The victim of Auckland's latest homicide was a community man who did not have a bad bone in his body, say his family and church friends.
Graham Wallace Arcus, 61, died yesterday after he was attacked and bashed at an Auckland bus stop on Saturday night.
Mr Arcus was walking on Manukau Rd in the Auckland suburb of Royal Oak about 9.30pm when he passed a group of young men at a bus stop. One of the men knocked Mr Arcus to the ground.
He was taken to hospital but died yesterday morning.
Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Cramer said what had started as a serious assault investigation had become a homicide investigation.
He said police knew of several witnesses to the assault on Manukau Rd, but wanted to hear from "anyone who thinks they might have some information for us about Mr Arcus's movements before he was punched to the ground and events subsequent to that."
Mr Arcus, a grandfather, was a devout Baptist and a "pillar of the community", said his family and church friends.
He was attacked as he walked home from a prayer group at the Royal Oak Baptist Church on Symonds St a short distance away.
Mr Arcus' son he was a much loved family man who would be missed by everyone in the community.
"He was a community man," he told the New Zealand Herald.
Church elder Johannes Balzer said Mr Arcus "didn't have a bad bone in his body".
He and his wife, Edith, ran a soup kitchen every Friday, and collected second-hand baby clothes for needy mothers.
Church pastor Erik Schilperoort said the Arcus family had spent about 21 years in Papua New Guinea where Mr Arcus was a school principal.
He said they were angry at a random violent act but forgave the attacker and were "praying for him or them."
Police said robbery was not a motive in the unprovoked attack.
Mr Cramer said they had spoken to three of the five men at the bus stop but had yet to speak to the man who assaulted Mr Arcus.