A man found dead in his County Durham home died of "blunt head injuries", a coroner's court heard.
The body of John Littlewood - known as John D - was found in a house in Third Street, Blackhall Colliery, on July 30.
Now County Durham and Darlington Coroner's Court has formally opened and adjourned an inquest into the death of the 36-year-old.
An opening statement read out to the court states a post-mortem examination was carried out the day after his death.
It states: "I understand the circumstances to be that John was found deceased at his home address with a major trauma to the back of his head.
"On 31/07/2019, Dr Peter Nigel Cooper conducted a post-mortem examination at Darlington Hospital Mortuary and gave the cause of death as follows: Blunt head injuries."
A large scale police investigation was launched after the death of the painter and decorator, with officers reviewing hours of CCTV, searching allotments and carrying out house to house enquiries.
Properties in Blackhall Colliery, Hartlepool and South Shields were also searched by detectives.
At the time, his heartbroken father, John Littlewood, and step-mum, Julie, paid tribute to their son who had a "heart of gold".
Four people were charged with murder and appeared at Teesside Crown Court last month.
