Ivan Milat would have been killed by prisoners instead of suffering his slow and pathetic death if he had been jailed in Victoria, according to a reformed bank robber.
Russell Manser claimed the serial killer would not have lasted long in the correctional facility and would have been quickly ‘taken care of’ by inmates.
Mr Manser is a former career criminal who served 23-years behind bars and in Northern Territory, Queensland and NSW prisons.
He learned the different dynamics in each system and claimed in a TikTok video NSW and Victoria would have treated their high-profile criminals very differently.
Mr Manser said Milat would’ve been killed if he was jailed in Victoria rather than NSW as would Mark ‘Chopper’ Read if he went to NSW rather than Victoria.
Russell Manser (pictured) claimed the serial killer would not have lasted long in the correctional facility and that he would have been quickly ‘taken care of’ by inmates
Ivan Milat would have been killed by prisoners instead of dying of natural causes if he had been jailed in Victoria, according to a reformed bank robber
‘If Ivan Milat went to jail in Victoria, I think crims would’ve killed him,’ he said.
Mr Manser told Daily Mail Australia he believed the two prison systems had very different ‘moral compasses’.
‘In NSW, there was this kind of fascination around Milat,’ he said. ‘Screws (guards) will look after putrid crims in NSW, especially high profile ones.
‘Everyone knew if you touched him you were going to get pinched.’
Mr Manser described Victorian criminals as ‘f**king top notch’ saying they moved around in a ‘really organised, rock solid crew’.
He said women killers like Milat were considered grubs and among the worst kind of criminals alongside paedophiles and rapists.
Milat served his prison sentence in NSW and died aged 74 from stomach and throat cancer at Sydney’s Long Bay Correctional Centre on October 27, 2019.
Mr Manser pointed out Milat had spent a few years in jail with the general prison population before he was transferred to a lonely cell at Goulburn Supermax
The former prisoner said other high-profile criminals like Chopper Read were left untouched because ‘who did he ever kill?’
Mr Manser said Milat’s violent crimes against women would have been enough to prompt a Victorian prisoner to end his life.
Milat preyed upon mostly female hitchhikers and dumped their bodies in the Belanglo State Forest, south of Sydney.
He was given seven life sentences in 1994 with no possibility of parole.
Investigators believe he could also be linked with dozens of other missing persons cases from the 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr Manser pointed out Milat spent a few years in jail with the general prison population before he was transferred to a lonely cell at Goulburn Supermax.
He said he was surprised none of the NSW prisoners attempted to take out Milat in that short window period.
Milat preyed upon mostly female hitchhikers and dumped their bodies in the Belanglo State Forest, south of Sydney
Mr Manser said Read would have probably landed himself in trouble and been killed by other high-profile criminals like Arthur ‘Neddy’ Smith
‘A lot of us thought he was a grub,’ Mr Manser said.
‘Victorian people, especially crims, find it hard to believe Ivan was in mainstream and that no-one knocked him.
‘They can’t comprehend that. Victorian crims are full on and would’ve taken care of Ivan.’
The former prisoner said other high-profile criminals like Chopper Read were left untouched because ‘who did he ever kill?’
Read served his time in the Victoria prison system and was 58 when met a similar fate to Milat and died of liver cancer in 2013.
Mr Manser said he was told by several people they didn’t believe Read would have lasted long in the NSW jails.
He said Read was a ‘pretty full-on bloke’ whose history of armed robberies and personality would have made him a target.
Mr Manser said Read would have probably landed himself in trouble and been killed by other high-profile criminals like Arthur ‘Neddy’ Smith.
Smith is one of Sydney’s most well-known criminals who had been convicted for murder, theft, armed robbery, and drug trafficking.
Mr Manser said Milat would’ve been killed if he was jailed in Victoria rather than NSW as would Mark ‘Chopper’ Read (pictured) if he went to NSW rather than Victoria
Mr Manser (right) has been out of jail for more than five years and has made it his mission to raise awareness around the dark realities of prison life in his podcast The Stick Up
The former bank robber and jail escapee said he had the ‘upmost respect’ for the criminals in Victorian prisons, despite never being incarcerated in the state.
‘I really rate Victoria crims, I think they’re f**king really good knock-about blokes down there,’ Mr Manser said.
‘That’s the thing with Victorian prisons, I’ve always had the upmost respect for the boys down there. Always been top of the game and a step ahead’.
Despite not meeting Chopper Reed, Mr Manser added he was a ‘pretty full-on bloke’ and would have been perfectly safe at either prison facility.
‘Did I know Chopper, did I do jail with him – no I didn’t do jail with him but I have no doubt he was a pretty full-on bloke in his day,’ he said.
‘This grey jacket gang that he had in prison where there were a bunch of f**king real serious players that f**king took care of business – not too dissimilar to the gang they have in Melbourne prisons called “prisoners of war”.
‘He was one of the first, of many, blokes that got out and told prison stories and that sort of stuff and paved the way for a lot of other people do do that sort of stuff.’
Mr Manser has been out of jail for more than five years and has made it his mission to raise awareness around the dark realities of prison life in his podcast The Stick Up.