Two men die after a violent Saturday night

A man was killed at this Queens Ave house in Frankton, Hamilton, on Saturday night. Picture / Amos Chapple

Police launched separate homicide investigations yesterday after a violent Saturday night in Hamilton and Wanganui.

In Hamilton, a 32-year-old man was killed at a house in Queens Ave, Frankton, at about 1.15am.

Although no arrest has yet been made police said they were speaking to one man in relation to the death.

The death was the result of an assault.

A police cordon surrounded a house that was understood to contain three separate flats.

Some time during the night a mystery object was hurled across the road on to a neighbouring property.

The front gardens of four homes were thoroughly searched by detectives for about an hour yesterday.

They used ladders to comb tree foliage on the property where most of the search effort was concentrated.

Detectives would not say if they were looking for a weapon.

Inside the police cordon, Environmental Science and Research (ESR) scientists and police forensic teams carried out a detailed examination of the flat and driveway.

The dead man lay inside for most of that time, with upset relatives at one stage making a brief visit to survey the site.

Within the cordon, a dark-coloured jacket lay abandoned on the footpath, together with a cellphone, cap and set of car keys.

Police photographers took pictures of a car parked close to the front door of the flat.

Neighbours who had gathered on the street described the occupants of the flat as "unsavoury types". Arguments were often heard between a woman and man aged in their 40s.

At night swearing and yelling sometimes took place on the street, and police frequently made visits to the property.

However, things had been reasonably quiet lately, one resident said.

An autopsy on the dead man's body will take place today.

Meanwhile, an early morning street brawl in Wanganui yesterday was initially thought to have resulted in the death of 19-year-old service station worker David Bruce Osborne.

Police said a party got out of control about midnight and fighting spilled out on to the road.

Soon after, Mr Osborne was found lying unconscious outside a Glasgow St home.

Bystanders administered CPR and an ambulance was called but efforts to revive Mr Osborne failed.

Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Bensemann said that although a 19-year-old had been arrested for common assault and a 30-year-old would face charges for disorderly behaviour, neither man was connected to Mr Osborne's death.

After a pathologist examination it was found that Mr Osborne had died of natural causes.

Mr Bensemann said police had scaled down the homicide inquiry, and a coroner would now determine the circumstances of the death.