A reclusive Australian hoarder is said to have lived with the body of a murdered man for 15 years, using up to 70 bottles of air freshener to mask the smell of the rotten corpse. The remains of Shane Snellman were found inside the Greenwich, Sydney home of Bruce Roberts, in a back bedroom where it had remained since Roberts shot and killed Snell during a botched break and enter in 2002, ABC.net.au reports.
To put up with the stench, Bruce Roberts placed deodorisers around Shane Snellman’s body, the NSW Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday. https://t.co/xTX2bej4If #crime #court
— Carla Hildebrandt (@hildebrandt_c) May 20, 2021
- Roberts was described by his family as “a loner and socially awkward.” According to an inquest, Roberts rarely left his home, which had been inherited along with $1 million in shares. Snellman’s body was only discovered after Roberts’ death in 2017. Neighbors called police after uncollected mail began piling up outside of his house, and authorities arrived to find him collapsed over a heater. He’s said to have died of natural causes between May 26 and July 21, 2017. Cleaners that had been hired to clear out Roberts’ home were the ones to find Snellman.
- Roberts used copious amounts of air freshener to hide the smell. Given that decomposing bodies must give off a horrific smell, Roberts is said to have tried to use air freshener to hide it. Up to 70 bottles of air freshener were found around the area of Snellman’s body, which attorney Tina Xanthos said was used in “a conscious effort to mask the smell.”
- Many of Snellman’s relatives turned up to the inquest. For more than 15 years, they had no idea what had become of him and while they were relieved to finally have answers, they were also horrified about what he’d been through. “He was a very loving man, would do anything for anyone. He didn’t deserve what he got,” said his niece, Tiana Snellman.
- Snellman had only just been released from prison when he went missing. He had been serving a sentence for drug supply but was released and disappeared shortly after. At 39, he’d had a long history of petty crime and had previously been acquitted of murdering a homeless man when he was only 15. There’s no other explanation for his death other than that he was killed by Roberts, detectives say.
