Bill Milat says we have been pronouncing killer’s name wrong
The Milat name is synonymous with evil. Family members have changed their surnames, moved interstate and hidden from the horror of Belanglo. But it turns out we’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time.
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The Milat name is synonymous with evil.
Family members have changed their surnames, moved interstate and hidden from the horror of Belanglo.
However, the name is not as it seems, nor how it has been presented in newspapers, on television, in movies, not even in the Supreme Court trial that lasted four months and hosted scores of Milat family members in the witness box.
Had anyone asked Bill and Carol Milat, they would have told them the name is pronounced “Mill-et”, not “Mil-at”.
“No one has ever bothered to ask and no one gives a damn but it’s pronounced Millet. It’s Yugoslav,” Bill, Ivan Milat’s brother told The Sunday Telegraph.
His wife Carol laments at what their family has endured since Ivan was charged with murdering seven backpackers on May 31, 1994.
“It’s awful to carry the name associated with murder,” she said.
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“No matter where we go, Brisbane, Tasmania, anywhere in Australia. In shops everywhere we are asked more as a statement: ‘Are you that Milat?’
“We never deny it. But, if I’m in a mood, I ask if they have a problem? That always puts them in an apologetic mode.”
The surname is Yugoslavian and the Milats, who are keen travellers, are taken aback when they visit Bill’s homeland.
“Yes, over there it’s held in such high esteem,” Carol said. “You really noticed it. It carries a lot of respect and there are proud Milats everywhere. What a difference.”
The Milat’s hold out hope that “one day the truth will come out”.
“In the early days when this all started we thought about changing our name because the media attention was so awful.
“But then we thought no, we’ve done nothing wrong. “
Originally published as Bill Milat says we have been pronouncing killer’s name wrong