True Crime: The Backpacker Murders

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In this episode, we examine one of Australia’s most notorious serial murder cases, a series of crimes that shattered the country’s image as a safe destination for young travellers.

Important: If you don't want to know what happened before listening to our podcast, do not read this description!

The Backpacker Murders refers to the killings of seven young travellers whose bodies were discovered in Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales, Australia, during the early 1990s.

The victims, most of them backpackers from Australia and overseas, had been hitchhiking along the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne, a common and widely accepted practice at the time.

In this episode, we explore how the disappearances initially appeared unconnected. The victims came from different backgrounds and countries, including Britain, Germany and Australia, and vanished months apart.

It was only when hikers stumbled upon skeletal remains in the forest in 1992 that investigators began to realise they were dealing with a serial offender.

We examine how police eventually focused their investigation on Ivan Milat, a local man with a history of violence and weapons offences.

Searches of his home revealed firearms, ammunition and personal belongings linked to several of the victims. The evidence painted a chilling picture of how the murders were carried out and how the forest was used to conceal them.

Milat was arrested in 1994 and put on trial in 1996. He was convicted of seven murders and received multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. Throughout his imprisonment, he maintained his innocence and refused to disclose the full details of the crimes. He died in prison in 2019.

This episode looks beyond the convictions to examine the wider impact of the case. The Backpacker Murders fundamentally changed attitudes towards hitchhiking in Australia and raised lasting questions about whether all victims were ever accounted for.

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