An alleged grave robber accused of stealing heads from human corpses has died, police say.
Tristan Hearne, 41, was due to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday 17 August, charged with seven offences after human remains were stolen from mausoleums at Footscray General Cemetery in Yarraville.
The body parts were stolen from graves between January 28 and February 1, with detectives later uncovering them at a Footscray property.
Hearne was accused of twice removing heads from human corpses, exhuming remains from a place of interment on two occasions and damaging a family’s mausoleum three times, court documents revealed.
After he failed to face court on Wednesday, magistrate David Langton issued a warrant for his arrest.
He noted Hearne’s fairly stringent bail conditions, including that he present to police during his curfew hours.
Police later confirmed Hearne died on July 5.
His death was not being treated as suspicious, with officers preparing a report for the coroner.
Cassandra Morgan, AAP
