Mummified body found in Sydney hoarder’s home died of gunshot wound

For nearly 15 years a man’s rotting corpse sat entombed in the darkened bedroom of a reclusive hoarder – who tried to mask the smell by doing one thing.

For nearly 15 years Shane Snellman’s rotting corpse sat entombed in a darkened bedroom of a house on millionaire‘s row in Sydney’s lower north shore, surrounded by air fresheners as the reclusive resident of the hoarder’s house went about his business.

Since the discovery of Mr Snellman’s mummified corpse inside the Greenwich home of Bruce Roberts, the murder mystery has gripped the city.

And light was finally shed on the case on Thursday when inside the NSW Coroner’s Court at Lidcombe, deputy state coroner Derek Lee handed down his findings.

Mr Lee found that Mr Snellman, a petty criminal with a drug habit and a long police history, died of a gunshot wound after he broke into Mr Roberts’ Greendale Street address at some point in October 2002.

Shane Snellman's mummified corpse was discovered inside the home of a hoarder in 2018. Picture: Supplied via NCA NewsWire

Mr Snellman had been released from prison in June 2002, after serving a term for drug supply offences, and had just 66 cents to his name at the time of his death.

The coroner concluded that the most likely explanation was that he had attempted to break into Mr Roberts’ home but was ambushed by the homeowner and killed by a shotgun blast to the shoulder.

“(The evidence) strongly suggests that there was no opportunity for them to meet prior to Mr Snellman’s death … it is most unlikely that Mr Roberts would have willingly invited Mr Snellman into his home,” Mr Lee found.

“All of the available evidence suggests that Mr Snellman only came to be in Mr Roberts’ home by reason of unauthorised entry.”

Shane Snellman whose body was found inside the home of Bruce Roberts in a mummified state. Picture: Supplied.

Inside the courtroom, a member of Mr Snellman’s family’s lashed out after Mr Lee handed down his findings, angrily denying that he had broken into Mr Roberts’ house.

Outside court, another of Mr Snellman’s relatives, his niece Tiana, said that the family believed that the pair were known to each other.

“I think they knew each other but the court don’t reckon they knew each other,” she said.

“They used to live in the same area.”

His nephew Anthony Snellman added: “There’ll be no closure. No one will find out what happened bar them two.”

It’s not known exactly when Mr Snellman died.

The coroner estimated he was murdered at some point between October 18 – when he was last seen – and October 24, 2002 – when he failed to withdraw his fortnightly social security payment which was his habit.

Tiana and Anthony Snellman speak outside the NSW Coroner's court at Lidcombe on Thursday after the results of an inquest into the death of their uncle Shane Snellman were handed down. Picture: Steve Zemek via NCA NewsWire.

He was 39-years-old when he died and his body was not found for another 15 years.

His corpse was discovered as a result of an bizarre chain of events which began with Mr Roberts’ death due to natural causes in mid-2017.

Mr Roberts’ body was discovered on July 21, 2017, slumped over a heater with burns to his face, shoulder and chest.

Because his body had been charred, an autopsy could not determine his cause of death, but he had prior to that visited a doctor complaining of chest pains.

Even then, Mr Snellman’s body was not discovered for almost another year following Mr Roberts’ death.

There were piles of boxes, paper, empty bags, newspapers and other rubbish stacked floor-to-ceiling inside Mr Roberts’ home, with a small pathway carved out to move around.

Cleaners at the house of Bruce Roberts in Greendale Street, Greenwich.

Barbed wire which surrounded Bruce Roberts’ home.

There was overgrown vegetation in his garden, his windows were covered and nailed shut, with barbed wire around the perimeter.

As well, he was known to place cans around his lawn as a means of alerting him to intruders.

“I’ve not seen anything like that before,” Senior Constable Shane Spencer told the court on Thursday as he described the piles of garbage discovered when they went to Mr Roberts’ house to perform a welfare check.

He had inherited $1 million in shares, the house where he lived and at the time of his death had nearly $700,000 in the bank, despite having never worked.

Cleaners, who had been hired to clean up the property so it could be sold, made the grisly discovery on May 29, 2018 – 15-and-a-half years following his murder.

“Mr Snellman was in a seated position with his back against the lounge, slumped to the left, and in an advanced state of decomposition,” Mr Lee said.

Ice and other drugs were found in his system and he had a gunshot wound to his left clavicle.

Police found around 70 air freshener scattered around his body at the scene.

The court heard that the deodorisers were a conscious effort by Mr Roberts to mask the smell of Mr Snellman’s corpse which was entombed in his bedroom.

Rubbish stacked inside Bruce Roberts’ Greenwich home.

Police described how Bruce Roberts’ home was stacked floor to ceiling with rubbish.

Shane Snellman’s mummified corpse was found among stacks of rubbish inside Bruce Roberts’ home.

A cache of 13 guns was discovered inside Mr Roberts’ property, though it could not be determined which one delivered the fatal blast to Mr Snellman.

There were also impact marks found on the bedroom walls consistent with a shotgun being fired, and shrapnel was discovered inside Mr Snellman’s chest cavity.

“Many of Mr Roberts’ family members also expressed the opinion that Mr Roberts was capable of discharging a firearm upon encountering an intruder in his home, and leaving the remains of the deceased intruder in his home while still continuing to live there himself,” Mr Lee said.

“Indeed, the presence of a large number of air freshener products surrounding Mr Snellman, and within the bedroom where he was found, strongly suggests that these products had been placed there by Mr Roberts following Mr Snellman’s death.”