By Cydonee Mardon
Convicted serial killer Ivan Milat left a letter for his family with instructions on how he wanted his death to be handled.
Milat, known in his family as 'Mac', died in Long Bay Jail's hospital wing from terminal oesophagus and stomach cancer about 4am on Sunday.
Bill Milat, right, who is Ivan's next of kin, and his wife Carol.Credit: Sylvia Liber
The 74-year-old had been undergoing chemotherapy since first being diagnosed in May.
Milat's death will now be the subject of a coronial inquest with his death deemed a death in custody as he died in jail.
Following the inquest, his body will be returned to his family for burial.
On Sunday Milat's closest family members were set to open a letter he had penned in his dying days.
Backpacker killer Ivan Milat.Credit: Darren Pateman
"Mac has made his request of us to follow in a letter. We will sit quietly to read it shortly," his sister-in-law Carol told the Illawarra Mercury newspaper on Sunday.
"But we know he wants it very quiet."
The former road worker was sentenced in 1996 to seven consecutive life sentences for murdering seven backpackers whose bodies were found in makeshift graves in NSW's Belanglo State Forest in the 1990s.
Milat's next of kin, his brother Bill, was not notified by authorities of his brother's death before the news broke on Sunday morning.
The family learned of his death when contacted by the Illawarra Mercury. His death was even listed on Wikipedia before the family had received any official word.
Carol, Bill's wife, said she was disgusted. "We haven't been told," she said at 6.30am.
She said police officers knocked on her door at 6.50am to notify them of the death.
"They said they have to inform us before a media release [is issued]," Carol said. "Unbelievable."
On Friday Carol told the Mercury the family had just had their final visit.
"We've sadly said all the things we wanted to say, I cried because it's too hard to say goodbye to a friend," she said then. "He has that horrible chest rattle and it's not long now and they have told him he's close.
"He is very alert but so tired, he choked several times and the rattle became a bit louder. He talked about the crimes he has been accused of and he reiterated that he had nothing to do with the crimes he's been in jail for 25 years for. Then we talked about family."
In recent weeks, the families of some of his victims have said they hoped for a deathbed confession to bring some form of closure.
However, the 74-year-old vehemently denied the crimes and maintained his innocence right up until his death.
He had always maintained his innocence, despite prosecutors and a judge describing the case against him as "overwhelming".
He had unsuccessfully appealed his conviction several times, with evidence linking victims' belonging to him described as "so comprehensive, and so overwhelming in its force".
Milat "categorically denied" being the backpacker murderer when asked again by his family in his dying days. He said he didn't need a priest because he had nothing to confess.
"I said 'look, I know you're a Christian, you have Christian faith, and so do I ... did you do it or not? Because if you want to speak to a priest we can arrange it," Carol said.
"He said 'No' and he started rattling off the reasons and times and days of why he couldn't have done those things. But nobody wants to hear that. I apologised for asking. I said 'everyone wants to know'. I said 'we know you didn't do it'."
Carol and Bill believe in his innocence.
"Backpackers are still going missing, but now they go missing from up north. One went missing just last week from northern NSW," Carol said.
NSW Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts said he was glad Milat was dead.
"He can rot in hell," he said. "He showed no remorse."