Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - The Backpacker Murders Pt. 1

Episode Date: April 24, 2023

The bodies of two missing backpackers were recovered from Australia’s Belanglo State Forest in 1992. They weren’t the last. This episode became a Parcast Instant Classic when it initially aired in November, 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listeners, Parcast has been celebrating Earth Day all month long, with a network-wide special diving deep into Earth's darkest crimes and conspiracies. This week, to commemorate this special, we're highlighting two serial killers episodes you may have missed. Enjoy Part 1 of The Backpacker Murders Today, and join us later in the week for part two. Due to the graphic nature of this episode, listener discretion is advised. This episode contains discussions of murder and sexual assault that some listeners may find disturbing. Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13. On the afternoon of January 25, 1990, Joanne Barry and her sister were driving along the Hume Highway.

It was a mini road trip from the town of Midagong to Canberra. In the back of the van were the sister's five children. Joanne listened to the kids chattering away, but kept her eyes firmly on the road. It's a good thing she did, because up ahead, Joanne noticed the other cars slowing down. Perhaps there was an accident the drivers wanted a better look at. But just as she crested a small rise in the highway, Joanne saw what had caught everyone's attention. Two figures were on the side of the road, a short distance away from an abandoned Jeep. Its doors wide open. Before Joanne had enough time to even wonder what was going on, one of the figures, a young blonde man, sprinted into the speeding traffic and planted himself right in front

of her car. Joanne had no choice but to slam on the brakes. She brought her van to a screeching halt in front of the young man, who sprinted to the car's sliding door and pulled it open. He threw himself in the back with the kids, and in a heavy British accent said, Help me, he's got a gun. Joanne and her sister looked back at the road

and saw the other man standing a short distance away. He had dark hair and a distinctive mustache. He clutched a pistol in one hand and wore a grim smirk as he stared at the unmoving van. Joanne didn't have much time to think. She had to get her family and this frightened man away from here as fast as she could. She threw the van into gear and pulled across the highway. As she listened to the frantic breathing of the man sitting on the floor behind her, Joanne had to wonder what on earth just happened.

who was the man she was rescuing, and who did she just rescue him from? Hi, I'm Greg Paulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parkast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're taking a look at Australia's infamous Backpacker Murders. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other originals from Parcassan.

for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. The backpacker murders captivated Australia throughout the 1990s, and even though the case was eventually closed, lingering questions remain, as does the haunting fear the murders inspired. Today, we're following the discovery of a number of bodies deep inside the Balangelo State Forest, the national panic they inspired,

and the frantic search for a killer. Next time, we'll dive deep into the life of the environment, Investigations, prime suspect, and the lengthy trial that captivated an entire country. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify.

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milk and golden brown sugar. Don't miss Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection only at Sephora. About 85 miles south of Sydney lies the Balangelo State Forest. A mixture of native forest and pine plantings make the area hybrid creation of man-made and natural beauty. But despite the picturesque landscape, many Australians think of Balangelo as a place of terror, something out of a horror film. Like urban legends that ripple through entire communities, the disquiet brought on by mention of Belangelo has roots in the truth. Over time, rumors and embellishments often turn history into folklore, easily dismissed, and just as easily forgotten. But there are some stories that

need no embellishment, where the stories are all horrifically, nightmarishly true. And what happened in Belangelo is just like that. Before September of 1992, the forest was a great escape for locals, looking for a place to explore a slightly tamer side of the Australian wilderness. But on the morning of September 19th, everything changed. A pair of friends were trekking through the bush when something caught their attention. A foul stench wafted to the two men through the trees. Morbid curiosity overtook them, and they followed their nose.

noses to a rocky overhang. There, covered by detritus from the forest floor, they saw a bone, a boot, and scraps of clothing, the unmistakable remains of a human body. The men alerted local police to the discovery, bringing crime scene investigators into the forest. When the police arrived, they got a closer look at the decomposed remains and could see quite clearly that she died violently. She had been stabbed at least 14 times to the neck, chest, and back, and a garotte was found close by. The initial review of the scene lasted well into the evening, and when police returned the next morning, they made another startling find. About 100 feet away from the first body, covered by branches and leaves, was a second body. It was immediately clear that, like the first, this was a second body. It was immediately clear that, like the first, this was

woman was also a murder victim. She had been shot ten times in the head from different angles, almost as if she'd been used for target practice. Bullets and cartridge cases found at the second crime scene suggested the killer used a Ruger rifle. There was also a red cloth wrapped around her head, perhaps to act as a blindfold before she died. Once detectives and forensics experts had mined the scene for evidence, the bodies were moved to a Sydney morgue. There, a more thorough examination revealed that both women were likely sexually assaulted. Crucially, they were also identified. The first body was 22-year-old Joanne Walters, and the second was Caroline Clark, age 21. Both women were British tourists who had been

traveling together when they were reported missing. They were two of six international tourists who had all gone missing in broadly similar circumstances at different times over the past several years. All of the missing tourists had last been seen in Sydney, and most, if not all, were known to hitchhike. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg.

Hitchhiking is a puzzling act of implicit trust between strangers, despite the danger of placing your trust in someone you don't know. know, some people choose to do this anyway. Evidence suggests that most people trust strangers out of obligation to societal norms. In short, we trust strangers, even when we don't have a good reason, because we're conditioned to believe it's the right thing to do. Not trusting others can induce feelings of guilt or anxiety, so it's better to believe the best in people.

Social psychologist Roderick M. Kramer of Stanford University states that the test tendency to trust made sense in our evolutionary history. Humans are naturally a social species, and to be social is to trust others. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out. This trust of strangers, combined with the need to travel frugally, were likely factors that encouraged tourists to hitchhike in the late 80s and early 90s. Because Australia is a sprawling country, it's expensive to travel around, making the benefits of hitching seem greater than the slim,

chance of danger. Both Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark had successfully hitched long distances before, so when they set out from Sydney to the town of Mildura over 10 hours away, it would have made sense to hitch a ride. Unfortunately, the calculated risk didn't work out. Someone had cut their trip horribly short, but it wasn't clear why. Investigators struggled to zero in on a clear motive for the brutal murders. Though their backpacked, and tents were gone. Both Joanne and Caroline were still wearing some jewelry when their bodies were discovered.

So robbery, though a possibility, didn't seem the likeliest motive. That said, detective suspected that the missing backpacks might be key to solving the murders. If the murders weren't motivated by financial gain, then at least some of the stolen items were likely being kept by the killer,

or killers, as trophies, something to remember their victims by. If they could find the missing backpacks, they might just find their killer. But hopeful for more clues, investigators returned to Balangelo to perform a more exhaustive search. For seven days, a team of around 40 police officers searched a large area directly around the crime scene, as well as along the nearby fire trail, but their search came up empty. As the investigation stalled, media tension increased. People had followed the news of the missing backpackers,

and now that two were confirmed dead, interest in the other disappearances flared. But there was still no sign of the other tourists, so police focused on the bodies they had. Hoping to shed light on the murders, police brought in forensic psychologist Dr. Rod Milton. Drawing on his experience working big cases, Milton put together a loose profile of the killer.

He suggested that the culprit was familiar with the Balangelo State Forest and likely had at least one accomplice. Interestingly, Milton theorized that the pair of killers might be brothers. If they were, it seemed to him that the older brother was the more dominant one. It was also likely that the killer belonged to a gun club, enjoyed hunting, and lived locally. Perhaps most chillingly, Milton's profile suggested that the killer liked to be in control and took pleasure in the murders. Unfortunately, even with this insight, police were no closer to catching Joanne and Caroline's killer.

As 1992 drew to a close, it seemed that without a big break in the case, the investigation would go cold. Hoping to encourage the public to help the effort, the new South Wales state government offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. But even that didn't help. The new year came and went, and the families of Joanne and Caroline were left without answers. Meanwhile, the loved ones of the missing backpackers waited anxiously, hoping to hear good news, but expecting the worst. And while police seemed to hope evidence would come to them, not everyone was convinced the murders would be solved that way. Many suspected that more dead bodies would be found in Belangelo before police would find who was responsible. So Bruce Pryor, a potter familiar with the belangelo forest, took it upon himself to scour the area.

On October 5, 1993, Bruce drove into the forest and got to searching, as he had several times over the past year. This time, however, was different. Within minutes of leaving his car, he came across what looked like a bone. Moments later, he spotted what was unmistakably a human skull. It seemed the Belangelo State Forest wasn't done giving up its secrets just yet. And given its size, it was anyone's guess how many more bodies lay hidden in the scrub. Coming up, the search for a serial killer begins. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigued, ask your doctor about zebbound, terseptite. The first and only FDA-approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

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Taking Zepbound with a sulfonal urea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsened kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99 or visit Zepbound.lily.com. Now back to the story. In October of 1993, Bruce Pryor found a human skull in the belangelo state forest about an hour and a half south of Sydney, Australia. He quickly alerted police to his find, and investigators arrived on site.

With Bruce's help, police found the skeletal remains of a woman, partially covered by debris from the forest floor. It was clear that the woman died violently, with multiple signs of stabbing and bone fractures. Not far from the bones, investigators found several lengths of electrical tape, presumably used to restrain the victim, before she died.

Then about 65 feet away from the body, police found another victim, this time a male. Like the others, he was hidden by forest debris, but once that was removed, his bones revealed clear signs of stab wounds to the chest and back. Though the ammo varied somewhat, it seemed clear to everyone that these were two more victims of the same killer or killers who murdered Joanne Walter. and Caroline Clark. Expanding the scope of their surge, investigators found more clues.

About a quarter mile away, a tree stood with nine bullets embedded in its trunk. It was a puzzling find, given that neither of the two recent victims were shot, but it seemed to lend credibility to forensic psychologist Dr. Rod Milton's suspicion that the killer was a keen hunter who belonged to a gun club.

While investigators looked into every lead, the media had a... field day. The discovery of these two new bodies brought the total number of corpses found in the forest to four and confirmed everyone's worst fear. There was a serial killer in their midst. Newspaper headlines announced that there was a serial killer at large in New South Wales and accused police of botching the investigation into the deaths of Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark. How many more bodies were hidden in Belangelo, journalists asked. It was a question police were desperate to answer.

Their determination was perhaps matched only by that of reporters, desperate for a scoop. According to Clive Small and Tom Gilling, in their book about the backpacker murders, the media were clamoring for interviews with investigating detectives, pictures of the crime scenes, and some even wanted to carry out their own search of the forest. Perhaps most of all, they wanted to know the identity of the recent victims. After careful examination, police announced that the bodies were those of 19-year-old Australians, Deborah Everest and James Gibson. Both had gone missing in December of 1989. When they went on a backpacking trip that was supposed to take them from a friend's home in Sydney back south to Victoria for a conservation festival.

After they'd visited friends in the city, the pair planned to catch a train to the suburb of Liverpool, then hitchhike the rest of the way, about a five-hour... drive. But like Joanne and Caroline, Deborah and James never reached their destination. When Deborah and James' bodies were discovered, Detective Clive Small was placed in charge of the investigation. He quickly formed Task Force Air and got to work. Their first priority was a thorough search of the forest to make sure no more bodies were missed. So throughout October of 1993, a large-scale search was mounted. The plan was to scour almost. 50 miles of trails and tracks, as well as up to 500 feet on either side of the trails.

It was an exhaustive search and would take weeks. Meanwhile, working with information from Dr. Milton's profile, detectives visited the Belangelo Gun Club in mid-October to ask if anyone had seen anything suspicious. In particular, they'd received a tip that they should speak to a man named Alex Mallat. So after finding him at the club, detectives invited him. the 52-year-old for a formal interview. When Alex showed up, he had an overwhelming amount of information to share, surprising detectives.

In fact, he believed he might have seen the killers firsthand. He told investigators about two suspicious cars he saw driving through the forest in April of 1992. Though he could have only seen the cars in question for mere seconds, Alex recalled a lot of specific details. He said that the first car that passed contained four men, one of whom was visibly armed with a shotgun. There was a woman in the back seat who was bound and gagged. According to Alex, the woman looked scared and was possibly trying to get his attention. The second car carried three men as well as a second bound and gagged woman. Despite this disturbing sight, Alex made no effort to report the incident to police at the time.

When detectives asked him why, he explained that he thought the men who looked to be in their mid-20s were probably just having fun with a couple of girlfriends, that they were on an expedition to find a place to have sex in the forest. When detectives showed Alex photographs of Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark, he identified them as the women he saw in the cars that day. Not only that, he told police that he'd seen the two cars at least twice before that, and the men inside were usually armed with guns, including a Winchester and a Ruger. It was perhaps surprising that he singled out the Ruger brand, given that those were the guns identified as the ones used in Caroline's murder. The detectives who spoke to Alex were somewhat confused by the story.

The level of detail he provided, down to the roughness of the driver's hands, seemed unbelievable. So they wondered whether he was lying, and if so, was he trying to. to protect himself or someone he knew. A member of the public came forward to offer an answer to that question soon after. A woman reported that her husband's colleague had made some strange comments over the last 18 months. When news of several missing backpackers was first making the rounds, Paul Thomas Miller said, I know who killed the Germans.

It's possible he was referring to German couple, Anya Habsheed and Gabor Noigabauer. who hadn't been seen since January 1992. By itself, the comment was troubling, but easily dismissed as the remark of a man seeking attention. But when the bodies of Joanne and Caroline were discovered, Miller made a point of announcing, there's more bodies out there.

They haven't found them all yet. And in another conversation about the conviction of a rapist, Miller said, Stabbing a woman is like cutting a loaf of bread. All put together, the remarks were unsettling, but there were several other pieces of the puzzle that made Miller suspicious to his colleagues. For starters, there was how often he seemed to change his appearance, particularly his facial hair. Sometimes he grew out his sideburns to reach down to his beard. Sometimes he kept his mustache neatly trimmed above his upper lip, and other times he let it

grow out in a handlebar style, similar to the famous Australian cricketer, Murph Hughes. Miller's colleagues also knew that he had another name, and that gave them pause. Though he went by Paul at work, his real name was Richard Millat, brother of Alex. Once again, a tip brought police to the same local family. The Millats were a large family, and several of the brothers had criminal records, which concerned investigators. But it seemed that heavy suspicion and unsettling remarks weren't enough on their own to make detectives. zero in on Richard or Alex Millat.

However, the Milats were most definitely people of interest. Still, the Millat family weren't the only people Task Force Air heard about. A hotline had been set up, and members of the public called every day to report suspicions or theories. Calls poured in throughout October, and two in particular told the same story from 1977. In former detective Clive Small's account, he refers to the callers as Mary and Terese to protect their identities, so we'll do the same. At the age of 18, the two friends were hitchhiking from Liverpool in Sydney's West, back home to Canberra, a couple of hours drive away. They were picked up by a man with straggly black hair who looked to be in his early 30s. Just outside of the town of Midagong, the driver turned off the freeway to Canberra and onto the Hume Highway,

a road that took them closer to the Balangelo State Forest. He then stopped the car in a dirt road and got out, making a flimsy excuse that he forgot to use the bathroom at the last gas station. The ruse only lasted a few moments as he quickly opened Mary's door and tried to pull her out of the car. As he dragged her out, he growled, Okay, girls, who's first? Mary struggled free of his grip, punched him, and then she and Terese ran into the nearby scrub. They found a place to hide, lying down under some bushes,

remaining as still as possible while their attacker searched for them. They lay there for hours until the man gave up and drove away. When they were sure he was gone, the two friends emerged and walked along, the quiet road until they found a farmhouse. Inside the home, the family listened to their story and offered to take them to the police station to report the incident. But for some reason, Mary and Therese turned down that offer.

Maybe they were too frightened to go to the police or were embarrassed about the incident. Then again, maybe they were just eager to put the whole thing behind them and get home. They asked for a ride back to the highway where they resumed their hitchhiking journey to Canberra. It might seem unusual that Mary and Terese declined to go to police about the incident, but it's possible they felt too ashamed.

Even though, according to them, they escaped before their attacker could sexually assault them, the fact that they were in the situation at all might have felt like their own fault. Criminologist Dr. Karen Weiss explores the shame sexual assault survivors feel following an attack. Tellingly, Weiss points out that cultural assumptions dictate how, quote, good girls behave and also condemn the behavior of, quote, bad girls. It's possible that Mary and Therese had been warned against hitchhiking, and so when it turned violent, they assumed it was their own fault, or that authorities would blame them for their risky behavior.

But clearly, the attack was traumatic enough to stay fresh in the minds of both women, so much so that some 20 years later, they at last came forward. After both women independently called the hotline, they were each shown photo lineups and asked if any of the men looked like their attacker. Terese singled out two photos of Millat brothers, Richard and Ivan, saying they looked familiar to her. It wasn't enough to make a positive ID,

but it was one more mark against the Millat name. Back in the forest, the search for more bodies continued. Working in teams of 40, around 300,000. officers searched in single file, using cadaver dogs, metal detectors, and even sieves, to cover as much ground as possible. After a few weeks, their meticulous methods paid off. On November 1, 1993, the skull and skeletal torso of a woman was spotted under a pile of sticks and leaves. Some clothing, jewelry, and backpacking supplies were found near the body, but no backpack was found. The search team also discovered a length of pliable wire twisted into the shape of a noose,

possibly used to restrain the woman before she died. Searchers were fairly confident they'd found another victim of their serial killer. And when the body was examined closely, investigators were certain. The forensic exam revealed multiple stab wounds to the woman's chest and back, which was likely how she died. Eventually, the body was identified. as that of 21-year-old German tourist Simone Schmiddle. The last time anyone saw Simone alive, in January of 1991, she was leaving Sydney to catch a bus to Liverpool.

From there, she planned to hitchhike the nine-hour drive to Melbourne, where she was supposed to meet her mother at the airport, but she never showed up. Now, almost two years later, her family didn't need to wonder anymore. They had an answer about what happened to Simone, or at least part of it.

The final piece of the puzzle was still a mystery. Just who killed Simone? As Task Force Air raced to answer that question, the search for more bodies continued. Balangelo Forest still had more to reveal. Coming up, the phone calls that crack the case open at last. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session.

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two weeks and see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual. Try Activia today. Enjoying Activia twice a day for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort, which includes gas, bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. Now back to the story. On November 1, 1993, search teams discovered the skeletal remains of 21-year-old German tourist Simone Schmiddle in Australia's Belangelo State Forest. Simone was the fifth victim of an unknown serial killer who had hidden bodies in the forest south of Sydney. So far, all of the victims were known to hitchhike and had disappeared between 1989 and 1992, sometime after they left the suburb of Liverpool in Sydney's west.

Unfortunately, there was still more tourists known to be missing, so the search of Balangala Forest continued. On November 4th, just days after Simone was found, searchers came across a brown leather sandal lying on the forest floor. A short distance from the discarded shoe, buried under sticks and leaves like the other bodies, lay another skeleton. Nearby was a length of rope about 14 feet long,

with loops tied at either end, suggesting the victim was restrained. Looking at her bones, it was clear that the woman had been stabbed and slashed. So brutal was the attack that her spinal cord was severed. Like the other victims, the clothes and jewelry the woman wore when she died were found close to the body. But there was something different this time. There was no sign of the woman's skull.

This made it more difficult to identify the victim. But thanks to the few belongings nearby, investigators ascertained it was 20-year-old German backpacker, Anya Habsheed. Anja and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Gabor Neuigbauer, had been reported missing in January of 1992 when they'd failed to return home to Germany as scheduled. Since the pair went missing together, police believed Gabor's body might be somewhere nearby.

They were right. About 165 feet from where Ania's skeleton lay, they found Gabor. When the bones were pulled from under the concealing detritus, investigators found six bullet holes in the skull. A piece of cloth had been used as a gag, while four bullets remained inside the head

and another in the chest. Not far from Gabor's body, airline tickets in his name were uncovered, protected by a plastic bag. A little further into the forest, they found traveler's checks and student IDs, suggesting the killer took no. care to disguise their victim's identities.

The sprawling crime revealed more clues than any so far. Near the checks and IDs, searchers found a zip tie, a length of black electrical tape with wrist-sized loops on either end, a leash, and a length of cord. Given how far the evidence was from the bodies, it seemed to suggest that the victims were moved, either before or after they died, and it hinted at the horror they faced in their final moments. As far as we can tell, what those final moments were like is a mystery. Though it seems likely that forensics experts would have at least a rough idea based on the injuries, there doesn't seem to be an official version of events.

It's possible that few specifics have been given in an effort to lessen the horror surrounding the case. Unfortunately, it's uncertainty that sometimes leads to the worst kinds of fears. But by now, investigators had at least a clearer picture of the case. killers' methods. They suspected that the killings were well planned, and given the state of the crime scenes, it seemed the killer was spending more time committing the murders themselves. There was also speculation that the murders were increasingly ritualistic, though as we noted, there's little information about what led to those suspicions. And so, despite an alarming number of victims and plentiful evidence, police were still struggling to figure out exactly

what happened in the forest. Without a suspect in custody, investigators believed there was no way to know for certain what happened to the seven murdered backpackers, at least not at first. As the search of the Belangelo State Forest continued through November of 1993, a call came into the hotline, and it would change everything. On November 9th, a woman named Joanne Barry called to share a story from almost four years earlier. In January of 1990, she and her sister were driving towards Canberra along the Hume Highway when a young man ran into the middle of the road and planted himself in front of her van. Alarmed, Joanne slammed on her brakes, and before she knew it, the man opened the back door and jumped in the back of the car. He told her there was a man chasing him with a gun and begged Joanne to drive.

Joanne didn't have to be told twice. she took a quick look at the man her new passenger pointed to, standing by a Jeep, and threw the van into a U-turn. Then she drove to the nearest police station. There, she learned the name of the young man she'd just rescued. Paul Onions was 23, English, and on a backpacking trip around Australia. A man called Bill had picked him up in the town of Midagong. Bill, he noted, wore a handlebar mustache, just like cricketer Murph Hughes.

The pair drove for an hour or so before Bill pulled over and got out, producing a gun and a length of rope. Paul froze for a second, then decided to run for it. He launched himself out of the car and tried to flag down passing cars. Some drivers slowed down to see Bill chasing Paul with a gun, but no one stopped. So when Bill started firing at him, Paul had decided that he needed to make a car stop, and he chose Joanne Barry. Officers of Borough Police Station took down his story, including information about the possessions he left in Bill's car.

The report was then filed away while Paul and Joanne returned to their separate lives. But in 1993, when news of the bodies in Belangelo reached Joanne, she reached out. After all, she'd picked Paul up not too far from the forest and thought perhaps the incidents were related. It seems Paul had the same thought. News of the murders also made headlines in the UK where Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark were from. Just two days after Joanne called the hotline,

Paul did too. He corroborated her story, which baffled detectives because they couldn't find a record of his report anywhere. It seems it was lost. At any rate, police had the story now, and it was useful to them as they continued their investigation, especially as it so closely matched the story friends, Mary, and Terese told about their own 1977 hitchhike abduction. While investigators looked into whether the abductions were the work of the same man,

the search of the forest was winding down. It seemed there were no more bodies to be found in Belangelo, at least not yet. Meanwhile, the Australian press was having a field day with the news. seven bodies pulled out of the same forest, and Task Force Air hadn't so much as announced a suspect list. Finally, they caved to pressure and acknowledged for the first time that they were hunting a serial killer or killers, not that it was really news by then.

And yet, it was still shocking to hear about the search for a violent murderer, and it wasn't good for business. Many seemed worried that the murders would scare away international tourists. This might have been what motivated the New South Wales government to increase their offered reward to $500,000, the largest ever offered in Australia at the time for information leading to a conviction. The sizable reward seemed to reflect the state of fear gripping New South Wales, while the killer or killers remained at large. This fits with the results of a 2005 study by Matthew R. Lee and Erica DeHart. Their findings suggest that fear of crime, in general increases when the public is aware of an active serial killer. Then, when the culprit is apprehended, anxiety about crime declines sharply. Unfortunately, the fear would last a little longer,

and the longer the case dragged on, the more the mystery surrounding the murders captivated the nation. Belangelo was a place of horror now, and authorities were desperate to find those responsible for that particular loss of innocence. They even offered a free pardon to any accomplices who didn't actually commit the murder, turn the killer in and you'd be allowed to walk away. Unfortunately, it seemed no one knew who the killer was, at least no one who was willing to trade that information for half a million dollars. But people still called the hotline, and one woman made a call to alert police to a man who

lived near her. She said she didn't know if it was any use to them, but this man was a little Strange, drove a Jeep, and owned a lot of guns. She didn't have anything else to offer, other than that she was suspicious of him. His name was Milat, but it wasn't Richard, and it wasn't Alex. This was Ivan. And like his brother Richard, he sometimes went by another name, the same one he gave to Paul Onions.

Bill. Thanks again for tuning it to serial killers. We'll be back soon with Part 2. when we'll meet Ivan Millat and the quest to bring him to justice. For more information on the backpacker murders amongst the many sources we used, we found Milat, Inside Australia's Biggest Manhunt,

a detective story, by Clive Small and Tom Gilling, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Trent Williamson, with production assistants by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Aaron Larson. This episode of serial killers was written by Joel Callan, with fact-checking by Claire Cronin and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson.

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