Ipswich Brassall home declared crime scene after bodies found

The identities of a ‘quiet but friendly’ couple whose bodies were found inside their Ipswich home have been revealed as neighbours say they hadn’t seen the pair in at least two weeks.

The identity of an Ipswich couple who were found dead inside their home by police when conducting a welfare check have been revealed.

A Queensland police spokeswoman said the bodies of a man and woman in their 70s were found inside their home in Chuwar St, Brassall, on Monday night.

Neighbours have identified the couple as Kim and Stephenie McKeon.

Sudden death investigation is underway at Chuwar St, Brassall, Tuesday March 22, 2022. Picture: Jessica Baker

The spokeswoman said the bodies had been there for some time and the couple had “succumbed to their environment”.

The spokeswoman said police conducted a welfare check at the home at about 9pm March 21, and found the pair deceased.

“They were deceased when located on Monday night but it took several hours for their bodies to be removed,” she said.

Although a crime scene has been declared, the spokeswoman said the deaths were not being treated as suspicious.

Sudden death investigation at Chuwar St, Brassall. Picture: Jessica Baker

The Queensland Times understands it took some time for police to access the couple, with police still on site this afternoon.

According to a neighbour the pair were “very quiet but friendly”.

Upset onlookers were this afternoon at the site.

With teary eyes, a man at the scene said Mr and Mrs McKeon were family members.

The family member and another woman rushed to side of two teary eyed women who had watched on from behind police tape as a body under red fabric was wheeled out of the house on a stretcher.

One neighbour told The Courier-Mail the man who lived at the address would often sit out on the front porch and drink a morning cup of coffee.

“He would sit there quietly with a cup of coffee and read the paper,” the woman said.

Another resident said they had grown up knowing the family who had lived there since at least the early 2000s. They said the couple had two children.

Neighbours said the couple had lived in the home for 40 years.

“They kept to themselves, they very rarely came out.”

They said the man was an “Aussie larrikin” and a “genuine bloke”.

A nearby resident, who moved in the area about three years ago, said she was told the house used to be “the most immaculate house on street” but in the last 20 years it “deteriorated”.

She said the couple, who she knew as Kim and Stephenie, seemed to be “genuinely nice people but kept to themselves.”

The woman said she went into Covid lockdown with her daughter about two weeks ago and saw Kim a couple of times on his balcony which was “unusual”.

“I’d never seen him do that before,” she said.

Another neighbour said before Kim had a heart attack about 20 years ago “he would look after his yard and do home maintenance like the rest of us.”

“We used to see Kim quite often down at the shopping centre but we never saw a lot of Stephenie – she was quite a shy woman,” she said.

“We have been here 46 years, our kids grew up together – they were just regular people but a few years ago they shut down – something was wrong.”

“We haven’t seen Stephenie for at least a couple but we saw Kim about two weeks ago,” she said.

The woman said “only in the last couple of weeks Kim would sit on his front patio.”

Originally published as Ipswich Brassall home declared crime scene after bodies found