A 34-year-old man will appear in the Invercargill District Court today charged with manslaughter, after Queenstown police upgraded the charge from assault.
The man, who has name suppression, was arrested following the death of Mark James Smith (47), of Queenstown, last Thursday.
Mr Smith was knocked unconscious in Camp St at 11.30pm and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
His funeral was attended by about 500 people in the resort on Tuesday.
Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Blackie, head of the inquiry team, announced the new manslaughter charge, replacing the assault charge, yesterday morning.
"A large proportion of the initial inquiries have now been completed and the investigation team has been reduced from 25 staff to a core of several detectives headed by Detective Sergeant Grahme Bartlett, of Queenstown."
He thanked members of the public who had provided information to police and said the "great response" from the public had allowed investigators to make rapid progress.
Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, said the manslaughter charge had been laid indictably.
The maximum penalty for the charge was life imprisonment.
However, police were not able to give any further details on the events leading to Mr Smith's death.
Snr Sgt Fookes also thanked those witnesses who had come forward with information.
"If it hadn't been for the witnesses . . . it may have been a bit further down the track before we could make that decision [to lay a manslaughter charge].
"They have provided a pretty good picture of what happened on the night."
