A long-running coronial investigation into the mysterious deaths of two Saudi sisters in their Sydney apartment is so complex it has been transferred from police to the Crown Solicitor’s Office.
The naked bodies of Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were found inside their Canterbury flat in the city’s south-west in June 2022.
The sisters had fled Saudi Arabia in 2017 with just $5,000 and their remains were not discovered for at least a month after they are believed to have died in separate rooms.
Both women had active claims with Home Affairs seeking asylum at the time of their deaths and it was suggested they had been living in fear, having fallen out with their family in the Islamic kingdom.
A spokesman for the NSW Coroner’s Court told the Daily Mail a review of the Alsehli sisters’ case was conducted last Monday but no hearing date had yet been set.
The file has been passed to State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan, who recently published the findings of her inquest into the April 2024 Westfield Bondi Junction massacre in which six people were killed.
For most cases heard in the court the coroner is assisted by a police prosecutor with specialised training in such matters.
The Daily Mail has learnt police told Ms O’Sullivan the Alsehli investigation was ‘too big’ for an individual advocate and referred it to the Crown Solicitor’s Office.
The naked bodies of Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were found inside their Canterbury flat in the city’s south-west in June 2022. Amaal Alsehli is pictured
A coronial investigation into the deaths of two Saudi sisters in their Sydney apartment is so complex it has been transferred from police to the Crown Solicitor. Asra Alsehli is pictured
The Crown Solicitor’s Office has now accepted that referral and will provide counsel to assist the coroner when an inquest is held.
The Daily Mail can also reveal the unit the sisters rented on Canterbury Road for $480 a week was listed earlier this month for $690.
‘Everywhere you look, this nearly new 2-bedroom apartment offers a lifestyle of seamless luxury and comfort,’ an online advertisement states.
‘Thoughtfully designed contemporary architecture surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens featuring seating areas, outdoor zones, and a children’s playground.’
There is no reference in that advertisement to the Alsehli sisters dying in the apartment.
NSW real estate agents must disclose if a property for sale or rent as been the site of a murder or manslaughter within the past five years.
The cause of the Alsehli’s sisters’ deaths has not been formally established, so that obligation may not be applicable. The agent has been contacted for comment.
When the unit was listed for rent by the same agency at $495 a week in July 2022 – a month after the sisters’ bodies were discovered – there was a disclaimer at the end of the advertisement.
The Daily Mail can also reveal the first-floor unit (above) the sisters rented on Canterbury Road for $480 a week was listed earlier this month for $690
Above, a view from inside the apartment where the Alsehli sisters were found dead without explanation
When sheriff’s officers came to evict the Alsehlis on June 7, 2022 they located the two bodies in separate bedrooms of the first-floor unit. A floor plan of the apartment is pictured
‘This property has found two deceased person on 07/06/2022, crime scene has been established and it is still under police investigation,’ it said.
‘According to the police, this is not a random crime and will not be a potential risk for the community.’
There have been claims – yet to be tested in the coronial process – that police believed the siblings made a suicide pact after they were cut off by their family.
It appeared the pair had remained holed-up inside the flat from shortly after they stopped receiving money from Saudi Arabia in February late February 2022 until they died, perhaps in early May.
Toxicology reports – which were reportedly inconclusive – recorded unusual levels of sodium, nitrate and fluoride in the apartment.
The sisters, who shared a black BMW coupe, received a final payment of more than $4,400 from family in Saudi Arabia on February 3.
Amaal, who was in charge of the funds, put $960 towards their fortnightly rent and then transferred $2,000 to her sister.
Police carried out three welfare checks on the sisters in the months before their deaths, as mail piled up outside their door.
‘Everywhere you look, this nearly new 2-bedroom apartment offers a lifestyle of seamless luxury and comfort,’ an online advertisement states. The unit’s balcony is pictured
When sheriff’s officers came to evict them on June 7, they located the two bodies in separate bedrooms of the first-floor unit.
After coming to Australia in 2017 the sisters lived for a period in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield, which has a large Arabic-speaking community.
They enrolled at a local TAFE and worked as traffic controllers.
In 2022, they applied for subclass 866 protection visas which requires applicants to have legally arrived in Australia and have valid reasons for seeking asylum.
In their applications, Asra claimed to have been an atheist while Amaal said she was a lesbian.
Same-sex relationships and atheism are forbidden in Saudi Arabia, where the legal system is based on a strict interpretation of sharia law.
Reports published in Middle Eastern newspapers stated the sisters had renounced Islam.
An employee of the building management company which looks after the apartment told the Daily Mail the sisters had raised safety concerns in early 2022.
The sisters drove a black BMW coupe (pictured) which normally costs upwards of $38,000
‘They made a report that they saw a man “acting weird” outside the building – standing between two cars and acting strange,’ the employee said.
The worker said the women followed up the complaint and checked their security footage, but it was difficult to determine whether the man had malicious intentions.
‘We checked the CCTV and saw there was a man there,’ the employee said.
‘But that spot is busy. There is a burger shop there and Uber Eats drivers coming and going all the time. He could have been anyone.
‘We couldn’t determine why he was there, but he didn’t look like he was doing anything untoward, so there was no need to chase it up further.’
The worker said the women did not mention if they knew the man’s identity.
The women had also told building management in late 2021 they feared someone was tampering with their food deliveries.
Surveillance cameras again found no evidence to back up their fears.
Police uncovered no evidence the sisters were being followed by a private investigator, as they had suggested to several of their friends.
Instead, sources with knowledge of the investigation believed the young women were aware of the dangers of returning to Saudi Arabia and decided to take their own lives.
The sisters’ only known interaction with the Australian justice system occurred in 2018, when Asra filed an apprehended violence order application against a 28-year-old man. The matter was withdrawn in court the following year.
The bodies of Amaal and Asra Alsehli were returned to Saudi Arabia in August 2022.
