What happens to the bodies of backpacker serial killer Ivan Milat and gangster Neddy Smith after they die?
Serial killer Ivan Milat and gangster Neddy Smith will almost certainly die in jail. But what will happen to their bodies after they pass away?
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When backpacker serial killer Ivan Milat and the gangster Neddy Smith finally die, their bodies will be given to the NSW State Coroner.
The bodies will be transported from the Prince of Wales Hospital where Milat is being treated for terminal cancer or Long Bay jail where Smith is being held, to the morgue in Lidcome, where the Coroner will review their police and medical records.
The NSW Health Pathology’s Forensic and Analytical Science Service Executive Director, Michael Symonds, said “all deaths in police custody, prisons or detention centres, must be referred to the Coroner.”
Mr Symonds said the Coroner will then review police and medical records to decide whether a post-mortem examination is necessary to determine the cause of death.”
Mr Symonds said the NSW Health Pathology’s specialist forensic pathologists conduct all coronial post-mortem examinations in NSW at its dedicated forensic medicine facilities.
“Once the post-mortem examination is complete, the deceased person is returned to their family for funeral arrangements and an interim report is provided to the Coroner,” said Mr Symonds.
He said arrangements with families are a private matter.
“Out of respect for the privacy of the family, we do not release this information to the media or the public.”
Neither man is considered likely candidates for organ donations. Despite the risk factor of being in jail for a long period of time, their health conditions and age would likely preclude any organs being considered for transplant.
Milat, 74, has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the hospital since he was diagnosed with terminal oesophagus and stomach cancer in May. At the time his weight plummeted to 64kg and he was given three months to live.
He was arrested in 1994 and later sentenced to life for the murders of the seven backpackers who were raped, stabbed, shot and in one case beheaded, in the Belanglo State Forest south of Sydney between 1989 and 1993. He was also convicted of the abduction of the only backpacker who escaped, British tourist Paul Onions.
Smith was last week clinging to life at the Prince of Wales Hospital. He was transferred to hospital from Long Bay Correctional Centre believed to be suffering heart failure after battling Stage 4 Parkinson’s disease.
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The 74-year-old has suffered a deterioration in health over the past decade, leaving him mostly wheelchair bound.
Smith achieved infamy in the 1980s after developing a close relationship with corrupt police detective Roger Rogerson.
Smith has been in and out of hospital for heart problems and other infections in the past few years.
He did attempt an escape from hospital in 2017, when he allegedly snuck past two guards but was stopped by a nurse in the corridor.
Smith has been in prison since 1989 where he is serving two life sentences for murder.
Smith was acquitted of the 1986 murder of prostitute Sallie-Anne Huckstepp.
In his autobiography, The Life and Crimes of Arthur Stanley Smith, he wrote: “There has always been crime and corruption within the NSW police force, but nothing like it was [in the 1980s]. … I could never have committed any of the major crimes I did, and got away with them, without the assistance of the NSW police force.
Originally published as What happens to the bodies of backpacker serial killer Ivan Milat and gangster Neddy Smith after they die?
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