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Matthew Milat sentenced to 30 years jail for 'cold blooded' murder

• Matthew Milat jailed for maximum 43 years
• Milat's accomplice gets maximum 32 years
• Judge says Milat took life in "cruel, brutal" manner

By Amy Dale Court Reporter - The Daily Telegraph

June 08, 2012

THE teenage relative of serial killer Ivan Milat will spend the next 30 years behind bars for the "cold blooded killing" of his childhood friend.

In handing down the sentence to Matthew Milat and Cohen Klein in the Supreme Court this morning, Acting Justice Jane Mathews said the "deliberate and premeditated" crime was done for personal enjoyment and that David Auchterlonie's final 10 minutes alive were filled with "horror" and "unimaginable torment".

Justice Mathews sentenced Milat to a maximum of 43 years, Klein to a total of 32 years.

Klein, who the court heard was "strongly influenced" by Milat, will spend 22 years behind bars.

Milat and Klein murdered David using a double bladed axe in the Belanglo State Forest in November 2010 - the same bushland Ivan Milat slaughtered seven backpackers in the 1990s.

The pair, who were aged 17 and 18 at the time, pleaded guilty to murder last year.

Justice Mathews didn't give any discount for Milat's guilty plea, and noted he still is a "serious potential danger" to the community.

Dressed in suits, and separated by a prison officer, neither showed any emotion as the sentence was handed down.

"It is impossible to describe the horror (of the killing) ... when he was subject to unimaginable torment by Milat," she said.

"It clearly falls in the worst category for the case of murder."

The court heard Milat "gloated" about the killing the next day, and said "you know me, you know my family. You know the last name Milat, I did what they do".

Justice Mathews said Milat didn't appear to have "expressions of genuine remorse ... or regret' for the crime.

The court heard the location of the murder was "significant' as it is where his great uncle "lured a number of people and murdered them".

The murder, and the 15 minutes leading up to it, was hauntingly captured on an audio recording from Klein's mobile phone.

In it Milat can be heard saying to David "tell people my f****** business and you wind up hurt".

Justice Mathews said that to describe the recording as "chilling...is an understatement".

"It is extremely distressing material," she said.

"The sound of (David) crying out in agony is chilling in the extreme.

"(David) was being entirely submissive during the whole of the episode (and) desperately tried to placate Milat."

A sentencing hearing last month revealed Milat has written several poems during his time in custody, including one titled 'Killer looks and on evil side" where he writes "shelter you will need to seek, so terrifed you can hardly speak".

Another poem includes the verse "I am not fazed by blood or screams, nothing I do will haunt my dreams".

Justice Mathews said the "very chilling" poetry appears to "recount the murder".

"It is quite the opposite (of remorse), he appears to be reveling in the memory of this terrible event," she said.

The court was packed with David's family, as well as members of the Milat family who came to hear the sentence.

The DPP Lloyd Babb told the court during submissions last month that it was a murder based on "torment and torture" with a motive based only on "a thrill to kill".

He said the pair's guilty plea was based not on remorse but on a "recognition of the inevitable" because police had seized the audio recording.

Taking into account time spent in custody, Milat and Klein will be eligible for parole in 2040 and 2032 respectively.

In sentencing, Acting Justice Jane Mathews read out this "particularly chilling" poem Matthew Milat wrote more than nine months after the murder.

'your last day'

Click-clack
hear that,
stopping in the, middle of the track,
Are you Getting Nervous in the back,
Should be C--- your getting wAcked,
talk s--- here, talk s--- there,
No-one'z really gunna care,
but talk s--- with every breath,
You just signed away your health,
I can see you start to sweat,
Wanderin what your gunna get,
hopin 4-1 in the head,
C--- ILL Put it in Your Leg,
tell me, ARE YA HAVIN FUN,
get up C---, And start to run,
how fAr are ya gunna get,
Your Match C--- you have just Met,
stumblin all OVA the place,
Hear the crunch of leaves and feet,
feel your heart, skip a beat,
Are ya gunna get away,
No hope kid this is your day,
The day that you wont be found,
Six feet under Neath the ground.

Serial Killer’s Great Nephew Convicted in Axe Murder

By Nastacia Leshchinskaya - TruTV.com

May 22, 2012

In the 1990s, the bodies of seven young backpackers were discovered in Belanglo State Forest, a 9,400-acre wood in New South Wales, Australia. The bodies, each riddled with stab wounds, had been posed face-down with loose hut-like structures of sticks constructed over them. The killings, which became known as the Backpacker Murders, were discovered to be the work of Ivan Milat, an Australian man with a prior history of abduction and rape. He was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 18 years.

Yesterday, Milat’s great nephew, Matthew Milat, 18, was convicted of murdering one of his friends with an axe in Belanglo State Forest.

In a confession, Milat said he was just “doing what my family does” when he and Cohen Klein, 19, lured their friend David Auchterlonie, 17, into the forest on November 20, 2010. Milat and Klein had told Auchterlonie that they were going there to drink and smoke marijuana, but when they arrived, Milat accused Auchterlonie of “going round telling people [his] affairs,” and told him, “Look at the f*ckin dirt Auchto. I am going to f*ckin kill you if you keep f*ckin movin’. Look at the ground and answer my questions.” Milat continued to interrogate and threaten Auchterlonie while Klein recorded using his cell phone. The 15-minute audio recording, which captures the sound of the axe hitting the victim’s body, was played in court, with Auchterlonie’s family members present. A third teenager, Chase Day, was with Klein and Milat and tried to stop Milat from swinging the axe, but was told by Milat to “get back in the car.” Also presented in court were several poems written by Milat prior to the killing. One poem, entitled Killer Looks and on Evil Side reads, “Take a dash, safety in 2′s /look for a friend so you feel safe,/trust them or your life they might take,/Are you safe? you’ll never know,/but one day you might come to blows.” Another, Cold Life, contains the lines, “Kill for cash, Is what I do/call me up I’ll work for you,/I am not fazed by blood or screams,/Nothing I do will haunt my dreams.“ Milat and Klein both pleaded guilty to murder yesterday, and await sentencing.

Below is an excerpt of the audio transcript:

Milat: Look at the dirt. Don’t look at me. Look at the dirt. Don’t look at me.

Auchterlonie: (Crying).

Milat: Look at the f*ckin’ dirt Auchto. I am going to f*ckin’ kill you if you keep f*ckin’ movin’. Look at the ground and answer my questions.

Auchterlonie: (Crying).

Milat: You keep looking at me I’ll cut your head off. Look at the ground c***. Tell me. Is it true you have been going around telling people my affairs?

Auchterlonie: Not it is not true, Matt.

Milat: Don’t look at me, alright.

Auchterlonie: I am not man.

Milat: Look at the dirt.

Auchterlonie: I am. It is not true.

Milat: Put your arms up around your head.

Auchterlonie: It is not true, Matt.

Milat: Shut up c***. Put your hands down next to your face. Pull them up to your face … You going to keep meddling with me?

Auchterlonie: No I won’t. I swear to God, man.

Milat: How am I going to know that?

Auchterlonie: You have my word.

Milat: How good is your word to me but?

Auchterlonie: Mate we have been mates for ages. My word is good.

Milat: Yeah we have been mates for ages and how many times have I’ve been told that you are dogging me behind my f*ckin’ back c***. Right? You got me?

Auchterlonie: Yes.

Milat: Look at the ground. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?

Auchterlonie: Yes man. I understand dude.

Milat: Do you really but?

Auchterlonie: Yes man.

Milat: Do you really but?

Auchterlonie: Yes dude.

Milat: Seriously?

Auchterlonie: Yes.

Milat: Seriously?

Auchterlonie: Seriously.

Milat: Yeah, I don’t believe you c***.

Auchterlonie: I am serious man. I swear to God to you dude. I never said nothing about you.

Milat: I really do not f*ckin’ believe you right now. Alright?

Auchterlonie: Man I give my word. I would not…

Milat: Yeah you give me your word and your word isn’t f*ckin’ good enough Auchto. I’ve had your word before and it ain’t worth a pinch of cold f*ckin’ sh*t.

Sound of axe hitting Auchterlonie.

End recording.

Court hears of Milat relative's chilling kill

By Paul Bibby - CamberraTimes.com.au

May 22, 2012

The horrific sound recording of 17-year-old David Auchterlonie reeling from a brutal axe strike came without warning - a terrible guttural moan that brought shrieks of distress from the victim's family and shocked many sitting in the court.

Then came the cold, angry voice of Matthew Milat.

''See this now, this is nothing, you wanna see what I'm f---ing capable of?'' the teenage relative of Ivan Milat said.

''I'm being dead-set, Auchto, you wanna f---ing die man? You wanna fucking get in my business?''

Just before another axe strike ends his life, David Auchterlonie is heard to reply: ''I give you my word, I don't … ''

The distressing recording was the traumatic climax of a sentencing hearing for Milat and Cohen Klein in the NSW Supreme Court.

On November 20, 2010, the teenagers lured Mr Auchterlonie to Belanglo State Forest on his 17th birthday with the promise of drinking and smoking cannabis in the area where Ivan Milat murdered seven backpackers in the early 1990s.

They were joined by another teenager, Chase Day.

When they arrived at a road junction in the forest, Milat delivered a brutal blow to his former friend with a two-headed axe.

A 15-minute mobile recording of the murder made by Klein reveals that Milat then verbally tormented his victim while intermittently striking more blows with the axe.

Milat accuses Mr Auchterlonie of having dobbed him in for stealing, which the 17-year-old denies.

Mr Auchterlonie was forced to lie face down in the dirt where he repeatedly denies doing anything, before the transcript records a sound of an axe hitting him in the head.

Klein is heard telling Day to ''get back in the car'' as Day pleads with him to intervene.

The Auchterlonie family were not warned of the traumatic nature of the recording before it was played.

Once the distressing nature of the material became clear, Acting Justice Jane Mathews entreated them to leave, but they elected to stay in the court.

''They didn't just kill him, they terrorised and tormented him,'' Mr Auchterlonie's grandfather, David Auchterlonie snr, said in a victim impact statement read to the court. ''The love I have for him, and the hatred I have for those animals who took him - they deserve no mercy.''

Mr Auchterlonie's mother, Donna Locke, his grandmother Sandra Auchterlonie and his father, also named David Auchterlonie, also spoke of their grief and pain.

His father recalled the tragic symmetry of seeing his son wrapped in a white sheet at the same hospital where he had cradled him in a white blanket as a baby.

''That memory came into my mind again as he was laid out on a table. I wanted to kiss him, but I wasn't allowed because his body had become an exhibit.''

Milat sat staring down at the wood-panelled dock during the hearing while Klein looked straight ahead. Evidence tendered by the prosecution included a series of chilling poems Milat had written since his arrest.

One poem titled Cold Life, reads: ''lifeless corpse, motionless and drained/Another street has been blood stained/heart and soul I do not own/and there is no place I can call home''.

The hearing before acting Justice Jane Mathews, continues today.

Milat’s relative charged with allegedly killing teen David Auchterlonie on his birthday

Aussiecriminals.com.au

November 23, 2010

THE father of a teen allegedly murdered in Belanglo State Forest by a relative of serial killer Ivan Milat wished his son happy birthday hours before his body was found in a shallow grave.

David’s father, also named David gave permission to reveal his son’s name, has told of his anguish over his death on what was the 17-year-old’s birthday.

“I said to him, ‘Have a good night, be good and be safe’,” Mr Auchterlonie said.

“It was his birthday, this happened on his birthday,” he said, shaking his head.

His stepmother Donna Auchterlonie said she spoke to David about 4pm and he seemed in good spirits.

“He said he was fine, he was having a good day, and he would talk to me later,” she said.

The couple said they had no idea what may have motivated someone to allegedly murder their son.

“I just don’t get it,” Mr Auchterlonie said.

“I am in two minds about what I think.

“Why would you go into the bush at 8pm at night?”

Mr Auchterlonie said his son had known the accused killer for many years.

Shaking his head and wiping away tears, Mr Auchterlonie said he wanted answers he knows he may never get.

“I can’t explain this, I don’t know what this is about. None of it makes sense,” he said.

The teenager had left school in Year 10 and was not working at the time of his death.

“He’d been to TAFE and tried a few things … he was working out his place in life,” Mr Auchterlonie said.

The family said David wanted to get the most out of life.

“We took him to the snow last year and he wanted to go up the highest mountain, that was him,” Mr Auchterlonie said.

A relative of the accused was stunned to hear the man had been charged with a murder in the same forest where Milat had killed seven backpackers.

“He’s a blood relative of Ivan but has had no contact with Ivan in jail and was brought up as a normal human being. And as far as I know, he had never been to the forest,” she said.

Yesterday Milat’s teenage relative was charged with murder. Two other men, aged 18, were charged with being accessories to murder after the fact.

Police found the body of teen David Auchterlonie in a shallow grave in Belanglo State Forest on Sunday night after a tip-off.

Police believe he died some time between 9.45pm on Saturday and 6am on Sunday.

Police will allege the group went into the forest some time after 6pm and allegedly consumed alcohol. Some time later, there was a fight and David was allegedly fatally attacked.

Empty beer bottles and marijuana were allegedly found at the scene.

The first anyone in the Milat family knew of a death in the forest was when police turned up at a property yesterday morning with a search warrant.

“They said they were searching for some sort of axe, possibly double-sided,” the Milat family member said.

“We were given very few other details, very few. I have no idea if Ivan has been told.”

The woman, a close relative of Ivan Milat’s, said no one could understand how the accused could be involved in anything like murder.

The relative was arrested and charged at 7.30am yesterday morning. During a brief appearance police made an application to carry out forensic procedures such as swabs of both hands, nail clippings, and photographs of scratches allegedly on the accused’s body.

Dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt he sat silently during the hearing and did not apply for bail, which was formally refused.

He was remanded to appear in the same court via video link on Thursday.

Chief Inspector Pamela Young of the Homicide Squad believes the actions of those arrested “led to the violent death of a boy in his late teens”. The teenager had died from head injuries.

“It would appear that they, certainly, are friends. We don’t have a reason [for the alleged murder] at this stage,” Insp Young said.

The man who tipped police off to the alleged murder, and is among those charged, was last night in protective custody.

His lawyer asked the magistrate to place his client in protection and suppress his name from the media: “My client went to police and is concerned about ramifications.”

Police are searching a dam near the forest for the alleged murder weapon.

Insp Young ruled out any link to the remains of a woman found in Belanglo in August.

She said police were shocked to find another body in the forest.

“We have all shaken our head about just the series of happenings down that way,” she said. “[The forest] has some isolation. I suppose it has some attraction to people.”

Ivan Milat is serving seven life sentences for the murder of five European and two Australian backpackers.

Teenager charged with murder related to Ivan Milat

Mark Morri and AAP - The Daily Telegraph

November 22, 2010

A RELATIVE of serial killer Ivan Milat has been charged with the murder of a friend in the Belanglo State Forest.

Police found the body of the teenage male in a shallow grave last night, in the notorious killing fields on the southern highlands of NSW, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Two other teenagers - also friends of the victim - have been charged. The victim was celebrating his 18th birthday when he was killed, the ABC reports.

The 17-year-old faced Campbeltown Children's Court briefly this afternoon, where police applied for him to undergo forensic procedures.

These include swabs of both hands, nail clippings, and photographs of scratches allegedly on the teenager's body.

The police charge sheet stated that the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died from serious head wounds at Sutton Forest, south-east of Balanglo State Forest between 9.45pm on Saturday and 6pm yesterday.

Detectives located the body of the teen buried in the grave beside a dirt road about 1km from the Hume Highway at 8.30pm EST last night, near the killing fields of Milat.

A member of the public tipped off police officers at Camden Police Station about the crime.

The accused teen, who was silent during the brief hearing, did not apply for bail and it was formally refused by the magistrate. The boy was remanded to appear in the same court via an audio-video link on Thursday.

An 18-year-old man was arrested at Bowral last night and later charged with being an accessary after the fact. He was refused bail to appear at Picton Local Court later today.

Another 18-year-old man, arrested at Bargo today, has also been charged with being an accessary after the fact to murder. He was refused bail to appear at Goulburn Local Court tomorrow.

"Their actions led to the violent death of a boy in his late teens," chief inspector Pamela Young from the homicide squad said police would allege.

All four teenagers knew each other, had been together on the night of the murder and had gone to the forest together.

"It would appear that they, certainly, are friends ... we don't have a reason at this stage," Insp Young said.

Insp Young said the teenager did not suffer from a gunshot wound.

Police are still searching for the weapon they believe was used to inflict the fatal head injuries, but have ruled out the use of a firearm.

Insp Young ruled out any link to the remains of a young woman - aged between 15 and 25 - discovered by motorbike trail riders in the Belanglo forest on August 29.

Police are in contact with the victim's family and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out tomorrow.

The NSW Belanglo forest has a sordid history. The young man's body is the ninth set of remains to be found in the bushland.

Milat buried seven young victims in the forest in the early 1990s.

Insp Young said police were shocked to find another body in the forest.

"I have to say when this one came through last night, we have all shaken our head about just the series of happenings down that way," she said.

"(The forest) has some isolation. I suppose it has some attraction to people who want to do badness."

with Matthew Schulz