Canterbury unit where Saudi sisters died refurbished and back on rental market

The Canterbury unit in which the bodies of sisters Asra and Amaal Abdallah Alsehli were found decomposing is back on the rental market - with a price hike.

The family of two Saudi sisters found dead in bizarre circumstances in a Sydney flat has no plans to repatriate their bodies, as the unit goes back on the market with a price hike.

The remains of Asra Abdallah Alsehli, 24, and her sister Amaal, 23, have been at a Sydney morgue for almost two months while police investigate their mystery deaths.

A Saudi Arabia Embassy ­official said relatives had been kept informed of the police ­investigation, but there were “no plans” to fly the bodies back to their home country.

The sad revelation came as the Canterbury unit where the women lived for two years ­before their grisly death was listed for rent, with a price ­increase of $40 a week.

The two-bedroom Canterbury Rd property was open for inspection yesterday, with no secret of its dark past.

A general view of the apartment in Canterbury, Sydney where the bodies of 2 young female Saudi sisters were found dead after a number of days. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The two-bedroom is now back up for rent. Picture: Real Estate

“This property has found two deceased person on 07/06/2022. Crime scene has been established and it is still under police investigation. ­According to the police, this is not a random crime and will not be a potential risk for the community,” the online advertisement stated.

Property manager Jay Hu told The Daily Telegraph the unit needed new bedroom floors and the walls painted after the crime scene had been cleaned up by police, and the rent increase reflected this. “There was a lot of liquid and smell,” Mr Hu said.

Asra Abdullah Alsehli and her sister were found dead in their Canterbury unit on June 7. Picture: NSW Police

Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were in such an advanced state of decomposition when police discovered them that it has made the investigation difficult. Picture: NSW Police

The sisters were paying $480 per week and it’s now up for rent for $520 per week.

“Everywhere you look this nearly brand new two-bedroom apartment ensures a life of seamless and luxurious comfort,” the advertisement said. “Newly installed hybrid timber flooring for both bedrooms.”

Mr Hu said the property’s owner, who lives overseas, had started proceedings against the tenants for unpaid rent before they were found dead.

He said the sisters, who were able to show “significant savings” in a bank account when they applied for the property, stopped paying rent earlier this year.

New flooring has been installed. Picture: Real Estate

“They had always paid on time before then ... they were good tenants,” he said.

An employee at the petrol station across the road said the deaths had “rattled” staff who served the pair “two to three times a week”. “I only ever saw the younger sister, the blonde one ... she was always in a hurry,” she said.

FRIENDS TELL OF BIZARRE SECRETS SISTERS KEPT

The two sisters found dead in a Sydney unit told those close to them they could not go back home to Saudi Arabia because of Covid, not because of a potential relationship breakdown with their family.

Asra and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli were so secretive they would not even tell a close friend what they did for work, and never allowed him into their home.

Investigations into the grim discovery on June 7 are ongoing. Picture: Damian Shaw

It comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed the sisters’ family did not want their identities released as part of a public appeal by NSW Police, but they were eventually overruled by the NSW Coroner.

A man who struck up a friendship with older sister Asra, 24, said even he knew very little about the woman he “met on the street” in Fairfield, in 2019, despite them hanging out together.

“She told me nothing about her life like that … I did not go to her home, I meet her out, you know, not in the house,” the man said.

Rent for the unit has increased by $40 per week since the deaths. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The bodies of Asra and her sister Amaal, 23, were in such an advanced state of decomposition when police discovered them in the bedrooms of a Canterbury unit on June 7, that working out a cause of death has been difficult.

The delay in getting answers about how the pair died is understood to relate to the poor condition that their bodies were found in and the need for particular forensic experts.

Police sources said the results of a toxicology report which could explain how Asra and Amaal died is yet to be received.

“There is high-level testing going on which they do if they’re looking for certain drugs, which isn’t done at the DAL (Division of Analytic Laboratories) in Lidcombe,” they said.

“Sometimes they need to go to experts in specific things so it can’t just be done by the normal forensics.”

Another source said the bodies were so badly decomposed after the six weeks they lay inside their unit that the normal evidence instantly found in most autopsies and toxicology reports may not have been present.

They also claimed the fact the matter had remained with detectives at Burwood Local Area Command and not been handed over to the Homicide Squad, gave a fair indication police had so far found nothing that suggested the sister’s deaths were suspicious.