Melbourne mother-of-two allegedly stabbed to death by her neighbor in front of three teenagers in Bayswater has been identified

A Melbourne mother of two who was allegedly killed by her neighbor while three teenagers watched over her has been identified as Vicky Van Aken.

Her neighbor Milorad Zarich, 47, was charged with the murder outside her home in Bayswater, east of the city, on Saturday morning.

Dressed in a white medical examiner’s suit, Zarik remained silent as he appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday

It became known in court that the carpenter refused drugs and alcohol.

Magistrate Ross Betts rejected a request for an extension of time for the report after Victoria Police said it needed extra weeks to review a large amount of evidence, including forensics, CCTV and drug analysis.

Zarik was remanded in custody to appear in court on February 14, 2025.

Emergency services were called to a hotel in Bayswater on Saturday after receiving reports of a woman stabbed at 11.15am.

They arrived to find Ms. Van Aken, 51, dead outside the home.

Police say three teenagers witnessed the gruesome attack, one of whom suffered minor injuries.

“This is not domestic violence,” Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Elway said Saturday.

“This is a tragic coincidence. Another woman lost at the hands of a man is just terrible.”

Shocked neighbors said it was their first time in the area for Ms Van Aken and her family, but they had been seen as a Halloween treat.

Ms Van Aken, who worked for Australia Post, often posted about her children on social media, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The alleged murder unfolded in front of three teenagers, including Zarik’s 17-year-old son, Visnyk Sun reported

The teenager was taken to the hospital with lacerations on his hands.

This is not so it is not known if he tried to stop his father from allegedly injuring Ms. Van Aken.

She and Zareek are not believed to have had any issues between them and were not believed to be in a relationship.

Detective Elway said there was little to no confrontation before Ms. Van Aken was allegedly killed.

“It appears that the (alleged) offender entered the victim’s home, she answered the door and was then assaulted and later died of her injuries,” he said.

Zarik was initially taken to the hospital with health complaints.

“We are not looking for anyone else. This is an isolated incident,” said Detective Elway.

Neighbor Glenn Rowe said he was “a bit stunned” by the incident.

“I’ve been here 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.

“It’s a bit surreal. It’s terrible, I feel sorry for the children and the mother.”