A British tourist has spoken of the moment he was nearly murdered by backpacker killer Ivan Milat.
Colin Powis from Newcastle in the UK was 21 years old when he first came to Australia in 1982, hoping to travel and work.
After spending two nights in the Blue Mountains, Mr Powis made the ill-fated decision to hitchhike towards the town of Cobar, to work in the mines.
Eventually a man driving a pickup truck stopped and offered Mr Powis a lift – a man Mr Powis has now identified as Milat.
‘That was him. That was definitely the creep who picked me up, but he wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t smiling. He never smiled, the whole time that I saw… that I saw him. Never smiled. He was in predatory mode when I saw him,’ Mr Powis told Sunday Night
Mr Powis said when he was loading his backpack he noticed the vehicle was bare besides for ‘one large hammer’ in the corner of the truck.
Colin Powis (pictured), from Newcastle in the UK, was 21 years old when he first came to Australia in 1982 hoping to travel and seek work
Milat (pictured) failed to admit to any of the heinous crimes he’d committed – despite being found guilty of killing seven backpackers between 1989 and 1993
As soon as he set foot in the truck Milat’s persona changed. He became agitated and told Mr Powis to put on his seat-belt and lock the doors.
Obediently Mr Powis complied, and the conversation turned to his travels.
‘The first thing [he said was] “How long have you been in Australia?” [and] “Who knows you’re here?”,’ Mr Powis recounted.
He said he told Milat he’d only been in the country for a matter of days and didn’t know anyone in Australia.
After that Milat stayed silent for a while before taking a left turn for ‘no apparent’ reason – a decision that panicked Mr Powis.
Mr Powis became so suspicious of Milat’s intentions that he asked to get out of the pickup truck.
In spite of his request Milat continued to drive on, before eventually stopping and allowing Mr Powis jumped out of the vehicle.
He said Milat followed him out of the car, and until this day Mr Powis believes he was saved from harms way because cars continued to drive past.
The former road worker (pictured) was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences with a non-parole period of 18 years
Mr Powis said he managed to walk away while Milat, who was unable to act because of the passing cars, watched him walk away and shouted: ‘look after yourself mate’.
‘I think with Milat, I think he saw backpackers [in a] hillbilly world, backpackers were a form of exotic wildlife that migrated through his territory, and he could just go out and kill [them] for fun. He saw backpackers as, like, stray dogs,’ Mr Powis said.
But Mr Powis never reported the incident to the police.
After hearing Mr Powis’ powerful testimony the news program also attempted to speak to Milat’s lovechild Lynise Milat.
Ms Milat (pictured), who is the result of an affair Milat had with his brother Boris’ wife Marilyn, refused to answer any questions posed by the Sunday Night reporters
Ms Milat – who is the result of an affair Milat had with his brother Boris’ wife Marilyn – refused to answer any questions posed by the Sunday Night reporters.
Ms Milat, 54, now lives north of Sydney, and may be the only child that Milat ever had.
Despite stating in previous interviews she will ‘always love’ her father, and that she believes he doesn’t have it in him to be a murderer, Ms Milat declined to comment.
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 and will die in Goulburn’s Supermax prison.
When the reporter told her he was knocking at her front door because he hoped to interview her, Ms Milat simply replied: ‘I can’t help you with that’.
Ms Milat stayed partially behind her garden door while briefly speaking to the reporter – before she abruptly ended the conversation.
When the reporter asked if there was anything she wanted people to know, she bluntly replied ‘no’.
While Ms Milat’s true view of her father may never be known, it’s clear how Milat’s estranged older brother Boris feels about him.
Boris, who describes his younger brother as a ‘total psychopath’ says he believes Milat committed more than the seven murders he’s been convicted of.
Boris believes Milat could be responsible for up to twice as many murders he’s been found guilty of committing.
He also has a more personal problem with Milat – the fact he embarked upon an affair with his wife and subsequently fathered her child.
Boris even went so far as to try and fire a gun at Milat – but was stopped by his mother.
‘Every time I went to fire on the mongrel, Mum would walk in front of it,’ he said.
Milat has failed to admit to any of the heinous crimes he’d committed – despite being found guilty of killing seven backpackers between 1989 and 1993 after a 15-week trial in July 1996.
The former road worker, who buried his victims’ remains in Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales, was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences with a non-parole period of 18 years for the spate of serial killings.
The murderous 74-year-old, who is suffering from throat and stomach cancer, has just a short time left to live.
Last month terminally ill Milat was taken to Long Bay Jail hospital where he is expected to stay until he passes away.
Boris said he would ‘appreciate’ it if his brother passed away before he did.
‘I think his demise would be greatly appreciated by me, yeah, for the damage he’s done. Not [just] to me. He’s done a lot. I mean, it’s nothing you can be proud of. [He’s] just a freak psychopath. That’s it.’
