The Case of Simone Schmidl

Simone Schmidl, a 21-year-old German backpacker, disappeared on 20 January 1991 while hitchhiking from Sydney towards Melbourne. More than two years later, her remains were discovered in Belanglo State Forest. Evidence recovered during the investigation ultimately connected her murder to Ivan Milat, making Simone the third chronological victim among his seven confirmed murders.

Simone Schmidl was a 21-year-old German traveller backpacking through Australia. In January 1991, she was staying in Sydney and planned to continue her journey south towards Melbourne. On 20 January, Simone left Sydney and began hitchhiking along the Hume Highway. She was seen near Liverpool attempting to obtain a lift south, but she never reached her intended destination. When Simone failed to make further contact, she was reported missing. Like Deborah Everist and James Gibson before her, there was little immediate evidence explaining what had happened. As an international backpacker travelling independently and relying on hitchhiking, reconstructing her final movements proved extremely difficult. For more than two years, Simone's disappearance remained unresolved.

On 1 November 1993, police searching Belanglo State Forest discovered Simone's skeletal remains in an isolated section of bushland. Her body was found approximately 100 metres from where the remains of Deborah Everist and James Gibson had been discovered weeks earlier. Forensic examination determined Simone had been stabbed repeatedly. Her clothing and other evidence recovered from the burial site helped investigators identify her and establish that she had been murdered. The discovery strengthened the emerging pattern surrounding the Belanglo killings: young travellers disappearing while hitchhiking from Sydney before being taken to isolated bushland and murdered.

By the time Simone's remains were discovered, investigators knew they were searching for a serial killer. Caroline Clarke and Joanne Walters had been discovered in Belanglo State Forest in September 1992. Deborah Everist and James Gibson were found during further searches in October 1993. Simone became the fifth body recovered from the forest. Investigators compared the disappearances and established important similarities between the victims. They were young travellers, several were foreign backpackers, and each had disappeared while using or intending to use the Hume Highway corridor south of Sydney. The investigation eventually focused on Ivan Milat. British backpacker Paul Onions had survived an encounter near Mittagong in January 1990 in which a motorist attempted to restrain and abduct him. Onions escaped and later identified Milat as his attacker, providing detectives with an important lead. Police subsequently placed Milat under surveillance and investigated his movements, employment history, vehicles and family connections. When officers raided Milat's Eagle Vale home on 22 May 1994, they recovered an extensive collection of firearms and property belonging to murdered backpackers. Among the items recovered from the homes of Ivan Milat and members of his family were possessions connected to Simone Schmidl, providing crucial evidence linking Milat to her murder.

Ivan Milat was charged with Simone Schmidl's murder along with the murders of Deborah Everist, James Gibson, Caroline Clarke, Joanne Walters, Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied. His trial began in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1996. On 27 July 1996, Milat was convicted of all seven murders and the offences committed against surviving backpacker Paul Onions. He received seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, together with additional sentences for the attack on Onions. Milat never admitted murdering Simone or any of the other confirmed victims and maintained his innocence until his death in prison on 27 October 2019.