Man in court over Vic garage murder

A murder victim suffered a number of injuries before a fire in a Melbourne garage, a court has heard.

The 49-year-old man's body was found by his parents following an explosion and fire in the garage of their Malvern East property early Friday morning.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday.

Collin Thomas, 32, of Fairfield, appeared briefly in court charged with murder and arson.

The court heard there was CCTV footage showing him drinking with the victim before the garage fire.

A blood-soaked T-shirt and other items of clothing were also later found inside Thomas' vehicle, prosecutor Luke Excel told the court.

"The deceased is said to have suffered a number of injuries prior to the fire," Mr Excel said.

"A pathologist is going to be needed to give evidence about the timing of those injuries sustained by the deceased."

Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg asked "so a cause of death has not yet been ascertained?", to which the prosecutor responded "yes".

There was no application for bail and Thomas was remanded to reappear on August 4 for a committal mention.