KEY POINTS:
Police believe at least four people chased New Plymouth man Peri Niwa before he was killed early on Sunday morning.
Mr Niwa, 31, was found dead shortly after midnight at an address in Squire Place, in the suburb of Blagdon.
Dozens of young people, thought to be aged between 17 and 25, are believed to have been at a "text" party on Blagdon Road at the time leading up to Mr Niwa's death.
Several of those partygoers were believed to have got into a violent confrontation near the Blagdon shops with a group that included Mr Niwa.
It was believed several partygoers chased Mr Niwa down a long driveway on Squire Place.
"There are possibly up to four, it could be more," Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward told The Taranaki Daily News last night.
He confirmed Mr Niwa's death was being treated as a homicide.
A number of people at the party had come forward, but police said there were many that had not yet made themselves known.
Mr Niwa's body was removed from the property overnight on Sunday and taken to Palmerston North for a post mortem examination.
Police canvassed neighbours in the area yesterday and want anyone with information about the party or saw anything that night to contact them.
Mr Coward would not disclose the result of the autopsy "for investigative reasons".
- NZPA
