Sins of the Brother

by Les Kennedy, Les Kennedy

Like the Beaumont children and the Azaria Chamberlain cases before it, the backpacker murder case in Belanglo State Forest has entered Australian criminal folklore. Seven young people, most of them foreigners backpacking around Australia, brutally murdered, their remains uncovered in 1992 and 1993. It would take scores of police over three years, countless hours of forensic investigation, thousands of false leads and a few precious clues to charge and convict Ivan Milat for their horrific deaths.

"Sins of the Brother" is the definitive work on Ivan Milat, his family and the murders. Almost four years in the making, informed by exclusive interviews with members of the Milat family, key police investigators and Crown lawyers, this book reveals a family culture so bizarre it would lead inexorably to murder. It also scrutinises the police investigation–its remarkable success and failures, the dramatic turning point and the backbiting and bitterness that followed Milat's arrest.

Thought-provoking, totally unsalacious, an exploration of the darker side of Australian life as a whole, "Sins of the Brother" is a detailed and gripping read–a psychological thriller come to life.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Australia, Horror, Biography

628 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is chilling and Mark Whittaker has done a marvellous job of capturing not just the murders Ivan Milat committed but a seriously dysfunctional family.
As you read this book, you continually shake your head in disbelief as surely none of this can be true. It is and that is what is chilling,
Seriously if you love true crime novels this is very insightful case study of a horrendous group of crimes.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strangely enough, I've never been a fan of Australian crime, despite being Australian myself. Then four years ago I started studying and realised that's it's probably best I start getting to know it. So, I may be one of the few Aussies that didn't really know anything about one our of most infamous serial killers, Ivan Milat, AKA the backpack murderer.

I can announce that I'm happy to have read this book because it is truly a fascinating and complex case!
The book itself is 526 pages long, so you can expect that there is a lot of information. The authors go into great detail introducing us to the Milat family starting with Ivan's mother and father and all his brothers and sisters (he had quite a few), their lives growing up, the trouble that they all got into and the court appearances that a number of them made. WARNING: there is A LOT of background information. So if that is not the sort of true crime that you like to read, then this may not be the right Ivan Milat book for you.

However, in saying that you may appreciate the great amount of detail the authors make in also giving up much information on the victims and their families. I found I appreciated knowing more about the victims and who they were and how much they were loved and still loved, and not just how their bodies were discovered and the forensic information that entails.

I very much enjoyed reading about the police task force and those who were involved in investigating the case and also those who helped such as the forensic investigators, news reporters, judges etc. There wasn't a great deal of court/trial, so if that's not a favourite part of true crime for you, I think you'll be satisfied with the few chapters that pertain to that part of the story.

The authors did a fantastic investigative job with this book. The detail that went into this which would have been spent analyzing document upon document, court transcripts, police reports and interviews would have been daunting. They most likely could have written more! I think the amount was perfect for this book. It didn't bore me, in fact I'm very much intrigued by the case and have googled the heck out of it! I don't doubt that you won't too ;)

I recommend you get your hands on a copy in the very near future!

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 172 pages of this book is a long and convoluted recount of the Milat family of which there are many, a number I still do not have a grasp of. The many siblings, coupled with seemingly many nicknames and many family friends or distant relatives, all of whom have pretty similar names, makes this a confusing start to the book. To be honest I have no idea who anyone in this story is except Ivan Milat himself. It does set up well the antics of Ivan Milat and his violent strain appearing earlier but subtly to others, blindsiding many people when he is eventually caught and charged for the backpacker murders (this isn’t a spoiler, you should have read the news).
The remaining two parts of the book get much better in the conflicting sense that things get progressively worse. We learn of the victims, details of the crimes and the police investigation and subsequent trial process. I started this book in March 2020, put it down for 10 months, picked it up again only for it to take me another 5 weeks to finish (sluggish compared to my usual 1-2 week turnaround). I didn’t dislike it, I just didn’t want to keep reading it and kept looking for distractions. This is a “couple of chapters a week” book between others. It’s a hell of a story, but also I could have listened to a podcast about it. I had to finish this book just to close the nearly 12 month chapter of my life and to remove the staring eyes of Milat from my bedside table where he has resided for too long. Adieu fucker, and Rest In Purgatory (hopefully)

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of the crimes known as The Backpacker Murders, committed in early 1990's in Belanglo Forest, NSW. Whilst the book could have dwelt on the gruesome side of these crimes, no details other than saying some one was shot or stabbed were given. This makes for a less sensational read and a far more interesting one. Early on the authors say something like this is a book about crime and justice not about the murders, and I appreciated it.

The authors examine in detail the Milat family, 14 children in 19 years, mostly boys. As they grow up the Milats become involved in petty crimes leading to more serious crimes and numerous prison sentences. They have a fascination with guns and knives, and frequently go shooting feral animals. Their personal lives are dotted with numerous relationships and divorces, and plenty of domestic violence. Some of the brothers have racist views, and have non traditional views on what constitutes rape. The detail on the family is quite interesting and extensive (it is half way through the book before there is any mention of the murders) and gives a solid background to future occurrences.

Finally, with the discovery of 7 bodies in the Belanglo Forest, the police investigation gets underway. With so many victims the workload is immense. Eventually the focus turns to the Milats, but which one? Or were there more than one involved? A very strong case is put forward by the police for more than one killer to be involved, and I believe doubt still exists about this today.

A fascinating read about the background to, and investigation of, a terrible series of crimes. Because the book in no way trades on the gruesome or distressing nature of these events, it reads as a fascinating examination of the investigation and conviction of those guilty.

[Rob Weedon · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the discovery of the seventh victim's body in the Belanglo forest, the investigating task force compiled a list of 2000 persons of interest. Two thousand!
Lock your doors, there's another world out there and it's not nice.

[Jen Roe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a scarey book I think there was a few involved in this case I can't see how he could have done all the killings by himself

[Joel Whelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After spending so much of my time reading sci-fi books for the past couple of years, I turned to true crime, and picked up Sins of the Brother by Les Kennedy and Mark Whitaker, a serious piece of long-form journalism on one of the most prominent serial killers Australia has ever spawned. It’s a truism I know - but there’s something perversely enjoyable about true crime. Particularly so when the horrors have occurred in your own country, or in my case, occurred in some of the locations from my own personal history. I’m not usually into true crime, per se, but like Maccas, it’s just really good sometimes.

While I’m no expert on violent crime, it struck me that the atrocities committed by Ivan Milat (and potentially an accomplice) where so far beyond absurd, were so astoundingly brutal, and cold blooded, it would often leave me feeling gaunt and weak. Also, it left me paranoid too (I’d have to double-check all my doors and windows were locked before bed) and I’m a 36YO bloke - it’s just so evil. But to re-emphasise this point, I truly lack the ability to express just how remorseless this POS was. The guy must rank as one of the worst souls to have ever walked Australian soil.

My book had a terrible cover: It’s a low-res photo of Ivan posing with a rifle, straight-faced, sporting his infamous Merv Hughes moustache, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and trying to look tough. This book took me a month to read and followed me on a trip to Fraser Island, so I had this scumbag’s face displayed on my bedside table(s) too long. This annoyed me in a way, while it totally makes sense to put the photo of the serial killer on the front, the guy doesn’t deserve to have anything, or be given anything more after what he’s done. What I mean is he only deserves to have things taken from him at this point (although I know he’s now dead, may he burn in hell) - and so having his image on the cover only gives him more notoriety and more fame. He deserves nothing more, if you follow me. Alrighty…

Having put it down last night, and looking back, this really is a great book, it’s just taxing subject matter. And I feel for the authors, the toll it would’ve taken on them to put this together over so many years. Wading in filth, day in day out, figuratively speaking. It is so well-researched, so exhaustive and covers the gamut (as much as journalistically possible) of the Milat rabble. The backstory of the family, how the Milat parents met, the type of people they were: Margaret, the mother, naturally submissive at only 16, collided her bicycle with Stjepan (Steven), Ivan’s father, who’s 10 years her senior. A courtship began, but it became clear the guy was a brute: a tyrant who ruled by force and fear, and his genes clearly shone through in a few of his sons. Neither parent were educated by any standard and it had an overbearing affect on their children, of which there were 14.

While long, I found it flowing like good true-crime should. It dipped a little bit here and there with the large number of names and people involved - and there are a hell of a lot - across all aspects of the family, their lives, their partners, their kids, the victims and their families, the police involved, the media – and to complicate it, most of these people have nicknames. So a criticism would be that it’s hard to follow sometimes, as an individual is referred to by one name, then later another.

As I touched upon briefly, what was also disconcerting was how many of the places of my childhood intertwined with Ivan’s journeys: visiting in South West Rocks (where I grew up) to a car accident on Johns River, that killed Ivan’s key informant (where my family later moved), or of Paul ‘Bunny’ Onions’ – Milat’s first victim – touring on Fraser island a few months after his close shave with ‘Bill’ (where I was reading it at the time), it all made the read so much more closer to reality and terrifying.

I’m also really interested in the analysis of these people, and the authors in this book do a great job of picking these personalities a part, while simultaneously shining a light on the dark underbelly of Australia.

The horror, as well. As much as I would like to go into the details of his victims’ grizzly fates, it’s better saved for the book where you, the reader, will get to uncover them - in forensic detail - about three quarters of the way through. The book builds nicely to this part, the part most readers have been looking forward to: the gore. Heinous stuff.

This is an excellent piece of true-crime that’s fascinating and shocking in equal measure. If you’re into Australian true-crime and you haven’t picked this up yet, get on it. For casual true-crime readers like myself, this was a great romp in an out of the genre, but back to the warm embrace of sci-fi I go, I need to lie down for a bit.

[Xanthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is comprehensive. A very large chunk of it is about the Milat family history. I was at first wondering why the authors were including so much detail about them but it eventually became apparent. With 14 children and a pretty lawless upbringing many of them grew up to be criminals. ( This family is a case in study for the whole nature versus nurture debate.) To focus just on Ivan would have been to tell only half of the story. His family certainly had a part to play in that some of them either knew during or after the fact, his murderous habits. This book must have been quite a task to write. There are a lot of players and details.
My two criticisms of the book involve the language used. There is a lot of Australian slang included. I realise that the authors would have gleaned a lot from conducting interviews but I didn’t see point of including the slang in the retelling. Also, several Milat family members had Knick names which the authors would use on and off and that became very confusing. It wasn’t needed. It was hard enough to keep track of who was who, with such a large family, plus their friends and associates.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read about one third of this book. The beginning reminds me a bit of the book about Bonnie and Clyde
.
It is about a huge family with lots of boys going wild. That was the case with Clyde's family and with Ivan Milat's family. Mom always thought the cops were picking on her poor boys.

The part I am reading now involves the young people that loved to travel and I think the writing is very good. Do not know much about this case besides that a man from the UK was a witness.

Update a week later.
Very much enjoyed this book and kept enjoying it. Great writing. Recommend!

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book that looks not just as Ivan Milat and the Backpack Murders but his family and the investigation.
Parts of this book make you truly wonder about the ability of people to do evil things. The author, does a good job at presenting the facts.

[Letitia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Backpacker murders are a chilling part of Australian history and this book captures the horror and fear Ivan Milat struck in the hearts of, not just Australians, but the world. Very well written and researched. It also begs the question, Did Ivan Milat act alone?

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling. Absolutely chilling. Brilliantly compiled. And eye opening if you thought Ivan Milat worked alone...

[Teegan Davey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was very well written and surely makes you think. Highly recommended

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about reading this, in case it was just too graphic. I thought I would just skip those parts, or just put the book down, if that were the case. However, it wasn't too graphic, anything actually relating to the murders was plainly written in a factual manner, without being too explicit for my sensitivities.

I was engrossed from the beginning. I have never come across such a dysfunctional, horrible family.

The first part deals with Ivan, who is the epitome of evil, and the family in general, most of whom are almost as bad. They were just not as clever as Ivan.

The writers and researchers of this book are to be congratulated on an amazing body of work, as are the police who finally nailed Ivan Milat. That name will be forever linked with evil.

[James Leahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Malakai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll never hitch a ride. Not that I ever have, but this book has confirmed for me why I would never hitch a ride. With strangers. In the middle of nowhere.

[Ross Nimmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight to the Milat Family and how Ivan came to be the monster that he was..

[Heather Lampe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, factual read

The authors have researched well and written a great and informative book on Australia's worst serial killer, Ivan Milat.
It is a great book. I enjoyed it.

[Peter Jochinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overly narrated account of the Ivan Malat serial murders in Australia NSW.

[Mark McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute cracker of a book. Enthralling and full of information. If you want to know almost all there is to know about Ivan Milat and his life, read this. Disturbing, accurate and sobering.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. I was actually disappointed when it was coming closer to the end, as I had really enjoyed reading it and wanted to continue that. I found myself reading massive parts each day, because it was actually quite a big book to get through compared to the others I had been reading as of late. The book started way back at the beginning with Ivan Milat's parents and their families, and how they grew up, right through to his childhood as well as that of his brothers and sisters. It does spend quite a large bit of the book talking about him and his family growing up, but I think it's appropriate and anything that can possibly help you understand what caused someone to do something like that, well... you can't say it isn't useless. Still, having read it all, I'm not that much more enlightened than I was before I started the book, which really does make you wonder why and how someone could do something like that. When reading about peoples lives, there's nothing more I love than reading about how everything began, because it can sometimes help you to understand the people better by knowing what they have lived through, that helped shaped who they are. It was written in a way that was very typically Australian, but very easy to follow. I found that it flowed extremely well, and that the chapters were broken up appropriately according to who it may have been about. It didn't really throw in giant words that seemed out of place, or there just to look impressive. The authors actually said that they wrote it the way it was told to them, and I'm impressed that they did this so that the stories remained the same and weren't poorly interpreted or retold, because you just know that it won't have the same impact. Especially having interviewed members of the Milat family and relatives of the murdered backpackers, it's not just second hand information that could have been muddled up. When I went to Sydney recently, it was actually... well, I can't think of the right word, but I felt something, just knowing that years ago these people (and more that disappeared but aren't accountable for) may have travelled around on some of the streets I had been and just vanished from the face of the earth. It was strange, I guess... normally the books I read are set in places I know next to nothing about it, and probably will never come across. I guess you could say it was somewhat surreal. I definitely recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in Australian culture and true crime. It was such an engaging read... disturbing, but definitely engaging, and it really made you feel like you were there or knew the people they were talking about. I think that if an author can write a book that makes you a feel a part of it, or at least feel something, then they're doing a great job. There's probably much more I could ramble on about, but I think I will leave it at that. I give this book 9-9.5/10.

[Sandy Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of research has gone into this book and it is a fascinating story because of it. The background on the whole family is interesting especially as it shows the dynamics between the parents and children and the siblings towards each other.
I think what amazed me the most was the fact that out of all the brothers Ivan was the quiet, polite one who (in public) treated with respect, opened car doors for them etc so he seemed the least likely to be someone who tortured and murdered the seven people he was caught for. I strongly believe that there were more victims.
I also wondered if he paralysed them by cutting through their spine and many were found with gags on, how long did he actually keep them alive? It really is nightmare material.
Great effort by the authors to put out such and interesting book. It left me wanting to know just that little bit more.

[Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling account of the Belangalo murders and other unsolved related muders, covering all the interesting technical aspects of the cases, such as the forensics, ballistic experts and data matching. Very exciting read! There were excessive details on the background of each of the vitcims, but the importance of the details become apparent as the case against Milat builds.

[Rosie Pudsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit Im addicted to true stories and this one had me reading rapidly from start to finish.It was so descriptive you could actually see it all happening before your eyes.I still wonder if Ivans brother was involved somehow.

[Rosemary Overell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best true crime book I've ever read

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting book - and very scary to think about people like this in our world

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A careful and intelligent examination of the forensic evidence gathered by police in the investigation of numerous murders committed by Ivan Milat and ( almost certainly ) his brothers.

[Amy Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Information v. good, writing style annoying in parts

[Dane Procter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only one word... Disturbing

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scary and sensationalist