Grim details emerge about Aussie woman living with brother's corpse
Police found the home in dire condition, with dead animals and human excrement seen inside.
Horrific new details have emerged after an elderly man’s decomposed body was found in a Victorian home stacked high with rubbish over a year ago.
Top detective Senior Sergeant Mark Guthrie has described the moment emergency workers broke down after seeing the confronting scene at the Geelong housing commission unit, where the man’s sister allegedly lived alongside his remains for five years.
The woman, aged in her 70s, was arrested after her brother’s death was revealed in December 2022 but was later released without charge.
Confronting scene shocks officers
Guthrie, who revealed to The Geelong Advertiser this week that police are “thoroughly” investigating the man’s death for the coroner, said shaken officers needed “extra local support” after the “horrible experience”.
“It was pretty shocking for the members that attended,” Mr Guthrie told the publication.
“The smell, the condition, then having to remove the body with the assistance of the undertakers, it was quite horrific for them, really horrific.”
The home is said to have been in dire condition, with dead rats, human excrement and black mould visible. It’s understood an appointed guardian had been paying the man's rent.
The Geelong Advertiser reports numerous concerns were raised about the condition of the home and its tenants with The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) — who own the property — the Department of Health and city authorities over several years.
Authorities 'carried out multiple welfare checks'
A DFFH spokesperson told 7News it had carried out multiple welfare checks at the unit since 2021 “due to growing concerns regarding lack of contact, lack of access and the poor state of the property”. Police conducting a welfare check were reportedly the ones to make the grisly find.
7News understands the DFFH has since introduced a new system to escalate welfare concerns.
“We do have systems in place to make sure that welfare checks are made appropriately on people who are vulnerable in our community, but this matter is now being investigated,” Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said in a presser.
Opposition leader John Pesutto said across the state, “workers in the system working on behalf of the Victorian people have enormous caseloads” and that he fears the man and his sister may have fallen through the cracks.
“I’m interested to know whether that has affected the frequency with which homes are visited and clients of departmental support are overseen,” he said.
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