Notorious serial ‘Backpacker Killer’ Ivan Milat has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The 74-year-old – who is currently serving seven consecutive life sentences – was transferred to hospital from his solitary confinement cell in Goulburn Supermax prison earlier this week.
Tests conducted at Sydney’s Princes of Wales Hospital on Monday found lumps in his stomach and throat, revealing he is in the advanced stages of cancer.
Australia’s infamous serial killer is being held in a secure annexe of the Randwick hospital, and it is unlikely that he will return to prison.
The ABC report Milat is chained to his hospital bed with two prison guards keeping him under 24-hour surveillance.
Milat murdered seven backpackers, whose bodies were found in makeshift graves in NSW’s Belanglo State Forest in the 1990s.
Source: AAP Image/Supplied
A source close to Milat’s family told the ABC that the serial killer had lost 20 kilograms over the last few months, and was suffering from geriatric anorexia and was “dangerously thin”.
A prison source confirmed to the ABC that Milat would constantly refuse food and ingest sharp objects such as razor blade and paperclips if guards refused his demands.
He famously went on a hunger strike in 2011 during which he lost 25 kilograms in an unsuccessful attempt to be given a PlayStation.
NSW Corrective Services released a statement on Tuesday which said “extensive security and planning” was undertaken before the 74-year-old prisoner was transported to hospital.
It said Milat was searched before leaving the prison in Goulburn and “will be searched again on his return”, as well as confirming he is wearing restraints while in hospital.
It is understood Milat will not return to Supermax prison, but that arrangements are being made to transfer him to a hospital ward at Long Bay Prison.
Image: AP
