Newtown corpse unit siblings’ devastating past revealed

The first photo of Robert Natoli, young and seemingly carefree, gives away little of the horrors he and his sister will endure in the decades to come.

Harrowing details have emerged about the parents of the woman and her brother whose decomposed body was found in a Newtown unit.

It can be revealed Robert Natoli’s dad was horrifically burnt to death in a car on the Princes Highway, near Avalon, in August 1969.

The gruesome incident shared front page news in the Geelong Advertiser in the same week as one of the world’s most notorious killing sprees – the ‘Manson Family’ murders.

Geelong Advertiser front pages on August 4 and August 11 in 1969, featuring the tragic death of John Natoli, and the LA killings that would come to be known as the Manson Family murders.

One cousin, who did not want to be named, said John Natoli’s traumatic demise was tough on his son Robert and his sister.

She recalled her father attending the morgue to identify the former Geelong fruit shop owner’s body, 55 years ago.

“These things tend to stick in your mind,” she said.

“It was a tragic story.”

Another relative said his death “was truly horrible.”

“Robert and his sister have had a troubled life,” the relative said.

The shocking revelation adds another twist to an already twisted story.

Robert Natoli’s skeletal remains were found under a pile of garbage inside a Russell St unit on December 29, 2022, with his sad end seemingly unnoticed to society until last week.

It’s believed his remains may have lain undiscovered, despite his sister living in the unit.

It comes as a powerful image surfaced showing a young Robert Natoli attending a Melbourne school, and more is learned about his life thanks to the courage of a few brave women.

Robert Natoli (back right) in a Croydon Park Primary School class photo in 1964.

A Geelong Advertiser plea for more information in an effort to humanise an otherwise inhumane tragedy convinced the relatives to step forward.

“I got a phone call asking if I had read about the unit in Newtown,” one relative said.

“I was driving along the highway and I got goosebumps when we realised it was them.

“I didn’t think it was possible to get goosebumps in that sort of heat.”

It is understood the mother died when the siblings were young too.

A cousin, who did not want to be named, said the Russell St siblings had “always been together” after the death of both parents.

The last time she saw them was at her own wedding, 40 years ago.

“We felt really bad for them as they were orphans,” she said.

“They always tended to live together, and that is about all I knew.

“As far as I recall, they never got married.”

Another woman, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said their upbringing may have taken its toll in the second half of their lives.

The death of Robert Natoli's father, John, was front page of the Geelong Advertiser on August 4, 1969.

“I don’t know if recluse is the right word, but they did keep to themselves,” she said.

“For their life to end up that way, it is awful.

“It is not right.”

One former neighbour, 65, said she once lived on the same street as the pair on McKillop St, near the Geelong CBD, in the 1980s.

It’s believed they had no contact with anyone but each other.

“The image of both of them just became clear in front of me, but that image is 40 years old,” one cousin said.

“It doesn’t matter who it is, it doesn’t have to be a relative.

“It is hard to imagine.”

It’s believed Mr Natoli, born on January 4, 1948, spent time as a caravan outfitter in his younger years.

He had lived in Geelong for more than four decades after spending some time in Melbourne, attending the Croydon Park Public School for a time.

The plaque at Geelong Eastern cemetery of Robert Natoli. Picture: Mark Wilson

An image from 1964 appears to show a smiling, almost cheeky looking boy standing at the back of the class.

“This story is just so sad,” his cousin said.

There are plans to bury his remains at the Geelong Eastern Cemetery where his father’s headstone is also found.

A modest plaque, minus a date of birth and death, has already been placed at the site while a coroner investigates the exact cause of his morbid end.

A death notice, issued in February last year, simply stated he “passed away in Geelong”.

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Originally published as Newtown corpse unit siblings’ devastating past revealed