page_title: Backpacker murders
section_title: First and second victims
hierarchical_section_title: Backpacker murders / Murders / First and second victims
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign at entrance to the Belanglo State Forest, off the Hume Highway in New South Wales, Australia.
context_page_description: The backpacker murders were a spate of serial killings that took place in New South Wales, Australia, between 1989 and 1993, committed by Ivan Milat. The bodies of seven missing young people aged 19 to 22 were discovered partially buried in the Belanglo State Forest, 15 kilometres south-west of the New South Wales town of Berrima. Five of the victims were foreign backpackers and two were Australian travellers from Melbourne. Milat was convicted of the murders on 27 July 1996 and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, as well as 18 years without parole. He died in prison on 27 October 2019, having never confessed to the murders for which he was convicted.
context_section_description: On 19 September 1992, two runners discovered a concealed corpse while orienteering in Belanglo. The following morning, police discovered a second body 30 metres (98 ft) from the first. Police quickly confirmed, via dental records, that the bodies were those of Clarke and Walters. Walters had been stabbed 14 times; four times in the chest, once in the neck, and nine times in the back which would have paralysed her. Clarke had been shot 10 times in the head at the burial site, and police believe she had been used as target practice. After a thorough search of the forest, investigators ruled out the possibility of further discoveries within Belanglo State Forest.
caption: A sign at the entrance to the Belanglo State Forest
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