, Marsden, on 28 June and sought legal aid to pay for his defence.[34] Meanwhile, brothers Richard and Walter were tried in relation to weapons, drugs and stolen items found on their properties.[34] A committal hearing for Milat regarding the murders began on 24 October and lasted until 12 December, during which over 200 witnesses appeared.[34] Based on the evidence, at the beginning of February 1995, Milat was remanded in custody until June that same year.

The trial opened at the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 26 March 1996 and was prosecuted by Mark Tedeschi.[38] His defence argued that, in spite of the evidence, there was no non-circumstantial proof Milat was guilty and attempted to shift the blame to other members of his family, particularly Richard.[38] One hundred and forty-five witnesses took the stand, including members of the Milat family who endeavoured to provide alibis. On 18 June, Milat gave evidence himself.[39] On 27 July 1996, after 18 weeks of testimony, a jury found Milat guilty of the murders.[33][40] He was given a life sentence on each count without the possibility of parole. He was also convicted of the attempted murder, false imprisonment and robbery of Onions, for which he received six years' jail each.[41]