Australian hoarder killed intruder and kept body for 15 years, using 70 air fresheners to hide smell

Shane Snellman’s corpse was discovered in 2018 by cleaners who were clearing the estate of Bruce Roberts

Police carry out forensic investigation at a home in Perth, Australia on 23 December, 2016. (Getty Images)

An Australian man killed an intruder and lived with his corpse for 15 years by using more than 70 bottles of air freshener to hide the smell of the decomposing body.

Shane Snellman’s remains were found in 2018 at the estate of Bruce Roberts in Greenwich, after the latter died of natural causes in 2017. Severe injuries were found on Snellman’s corpse, according to local media reports.

Details about the case were revealed on Thursday during an inquest. Deputy state coroner Derek Lee said Snellman was a petty criminal and died of a gunshot wound after breaking into Roberts’ house in October 2002, according to The Australian.

He said that the most likely scenario was that Snellman had attempted to break into Roberts’ home, but the homeowner caught and killed him.

In 2017, Roberts’ body was found after neighbours called the authorities upon seeing a large pile of uncollected mail outside his house.

Snellman’s body was then discovered in 2018 by cleaners who were employed to clear the estate, advocate Tina Xanthos told the court, according to ABC.

Ms Xanthos also said that more than 70 bottles of air freshener were discovered around Snellman’s body in what she said was a "conscious effort to mask the smell.”

Police also found 19 illegal firearms and stocks of ammunition in Roberts’ house, but it was not clear which gun was used to kill Snellman.

Neighbours have described Roberts as a hoarder who had become paranoid about his security before his death. His neighbour Edna Scott told ABC: “He was always putting up extra barbed wire. I thought it was to help maintain his garden, but he was such a recluse and a hoarder, that I often wondered what was going on."

Snellman’s family claims that he didn’t break into the house and the two knew each other. “I think they knew each other but the court don’t reckon they knew each other,” his niece Tiana was quoted as saying by The Australian.