A 56-year-old New Town man who lived at a home where a woman’s body lay undiscovered for weeks has been charged with her murder.
The woman was found deceased at a residence on Lissadell Court at New Town in Hobart’s inner north around 4pm on Saturday May 16.
While a formal identification has not yet been completed, police say they believe her to be a woman in her 60s who also lived at the address.
Detectives from South East CIB charged the man on Monday.
He has been detained to appear before the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Police have confirmed to Pulse the man charged is the same person who was detained earlier on Saturday morning for a mental health assessment, after officers and the acute mental health team attended the address following a referral from a third party.
Detective Inspector David Gill said on Sunday that officers spoke with the man at the front door that morning but didn’t enter the home.
He was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital for treatment.
The woman’s body was not discovered until that afternoon, when a relative of the man arrived to visit and saw her through an open door on the floor of a corridor.
Gill said it was clear the woman had been dead for some time.
“Upon attendance by emergency services … it was readily apparent that the woman’s been deceased for some time,” he said.
“In fact, I probably can say a number of weeks.”
Gill said police had initially been keeping an “open mind” to the possibility of natural causes.
No weapon was identified and the house was described as “cluttered” and “chaotic”.
“The male person has not made any disclosures of any form to members of Tasmania Police,” Gill said on Sunday.
An autopsy was scheduled for this morning.
Anyone with information is urged to call police on 131 444 and quote report 805693 or contact Crime Stoppers Tasmania anonymously.
