A woman spent up to five years sleeping next to her brother’s rotting corpse in a rat-infested and rubbish-strewn house in an affluent suburb.
The woman, aged in her 70s, lived with the corpse in her public housing unit on Russell Street at Newtown in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne.
Newtown is considered a well-heeled neighbourhood where the median house price currently sits at $1.1million.
Police made the horrifying discovery after arresting the woman on December 29, 2022 on an unrelated matter.
Forensic officers in biohazard suits were forced to wade through floor-to-ceiling rubbish, rats, dead possums and human faeces to reach the ‘skeleton’.
The woman is understood to have lived with the corpse of her brother on Russell Street at Newtown in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne (pictured: police at the scene in 2022)
Forensic officers in biohazard suits waded through the knee-deep rubbish, human filth and rats to remove what was left of the man
The woman is understood to have slept next to the corpse anywhere between two and five years.
‘It was a bloody skeleton they removed, not a body,’ neighbour Nicole Stratton told the Geelong Advertiser.
‘How can someone be living with a dead body next door for five years and not a single person know about it?
‘They’ve tried to sweep this under the rug. We have been living next to a house of horrors.’
Residents along the leafy street complained to multiple government departments for years, however their objections fell on deaf ears.
A City of Greater Geelong council staff member is understood to have attempted to engage with the tenant at least once before notifying the DFFH.
The house is a 15-minute walk from the GMHBA stadium, home to Geelong Football Club, and a stone’s throw from the busy cosmopolitan hub on Pakington Street.
The man was last seen alive in 2018 by some of the residents living along the street.
The woman was a Department of Families, Fairness and Housing tenant, prompting questions about how the body could lie undiscovered for so long.
Ms Stratton said she thought the accumulation of ‘utter filth’ may have helped mask the stench of the decomposing body.
‘There was always a smell but we just thought it was the piles of rubbish,’ she said.
‘The blinds were always down and you could see the mould on the back of them.
The house of horrors has remained vacant for over a year following the grim discovery
The house was filled with rubbish and human filth (pictured)
‘The carport was constantly filled with trash. There were rats everywhere, it was honestly disgusting.’
She said a skeleton and ‘not a body’ was removed from the site with the stench attracting flies.
Ms Stratton said her eldest daughter refuses to go outside at night as she is still traumatised by the ordeal.
Victoria Police said they attended the property to conduct a welfare check on the man when his corpse was discovered.
A DFFH spokesman said welfare checks had been made ‘since 2021’ after complaints were made about the state of the property.
‘This is a tragic incident,’ he said.
‘We send our sincerest condolences to the man’s family and friends.’
The woman was released without charge in relation to the man’s death last year.
The coroner is still investigating the cause of death.
The property has remained vacant for over a year.
Daily Mail Australia contacted City of Greater Geelong and DFFH for comment.
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