WA child killer Mervyn Bell dies in jail

A notorious West Australian child killer has been found dead in a maximum security jail, with police saying the circumstances appear to be non-suspicious.

Mervyn Bell was serving a minimum jail term of 27 years for sexually assaulting and murdering 10-month-old Charles "Charlie Boy" Mullaley, plus an extra five years for a brutal attack on the infant's mother, when he died at Casuarina Prison on Tuesday.

Police were called to the jail at about 12.30pm.

They said there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding Bell's death at this stage, but the investigation would continue.

A Department of Corrective Services spokesman confirmed the death and said the commissioner sent his condolences to Bell's family.

Two fellow prisoners at Albany Regional Prison, including the father of AFL player Chris Yarran, were last month acquitted of assaulting Bell by hitting him with a hammer while he awaited trial over the baby's death.