KEY POINTS:
It was a knock - or the lack of one - that gave the game away.
When 78-year-old John Allen Rowe failed to show for a lift to hospital, Douglas "Ted" Gibson assumed his neighbour of 20 years had suffered a fall.
Remembering the many other occasions he'd helped him off the floor, Gibson investigated but was surprised to find the garage and back door of Rowe's Opotiki home wide open.
What he found inside was much more shocking - his pal dead in bed with multiple head injuries, beaten, think police, with two planks of wood.
"I wouldn't describe that scene to anybody," said Gibson.
"The vision will be with me till I die. I've never seen anything like it - and I've had to identify bodies from car crashes."
It took police a month to make arrests as they struggled to overcome a wall of silence from a small group of suspects.
The reasons for that may go back much further than four weeks.
With wide streets and air of lost prosperity, Opotiki is not unlike dozens of small towns across New Zealand.
Fifty years ago it was booming, thanks to potatoes, wheat, maize and cattle.
But as factories relocated or closed, residents moved out, with many of the rich and elderly heading to the upmarket Woodlands area several kilometres away.
Their departure and the economic downturn led to an increase in unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, and gang activity.
Now much of Opotiki's criminal activity is controlled by Mongrel Mob and Black Power chapters, with the innocent caught in the middle.
"The Mongrel Mob own this patch," said Gibson, an Opotiki resident of 48 years. "Black Power's patch is on the other side of town."
Police have refused to speculate on whether the youths accused of killing Rowe have gang links, but many locals are less circumspect.
One of Rowe's neighbours, Peter Collier, said there were drug and alcohol problems among the town's youth and the gangs are "battering each other", leaving residents "jumpy".
Another, who asked not to be named, said she always believed the town's next murder victim would be killed in a gang fight, not a former maths teacher described by friends as a "gentleman".
Rowe came to New Zealand from the UK where he served in the Navy.
His wife, Phyllis, died in 1991 but his love affair with classical music continued.
Enjoying early morning swims and an occasional beer at the RSA, he is survived by two adult children, Patrick and Wendy.
Police believe Rowe was the victim of a burglary gone wrong. Friends said he withdrew money every week and at times carried several thousand dollars in his wallet.
"I know there would be three or four hundred dollars in his wallet at any one given time because I used to take him down to the ATM on a Sunday when I was carting him around before he got his new car," Gibson said.
He recalled hearing noises about 3am on the stormy night Rowe died, but he didn't realise it was the sound of his neighbour's garage being broken into.
Rowe's wallet was taken and his attackers left on foot. Some items were thrown into the grounds of Opotiki College - where he once taught - and his driving licence and Eftpos cards were ditched in a nearby letterbox.
The officer heading the inquiry, Detective Inspector Rob Jones, said he could appreciate community concern.
"We are dealing with the death of an elderly man, who had no known enemies, was unable to defend himself, and who was brutally attacked as he lay in his bed for no other apparent reason than the theft of his personal contents including his wallet.
"I can certainly appreciate why the community is concerned."
But there are signs the community may have had enough.
A town meeting was called on Wednesday at which residents discussed a Neighbourhood Watch network.
"It's about controlling gang warfare and burglary," said one.
Opotiki mayor John Forbes reportedly called the killer a "coward", while John's 51-year-old son Patrick had pleaded with locals to help police find the killer.
"Not only do we need the closure and the healing," he said. "Windsor St and the Opotiki community also need closure and to heal."
Gibson was pleased about the arrests but believes the impact of his friend's death will continue to be felt.
"There are no winners in this. We are all losers. The people that committed the crime are all losers. The community are losers."
