Zach De Visser jailed for crossbow plot over dead dad’s millions

A man has been jailed for a bold but poorly thought-through crossbow plot over his dead father’s businesses and properties.

An ice-addicted grieving son has been jailed for storming his aunt’s house with a crossbow and threatening her into signing a document related to his father’s multimillion-dollar will.

Zach De Visser, 32, was jailed for five years and six months, with three years and six months non-parole in the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday.

The Warragul man had pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and blackmail for his actions on July 28 last year, when he donned a balaclava, military-style clothing and a headlamp to break into his aunt’s Swan Reach house while she was alone in the kitchen.

De Visser demanded she sign a document he had made related to the will.

Zach De Visser used a crossbow in an attempt to blackmail his aunt into signing a will document after his father died. Picture: Facebook

He told her to put a pillowcase over her head and fired a crossbow bolt into the wall past her head when she hesitated.

His aunt was deeply traumatised by the incident, Judge Angela Ellis said.

“She is not brave enough to go outside to watch the sunrise, and she keeps her curtains closed,” she said.

“Her heart skips a beat when she hears noises.”

De Visser was set to inherit from his father’s will, which included businesses and properties, but the court heard he had disagreed with its executers — his aunt and uncle — about how the estate was being managed.

Judge Ellis said his plan involved a “considerable degree of planning and preparation over a number of days” but was “not particularly sophisticated”.

De Visser spiralled into drug use after his father fell ill and then died in 2015, escalating into a daily methamphetamine habit.

Judge Ellis said his father was also his “best friend, boss and mentor”.

Zach De Visser pictured at his father’s grave. The court heard he spiralled into drug use after his dad and ‘best friend’ died of cancer. Picture: Supplied

De Visser had cared for his father when the man’s cancer became debilitating.

He helped out at his father’s two-dollar shop from the age of seven, leaving school at 15 to work there full-time, before the pair began a successful commercial property development enterprise when De Visser was 21.

He has dyslexia and ADHD and was bullied at school, Judge Ellis said.

He has prior convictions for theft and domestic violence-related charges.

Originally published as Zach De Visser jailed for crossbow plot over dead dad’s millions