Simon Bird and family attend niece Christina's graduation. Photo: Supplied
Simon Bird's niece remembers him as a fun, kind, generous person, with a love of music.
The 65-year-old was found dead outside his home in the Wellington suburb of Northland last Tuesday. Police have now charged a 23-year-old man with murder.
"This is a positive development for his family and friends, but there are still many unanswered questions that we are working hard to answer," Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard said.
The body was found after a friend requested a welfare check. Bird was last seen alive on 27 March at 5pm, and police were trying to piece together his movements between leaving his workplace in the central city and when his body was found.
Occupants of homes surrounding the address said they barely saw the man and another said they believed the property had only changed tenants in the last 3-4 months.
Police said he was a "fairly private person and we don't know a lot about Mr Bird". They wanted to hear from people who had interacted with him over the past few weeks, to try and build a picture of his life.
Bird's niece - Christina Bird - told RNZ their family was small and closeknit, all - apart from him - living in Auckland.
They were born and raised in England, and moved to New Zealand in the late 1970s.
Christina said he worked in banking for as long as she had been alive, apart from a small period of time, when he helped friends in an antique store in Wairarapa.
"His persona as a banker was probably quite formal, but he was very much a fun person as well," she said,
He loved music, and lately, he and Christina had gone to concerts - Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga, P!nk, Ed Sheeran - three times.
Simon Bird and niece Christina attend an Ed Sheeran concert. Photo: Supplied
"When we went to P!nk, it was four of us and it was his idea to get dressed up in pink stuff to be a part of an ocean of pink," she said. "He always seemed to be dressing up - I've got photos of him as a Teletubby... I've got photos of him as a zebra."
Simon Bird dressed as a Teletubby. Photo: Supplied
He could find the humour in any situation and kept busy.
"Not someone happy to sit around," Christina said. "If he was sitting around, he'd fall asleep and Gran would tell him off.
"He was just a really beautiful person - he was very kind, very generous with his time."
Simon Bird and sister Rochelle with niece's horse. Photo: Supplied
As Wairarapa Racing Club vice-president, he was "very proud of the events they held".
"He was very passionate about trying to make the events bigger and better."
He owned a farm in Wairarapa for a long time and would commute into Wellington for work. He had flatted with friends for a time and had only recently moved to the Northland address, which he was renting.
Although he had given up the farm "quite a few years ago", she said: "Wairarapa was home."
