Forensic activity scaled back more than a week after 69-year-old woman found dead in her Spencer Park home

Police activity at the scene of a suspicious death in Spencer Park has been scaled back more than a week after a 69-year-old woman was found dead in her home. On Tuesday, only one marked police vehicle and three uniformed officers remained at the Burville Street unit, guarding the still-cordoned off area 10 days after the incident. The quiet corner of the street has been a flurry of activity since the afternoon of February 8, when emergency services were alerted to the home, where they found the woman dead and her 50-year-old son — a suspect in her death — with critical injuries. Dozens of forensics officers and homicide squad detectives have been parked in the driveway to the block of units in question since February 9, examining items from the scene and scouring the area for clues as to the circumstances of the tragedy. As the murder investigation approaches the two-week mark, the visible forensic presence has eased, with the forensics van, gazebos, and specialist units now gone. Police tape remained surrounding the property on Wednesday, indicating the site is still part of the ongoing investigation. On February 13, homicide squad leading investigating officer Det-Sen. Sgt Steve Cleal told media that the extensive investigation was expected to continue for “many more days”, saying the investigating team was “open to anything” and “mindful not to get tunnel vision”. “There are a lot of exhibits, items, forensic items, that we have obtained from the house,” he said on Friday. “There is a lot we need to go through, and knowing the results of that analysis does take time. “And so that is ongoing, and we are getting a lot of help from the scene, but we don’t get answers straight away when we seize things and do those forensic type examinations.” The 50-year-old man remained in a critical condition in Royal Perth Hospital’s intensive care ward on Wednesday.