Tillie Craig murder: Ellen Rachel Craig accused of beating toddler daughter to death 36 years ago in Oberon NSW while involved in cult pleads not guilty

A woman accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter while involved in a cult three decades ago has pleaded not guilty.

Ellen Rachel Craig, 60, is believed to have killed Tillie Craig in July 1987 near Oberon in central NSW.

Police allege the toddler was beaten to death with plastic hoses and her remains were disposed of at a rural estate in Porters Retreat, which also served as the headquarters of The Ministry of God sect.

The 60-year-old appeared for arraignment in court via audiovisual link from Dillwynia Correctional Center in western Sydney, where she pleaded not guilty.

Craig and her co-defendant Alexander Wilon – the alleged leader of the cult – were initially set to appear in court in a joint trial.

But after Wilon’s recent stroke, his lawyer Troy Anderson SC asked for a postponement.

“Mr Wilon has recently had a stroke (and his situation will not stabilize for the next three months,” he told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.

“After three months we will know if his position will improve, if ever.”

The case remained cold for more than three decades until the Unsolved Homicide Unit received a tip in 2019.

In November 2021, police arrested the alleged cult leader and charged him with his possible role in the murder, six months before Craig was arrested in New Zealand and extradited to NSW.

Ellen Rachel Craig, 60, was arrested in New Zealand and extradited to NSW in May 2022. She pleaded not guilty to her daughter’s murder

Craig’s legal team will file an application for a judge-only trial, which will be reviewed on August 28.

Wilon’s case will return to court in November.