Matthew Milat

Address: NSW, Australia
Age: 19
Sex: Male

Convictions

Date: 9/6/2012
Charges: Murder
Category: Murder
Court: NSW Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Jane Mathews
Penalty: 43 years jail with a 30-year non-parole period

Matthew Milat, the great-nephew of serial killer Ivan Milat was sentenced to 43 years in jail with a 30-year non-parole period for the brutal murder of 17-year-old David Auchterlonie.

His accomplice Cohen Klein was sentenced to a 32 years in jail with a 22-year non-parole period.

In the NSW Supreme Court Justice Jane Mathews said: "In the last 10 minutes of his life, the deceased was subject to almost inconceivable torment and torture by Milat.

"It is almost impossible to imagine the terror that the deceased was subjected to. It was a thoroughly senseless and brutal murder.

"He took the life of an innocent young man who was unfortunate enough to be his friend in a completely brutal manner, simply for his own enjoyment.

"Having regard to the whole of the evidence, I consider Milat, with his personality disorder, to be at best a substantial risk and poses a serious potential danger to the community.

"I am unable to find that these are genuine expressions of remorse. In my view they were written for forensic purposes only. In particular the poems were particularly inconsistent with remorse. He almost appeared to be revelling in the events."

On the night of November 20, 2010, David was lured into the Belanglo State Forest, where Ivan Milat killed seven backpackers in the early '90s, with the promise of smoking cannabis and drinking to celebrate his 17th birthday.

He was joined by Milat and Klein - and a third friend, Chase Day, who was not charged.

When the teenagers arrived at the southern highlands forest, David was tortured, tormented and then murdered with a double-sided axe by Milat.

His body was buried in the forest in what Crown prosecutor Lloyd Babb, SC, described as "an adrenaline-fuelled thrill kill".

Before the killing, Milat reportedly rubbed his hands together and said: "We're going to Belanglo, someone's going to die."

During the sentencing hearings for Milat and Klein, Justice Mathews heard that the teenagers had made a mobile phone recording of the murder as a personal "trophy" of what they had done.

Milat later bragged about his actions, telling friends that he was doing "what my family does", and attempted to glorify the murder in a series of poems he wrote in jail and later sent to his mother.

Justice Mathews was also told during the sentencing hearing that Milat had recently made a number of expressions of remorse, including writing a letter apologising to David's family "from the depths of my heart".

Justice Mathews has indicated that a key question in determining the length of the sentences will be the extent of premeditation.

The teenagers' lawyers said they went to the forest with the intention to hurt and to scare David, but not to kill him. This is particularly the case with Klein.

"This is a very unusual case, in that the decision about the seriousness of the offence hinges very much on the question of premeditation," Justice Mathews said.

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Comments

Matthew Milat's great-uncle is the notorious serial killer, Ivan Milat.