Australia's real life Wolf Creek horror story | 60 Minutes Australia

in a world where our measure of human barbarity is all too frequently being re-evaluated what happened to to overseas backpackers at a remote South Australian beach sets a new unthinkable low for horror Salt Creek is a rugged and spectacular piece of coastline 200 kilometers southeast of Adelaide but it's very isolation made it the perfect setting for monster Roman Hinds to try to satisfy his wicked fantasies he lured the unsuspecting 23 year olds one from Brazil one from Germany to the beach and then kidnapped and attacked them but how the young women fought to save themselves and each other shows courage can conquer evil tonight for the first time Beatrice and Lena tell their incredible story of escape from Salt Creek and we have to warn you this story has some confronting scenes and violence [Music] it's Tuesday the 9th of February 2016 and police are responding to a chilling cry for help as this home video shows it started out as a regular road trip a friendly stranger giving to young backpackers arrived they think they're safe but just moments later these two women are fighting for their lives what happened at this abandoned and remote campsite at the hands of this man Roman Hinds is terrifying he is evil in the worst kind he's another either Mallette and for all its beauty Salt Creek two hours southeast of Adelaide was his hunting ground when you get out there middle of nail a needle in a haystack and the chances of two girls that survived him caught the chances they're happening a really really remote but the survival of Beatrice from Brazil and Lena from Germany didn't come without an incredible fight worthy of a Hollywood movie [Music] ramen Heinz didn't count on you too did he he didn't count on how strong you were he expect that we both would be weak and he can just do what he wants with us he didn't know that he was in fact facing two Amazonian women who were much stronger than him yeah I think we were just is murder right matter yeah exactly just at that moment it just we knew that we had to fight we had to do whatever wasn't needed to survive somehow [Music] walk along these roads with me I think it's kind of why everything's you just think of the beach of the salon like 24/7 Australia has long been the go-to destination for free-spirited backpackers keen on adventure I think I was turned yourself across a safe place we have plenty of Sun surf and in the minds of backpackers not so many serial killers no yeah are there serial killers see I still wouldn't get into a car like hitchhike by myself but if I do it with her to someone else or stuff like that I would definitely do that yeah Lena to thought Australia's safe even after watching our own backpacker horror film Wolf Creek which she considered pure fiction I watched it with a friend together and I remember that I was telling him after the movie was finished that I said to him this is horrible but it's not real this will never ever happen to anyone like not like this and then yeah one month later yeah something like that happened and it happened to you yeah so it's quite unbelievable both 23 at the time Beatrice and Lena had always dreamed of visiting Australia Lena was on a gap year and Beatrice was completing her nursing studies both were keen to see as much as they could my first adventure in my life and I really wanted to do it so I wasn't really that's that worried and I knew there would be a lot of backpackers anyway one of those backpackers would be Beatrice who had also never before traveled on her own just one week after meeting new Aussie boyfriend James she was on her way to Adelaide everyone says it's a good experience just travel by yourself and I don't like gonna be in Australia I gonna meet people in the way it's like lovely country just gonna try and James did you think it was safe yeah yeah things happen I mean everyone knows Ivan Milat and those sorts of people but it's almost like a myth really we never expected to happen in Adelaide Beatrice meets Lena for the first time and learns they have the same plans a desire to see the great ocean road they just need a ride and so as so many young travelers do Beatrice posts an ad on gumtree looking for someone to drive them from Adelaide to Melbourne I got two main response first a guy that it was the one that I wanted to go but the night before he had a problem with his car so I had to cancel with him and that's when I called to my second option which was Roman did you get any sort of sense of warning any sense of danger at all in those initial dealings with him no I just thought he was a bit impatient that's the feeling that I had because he was saying like send me message like just be nice with me you just send me a message just answer if you want to go or not but I didn't have so many options Tuesday 9th of February last year and Lena and Beatrice arrive at the designated meeting spot 59 year old Roman Hines is already there waiting the first impression that I had it was weird because he looked like older than what I was yeah I thought like okay Beatrice is here too and that made me feel safer then it would normally do yeah I'm not sure if I would have gone with him all alone I yeah yeah what the girls did not know was they were now with a man who was dangerously volatile a man who planned to hurt them this looks like you and happier times yes it was actually it was a fantastic time you know this is before he started down a bit weed artist Sylvia Clarke fell in love with a man she found charming but very soon encountered another side to him so here you are happy six months later I'm black and blue and heartbroken Sylvia says these photos are evidence of a vicious attack by Roman just one month before he picks up Beatrice and Lena her account is harrowing I must I went into a deep sleep and then I woke up this hand was already tied up my left hand was already tied up and I just said what the hell are you doing then he just he just swore at me and told me to shut up and then he started biting me he kept constantly biting me and then he was grabbing me like I was a dirty rag and just yanking at me my legs trying to get my legs apart and in the end I just laid there and I just thought to myself he's if I'll keep doing this it could come out worse then when he finished it just rolled over left me tied up just rolled over turned his back what I love is they flying there you didn't say anything to you didn't say a single word to me too ashamed to go to police Sylvia ended the relationship and luckily escaped a planned camping trip to Salt Creek what do you think might have happened to you if you'd gone with him on that camping trip to Salt Creek well the way he would like that flick instantly from weighing one person to another I probably wouldn't have come back blissfully unaware of his violence against Silvia Beatriz and Lena and now two hours into their drive with Heinz without discussing it with the girls he pulls off at Salt Creek to set up camp miles from anywhere and anyone he just went there and started setting up the tents and there didn't like any special place it was just a beige in the middle of nowhere know why so I just I don't know why why here you know at what point do you think he planned that now I think he planned before before I see my ads you know he was already chasing someone to do something bad coming up so well in the middle of nowhere Hans becomes a monster she grabbed me and then I realized it wasn't a joke his terrifying plan is revealed in chilling detail oh my god he wants to kill us that's next on 60 minutes coming back now what are the thoughts going through your mind it's always a strange feeling coming back here it's really clear and still I can just remember it so well no wonder Salt Creek will always be seared in Lena's memory what happened in this remote place in February last year to her and fellow backpacker Beatrice was horrific but as Beatrice happily and innocently captured it started out as a simple road trip with a delayed man Roman Hinds giving them a lift what was that drive like he was quiet most of the time I felt that he was worried about us having a nice trip you know he was concerned like oh let's take some pictures I know you guys are Therese [Music] the girls were unaware of the Menace Heinz kept hidden on their way to the great ocean road he decided to pull into Salt Creek a remote fishing destination he knew well he took them to Tetrick crossing to set up camp by now Lena was worried I remember that I asked Beatriz like do you think he's all right and she was like he's a little bit weird but I think it's gonna be okay yeah yeah masquerading as a mild and helpful fellow traveller Pyne soon had the camp ready so after the camp was set up what did you do then oh I was pretty tired on that day and I actually just wanted to sleep so I went in the car that's where I finally slept and Beatrice in Rome and they were like setting up the stove and they were cooking something together and yeah sitting on the table just like this is made up now yeah the service space yeah how did Roman Heinz convince you to move away from the campsite he convinced me that there were kangaroos in the back and he said that he saw some footprints and he said like how would you like to go to see ensign yes why not you know Heinz's twisted plan was now in action trustingly Beatrice followed him into the sand dunes unaware he was carrying a knife hammer and ropes there were no kangaroos and Beatrice wanted to return still unaware of the danger once I turned around to go towards the campsite that's when she grabbed me and then at the beginning like the first I think speeds of seconds I just thought it was a joke I just didn't get and then so like no it's no fun what are you doing look and then I realized it wasn't a joke you know it wasn't how had he grabbed you he was on my back and he put his arm around my neck and put me down what did he do then then he hit a rubber knife that he had on his back and he put on the sand and then if he got some pieces of ropes and try to tied my arms and my legs my ankles but once I realized that he was trying to do I grab the rope and throw them away that's a great moment of defiance did he react in any way he said to me either you make it easy or I gonna break your arm so I said okay I'm not gonna piss him off I'm gonna just do it wasn't the right moment you piss him off and I know this must be painful but if he can tell me what happens after that what happens next then like she wasn't control with me you know that moment just I couldn't do anything else oh he was turning me and he ripped my bikinis and started like trying to kiss me and like me you know and I understand he did get angry I mean he he he physically hurt you too what what prompted that and what did he do I was trying to talk with him and convince him that wasn't a good thing he didn't place him so he started punching me like shut up you know I don't want to hear what you have to say did that stop you know it was like and it's weird but I didn't feel pain at that moment with the pants you know because I had so much adrenaline inside of me that I just was focusing like what can I do to survive were you sure at that point that you would survive you know it pays for like several moments in my mind that I was gonna die and I even imagined my mom coming there to see my body like truth you know that's pretty much that I had but I didn't think about giving up at any moment you know I just thought it would be really unlikely for me to survive I was in the middle of nowhere he was there but I was side what could I do like nothing nothing he must have been terrified yeah I felt like I was in a horror movie you know the end you don't need to or to then you know what's gonna happen Beatrice's next move most likely saved her life incredibly instead of fighting Roman she tricked him persuading him they could continue with whatever he wanted back in the comfort of the camp I had to convince him that I was on his side you know so I said like you don't need to do this if you want to do something just ask me we can go to the tent we can relax there you don't need to do this and when we were going towards the camp I felt good but for some reason when we were getting close to the camp he felt that he changed his mind and he went towards the other direction and at this moment I thought that's my final chance because if you go far away I don't know what's gonna happen and that's when I screamed for Elena I had just one chance milena and that's it and then he started punching me and free from me on the sand [Music] I heard the scream and I went around the car and it was friendly its direction no it came from the left direction definitely that lena heard her name above the wind and the waves was a miracle in itself now she had to find exactly where the single scream came from I saw them she was lying in the sand dunes naked and Roman was standing over like oh my god this can't be true then after the short moment I yeah I got really angry suddenly I was like what the hell does he thinks he is like he can't do this and so I went in their direction and I shouted at him something like like leave her alone and get away from her let her go and he turned around to me and he said something really strange that I didn't get immediately in that moment he said something like I just wanted to try her and then he was coming after me and I was I was running back to the car because I knew I don't want to be close to this guy anymore like I knew he was like planning on doing something but I had no idea what exactly and I was trying to warn her you know like he has an ex I didn't know what was it you know so I just run away he has an ax a hammer I just I didn't know what was it and like she was there so brave trying to help me and it just no run away Dean having to leave Beatrice bound Lena races back to the car she's desperate to get to her phone to call for help I think I was even telling him like I just want to prep my back and get out of here it was like yeah get your [ __ ] back so I opened the door to get the back which was he and I tried to grab it but didn't work out because he came from behind and that's when I got the hot smash with the hammer oh my god he's gonna burn it burn me and sand or something so I thought that's it pretty much I didn't know what he had like hit me with because I couldn't see it immediately but I thought that's the end because the smash was so hot bleeding profusely lena is now fighting for her life as she tries to get the hammer off this six-foot-six enraged man he manages to hit her three more times before she escapes him he has a hammer and a knife what do you think he was planning on doing he's intentions with those tools was to harm us for sure yeah like after the hammer attack it was clear I was just thinking oh my god he's just totally insane like he wants to kill us yeah coming up incredible courage she saved me again at this moment whose idea was it to go separate ways and an unbelievable chase yeah I mean look at you you're little and it's got this full drive and he's chasing you Paolina outsmarted the madman so I pretty much jumped on the bonnet he was really angry that's next on 60 minutes twenty-four-year-old lena considers herself lucky to be alive this could well have been her final resting place if the cruel and perverse roman Heinz had his way she stopped his sexual attack on her friend Beatrice but now she was his target how Lena survives is extraordinary if you didn't fight back where would you be today ah probably not alive I guess [Music] her fight for survival went on for hours as the injured laner runs away from hinds he jumps into his four-wheel drive to chase her down layna is not only trying to get away she also wants to find and help Beatrice [Music] I wasn't sure where Beatrice what was at that time so I was yelling for her like where are you where are you I don't know where exactly was I think he went to his car to chase us and at this moment she untied my arms so she saved me again at this moment and that's when I have the opportunity to survive whose idea was it to go separate ways after news yeah just a natural decision that it was sort of both held together you know summer yeah that he had to split up that you'd have a better chance yet escaping but which direction to take was another fateful decision Beatrice went left up into the sand dunes and Lena right naked and frightened Beatrice hid in the bushes but Lena was in full sight [Music] then he turned around and he started chasing me and I was running in all different directions pretty much but on this flat area here you must been terrified again yes yeah yeah I mean look at you you're little and he's got this full wheel drive and he's chasing you it's huge the car and I didn't really know what to do the only chance was just running away as fast as I could weaving between scrubby salt bushes lena ran for nearly a kilometer with heinz constantly on her tail intent on running her down it's hard to imagine her terror what freaked me out was a those small footprints you see so there's not much of a girl as obviously yeah a small person but the footprints were like four feet apart and it's clear as a bell that's someone running for their life the hunt ended here Lena had nowhere else to run we finally reached me with the car and just bumped into me pretty much in my back with the bumper BER yeah so you're running and he's got you yeah so how many times did he do that to you he did that like I think four times and always bumping into me with the booba and then I flew away in the sand but always stood out again did you think this is the spot where I will die yeah I thought I'm going to die I was really sure about it like I already imagined myself dying here and that's why I didn't want to give up in the end because I was so like so so determined that I didn't want to die here I really don't want to die today and on this spot not here not now physically at her weakest Lena now makes a truly remarkable decision I realized that I got weaker and weaker I knew I couldn't go on for this for very long so I remember when when he turned around the next time was facing me with the car I thought like okay I have to do something because I can't keep on going and so I pretty much ran towards the car and just jumped on the bonnet and I was holding myself on the antenna of the of the car and then pushing myself up on the bonnet and then straight going onto the roof because I thought like okay I'm safe on the roof you can't get on the roof I'm laughing because I can't help it but it's because you're so extraordinary like how did you think to do that how could you do that physically it's incredible I felt like a bit like in a movie at first but like [Music] I was Roman Heinz's reaction to you doing that he was really angry like really angry and was shouting at me get off the [ __ ] move get off the [ __ ] move he said it like ten times but I was really angry as well we tried to climb on the roof and was trying to hit me with the hammer again and I remember I tried to like kick it in his face to be in this situation where this man is clearly trying to get you you're bleeding profusely it was like you're like you're black rain like kept on dripping onto the roof that's when I knew like it's really serious because it just kept on dripping didn't stop like blood rain you say yeah [Music] unable to shout her down the Furious Heinz tries everything to dislodge Lena from his roof driving first along the beach and then through the sand dunes he was like driving like a madman through everything [Music] it was but like it was quite rough like like being on a road here that's how I felt life [Music] Petrified Hines would be back Beatrice stays hidden behind bushes until unexpectedly her luck changes she sees another car makes sure it's not Romans before desperately flagging down the driver and his friends can you describe the image they would have seen coming at them the sangeun's yes like a girl naked running waving for them and I think when they saw me they thought that was weird but once I got in the car and start screaming they saw that was serious [Music] the young freaked out fishermen called Adam Stewart the owner of the local and only Roadhouse in the area this some girl on the beach has been raped was the first thing he said that's basically some Joy's raped and bashing some girls on the beach and just panic I just an extreme level of help while Adam called police and prepared to head to the beach Beatrice convinced her rescuers to search for Lena and they want me to like take me back to the entrance to save me but then I said no my friends still there and they agreed with me to try to look for her you know and I think that's the moment when indirectly I saved her back you know because Roman knew that there was someone else chasing him it's an incredible story of survival never did the small but feisty laner give up even though she was still at the mercy of this monster mentally Lena was stronger setting the rules that would lead to her freedom he was like get off the roof like I'm not driving any further with you on the roof and he said this is ridiculous I remember that he said that and I was like why is it ridiculous like why should I come off the roof you you tried to kill me like why should I even trust you so I told him I only come off the roof if you throw away your weapons he had two hammers and there was a knife remarkably he listened to her and perhaps sees by sympathy Hines handed Lena her cap to help stem the blood gushing from her scalp but the kindness is short-lived with Layne and now in the front seat he races up the beach past another group of fishermen Roman had just driven through the campsite and one of the boys in particular had a really really good view of notice that in the passenger seat was a young girl chopped in blood and thought as if you see was an arm waving and then they rolled off up the beach waving as in waving fell I was more so flapping out of their car not a lot of energy and despite their own fear the young men got back in their car and followed finally cornering Hinds in the sand dunes and it's a chilling phone call the kids on the phone just start going mental that's like we can see him at and we can see the car except we can see him and sound and that voice coming through that find those kids were were scared rightly so and and I'm like where's the girl can you see the girl no no we can only see him [Music] I finally opened the door he was like please Lena get back into the car and I said no I'm going to the fishermen now he looked really confused like not like as if he didn't know what to do really with this kind of situation and then I pretty much just ran away and I turned around a couple of times but he didn't come after me [Music] it's being described as being so bad that those men didn't know if you were a man or a woman yeah I had no idea that's what they told me later and that's why they were so scared and didn't want to come towards me Roman Heinz didn't stick around for laners rescue and fled the scene in his four-wheel-drive with sunlight fading fast and hundreds of kilometers of sand dunes to cover it became a race against time from that moment on it was it was just a hunt we were after it you know we we near the girls were safe we just gotta find this guy coming up the hunter becomes the hunted it was ending there there was any one way or another we're just gonna wait you're just gonna round him yeah and one more chilling twist four years ago Roman Heinz stopped here at the Roadhouse witnesses saw him with a young blonde woman they assumed as a backpacker that's next on 60 minutes hello I'm Tara Braun thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 8,285,824

Rating: 4.6187301 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter, Overton, Karl Stefanovic, Ray Martin, Peter Stefanovic, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Paul Barry, Peter Harvey, Michael Usher, Ross Coulthart, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, salt creek, wolf creek, horror story, australian outback, scary movie, roman heinze

Id: Myalj0M8wms

Length: 38min 13sec (2293 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 27 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/SassyPie1]

This guy lived in the same suburb as me at the time of the attack. He would go looking for backpackers on gumtree (similar to craigslist) and had specifically been banned from contacting women on this site because he’d already been jailed for sexually assaulting another female backpacker in 2014. A guy i went to highschool with, actually helped the girls when they escaped as he was camping in the same area.

[u/Clarenceisnotamused]

so in the bathroom above the door there was a metal wall vent , it had a metal sleeve about 8 inches long that fit into the wall with the face mounting flush , you know what I mean ? well my girl walked into the bathroom to shower and that thing fell out right as she walked past it barely missing her. I put it back up and I tell ya that thing weighed about 20 lbs solid steel. it freaked us both out because there's no way possible it could have just fell out with an eight inch sleeve going into the wall duct. impossible . if it had been hanging out we would have noticed it. if it would have hit her head it would have killed her , it was that heavy . so that shower in there has glass bricks as the shower wall. I swear , every time I took a shower I would hear what sounded like dogs barking and someone verbally fighting. it would build up slow then get louder , I'd turn the shower off and yell if everything is ok, as soon as if turn it back on in a few minutes same thing. every time. I had a work shop out back I spent a lot of time in , one night about 3-4 am there was a LOUD female scream out of nowhere , me and my dogs just stood there quietly , waiting for what's next but that was it. dunno who or why. I had some very scary and realistic dreams there , I won't to into those other than they involved vampires . this is the oddest thing, so when we moved in we were engaged to be married. by time we moved out we were broken up , we had fought terribly there over stupid things , I said some very mean stuff as did she . well every single nieghbor we had was doing the same thing, fighting at odd hours , yelling at each other etc calling cops on one another. I mean every nieghbor. to our right ,left, behind , across the street , everywhere . I've never seen that in my life. I would have these waking dreams seeing a female walking slowly up the street dressed like in the old west days , big dress etc. only her face was that of a fanged demon, twice a week I would dream that , I made these banishment cards that I put up everywhere near the house. I carried a huge handmade Bowie knife on my belt after reading that iron repels things like that, I was ready to take this on. there's more but I gotta get dog food. have a good one

[u/Clarenceisnotamused]

your welcome. I think you'll trip out on that guy. what a monster he is. I used to see him walk around my neighborhood ( tower district ) he is frickin huge tall , who knew all that time the crazy shit he was doing . like I said the house was tore down to dirt level and fenced off for years, people would go hang crosses on the fence. me and my ex moved in 4 houses down from there about 8 years ago and I swear that entire neighborhood is haunted , tainted with a darkness .the house we moved in to was old old. like from 1910 , right after we moved in this happened .

[u/johnballen416]

great suggestion, thanks!