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of a website or domain what are you waiting for [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often
00:01:52
distressing incidents if you feel at anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested
00:01:59
phone numbers for confidential support please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website on
00:02:10
September 20 1992 New South Wales police officers gathered under the eucalyptus trees in the rugged depths of belenko
00:02:18
low state forests establishing the crime scene in what appeared to be a double homicide the gravesite was located a
00:02:26
significant distance from the Hume Highway branching off from the motorway down a bumpy red dust road bordered by
00:02:33
30 meter high pine trees once the kilometres of pine plantations reached an end the terrain transformed into dense bush
00:02:42
land intersected by a series of narrow fire trails this area was only accessible on foot or via vehicles
00:02:50
designed specifically to go off-road meaning the killer had gone to great lengths to take his victims off track
00:02:57
and likely owned or had access to a four-wheel drive items of clothing and to jewelry found in proximity to the
00:03:06
bodies indicated there was a strong chance one of the victims was Joanne Walters the 22 year old a Welsh
00:03:12
backpacker who was last seen leaving Sydney's Kings Cross District five months earlier if this initial
00:03:20
conjecture proved accurate raised the strong possibility that the second victim could be Joanne's traveling
00:03:26
companion 21 year old English backpacker Caroline Clarke both women had disappeared in April 1992 after selling
00:03:36
friends and family they planned on hitchhiking sir from Sydney towards Victoria before making their way up to
00:03:42
Western Australia to commence fruit-picking work efforts to locate the two missing women at the time they
00:03:49
vanished were unsuccessful not a single trace of either Joanne or Caroline was ever found
00:03:56
given their heavily decomposed the state the human remains couldn't be identified
00:04:02
until further forensic testing was conducted with thousands of missing people in Australia at the time police
00:04:09
were hesitant to draw any immediate conclusions a police spokesperson fronted the media saying police aren't
00:04:17
ruling out anything at this stage and will be looking at all avenues to try to identify the bodies
00:04:22
there is nothing at this stage to suggest that it is Joanne and Caroline but of course we will be looking at
00:04:29
missing-persons files to try to find something two days later on September 22 dental records provided by the parents
00:04:39
of Joanne and Caroline confirmed the remains uncovered in Belanger Lowe were indeed at their daughters Joanne's
00:04:47
father ray Walters told the media we are naturally terribly upset he can't imagine what we have gone through this
00:04:57
sentiment was shared by Caroline's father Ian Clark who said Caroline was looking for a change of direction and
00:05:04
hoped the trip would be a good way of seeing the world but in doing so she saw the darker side of human nature
00:05:14
forensic experts determined to Joanne and Caroline's remains had been in Berlanga low since April meaning the
00:05:21
pair were killed shortly after they went missing autopsies revealed both women had fallen victim to what police
00:05:28
described as ferocious and sustained attacks the lack of defensive wounds indicated they were both restrained and
00:05:37
remained bound throughout their ordeal Joanne Walters had upwards of 14 stab wounds throughout her torso she had been
00:05:46
gagged using three strips of material which appeared to have been torn from a size 41 men's shirt tied in an
00:05:54
over-under pool not a garrote lock device used for strangulation lay on the ground nearby Caroline Clark's body laid
00:06:04
30 meters from jo-ann's her head wrapped in a sweatshirt riddled with bullet holes ten bullets had penetrated her
00:06:12
skull from close range and she had also sustained a knife wound through her back
00:06:18
ballistic experts determined to the bullets were shot from a 22 caliber rifle seven bullets were recovered from
00:06:25
Caroline's skull and the remaining three were found in the soil beneath her amaze
00:06:31
ten spent winchester brand cartridge cases were found three meters from Caroline's body discarded five meters
00:06:41
from Caroline's body were six cigarette butts five were her preferred brand with
00:06:46
the brand of the sixth unknown it couldn't be established whether it was Caroline or her killer who had smoked
00:06:53
the cigarettes but if they were all inhaled by the perpetrator the amount of time that would take them to do so meant
00:07:00
they would have spent an unusually long time at the crime scene an area of trampled down bush nearby was now
00:07:08
showing signs of regrowth suggesting some of the attack may have occurred there forty meters away investigators came
00:07:16
across several bricks circling a small pile of ash the remnants of a makeshift fire pit the
00:07:25
crime scene was a considerable distance from the main road leading investigators
00:07:29
to believe the killer was local to the area and had familiarity of bourlingueur Lowe's layout including the secluded
00:07:36
areas less traveled no possibilities were ruled out with police considering many scenarios including the more than
00:07:45
one killer was involved and that there were more bodies hidden in the forest [Music]
00:08:02
[Music] [Music] detectives from the New South Wales homicide squad joined forces with local
00:08:25
officers to conduct a full-scale search of the crime scene and it surrounds more
00:08:31
than 100 police officers rescue workers and sniffer dogs tracked the Bellanca life State Forest as divers scoured dams
00:08:38
on nearby private properties but the Shi sauce of the forest which consisted of gullies
00:08:44
steep hills crakes thick trees and dense shrubbery made the search a monumental task despite the extensive efforts of
00:08:54
everyone involved nothing else of significance was uncovered news of the murders of Joanne Walters and Caroline
00:09:02
Clarke filled the families of other missing backpackers with dread Norbert AB she'd sister Anja had disappeared
00:09:10
with her boyfriend Gabor Nikki Bella from Sydney need nine months earlier norther stated we are very sad that
00:09:19
these girls were found dead because the same thing could have happened to Aniyah
00:09:23
and a Gabor investigators didn't look into the files of other missing backpackers who failed
00:09:30
to find anything to suggest that any met a similar fate to that of Joe Ian and Caroline as such
00:09:37
police wondered down their search of Berlin Geller and instead too focused on finding the killer a police spokesperson
00:09:44
told the Australian newspaper the search has covered a wide enough area for us to dismiss speculation that
00:09:51
there are other bodies but more graves is obviously not what this search is for it's to find evidence on the two girls
00:09:59
found murdered the task force was established with 12 detectives assigned to work on the case
00:10:06
full-time but their work was cut out for them as they had very little to go on just weeks into their investigation
00:10:14
detectives conceded they had virtually no leads the langa low was frequented by residents of the nearby small southern
00:10:25
highlands town of Beryl their forest the backdrop provided them with the opportunity to engage in an abundance of
00:10:31
outdoor activities including bush walks picnics camping and a four-wheel driving
00:10:38
yet upon the chilling discovery of human remains within Berlin gallows depths many now vowed to never return one
00:10:47
barrel resident remarked I can't believe there's such a peaceful place could be the scene of something so awful
00:10:56
violent crime was virtually unheard of in barrel and speculation that the killer could live locally led to members
00:11:04
of the community to why each other with suspicion one resident said for all I know it could be anybody that you drink
00:11:12
with at the pub it could be anybody you passed in the main street just tell what
00:11:18
we to know on October 4 2 weeks after Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark were found mourners gathered in the remote
00:11:28
area of Belanger low for what the Walters family titled a service of serenity relatives of both young women
00:11:36
were in attendance as were members of the local community the Walters and Clarke families insisted the event
00:11:44
wasn't a funeral or memorial service but a way to thank the Australian people for
00:11:49
their support and to recognize the efforts of police and to the Beryl community in finding their daughters
00:11:55
it also aimed to expunge the evil that had taken place in the forest to ensure Joanne and to Caroline's Souls could
00:12:03
rest in peace an overcast sky stretched above the forest drizzling rain down on the crowds as they lit candles and laid
00:12:13
wreaths a Welsh flag was draped over the site where Joanne was found and some 30
00:12:19
metres away a Union Jack Fire Golay where Caroline was discovered the rain began to east as Anglican Minister
00:12:27
father Stephen gray began his opening address declaring we have come here to this place a place where something
00:12:36
wicked happened to call on the power of God so this place will be peaceful again
00:12:42
[Music] members of the Sydney Welsh choir sang a popular folk song from their homeland
00:12:49
Navin we at the conclusion of the service they sang you'll never walk alone during which the clouds parted and
00:12:57
the Sun shone down upon the forest following the service Joanne's father said I just couldn't leave without
00:13:07
thanking the Australian people for how they've helped us to have gone home without this service would have been
00:13:13
leaving something out now we're putting this area back to how it was and putting the girls to rest in what
00:13:25
was considered to be one of the most widespread and exhaustive investigations conducted by the New South Wales Police
00:13:31
Force the search for Joanne and Caroline's killer resulted in thousands of lines of
00:13:36
inquiry across Australia and to the UK with more than 500 people formerly interviewed Detective Inspector Bob
00:13:45
Gordon who was a leading jo-ann and Caroline's murder inquiry stated our investigations have covered a literally
00:13:52
millions of square kilometres both here in Australia and overseas detectives have travelled extensively
00:13:58
throughout New South Wales intimating queries in areas such as Wagga Wagga narendra wentworth nara and the southern
00:14:06
highlands New South Wales police have also traveled to Victoria Queensland and South Australia as part of their
00:14:13
investigations I can assure the community that dozens of experienced detectives have poured a thousands of
00:14:20
hours into this murder investigation and we remain confident of achieving a breakthrough despite these efforts the
00:14:29
investigation struggled to make any considerable progress prompting the New South Wales state government to offer a
00:14:36
$100,000 reward but the monetary offer did little to rejuvenate the languishing investigation the task force continued
00:14:45
its inquiries but what began with a team of 12 detectives working on the case full-time was reduced to just three
00:14:55
on October 5 1993 a little over one year since Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark
00:15:02
were found a local man named the Bruce Pryor was driving through Berlin Guillou in search of firewood this was something
00:15:09
he had always done but ever since the murders Bruce remained extra observant while
00:15:14
collecting wood on the off chance he came across anything police had missed too during their search on this
00:15:22
particular day Bruce drove along the upper end of the Long Acre fire trail he was in a remote
00:15:28
area of dense scrub located approximately 500 meters from where Joann and Caroline's remains were found
00:15:36
he parked his car and ventured off the fire trail on foot heading deep into Berlanga Lowe's rugged terrain after
00:15:45
walking inward for about 100 meters Bruce noticed what appeared to be a human femur bone on the ground he
00:15:53
continued through the bush for about 20 meters where he made another startling discovery
00:15:58
several more bones and a human skull Bruce raised the alarm at the closest arrangers hurt and to the police were
00:16:09
contacted upon their arrival Bruce led them to his discovery a cursory search of the area uncovered
00:16:17
more bones teeth and a decaying women's clothing hidden under piles of sticks and Bracken the silver chain crucifix
00:16:26
and a bracelet containing small stones were located near the bones further away a pair of pantyhose were found with the
00:16:35
lower ends tied into Slipknot's having clearly been used as a restraint a piece of decomposed fabric was thought
00:16:43
to have been used as a gag for lengths of red and yellow electrical tape were also recovered from the scene two hours
00:16:53
later just 22 meters west from the first set of remains police came across a pair
00:16:59
of men's san shoes visible under a large pile of sticks and branches at the base
00:17:04
of a tree under the pile was the skeleton of a second body parallels were immediately
00:17:12
drawn between this double homicide crime scene and the one established in the same forest for the year prior both sets
00:17:20
of victims were located in close proximity and had been covered in a similar manner by forests the BRE 400
00:17:27
meters from the newly discovered remains was a tree trunk peppered with nine bullets a dove which were too damaged to
00:17:34
be identified but a ninth which was confirmed to have come from a 22 caliber rifle the same weapon used against
00:17:42
Caroline Clarke both crime scenes were positioned too close to the remnants of old camp sites in the case of the second
00:17:51
crime scene the campsite was 100 metres away from where the victims lay and included a fire pit built from bush
00:17:58
rocks investigators considered whether the killer had camped out with his victims
00:18:04
before turning on them or had stayed in the area after the slayings based on the
00:18:10
remoteness and proximity of the two crime scenes authorities believed the same killer was responsible for all four
00:18:16
deaths and two there was still certain they were dealing with a local who was familiar with the forest superintendent
00:18:24
Clark's more quote he wouldn't expect a person just a driving past to go to these depths
00:18:34
the recently uncovered skeletal remains were sent for post-mortem examination and identification meanwhile speculation
00:18:43
ran rife as to who they might be with theory centralized on missing German backpackers Gabor Nikki Bella and his
00:18:51
girlfriend Tanya have she'd who were last seen leaving their hostel in Sydney just over a year and a half earlier
00:18:58
police expressed their opinion that the remains appear to have been in the forest for approximately 12 months
00:19:05
further validating theories they were those of the German couple yet forensic testing revealed the remains had in fact
00:19:14
spent close to five years in the bushland ruling out any possibility they were Gabor and Dania as investigators
00:19:22
waited for results of the postmortem they checked the missing persons records to determine whether any other foreign
00:19:29
backpackers had disappeared from New South Wales around five years ago days later both bodies were positively
00:19:37
identified and it wasn't at all who many were expecting given the media attention
00:19:43
had focused primarily on missing international backpackers not as much had been mentioned about the December
00:19:50
1989 disappearance of 19 year old Australian couple James Gibson and Deborah Everest they had last been seen
00:19:58
in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills with the intention to hitchhike south to Aubrey Deborah Everest had a broken jaw
00:20:07
and fractured skull sustained by a solid object such blunt-force trauma would have led to unconsciousness and possibly
00:20:15
even caused a hemorrhage brain damage or death several deep gashes across her skull were caused by a
00:20:23
large knife or sword a like object markings on the rib area of her back were caused by a 30 millimeter wide
00:20:31
blade James Gibson was found in a fetal position having been stabbed in a frenzied manner seven times throughout
00:20:40
his body like Joanne Walters in the Caroline Clarke neither James nor Deborah had defensive
00:20:47
wounds indicating they too were restrained detectives returned to their focus to James Gibson's 35-millimeter
00:20:57
Rico brand camera which had been found on gulstan Gorge Road on December 31 1989 one day after the couple went
00:21:05
missing gostin gorge road was located 150 kilometres north of Berlin below in the opposite direction to James and
00:21:14
Deborah's intended destination near Aubrey James's backpack which had also been found on gulstan Gorge Road months
00:21:22
after the couple's disappearance contained pine needles despite there being no pine trees in that area DISA
00:21:30
led investigators to believe James and Deborah had been killed in Belenko low state forest on December 30 1989 the day
00:21:38
they were last seen alive the killer had then gone to considerable efforts to dump James's belongings along
00:21:45
gulstan Gorge Road with the next day perhaps in an attempt to mislead police upon hearing news that James and Deborah
00:21:56
were found the Gibson and Everest families were left shattered having maintained hope throughout the years
00:22:03
that their children were still alive James's sister Mary Ann told the media James was such a good person he was very
00:22:12
very talented in the good fun and a gentle the wrong sort of person to meet a violent end
00:22:20
the town meeting was held in barrel where local police warn to the 120 residents in attendance about the
00:22:28
dangers of hitchhiking and to jogging or walking alone terrified locals bombarded
00:22:34
police with questions desperate to know whether they believed more victims lay undiscovered in the forest all the wall'
00:22:41
attending investigators inconspicuously scanned to the crowd looking for anyone who stood out as suspicious the parents
00:22:51
of Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark made an appeal to the people of barrel via video pleading for anyone with
00:22:58
information to come forward emphasizing the importance of finding their daughters backpacks which were
00:23:04
still missing and possibly hold significant clues Deborah Everest brother Tim said if
00:23:12
anyone knows anything about the murders how would they feel if it was their sister mother daughter brother or father
00:23:20
that this had happened to think of it like that fear gripped the Barrell community with many citizens stating
00:23:30
they were too scared to leave the house Holmes once kept open by trusting residents were now locked up with locals
00:23:38
hesitant to move about at night alone for one regional store Highland security business doubled as the sales of locks
00:23:47
and alarms increased to help solve the murders of Joanne Walters Caroline Clark James Gibson and Deborah Everest the New
00:23:59
South Wales Police Force established a task force there initially consisting of 15 detectives - intelligence analysts
00:24:06
and several forensic investigators all led by Superintendent Clive small the well-respected astute detective was
00:24:16
renowned for his investigation into the 1987 shooting of undercover New South Wales police officer michael jury small
00:24:24
was also responsible for reviewing the rape and kidnapping charges laid against former New South Wales police detective
00:24:31
Superintendent Harry Blackburn small discovered evidence that proved a Blackburn's innocence thus saving him
00:24:39
from being sent to prison for crimes he didn't commit the hunt for the killer presented serious challenges for Task
00:24:47
Force Air a considerable amount of time had passed since the four murders and police had so far failed to uncover any
00:24:55
evidence to point towards a prime suspect small assembled a tough reliable team of detectives whom he trusted some
00:25:04
had previously worked on the investigation into notorious serial killer John Wayne Glover small front of
00:25:12
the media and publicly declared that they were likely hunting down a serial killer or killers quote there are some
00:25:20
similarities in to the indications are we're heading in the direction of a common offender or offenders we are very
00:25:27
conscious of the fact the two sets of bodies were found in a straight line 500 to 600 meters apart the investigation
00:25:35
will be extended to look at other missing backpackers into missing persons warnings about the dangers of
00:25:42
hitchhiking were issued with small pleading with travellers not to accept rides from strangers under any
00:25:48
circumstances his warnings seem to fall on deaf ears with several backpackers telling journalists for The Sydney
00:25:56
Morning Herald the murders wouldn't deter them from hitchhiking as they were on tight budgets and there was the
00:26:02
cheapest mode of transport task force s first major assignment was to develop a plan to conduct the most thorough search
00:26:13
possible of belenko State Forest the team used satellite imagery to identify any changes in the density of
00:26:21
the vegetation since the late 1980s in the hope it would help locate potential burial sites GPS was used to plot points
00:26:30
on maps and mark locations where bodies and evidence had so far been located while a command post was established in
00:26:38
the forest and staffed the route of the clock forensic investigators were on standby to attend any newly discovered
00:26:45
crime scenes which police were certain existed each day buses containing hundreds of police and state emergency
00:26:53
service volunteers from surrounding regions arrived to the forest working in teams of forty as they traversed the
00:27:01
scrub in search lines sometimes on their hands and knees to cadaver dogs specially trained to work in rough
00:27:08
terrain were also caught in an area extending five square kilometres outwards from the known crime scenes
00:27:15
were scoured with teams also retracing areas covered in previous searches any time the person located an item of
00:27:24
interest they were advised to yell find after which the team leader of the group
00:27:29
would assess the item and to make contact with the command post a police spokesperson provided the media with an
00:27:37
update on the search advising we have found nothing so far to suggest that there are more bodies out there but we
00:27:45
certainly can't discount the possibility that there are at the moment we are consolidating the information that has
00:27:52
come into the investigative unit and to sifting through that for leads one of the only pieces of physical evidence
00:28:00
investigators had that could link them directly to the killer or killers whether recovered bullets and cartridge
00:28:07
cases that were determined to have been fired from a 22 caliber rifle the search to find the knife for knives
00:28:14
used in the attacks was a far more difficult task as forensic experts were not yet able to distinguish whether the
00:28:21
same one or several were used in the slayings superintendent small stated you don't have as many opportunities to
00:28:30
chase up a knife as you do a firearm therefore locating the firearm and its owner became a major facet of task force
00:28:40
there's investigation superintendent cliff small requested anyone who owned a 22 caliber rifle to
00:28:48
come forward to eliminate themselves from the investigation as detectives spoke to gun dealers within the barrel
00:28:55
area plans were made to question all mm licensed gun owners in the Southern Highlands region and to extend the
00:29:04
search nationwide if required every line of inquiry was followed up by task force
00:29:11
air but with no major breakthroughs in the case things were beginning to slow down in Belen below
00:29:19
on the afternoon of November 1 1993 four weeks after James Gibson and Deborah Everest were found a group of police
00:29:28
were asked to do one final sweep of their allocated area of the forest the officers were exhausted and
00:29:35
disheartened they had been searching for close to a month straight and to get to
00:29:40
uncover anything of importance nevertheless the group performed the sweep as directed trawling in a single
00:29:49
file in an area of bushland - located approximately 40 meters off a fire trail known as - despair they were towards the
00:29:58
outer limits of the designated search area a few kilometers away from where the four bodies had been uncovered as
00:30:07
the officers inspected the rugged terrain and sifted through the Fallen branches and foliage one stopped in
00:30:14
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forensic investigators cordoned off the area near the - despair fire trail where
00:36:06
police uncovered more human skeletal remains along with several personal items including jewelry and coins the
00:36:14
bones were sent for forensic testing where dental records confirmed they belonged to missing German backpacker 21
00:36:21
year old Simone SH middle Simone had been missing for almost three years she was last seen alive in January 1991
00:36:30
walking towards the Hume Highway with plans to hitchhike south to Melbourne as in the case of several of the other
00:36:38
victims found in Berlanga lo Simone had been stabbed multiple times with extreme
00:36:43
force her t-shirt was found 50 metres from her body with its front slashed open along with a length of soft wire
00:36:51
tied in the shape of a noose superintendent clive small fronted the media confirming that police were of the
00:36:59
opinion that Simone's killer was the same person responsible for the murders of James Gibson Deborah Everest Joanne
00:37:06
Walters and Caroline Clark leading criminologist professor Duncan Campbell from the Australian Institute of
00:37:14
Criminology told the aged newspaper that it would be an unusual case if a serial
00:37:19
killer was responsible for all slayings as quote they don't usually kill across genders and don't normally kill more
00:37:28
than one person at a time the search of Belanger Lowe ramped up once again in what was shaping up to be one of the
00:37:36
largest homicide investigations ever conducted in New South Wales all five victims were found in the northmost
00:37:43
region of the forest and police concentrated their efforts on the three fire trails within the vicinity of the
00:37:49
grave sites Longacre - despair and a tree cave three days later on November 4 1993 a police team
00:38:01
was searching a rocky Bluff approximately 30 metres from the tree cave fire trail about one kilometer east
00:38:07
from where Simone Middle's remains were found an officer spotted a woman's brown sandal with a broken strap
00:38:14
amongst the forest debris attend made a walk on woods underneath a stack of branches and a next to a partially
00:38:22
burned a log lay a human skeleton the area was immediately sealed off by forensic investigators who made another
00:38:33
grim discovery just fifty meters away where underneath the pile of logs they found four the remains of a second body
00:38:41
a plane ticket shoes a watch and two jewelry were found a close by as was a bra with multiple stab marks a pair of
00:38:51
black leggings and pink jeans wrapped in underwear inside the jeans was a piece of pink colored cloth knotted in a
00:39:00
v-shape reminiscent of the bandana type masks worn by Cowboys in movies the homemade restraint made from black
00:39:08
insulation tape sash cord and the plastic electrical ties was also recovered along with several other
00:39:15
pieces of black electrical tape and a length of blue and yellow rope beside the former 70 centimeter loop at one end
00:39:22
and a 12 centimeter loop at the other dental records confirmed the identity of the remains to be those of missing
00:39:30
German backpacker 21 year old akka born okagawa and his 20 year old girlfriend and year ham shade the couple were last
00:39:39
seen alive checking out of their hostel in Sydney's Kings Cross area almost two years earlier in December 1991 Anna had
00:39:49
been stabbed multiple times in the torso and had also been decapitated with a single powerful blow to the back of the
00:39:56
neck by a machete sword or axe despite extensive searches of the surrounding area the skull was never recovered Gabor
00:40:07
had been shot in the back of the head six times and his hyoid bone was fractured likely caused by forceful
00:40:14
pressure applied to his neck in an active strangulation he was gagged with a piece of material
00:40:20
that appeared to have been torn from a child's dress or apron curiously the gag had been tired using a reef knot which
00:40:28
was of particular interest to investigators as the knot used to tie the gag on Joanne Walters was done using
00:40:35
a simple over-under pull not the to not varieties hinted that it was possible more than one person was involved in the
00:40:43
crimes dr. Peter bradhurst a forensic pathologist from the New South Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine had been
00:40:52
responsible for conducting the post-mortem examinations of all seven Berlanga low victims he noted
00:40:58
significant differences as the killings progressed the first three victims James
00:41:04
Gibson Deborah Everest and Simone Schmidt all had been subject to blunt force trauma and frenzied stabbings
00:41:11
later ana ham she'd Gabor Neugebauer Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark had also been
00:41:18
violently stabbed but the killer had escalated to include shootings and a decapitation as news spread that the
00:41:26
belenko murder count had risen superintendent cloths more fronted the media commenting I think it would be
00:41:34
fair to say that given we now have seven bodies that we do have a serial killer there are obvious similarities the
00:41:42
distance from the road the distance between the bodies the manner in which they were covered and to the fact that
00:41:48
they have been there for some time would lead us at this stage to conclude they are connected four bullets
00:41:59
recovered from gabor Nogales remains was shot from a 22 caliber rifle the same type of firearm used against the
00:42:06
Caroline Clark the remaining two bullets had left his skull from the same exit wound
00:42:12
that couldn't be located at the crime scene despite police sifting the soil and employing the use of metal detectors
00:42:19
this led to the belief gabor was shot elsewhere in the bushland approximately 160 metres from Gabor and
00:42:28
Anna's crime scene was a location invested is named arrey arrey a space which appeared to have been used by the killer
00:42:35
as a shooting gallery here police uncovered 47 used 22 caliber Winchester brandy cartridge shells along with an
00:42:45
empty Winchester brand winner model ammunition box ballistic experts concluded as these bullets were fired
00:42:53
from a 22 caliber Ruger self-loading rifle with a 10 round rotary magazine and it was the same firearm used against
00:43:01
both Gabor Nikki Bella and a Caroline Clarke there were also 46 spent 22 caliber
00:43:09
early brand cartridges and an empty a Leibrandt ammunition box the ailee bullets were determined to have been
00:43:16
discharged from a different firearm and henchard's 22 caliber bolt-action rifle this meant
00:43:24
two rifles were fired within arrey arrey a Ruger Indian shoots with the very two
00:43:29
locations of all 93 bullets indicating the guns were discharged from several directions in a concentric circle
00:43:37
further examination revealed the guns were fired at or about the same time ruling out the possibility that the
00:43:45
killer or anyone else had returned to the scene at a later date to fire the second gun gouge marks on some of the
00:43:54
bullets indicated a silencer had been attached to at least the Ruger to mitigate the risk of being heard bullets
00:44:01
were found embedded in tree trunks while others were in the soil amongst the broken beer and cordial bottles
00:44:07
suggesting the shooter had used the glass bottles as target practice the ballistics team used the batch
00:44:14
numbers from the empty winchester and daily cartridge boxes found at arrey arrey to try and denaro down the hunt
00:44:21
for the owner of the weapons but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack
00:44:26
the batch of Winchester cartridges comprised of three hundred and twenty thousand of bullets which had been sold
00:44:33
to over 55 outlets across Australia between June and November in 1988 one year before the first of the Berlanga
00:44:40
victims went missing da Libre and ammunition had been manufactured and distributed in March
00:44:47
1979 almost a decade earlier and their manufacturer had no records of which retail outlets the a li mu Nisshin had
00:44:56
gone to for sale with each new discovery investigators learned more insight into
00:45:05
the mind certain patterns of the killer or killers all crime scenes shared noticeable similarities with H of victim
00:45:13
having endured equally violent ordeals at the hands of a perpetrator who seemed to derive gratification from the
00:45:19
torments of others this was clear in a distinct stab wound some of the victims sustained to their
00:45:26
backs which would have rendered them paralyzed but kept them alive and conscious during subsequent torture the
00:45:34
extent of the perpetrators depravity was further evident in his treatment of using several victims for target
00:45:40
practice shooting at them whilst they were restrained with the wounds of at least the one victim indicating that
00:45:46
were repositioned several times before the firing recommenced the disarray of some victims clothing from shirts pulled
00:45:55
up to missing pants and underwear that investigators the believed they were also sexually interfered with in each
00:46:04
case the bodies of the victims were concealed under light scrub within 200 metres of a fire trail in the north
00:46:10
region of the forest they were all found lying face down against the rock or fallen tree covered by branches twigs
00:46:18
and forests the break with the exception of James Gibson who was found laying on
00:46:24
his side in the fetal position some officers believed that there was a ritualistic pattern to the way H victim
00:46:31
was buried while others believed the positioning of H suggests that the killer was neat tidy and too well
00:46:38
organized as the murders progressed the attacks increased in brutality becoming more
00:46:45
cruel and vicious the killer also became more brazen and confident seemingly spending longer at the crime scene with
00:46:53
each new victim the first victims James Gibson and Deborah Everest were buried deep within the natural forest but the
00:47:03
second Simone's middle had been buried a little closer to the pine plantations followed by a Nia hug sheet and two
00:47:10
Gabor Noga Bella who were buried closer again from there it appeared the killer realized that they were edging too close
00:47:19
to the pine plantations which were frequented by forestry workers so he returned to deeper into the forest with
00:47:25
Joanne Walters and Caroline Clarke Superintendent Clive small quote I think the sites have been deliberately chosen
00:47:36
in the sense that they are all similar locations in terms of geography and conditions we found a pattern to the
00:47:44
extent that they appear to follow the perimeter of the pine forest all we can do is follow the patterns the discovery
00:47:54
of makeshift fire pits close to each crime scene suggested two scenarios that the killer lured their victims into the
00:48:02
bush under the guise of offering them a genuine Aussie camping experience charming them over the campfire before
00:48:09
launching into an attack or the killer camp that they'd seen after carrying out his crimes to relish the moment some
00:48:19
found it hard to imagine a single offender could have ducked restrain torture and killed the victims traveling
00:48:26
in pairs one explanation was that the killer simply controlled his targets at gunpoint
00:48:31
while another speculated that the victims may have been drugged with one of the pair killed in this incapacitated
00:48:38
state whilst the other was kept alive and tortured some experts even theorized the killer may have forced the one
00:48:47
victim to inflict injury or death upon the other there was also evidence to enhance the
00:48:55
multi perpetrator theory from the two different firearms being used in conjunction a terrier a so the two
00:49:01
distinct to not styles he used for gags and restraints as well as the different methods of killing as at least one
00:49:10
victim was repositioned and fired upon in a target practice style setup that seemed plausible that is one shooter
00:49:17
fired the other was responsible for moving the victim's body of the victims belongings only a small amount of
00:49:25
clothing and personal effects were recovered from the crime scenes the backpacks of Deborah Simone Gabor and
00:49:32
young Joe Ian and Caroline were still missing and contained a large array of clothes cooking equipment tents sleeping
00:49:40
bags as well as a collection of foreign currency james Gibson's backpack had been found at gulstan gorge over 100
00:49:49
kilometres away but it was empty of most of his possessions having concluded they
00:49:56
were dealing with the killer characterized by power and control investigators believed it possible that
00:50:01
at least some of the victims belongings had been kept by him as trophies they believed that once they found the killer
00:50:09
there was a good chance they would find the missing items the palanga low case had already become
00:50:20
the biggest serial killing spree in New South Wales history and superintendent cloths Moore was aware there may be more
00:50:27
victims out there saying if you'd asked me this time last month whether there were any more bodies in the forest I
00:50:35
would never have expected to be back here talking about seven bodies there are clearly other backpackers missing
00:50:42
and we have files and a whole range of people the team of intelligence analysts reviewed over 600 unresolved
00:50:50
missing-person cases dating back to 1972 narrowing the list down to 20 they believed would be connected to the
00:50:58
Belenko low serial killer interstate lore enforcement also checked their backlog of case files forwarding on any
00:51:06
they suspected could be linked to Belanger low with 25 arriving from Victoria Police and another six from
00:51:13
Queensland Police Duncan Chappell director of the Australian Institute of Criminology told the aged newspaper I
00:51:22
don't think that the killer would have killed only 7 people I suspect there is no reason why he would have stopped they
00:51:31
don't stop unless they are caught I have never heard of therapy or anything else
00:51:37
stopping serial killers they may be very sociopathic but they are not insane the
00:51:44
likelihood is that he is either killed more people or is planning future killings on November 5 the New South
00:51:54
Wales government announced that a reward of $500,000 was on offer for anyone with
00:51:59
information leading to the arrest and conviction of the polenka low serial killer this was a significant increase
00:52:06
to the existing reward of $100,000 made available following the discovery of Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark and
00:52:14
was on par with the highest reward ever offered in the state the New South Wales
00:52:21
Police Commissioner announced that a further 300 police would be added to the group of officers currently scouring
00:52:27
Belanger and that the search would be extended to cover the entire perimeter of the forty square kilometre forest
00:52:35
as the investigation expanded a shed at the back of the barrel police station was converted to form the base of
00:52:43
operations for one half of task force there with the remaining officers working out of Sydney City for lead
00:52:51
detective Superintendent cloth small one of the biggest challenges they faced was
00:52:55
information management he was mindful of the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper serial killings in the United
00:53:03
Kingdom during the late 70s covered in episode 37 of case file in that instance several people had named the perpetrator
00:53:12
to police throughout the investigation but due to the way this vital information was mishandled it was
00:53:19
overlooked superintendent's more wanted to learn from these mistakes and ensure nothing
00:53:25
of importance from the Berlanga low serial killer case slipped through the cracks several investigations were now
00:53:33
being consolidated under Task Force Air including the original missing person investigations of the seven known
00:53:40
victims as well as other missing persons who also may have fallen victim to the Belenko low serial killer it was a
00:53:48
logistical nightmare as each missing-persons case had been handled by police departments from
00:53:53
different regions with each having their own specific way of collating information some documents were only
00:54:00
available in hard copy and stored within the police station of origin while others were entered on the digital
00:54:07
databases that couldn't be cross-referenced with other systems Joanne Walters and Caroline Clark's
00:54:14
murder investigation alone had generated more than seven and a half thousand inquiries with over 500 people
00:54:20
questioned all that information had been stored on the New South Wales police task force information management system
00:54:27
which was designed for standalone investigations and - not equipped to handle the massive increasing scale that
00:54:34
was the Berlanga low case the existing task force management system was also unable to search records from government
00:54:42
agencies interstate police departments or the Australian Federal Police recognising dis deficiency
00:54:50
superintendents more worked with intelligence analysts data management experts and software specialists to
00:54:56
develop a more sophisticated system capable of handling the unique requirements of task force there
00:55:03
they combined elements from 12 existing software packages to create an advanced system that enabled them to record mine
00:55:11
and cross-reference data from a variety of sources naming this new system net map importing all the existing data from
00:55:22
the various old systems into the advanced net map database was a painstaking and time-consuming process
00:55:29
it caused the short-term delays for investigators who were temporarily unable to access information but the
00:55:37
payoff was worth the wait with net map up and running more than 1 million pieces of information including
00:55:45
names addresses dates locations and a vehicle details could be cross-referenced with these saving
00:55:52
potentially hundreds of hours of work for task force investigators [Music] on November 16 police orchestrated a
00:56:04
second search of Galston gorge the area two hours drive north of Belanger lo where James Gibson's camera and backpack
00:56:11
were found the media speculated that the killer may have another burial ground in
00:56:17
the surrounding Barrera Valley Regional Park although police insisted they weren't looking for more bodies but
00:56:23
rather for evidence relating to the seven confirmed victims a team of over 100 police officers combed the
00:56:31
designated four kilometer area of rugged Bush land either side of Galston Gorge Road scouring the scrub
00:56:38
shoulder-to-shoulder while police divers searched the waters of nearby Pereira Creek a number of items were recovered
00:56:46
including a shirt shoes and a purse the items were all examined by forensic experts who determined to them to be
00:56:55
unrelated to any of the Berlanga victims meanwhile the ongoing search of Berlanga
00:57:03
low State Forest had become one of the largest ever conducted in Australia's criminal history despite this no further
00:57:11
evidence or bodies were located and police felt confident there was nothing else to be found on November 16 1993 the
00:57:21
intensive search of Belanger Lowe finally reached its conclusion the four hundred officers who had conducted the
00:57:28
search bowed their heads and observed a moment's silence in memory of the victims a police chaplain recited the
00:57:36
Lord's Prayer before lamenting we are reminded of the fragility of life as we remember those seven young people whose
00:57:45
life was brief and who died in such tragic circumstances an article penned by journalist Frank Walker for newspaper
00:57:55
The Sydney Morning Herald spoke of the eerie silence that haunted bungalow since the murders of James Gibson
00:58:02
Deborah Everest Simone Schmidt or Gabor Nagar Bella Anna have shade Joanne Walters and Caroline
00:58:09
Clarke he wrote it makes the skin crawl to walk the trails of this creepy place taking the same path that the killer or
00:58:20
killers of seven young backpackers must have taken as he delivered them to their
00:58:25
appointment with Death Note birds fly from the stringy bark gum trees no animals scurry away in the bushes
00:58:35
something is terribly wrong here as the search of the forest slowly drew to an end the media reported that up to 20
00:58:47
people were being looked at as potential persons of interest in the Belanger lo killings but police have yet to
00:58:53
establish any firm suspects the search for the Ruger and dan short's rifles used in Belenko low was still under way
00:59:01
with the u.s. manufacturer of the Ruger stating that tens of thousands of the firearms had been imported into
00:59:08
Australia meaning identifying the owner of one of them would be no easy feat however ballistic experts were able to
00:59:17
narrow the search down slightly as the base of one of the spent cartridges recovered from the crime scene had an
00:59:23
upward indentation this was caused by a known fault in the firing pins of burgers made between 1964 into 1982
00:59:33
task force air obtained the manufacturers records and created a database of all Ruger rifles that had
00:59:40
been imported into Australia they then acquired the Australian Federal Police database that listed all licensed the
00:59:47
Ruger owners in the country this database had been created by the AFP following the 1999 murder of former
00:59:56
assistant Federal Police Commissioner Colin Winchester who was shot dead with a 22 caliber semi-automatic Ruger rifle
01:00:03
fitted with a silencer task force there ruled out all Ruger rifles that were already in police possession or had been
01:00:11
destroyed as of December 1991 the first time the firearm was used against the Berlanga a victim detectives then
01:00:20
questioned a licensed firearm holders gun clubs and to check the gunshot records they do not houses have
01:00:28
registered gun owners in the Southern Highlands area and seized all Ruger rifles to conduct ballistic comparisons
01:00:36
Superintendent Clive small from his book inside Australia's biggest manhunt quote
01:00:43
working from the top down under the bottom up would we hoped enable us to identify both the number of unaccounted
01:00:50
for Ruger's and a number of people who could not account for their Ruger the two-pronged strategy ought to expose
01:00:58
emissions and highlight mismatches while allowing us to narrow the focus to specific geographic areas and to
01:01:05
individual gun owners who could not be eliminated it was laborious and time-consuming but
01:01:12
we were not in a race after inspecting over two and a half thousand registered firearms from residents throughout New
01:01:21
South Wales police were yet to uncover the weapon they were looking for [Music] police had since launched a toll-free
01:01:30
hotline for members of the public to phone in with information or tips it received an overwhelming response with
01:01:38
over 5,000 calls made in the first 24 hours from all over Australia and overseas details from every single call
01:01:47
were entered into the database with a printout of each handed to an investigator to be assigned one of three
01:01:53
classifications no action due course or priority one Superintendent small was mindful that the most seemingly
01:02:03
insignificant detail could be the clue needed to identify the killer but with so many tips coming through it was not
01:02:11
always immediately clear which ones took priority one woman phoned to report a man she knew whose family owned a
01:02:20
property in the Southern Highlands region not through far from Belanger lo she had been compelled to provide his
01:02:26
details to the hotline purely on the basis that he owned a four-wheel-drive vehicle and had a keen interest in
01:02:32
firearms owning several the call operator tookies named Ivan Milat and the information was entered onto the
01:02:41
database as per protocol another call came in to the hotline from a woman based in southwest sydney identified as
01:02:50
mary she wanted to report an incident that happened too near 16 years earlier that bought chilling similarities to the
01:02:57
circumstances of the recent Belanger law crimes in july 1977 when mary and her friend Therese were 18 years old they
01:03:08
were hitchhiking south along the Hume Highway hoping for a ride back home to Canberra
01:03:14
the pair were picked up by a man with black straggly hair who appeared to be aged in his 30s as he drove the young
01:03:22
women along the Hume Highway the driver suddenly took a right turn near the southern highlands town of meddigan
01:03:28
explaining it was a shortcut once they reached an isolated dirt road he pulled the car over under the guise of needing
01:03:36
a toilet break before grabbing Mary by the arm and saying okay girls who's first Mary fought him off and she and
01:03:47
two rays managed to escape running into the surrounding bush land where they hid
01:03:52
under some shrubbery the men searched for them over the following hours slowly driving up and down the dirt road upon
01:04:02
failing to find it the women he gave up and left shaken Mary and Therese sought help from the occupants of a nearby farm
01:04:11
house who offered to drive them to Bower or police station but they declined choosing not to report the matter Mary's
01:04:22
story was corroborated by her friend to Ray's who also placed a call to the hotline later that day
01:04:28
to report the same distressing incident that occurred back in 1977 a week after the hotline
01:04:36
received the harrowing calls from Mary and Tory's a woman from Canberra named to Joey and Barry phoned in to report
01:04:43
yet another disturbing incident that took place on the Hume Highway this one three years earlier in January 1990
01:04:52
one month after James Gibson and Deborah Everest went missing Joanne was driving
01:04:58
her Toyota to Roggeveen south down the Hume Highway when just before the turnoff to Belanger Lowe State Forest
01:05:04
she noticed two men scuffling on the side of the road one was violently pushing the other to
01:05:11
the ground and a silver four-wheel-drive vehicle was pulled over and nearby the younger man sustaining the attack and
01:05:19
managed to escape the grip of his assailant allowing him the opportunity to flee he raced up the highway
01:05:26
frantically signaling for help jumping in front of Joanne's car as she approached giving her no choice but to
01:05:33
stop he then rushed around to the door of the van before pulling it open and a leaping inside Joann ordered the
01:05:41
stranger to get out of her vehicle but he yelled back in a British accent I'm not getting out he's got a gun
01:05:49
his distress was palpable and to Joanne instantly understood the urgency of the situation she saw a break in the median
01:05:58
strip drove across it to perform a u-turn then sped off in the opposite direction as the tirado headed towards
01:06:06
barrel police station its occupants caught sight of the young man's attacker out the fan's a rear window he stood
01:06:14
alone on the opposite side of the highway staring right back at them an evil smirk across his face to be
01:06:25
continued next week [Music] you