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Man in Vic court over war veteran's murder

A Victorian man has been charged with being an accessory to murder over the death of an elderly man whose body was found on his 90th birthday.

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Six teenagers have been charged over a series of violent home invasions across Melbourne. (AAP) Source: AAP

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Source: AAP


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A man is due to appear in court over the burglary and death of a great-grandfather whose body was found on his 90th birthday in regional Victoria.

The Creswick man, 38, was charged on Friday with being an accessory to the murder of World War II veteran Kenneth Handford, and handling stolen goods.

He is due to face Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon.

The 38-year-old is the third person to be charged over the death of Mr Handford, whose body was found tied and beaten in his Springbank home, near Ballarat, on September 15.

Two men were charged on Tuesday with Mr Handford's murder.

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Some of Mr Handford's war medals, taken from his house around the time of his death, have been returned to his family.

But the digger's Word War II Star and Pacific Star remain lost.

Police believe Mr Handford died during a botched burglary sometime between September 13 and September 15.

The pair charged with his murder, a 38-year-old Sebastopol man and a 28-year-old Wendouree man, have also been charged with aggravated burglary.

The duo have been remanded into custody to reappear in court in January.

Mr Handford's son Ken told media he had an idea of who might have killed his father.

The former farmer was well known around Springbank and Ballarat as a kind and generous man, and it was widely known he carried cash.

He was about to move in with his son and had begun packing up his rural property to make the move to Ballarat.


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