A man has died from "unexplained injuries" after he was taken to Nelson Hospital early yesterday morning with a severe leg wound.
Police has released his name as Richard Stephen Woolmore, 36, and is seeking information on what happened to him.
"We're treating it as unexplained as opposed to suspicious at the moment," said a police spokesman from the Nelson District Command Centre.
Mr Woolmore had suffered severe blood loss and was initially listed as being in a critical condition.
This was upgraded to "serious" by mid-morning but he later died, police said.
Mr Woolmore was taken to hospital after someone called an ambulance just before 4am yesterday.
Sergeant Malcolm York of Nelson police said Mr Woolmore's family had been advised.
He said police would like to hear from anyone who saw what happened to him or who was around the Colour Plus store at 40 Vanguard Street in the early hours of New Year's Day.
"Police are interested to hear from anyone who knows him or anyone who spent time with him on New Year's Day," Mr York said.
There was a broken window close to where Mr Woolmore had lain.
Police examined the scene yesterday and said investigations were ongoing on how the injury had happened.