Woman sleeps next to her brother's rotting corpse for Five years as cops discover house of horrors in affluent Geelong suburb

 

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)

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 (pictured: inside the house of horrors)

Forensic officers in biohazard suits waded through the knee-deep rubbish, human filth and rats to remove what was left of the man (pictured: inside the house of horrors)

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.