TITLE Regina v Ivan Robert Marko Milat CHARGE AND PLEA Charge-Ivan Milat was charged with the murders (Crimes act 1900 sect18) of seven people and one charge of ‘detaining for advantage’ . Plea- He pled ‘Not guilty’. FACT OF THE CASE Seven backpackers aged between 19 and 22 disappeared between1989 and 1992 when hitchhiking South along the Hume highway after leaving Sydney. The bodies of the missing backpackers were fountain the Belangalo state forrest between September 1992 and November 1993. Each body had been attacked with much more force than would have been needed to cause death. Of the seven victims two had been shot repeatedly, one had been decapitated, three had paralysis causing stab wounds with two having their spinal cords …show more content…
Paul Onions had been a British Backpacker and when traveling along the Hume Highway in 1990 he escaped an attack by a man he had been picked up by. He had reported the attack to police at the time. After contacting the police about the case he came to Australia again and identified Ivan Milat from a photo line up as his attacker. After Onions made his identification the police arrested Ivan Milat. On a search of his and his mothers(Where he had been living at the time of the murders) houses they found possessions belonging to the seven victims, they found more things belonging to the victims in Ivans storage space at his brothers. Ivan was also found to have a blood stained chord which DNA proved to belong to one of the victims in his possession as well as a number of weapons directly connected with the murders. CRIMINAL TRIAL PROCESS AND COURT HEARINGS …show more content…
They argued that it was Ivan Milat that killed the seven people as possessions belonging to all 7 (8 including Paul Onions) people were found in his house, in his stored belongings at his brothers home and in his mothers house where he lived during the times of the murders. Weapons and ammunition connected to the murders were also found in his possession. Arguments used by the defence The defence argued that the description of Milat by Onions was incorrect as he didn't have a moustache at that time of the attack on Onions( however this was overruled when photo evidence came to light that he did have the matching moustache at the time). After the prosecution so successfully linked the Milat family with the murders the defence tried to create a reasonable doubt by suggesting that it was not Ivan who killed the victims but his brother or someone else closely connected to the family. THE DECISION Ivan Milat was convicted of all offences on 27 July 1996, on each count of murder he was given 25 years and for the single charge of detaining for advantage he was sentenced a further 6 years. LEGAL ISSUES evaluation murder - law created by parliament (Statute law), based on values of society.(Crimes act NSW