Ned Kelly's family to get his skeleton after 132 years

The skeleton of Australia's most notorious criminal will be handed over to his descendants 132 years after he was executed, the government said yesterday, ending the family's quest to find and properly bury the remains of a man many Australians consider a folk hero.

Most of Ned Kelly's skull, which was stolen long ago, is still missing, but the identification of the skeleton was followed by a battle over what to do with his bones.

The property developer of the former Pentridge prison site where Kelly's skeleton was buried had hoped to keep the remains on the grounds. But Kelly's descendants wanted the skeleton so they could have a private burial.