The brother of an Indigenous artist found dead in their Western Sydney home last night has been charged with murder.
Lucas Delaney, 30, was arrested at Cumberland Hospital at Westmead and spent the day being questioned by detectives.
He was refused bail and will face Parramatta Local Court tomorrow.
Gabriella Delaney, 20, was found dead inside their Cambridge Park home, located next to a park on Barlow Street.
Her body was so badly decomposed that police have been unable to work out exactly how she was killed or whether a weapon was used.
Ms Delaney’s parents live in Western Australia and called police when they hadn’t heard from her for almost a week.
Detective Inspector Jason Pietruszka from Nepean Police Area Command said police had described the scene as "very confronting".
"The lady had not been seen since the third of June, so we are dealing with a situation where further examination is required to get an actual cause of death," he said.
"We do believe unfortunately that it is foul play and it is being investigated as a homicide."
Emergency services were called to the house after the woman's family expressed concerns for her welfare.
"They're obviously extremely traumatised by the situation," Detective Inspector Pietruszka said.
A life cut short
He said the man lived in the same house as his sister, and he had presented himself to Cumberland Hospital, Westmead's psychiatric hospital, some days after June 3.
It's believed the alleged murder was domestic-violence related.
"Domestic violence is a horrendous crime that is a scourge on our community," Detective Inspector Pietruszka said.
"It's tragic — a 20-year-old girl whose life was before her, cut short."
Detectives have been speaking to neighbours and collecting bags of evidence as they try and determine a cause of death.
Forensic officers seized a small armchair with blood stains on it before it was sent away to be examined further.
Neighbours described news of the incident as "shocking".
"It's so close to home, she's so young," neighbour Paris Stammers, 22, said.
"She's friendly, a nice girl."
Ms Stammers said she did not hear any noise coming from the deceased woman's home.
Anyone with information is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
