I arrived in Sydney on around the sixth of Jan on a sunday afternoon intending to backpack and work for a year in Oz ; on Tuesday morning I was on the A32 just outside of Katoomba trying to hitchhike a ride out to Cobar to see about a job ; It was about 9.30 in the morning and I was waiting for my first ride of the day when a small pickup truck or ute stopped for me driven by a grungy, heavily tanned fellow in his mid thirties ..I went to throw my backpack in the rear of his vehicle but he told me to put it in the cab wedged behind the seats ; he then told me to put my seatbelt on and then put the door button down ! That was unusual but I wanted the ride so I did ..I thought he was Spanish or even Turkish due to his dark tan and narrow eyes but he told me his folks came from Yugoslavia and that he worked on the roads ..he asked me ''how long in Oz and who knows you're here''? and then went into a brooding silence as we drove towards Bathurst , but I couldn't help but notice that he was staring at me obliquely while driving ,although each time I turned to face him and try and make conversation he simply wouldn't engage ...I thought he may be drunk or trying to rob me, but after around 30 mins just before Bathurst he said he was turning off on a dirt road to go south down to Jenolan forest and so I asked him to drop me off at the traffic lights at the junction, however he ignored me and kept on driving away from the junction going south for about 500 yds before stopping ; he then suddenly became all personable and asked me if I wanted to go out into the bush as he had to ''check his traps'' and said he could show me some ''real Ozzie wildlife'' ..he said it was about 60 miles south and that he could give me a '' long ride'' ..I looked at my map and found it was the opposite direction to Cobar so I said no ! He then quickly jumped out and ran around the back of the truck and was waiting for me when I managed to get my seat belt off and open the door ..when I got out I noticed he was crowding me and his body language indicated he was ready to throw a punch , but I had to get my backpack out as I was worried that he was going to drive away with it ; I was prepared to take a punch while I saved my backpack and valuables and then I could have quickly punched his lights out ; fortunately for me it never turned out that way as just at that moment a long stream of traffic came down from the junction with us in full view as the traffic lights had changed ..he was looking over his shoulder at the passing traffic and looking back at me ! It was the decisive moment , but it gave me just enough time to get my backpack out from behind the seats and was then able to face him ..he was indecisive as he kept looking back at the passing traffic and was blocking my path and so, sensing danger, I pushed past him and started walking back to the junction , but as I did so he gave me a frustrated wolfish grin and said something like '' have a safe trip, mate''
In retrospect I am now certain that the creep was Ivan Milat and that he was trying to murder me ; naturally I didn't know that at the time but I told other young backpackers about this weirdo who I assumed was trying to rob me ..it was only many years later that the pieces of the jigsaw came together when I recognized him instantly on a crime Doc ;moreover after digging up more details from the memory hole I remember that when he stopped his truck was empty except for a swagbag and at the very rear near the tailgate a ball , or claw hammer ..in retrospect it's now clear that when he jumped out and ran around the truck he grabbed it and was holding it behind his back ready to bash me on the head as I got out ..I thought he was trying to punch me , but it never crossed my mind he was trying to actually murder me , and when he said he could give me a ''long ride'' he meant to eternity and when he asked me if I wanted to see some ''real Ozzie wildlife'' he clearly meant himself as a bipedal wolf in human form ! *advertiser censored* HOMINE LUPUS
It's now clear that the mundane changing of the traffic lights saved my young life ; I was prepared to take a punch but could never had taken a hammer blow to the head ...but this all just reinforces my view that life is a series of random events, weird coincidences and near misses (SHRUG)
My name is COLIN POWIS and there are a series of photos on my facebook page taken in Oz shortly after these events occurred ..I was a lot bigger and stronger than Milat and that's why he grabbed the hammer ; fortunately for me he mustn't have had a pistol with him that day ..I did noticed that the insides of his truck was very clean and thought it could possibly have been a government work truck after all he was working for the Department of roads and traffic ..he was still trying to perfect his murder M O through a process of trial and error , but the creep I met was bold and opportunistic ..he had taken a good look at me and was confident he could take me on !
PS/ Nor is it mere coincidence that another of Milat's suspected victims called PETER LETCHER was hitchhiking the same road to Bathurst in November 87 when he went missing ..his body was later found near the Jenolan Caves stabbed in the spine and shot in the head multiple times
COLIN POWIS,
18 minutes ago Edit Report
