Ivan Milat Part 1

What this episode covers

<p>In the early 1990s, a stretch of forest south of Sydney became the centre of one of Australia’s most disturbing murder investigations.</p><p>Belanglo State Forest had long been a quiet expanse of bushland along the highways used by backpackers travelling between Sydney and Melbourne. But when police began uncovering human remains hidden beneath the trees, a terrifying pattern emerged.</p><p>Young travellers from across the world had disappeared along the same roads. Many had been hitchhiking. Many had last been seen accepting rides from strangers.</p><p>And somewhere along those highways, a killer had been waiting.</p><p>In this two-part episode of <strong>What They Hide: Hidden Crimes in Plain Sight</strong>, we take a deep investigative look at the crimes of <strong>Ivan Milat</strong>, the man who would become known as Australia’s “Backpacker Murderer.”</p><p>This series explores:</p><ul><li>The discovery of multiple victims inside <strong>Belanglo State Forest</strong></li><li>The stories of the seven young travellers whose journeys ended there</li><li>How investigators slowly uncovered a pattern linking the disappearances</li><li>The surviving witness who helped identify the killer</li><li>The investigation that led police to <strong>Ivan Milat</strong></li><li>The 1996 trial that revealed the full horror of the crimes</li></ul><p>More than three decades later, the Belanglo murders remain one of the most infamous serial killer cases in Australian history — a chilling reminder of how easily violence can remain hidden along the most ordinary roads.</p><h1>Sources</h1><p>Research for this episode drew from court records, investigative journalism, and historical reporting including:</p><p><br></p><h3>Books</h3><ul><li><strong>Mark Whittaker &amp; Les Kennedy — <em>Sins of the Brother: The Definitive Story of Ivan Milat and the Backpacker Murders</em></strong></li><li><strong>Clive Small &amp; Tom Gilling — <em>Milat: Inside Australia’s Biggest Manhunt</em></strong></li><li><strong>Gordon Burn — <em>Happy Like Murderers</em> (context on serial crime investigation culture)</strong></li></ul><h3>Court and Legal Records</h3><ul><li><strong>R v Ivan Milat (1996) — Supreme Court of New South Wales trial records</strong></li><li>Official sentencing remarks and court summaries relating to Milat’s convictions</li></ul><h3>Journalism &amp; Reporting</h3><ul><li><strong>BBC News</strong> archival reporting on the Belanglo murders</li><li><strong>The Guardian</strong> coverage of the investigation and trial</li><li><strong>The Sydney Morning Herald</strong> reporting on the Belanglo search and police operation</li><li><strong>The Australian</strong> investigative reporting on the Milat case</li></ul><h3>Police and Investigation Reporting</h3><ul><li>Historical summaries of the <strong>New South Wales Police Task Force investigation</strong></li><li>Contemporary reporting on the Belanglo State Forest search operations</li></ul><p>Music by: MUBERT </p><br><p>[email protected]</p><br><p>@whattheyhidepod on all the socials </p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information