The monster that just won’t die: Terminally ill backpacker killer Ivan Milat, 74, is shipped from hospital BACK to jail after doctors drained fluid from his heart
- Backpacker killer Ivan Milat returned to prison from hospital on Tuesday
- Milat was thought to have been on his deathbed, and his family rushed to his side
- During hospital stay, Milat was in intensive care and also had fluid drained
- Milat is convicted of killing seven backpackers between 1989 and 1992
Backpacker killer Ivan Milat has been returned to prison after yet another stint in hospital.
The terminally ill criminal was in intensive care last week with his family around him saying their final goodbyes, but has made a miraculous recovery.
Milat was diagnosed with terminal throat and stomach cancer in May.
The cancer has spread to his liver, lungs, bones and lymph nodes, and he has developed fluid on his heart.
During his stay in hospital, that fluid was drained, and he was discharged from Prince of Wales Hospital on Tuesday night.
Convicted serial killer Ivan Milat (pictured left before he was jailed for the backpacker murders and right in May)was discharged from Prince of Wales Hospital on Tuesday and returned to prison
The 74-year-old was convicted in 1996 for the murder of seven backpackers in the Belanglo State Forest, south of Sydney, between 1989 and 1992.
He is serving seven life sentences for the killings but has always maintained his innocence.
Bill and Carol Milat visited the convicted killer, who they refer to as ‘Mac’, in hospital on Saturday.
‘We asked Mac the question, ”are you guilty?” And he categorically denied it,’ Carol told the Illawarra Mercury.
‘I said ”look, I know you’re a Christian, you have Christian faith, and so do I… did you do it or not? Because if you want to speak to a priest we can arrange it”.’
Carol said he then began ‘rattling off’ reasons why he couldn’t have committed the crimes.
Milat – Australia’s worst serial killer – was thought to have been on his deathbed, making his recovery nothing short of miraculous
She said she apologised to Milat for asking but told him ‘everyone wants to know’ and ‘we know you didn’t do it’.
Carol said they’ve been punished ‘all this time’ because of her surname.
Bill said they questioned Milat about the killings because everyone wants a ‘deathbed confession’.
He added that he was with Milat during three days where crimes took place.
‘Mac is upset because it has affected all of us, but like I said many times before, people still believe Lindy Chamberlain is guilty even though she was exonerated. They are never gonna change their mind no matter what the truth is,’ Bill said.
IVAN MILAT’S MURDERS
Between 1989 and 1992 seven young backpackers went missing while hitch-hiking on the outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales.
Their bodies were all discovered in the Belanglo State Forest, near Bowral, south of Sydney, and found to be victims of serial killer Ivan Milat.
The victims were:
Victorians Deborah Everist and James Gibson, both 19, who were last seen in December 1989, and who were each stabbed multiple times.
German Simone Schmidl, 20, who disappeared in January 1991 and died from multiple stab wounds, including a knife through her spinal cord.
German Gabor Neugebauer, 21, who was gagged and shot six times and his 20-year-old girlfriend Anja Habschied, who was decapitated after they disappeared in January 1992.
Britons Caroline Clarke, 21, who was shot 10 times as if she was target practice and Joanne Walters, 22, who was stabbed. Last seen in April 1992.
Ivan Milat received seven life sentences for the murders.
The terminally ill serial killer (pictured) murdered several backpackers around the Sydney area from 1989 to 1992