Toddler killer Aliya Zilic, who dumped son in mineshaft, seeks full discharge into community

A father who killed his toddler son and dumped his body in a disused mine shaft, believing he was the “devil’s helper”, could be living full-time in the community within weeks.

A father who killed his toddler son and dumped his body down a mineshaft could be discharged from an indefinite mental health supervision order in just a few weeks.

Aliya Zilic killed his three-year-old son Imran Zilic and threw his body into a disused drill hole, 47km south of Coober Pedy, in April 2008.

He was found not guilty of murder by reason of mental incompetence and placed on an indefinite mental health supervision order to be housed in secure mental health facility James Nash House in March 2010.

He appeared in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to seek full discharge from Ashton House, a step-down facility for forensic mental health patients, where Zilic has been living since his first supervised visits in 2017.

Imran Zilic, 3.

Aliya Zilic in 2008.

Trish Johnson, for Zilic, said her client was currently “going well” and his treating doctor “supports complete discharge” into the community.

“There is no basis, in my respectful submission, for the application to be ultimately refused,” she said.

The court heard one expert report from Zilic’s treating psychiatrist had been received but another report, to be completed by expert forensic psychiatrist Craig Raeside, was expected to be received in four weeks.

“Assuming Dr Raeside agrees, and there is no reason why he would disagree with the treating psychiatrist who has closely supervised Mr Zilic for an extended period,” Ms Johnson said.

“So it’s extremely likely that the application will be successful and on the next occasion he will be discharged.”

SES and police search an entry to a mine shaft for Imran Zilic in the opal fields near Coober Pedy in 2008.

She asked that he be allowed an extra night of unsupervised overnight release – up to six nights – from Ashton House ahead of the next hearing. He was last year granted five nights of unsupervised leave.

Police and SES used mirrors to search disused mine shafts for Imran Zilic in 2008.

Ms Johnson also told the court Zilic also had plans to leave South Australia and travel to Perth, Western Australia, where his family – and the victim’s family – live.

She said those plans were “not immediate” but he hoped to visit his family once “fully discharged into the community and settled in”.

“If he travels to Perth to visit family, he can be excluded from particular suburbs if they are nominated by the victims,” she said.

Prosecutor Tracey Nelson asked the court to await Dr Raeside’s report before making a final determination about Zilic’s discharge from supervision, or granting the extra night’s release.

Counsel for Imran’s family said their “primary concern” was Zilic’s future intention to travel to Perth.

During the 2009 Supreme Court trial, the court heard Zilic had schizophrenia, a history of psychosis and believed his wife was possessed by demons.

He believed his son was the “devil’s helper” when he slit the boy’s throat with a steak knife.

Justice Joanne Tracey granted Zilic an extra night’s unsupervised release and adjourned the matter for full submissions on discharge to August.