Victorian triple killer back before court

A triple murderer allegedly conned two inmates out of about $50,000 while the trio were behind bars in Victoria.

Gregory Brazel is in jail for killing three women between the 1980s and 1990s.

Police say he also defrauded two prisoners at Port Phillip Prison in 2011, by organising to have their money transferred into accounts he could control.

It's alleged he siphoned money from Thomas Kenyon after offering to help him with a legal matter, court documents show.

The other man, convicted wife killer Peter Caruso, has now died, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard.

Brazel appeared in court via video link on Wednesday and his case was set down for a contested hearing mid-year.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003, with a 27-year-minimum term, after confessing to the 1982 murder of a 50-year-old Mount Eliza shopkeeper.

The 27-year-minimum was later reduced to 22 years.

Brazel was already serving a 34-year jail term for the murders of two prostitutes in 1990.

In a statement previously released to media, Kenyon said he went to Brazel with an issue about the sale of his house because he had been told Brazel did a bit of legal work.

Brazel allegedly said he would chat to his solicitor about taking the case on, before telling Kenyon they were going to sue a real estate office and he should transfer $13,000 into a bank account for fees.

Kenyon organised the transfer, but no legal work was ever done, his statement says.

Court documents allege Brazel took more than $37,000 from Caruso.

A statement from a corrections intelligence officer says that transaction was flagged by staff, because authorities believed the vulnerable and old Caruso may have been manipulated.

The money went through before the transfer could be stopped, the statement says.

Brazel is charged with three deception-related offences.

His case will be mentioned again in May.