Seven backpackers disappeared hitchhiking off the Hume Highway in New South Wales from 1989 to 1992. For years, Australia was gripped by the mystery – was it the work of a serial killer, or just some more inexperienced tourists bested by the Australian outback?

In the first episode of Season Two and our first case in New South Wales, your girls discuss the initial disappearances of the seven backpackers, Jess's fear of the outdoors, and how much Sydney sucks. Fuck you, Sydney.

James Gibson, Deborah Everist, Joanne Walters, Caroline Clarke, Simone Schmidl, Gabor Neugebauer and Anja Habschied were the seven victims of the Backpacker Murderer. They were picked up by a mystery bloke, driven into the Belangalo State Forest, and viciously murdered. The police were baffled – what kind of a person would murder seven people so horrifically for their own sick pleasure?

The Backpacker Murders are without a doubt the most famous serial killing case in Australian history. Even if you’ve never heard the true story, you’ve heard the fictional one – this case inspired the Wolf Creek movies. But, as cliché as it is to say, in this case, truth is definitely stranger than fiction.

Our main source this week was the absolutely ripper Sins of the Brother, by Les Kennedy and Mark Whittaker. You can buy it for the very reasonable price of $22 here on Booktopia.com.au, or you can try before you buy and read an excerpt here https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/what-made-ivan-milat-a-serial-killer/news-story/3a54f7de7b63e494317ac98a99dcd8a5

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