Fatal van fire at Beacon Hill Park deemed non-suspicious: VicPD

Just one day after the sudden death of a woman at Beacon Hill Park was ruled a homicide, VicPD says a second death – that occurred the following day in the park – has been deemed non-suspicious.

On Thursday, March 4th, 60-year-old Michael Lockhart died when the van he had been living in caught fire in Beacon Hill Park.

His death came nearly 24-hours after the sudden death of a woman near the park raising many concerns by local residents as both deaths were being investigated by the Major Crime Unit (MCU).

Shortly after 8 a.m. last week, VicPD were called to Beacon Hill Park where the Victoria Fire Department was already on scene extinguishing a fire in a camper van.

Once the fire was doused, police confirmed that one person has died in the blaze, which occurred near the Children’s Petting Zoo.

VicPD’s MCU took over the investigation and has now ruled the incident non-suspicious.

While many friends of Lockhart had good things to say about him, court documents show he served a 90-day jail sentence in 2016, after pleading guilty to a charge of invitation to sexual touching involving a seven-year-old girl. He was under probation for two years after being released.

The coroner’s investigation into his death is ongoing.