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ABC News
ABC News
National
By Europe correspondent James Glenday and Ashleigh Steele

Swedish police plead for clues into stabbing death of Australian 'gentle giant'

Police in Sweden have made a fresh call for witnesses or information, as they try to piece together the final moments of a Victorian man, who appears to have been murdered in the city of Gothenburg.

The ABC has been told officers currently have no fresh lines of inquiry and no persons of interest.

They say even the "smallest little thing" could be vital to their investigation.

The 30-year-old man died in hospital from stab wounds to the stomach in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He was only found by chance on the streets of the city by a police patrol investigating another matter at 4:22am.

Officers say the man had left an apartment roughly 40 minutes earlier and there was a security camera nearby.

He also had most of his belongings with him when he was found but a spokesperson for the local police force said detectives have not ruled out the possibility the Australian was the victim of a robbery gone wrong.

The man did not have a criminal record or anything in his past to immediately indicate why he may have been attacked and local media in Sweden were reporting there was significant evidence to suggest he could have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

'You were the most gentle giant'

The ABC understands the man, who had recently lived in Melbourne, moved to Sweden a couple of months ago to be with his girlfriend.

Friends have been paying tribute to him and expressing their grief on social media, describing him as a "thoughtful, gentle soul".

"I am so sorry … you were the most gentle giant," said one.

A close relative has arrived in Sweden to help police and Australian consular officers are assisting the family.

A police spokesperson has told the ABC the man's body has now been formally identified.

He was 185 centimetres tall, had dark medium length hair and dark stubble.

Police say he was wearing a brown cap, black jacket, dark blue chinos and black shoes when he was killed.

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