Bicycles sought after murder of Whangarei man

The house in Second Ave, Whangarei, where police are carrying out a scene examination after a man died of serious head injuries. PICTURE/NZME

Police are searching for two bicycles, which they believe were taken from the home of a Whangarei man who died last weekend.

Michael Patrick Griffin was found about 8am at the rear of his Second Ave home in Whangarei with serious head injuries on Sunday. He was taken to Whangarei Hospital by ambulance but died.

Mr Griffin had been working on alterations to a garage at the rear of his house, where he lived alone, when friends found him seriously injured.

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Griffin died of severe blunt force trauma to his head.

A police team and forensic specialists remained at Mr Griffin's home and continued to comb the property for clues.

They were likely to be there until the end of the week, police said.

Police would now like to speak to anyone who may have seen the two bicycles over the weekend, Detective Inspector Kevin Burke said.

"These bicycles are quite unique and we believe that they have been taken from the victims address in Second Avenue."

Meanwhile a 16-year-old male has been arrested and charged with Mr Griffin's death.

He appeared at Whangarei Youth Court yesterday and was remanded in custody until later this month.

Police said they would like to speak to anyone who may have seen the bicycles, or people riding the bicycles, between 6pm on Saturday October 4 and midday on Sunday October 5, in the Avenues or in the vicinity of the Bowling Club in Whangarei.

Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The missing bikes: