Ivan Milat previously admitted to accomplice in hospital stint: Report
It has been a week since serial killer Ivan Milat took his final breath and now reports have claimed the murderer previously admitted there was a “second killer” involved in the brutal crimes.
There has been much speculation over the years about whether anyone else was involved in the deaths of the backpackers, but according to The Sunday Telegraph, Milat spoke to bedside staff about an accomplice during a 30-hour hospital stint back in 2009.
The killer had cut off his finger with a plastic knife and razor blade and was undergoing treatment in Goulburn Hospital when he reportedly opened up about his hopes to expose the other person during a re-trial. A former Corrective Services NSW officer told The Sunday Telegraph Milat was usually quite arrogant but all over sudden became quite chatty, while on painkillers.
“He said he did it (cut off his finger) because he wanted a retrial and wanted to expose an accomplice,” the former corrective services offer exclusively told the publication. “He started speaking about the DNA on the last body and said that there was more than his.
“He also said that there were two distinctive sets of stab wounds on the victim. He said that the killer blows were consistent with someone that knew what they were doing but the other (blows) weren’t.”
The former corrective services officer continued by explaining to The Sunday Telegraph that bedside staff tried to question him further about the supposed second person, but he didn’t respond.
Since Milat was sent to jail for the crimes there have been speculations that Milat didn’t act alone in the murders. These claims were backed up by the fact that one of his victims, British tourist Joanne Walters, was found clutching several strands of hair when she was killed in 1992.
Original forensic testing showed that the hair did not match Milat, nor did it match Walters’ own hair, however modern testing last year apparently revealed the truth. Former detective Clive Small, who headed the Task Force Air police team that made the Milat conviction, told True Crime Australia there were no longer any “outstanding matters” in the case.
“Our forensics originally said it was difficult to profile but appeared to be from a bloke however, we have subsequently had (it) tested at two laboratories and the retesting has found it was Walters’ hair, it was her own hair,” he said.
“Forensic services retested the hair in Joanne’s right hand, which forensic medicine at Glebe had originally concluded belonged to a man, but the DNA testing showed it consistent to Joanne and that was subsequently corroborated again after being sent to another mob for testing.”
Small speculated the 22-year-old victim may have brought her hands to her face and head during the attack, causing the strands of her own hair to become clamped in her hands, disproving the argument the strands could have belonged to an alleged accomplice. Small said the main forensics were performed in Australia, but samples were also sent to the UK so as to DNA compare and match absolutely to Joanne’s relatives overseas.
A jury found Milat guilty on July 27, 1996, and he was handed seven consecutive life sentences for the murders of Caroline Clarke, Joanne Walters, Simone Schmidl, Anja Habschied, Gabor Neugebauer, James Gibson and Deborah Everist, without the possibility of parole. He was also convicted of the attempted murder, false imprisonment and robbery of Paul Onions.
The killer died in a cell in Long Bay prison last Sunday. He was diagnosed with terminal oesophagus and stomach cancer in May.
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