A heavily-drugged father murdered his friendly next-door neighbour just days after she baked him cupcakes as a kind gesture. 

Carpenter Milorad ‘Mick’ Zaric, 48, stabbed Vicky Van Aken, a 51-year-old mother of two, multiple times in her own Bayswater home, in Melbourne’s east, on November 16, 2024.

On Tuesday, Zaric pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to her murder after accepting a sentence deal that will one day see him walk free from jail. 

Crown prosecutor Erin Ramsay told the court Ms Van Aken had shown nothing but neighbourly warmth toward Zaric, who lived next door for more than 20 years. 

Just two days before her death, she messaged him and dropped off homemade cupcakes for him and his family. 

He replied saying they were ‘good’.

The court heard Zaric had been spiralling for days on ketamine – snorting the drug every 40 minutes and washing it down with alcohol and cannabis.

‘There is a war coming,’ Zaric told his family.  

Vicki Van Aken (above) had baked her neighbour Milorad ‘Mick’ Zaric cupcakes and showed him nothing but kindness, the court heard 

Vicki Van Aken’s sister Mary Kadis (left) and mum Sofia Apostolopoulos (right) leave the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne

His bizarre behaviour escalated in the early hours of the day of Ms Van Aken’s murder.

The court heard he emptied the fridge onto the lawn at 4am, claiming he needed to ‘feed the possum’.

He then killed the family’s pet, telling his partner: ‘I had to kill the turtles.’

Then he released the children’s pet birds because they ‘needed to be free’ and smashed his son’s television.

His terrified son, 17, and partner fled the home after Zaric violently assaulted the teenager, punching, stomping and throwing him down the stairs.

Later that morning, the teen fled to Ms Van Aken’s house, banging on the door and begging for help. 

She let the boy inside before knife-wielding Zaric stormed up her driveway seconds later. 

Ms Van Aken’s son later told police the killer greeted her with the words: ‘Welcome home, Vicky’. 

Maria Pantelios addressed media outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday. She was among those to provide a victim impact statement 

Vicki Van Aken was stabbed to death inside her home (pictured) 

Zaric then produced a black-handled knife with a jagged blade and stabbed her in the stomach, neck and shoulder.

‘She slid down the wall, screaming in pain. When she slid down the wall, Zaric stabbed her a couple of times in the neck,’ Ms Ramsay said.

Her 16-year-old son heroically tackled Zaric to protect his younger brother, aged just 12, who was hiding in a closet. 

During the struggle, Zaric punched him in the jaw.

The court heard the teen kept Zaric in a chokehold until his little brother escaped, then fled the house and called triple zero. 

‘I think she might be dead,’ he told the operator. 

When police arrived Zaric told an officer he had consumed ‘a bunch of ket’ and the knife was still in his neighbour’s neck. 

Later, in hospital, Zaric erupted, screaming ‘Satan’ multiple times, growling, thrashing violently and making strange noises. 

Vicki Van Aken died in front of her own child after opening the door to her neighbour 

The court heard he fluctuated between calm moments and wild religious outbursts, apologising to God and begging for forgiveness.

Ms Van Aken was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy confirmed she died from catastrophic stab wounds to her neck and abdomen. 

Zaric’s blood tests showed heavy ketamine and cannabis use.

In a police interview, the killer admitted he ‘lost the f***ing plot,’ and thought he was ‘in a dream.’

‘It was like I was possessed or something,’ he told detectives. 

‘I just f***ing went into a rage.’

The father-of-three has pleaded guilty to murder and assault. 

Police attend the crime scene in Bayswater 

Zaric is in the process of hearing 24 victim impact statements from his family and that of his victim, who described him as a ‘murderous monster’. 

Ms Van Aken’s mother Sofia Apostolopoulos told the court part of her died upon learning of her daughter’s death. 

‘Seeing Vicki at the morgue was unbearable. My legs could barely carry me. I did not want to believe what I was seeing. My beautiful daughter lying there, gone. In that moment, I felt as though I had died, too,’ she said. 

Her sister Mary Kadis delivered a powerful message to the killer. 

‘To the murderer who sits before us … My sister, Vicky will always be remembered for the beautiful, loving person she was. He, on the other hand, will always be remembered as the murderer who brutally took her life in front of her children.’

The hearing continues.