By NOEL MURPHY
A GEELONG man will face court next month over the bizarre alleged theft of 17 coffins from a Melbourne warehouse earlier this year.
“You could say the man was pretty stiff,” Inspector Tony Long of Maribyrnong Police said.
“However, the media coverage of the original incident generated a huge amount of information from the public, none from the spirit world however, which saw the curtain come down on this undertaking.
“He didn’t stand a ghost of a chance, really.”
Police charged the 32-year-old with handling stolen goods.
He has been bailed to appear at Geelong Magistrates’ Court.
Police arrested him at Clifton Springs.
The coffins, worth several thousand dollars each, were allegedly stolen from a warehouse in west-suburban Braybrook.
They belonged to a funeral parlour that had needed to offload them into storage, according to earlier reports.
Police described the theft as bizarre.
They were unaware of any likely black or second-hand market for the coffins.
“To date, seven of the stolen coffins have been recovered. However, with plenty of leads still to follow up, it’s expected there’ll be more arrests and more coffins located,” Insp Long said.
“Our investigators will not rest until they’ve nailed the lid shut on this grave caper.”
Police urged anyone with information to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or to lodge a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.
