MILFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - A pair of Connecticut junk haulers was stunned to learn on Friday that two skulls picked up at the cluttered home of a deceased man on the day before Halloween were human remains, not made of plastic as they had thought.

The skulls were among thousands of occult-related items that Mr David Odice and Mr Charlie Inzucchi of The Junkluggers Junk Removal Co cleared out of the Fairfield home where Mr Robert L. DeVitto lived until his death two weeks ago at age 56.

"Being Halloween makes this real creepy and spooky, especially considering what else we found in the house," Mr Odice, 43, said on Friday. "There were thousands of things related to the occult: magazines, videos, crystals, amulets, all kinds of new age and metaphysical stuff."

After finishing the job on Thursday, the contractors dumped the skulls, and the rest of the dead man's paranormal and satanic-themed belongings, at a Stamford recycling center. After noticing the skulls appeared human, an attendant at the center notified police. Images of the skulls were sent to the state Medical Examiner's Office, which later determined the skulls, one male and one female, to be human.

Stamford Police Lieutenant Diedrich Hohn said on Friday the department will know in two weeks the ages of the skulls and whether a criminal investigation is required.

"It's one of the most bizarre cases we've had, especially being Halloween," Lt Hohn said. "If the skulls turn out to be 120 years old, obviously we don't have a big crime here. But we want to be sure the skulls were not part of a grave robbery."

Lt Hohn said the police tracked down the owner's father, Mr Robert J. DeVitto, 89, also of Fairfield, who told them his son had recently died.

The older Mr DeVitto could not be reached for comment on Friday.