Father of bashing victim Joshua Hardy expresses sympathy for son's alleged killer

The father of a student from Darwin bashed to death in Melbourne on the weekend has expressed sympathy for his son's alleged killer.

Kyle Zandipour, a 27-year-old investment banker, has been charged with murdering 21-year-old Joshua Hardy.

Mr Zandipour, who voluntarily went to police to give his version of events, has been remanded in custody until his next court hearing on Friday.

Joshua's father David Hardy told 105.7 ABC Darwin the man's family will be "aching".

"There's an absolute domino effect for all of this," he said.

"It's not only our family and his mates that are hurting and trying to make any sense of this.

"There's another family of another [the man charged with Joshua's murder] that's going to be aching and going be hurting."

'Dad, I'm going to make a difference'

Mr Hardy said his son would have had no regrets at the time of his death.

"He was making his way in life and he definitely had no regrets. There'd be definitely no regrets [when he died] that's for sure.

"If he got something in his mind; he put his mind to it; he was given some incredible opportunities."

"We definitely asked him 'are you sure you want to do this lawyer thing?' and he was adamant.

"He said 'Dad, I'm going to make a bit of difference'. He didn't actually realise how big a footprint he's actually left."

Mr Hardy said the biggest message from his son's death was the importance of telling those close to you that you love them.

"It's about telling the special people in your lives that you love them and if someone is there, then you just need to tell them that you love them," he said.

"If you feel it in your heart then it doesn't stop there. You actually have to say it."

Victim remembered as a vibrant young fellow

Friends of Hardy, who went to high school in Darwin before moving to Melbourne to attend university, paid tribute to his life on social media, while the Northern Territory's Chief Minister also expressed his condolences.

His death had been a devastating shock to Darwin's tight-knit football community, according to AFL NT boss Tony Frawley.

Hardy played for the Darwin Buffaloes.

"He was a very vibrant young fellow around the football community in Darwin," he said.

"Everyone in the football community are very saddened by it."

Sammy Thompson posted on Hardy's Facebook wall that they had been planning a trip to Bali.

At least I know you’re in the skies above looking out for me.

No matter what we talked about, it always mentioned family and friends, and at the end of every conversation it always ended up with "I love you".

Another friend, Dylan Gordon, wrote:

You have touched many people in your life and you were going to do great things for our community.

The presence you had when you would walk into a room was remarkable, your cheeky little smile would just light up the room.

I never had the privilege of running out on the footy oval with you but it was a dream I always wanted.

Chief Minister Adam Giles said his heart went out to family and friends.

"It's quite terrible and devastating," he said.

"I'm waiting to receive more information actually about the incident itself."