A 69-year-old man severely beaten in his Melbourne home managed to dial triple-zero before he died.
Police say the man made the phone call around 3am (AEDT) on Thursday, but died by the time paramedics arrived.
Neighbours reported hearing loud voices and then a car driving off around the same time of the Noble Park attack.
Detective Senior Sergeant David Butler says the man's last phone call will play a crucial role in the homicide investigation.
"There's an indication that he knew his attacker," he said of the phone call.
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"But it's probably too early to speculate exactly from the circumstances. With any triple-0 call, there's going to be some garbled information."
He said the man was found dead in the bathroom of the southeastern suburbs home and had suffered blunt force trauma injuries.
Police are urging the man's killer to turn themselves in.
A post-mortem examination will be carried out later on Thursday.
