Blockhouse Bay homicide: Police formally identify Stephen Thorpe ...
“Police have been in contact with immediate family, who are based in Australia, and we will keep them updated as the investigation progresses,” Baldwin said.
“Our thoughts are with Mr Thorpe’s family following this tragic event.”
Thorpe was a gentle, quiet scientist who was killed on his daily walk to search for insects and plants.
He was a keen entomologist who worked in an office underneath the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club seven days a week.
Gary Andrew, from the Whau River Catchment Trust, said he sat next to Thorpe every day at work.
Andrew said Thorpe left the trust’s office on Saturday morning around 11.30am for his daily exploration of the neighbourhood.
“Someone attacked him, and, at this stage, we don’t know why,” he told the Herald.
“We have no idea. I just assume that it was with a knife because he died fairly quickly. He went back inside [the tennis club] and there was lots of blood, and he’s died there.”
Andrew described him as eccentric, with a dishevelled appearance which led some to assume he lived on the street. In the last few years, he had told colleagues he suspected he was on the autism spectrum.
“He was a small, slightly built, well-spoken, educated, gentle guy who would just never hurt a fly. It just felt incredibly sad that something has happened like this. It’s so pointless.”
Violent struggle before deathPolice earlier revealed a “violent struggle” took place between Thorpe and his attacker.
Police said this morning they were hunting Thorpe’s attacker, who could have been stained with blood after the struggle.
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said there was a “large amount of blood” at the scene and some of that would have transferred to the killer.
“This offender will have gone somewhere, likely in an agitated state and likely with some blood on him. Someone will know who this person is and I challenge them to do the right thing and come forward.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
