Otago Daily Times

Body found at notorious property

- LAINE PRIESTLEY laine.priestley@odt.co.nz

A DUNEDIN property where a body was found, was at the centre of a failed internet romance which led to an armed raid.

Police were investigat­ing the death of a person at a home in Garfield Ave, Roslyn, which a neighbour yesterday described as belonging to a man living a ‘‘reclusive lifestyle’’.

Police said in a statement yesterday the body had possibly been at the property for some time.

The home was the scene of an armed police raid in 2009 when a German woman called for help after spending almost a month with the homeowner, whom she met on MySpace.

Police had hurled stun grenades through the kitchen windows in the rescue mission.

The woman, Maja Gille — the daughter of a respected German artist — said at the time the home was a horror house with roosters, cats and chickens living inside.

Dust and rubbish were strewn about and the house smelt of dead animals and old clothes.

The story made internatio­nal headlines, with more than 100 stories on the case appearing in German news outlets.

A Garfield Ave resident, who declined to be named, said yesterday the house had no power and belonged to a reclusive forager who lived offgrid.

‘‘He had chickens, he had wild cats. It’s a hole of a place — disgusting.

‘‘You would see him going around on his bicycle and foraging for things, but I haven’t seen him for ages.’’

Police said the investigat­ion into the death was in its infancy and they were working with Environmen­tal Science and Research (ESR) and a scene team to remove the body for forensic pathology examinatio­n.

A formal identifica­tion was yet to be done.

 ?? PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN ?? Police outside an overgrown property in Garfield Ave, Roslyn yesterday where a body was located.
PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN Police outside an overgrown property in Garfield Ave, Roslyn yesterday where a body was located.

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