Emails have emerged from fed up neighbors urging authorities to take action at a trash-filled home a year before the resident’s brother was found dead inside.
Robert Natoli, who would have turned 76 this year, was found dead in the public housing unit he shared with his sister Maree, 74, on Russell Street in Newtown, in Geelong, Victoria, on December 29, 2022.
Natolis’ neighbors had complained to the housing department and the state representative about the horrible state of the house, which was covered in trash both inside and out.
The couple living nearby eventually led authorities to conduct a welfare check on Mr Natoli, with one of them claiming the state government had “blood on its hands” after the discovery of his body inside the property.
The coroner’s report has not yet determined when he died, however the couple who bought a neighboring house two years ago claim they “never saw that man”.
Emails have emerged from angry neighbors prompting authorities to take action at a filthy house in Geelong where a woman was found living next to her brother’s body (pictured, Maree Natoli living in the filth of the house).
The emails, seen by the Geelong Advertiserthey were sent to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and then to Geelong state member Christine Couzens.
A neighbor emailed DFFH, which owns the property, to express concern for the Natolis after spotting a “large amount of black mold on the front windows.”
He went on to raise more concerns to the department about poor air quality, horrible sanitary conditions and rat infestations.
The neighbor recalled the “shock and anger” he felt after Mr. Natoli’s body was removed from the property despite emailing the department more than a year earlier.
The day after the discovery, he emailed Ms. Couzens to “seek answers and an explanation” about how his complaints were ignored.
“It is clear that the system has failed the deceased… and the occupant of the property,” the email sent to Ms. Couzens said, according to the header.
“No one should be subject to these conditions, especially our most vulnerable community members.”
Ms. Couzens reportedly did not respond to the email.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Couzens for comment.
A department spokesperson described the incident as tragic and expressed his “deepest condolences to the man’s family and friends.”
“All complaints received were taken seriously and staff attempted to address them in compliance with tenants’ rights under the Residential Tenancies Act,” the department said.
‘The Department had made numerous attempts to inspect the property and contact the tenant and had a request on VCAT to secure access to the house.
“The man’s sister was immediately provided with alternative housing and support services.”
Some neighbors said they had “never seen” Natoli’s brother, Robert, in more than two years and urged authorities to conduct a welfare check at the public housing apartment.
Although the property was in a disgusting state and no one had heard from Robert since 2017, the matter was not resolved until police attended the property for a separate matter.
The lack of contact led to police and state trustees, who paid the brothers’ rent, to investigate concerns about welfare and property conditions.
The State was apparently still paying the rent on Mr. Natoli’s house while he died.
Despite numerous emails from concerned neighbors, police were eventually called to the home for an unrelated matter.
Cops broke a glass panel of the door to gain entry before officers in biohazard suits were forced to wade through floor-to-ceiling trash, rats, dead possums and human feces to reach Robert’s skeletal remains. , which had not been seen since 2017.
Police arrested Ms Natoli and removed her from her home after her brother’s body was found before she was released without charge..
Although he lived next to the body for up to five years, he claimed to know nothing about it.