Just after lunchtime on Boxing Day, there were plenty of cafe-goers and day-trippers along the main strip of Creswick.
Some were unaware of the incident that had taken place less than a kilometre away the previous night, leading to the second violent death within weeks in a town of just over 3000 people.
Others said it did not reflect the residents' experience of a "beautiful town" with a tight-knit community.
Edward Rowen, 83, has since been charged with the murder of his wife Rosalie Rowen on Christmas night and will re-appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.
At the Smokey Town cafe on Thursday, manager Joban Singh was serving a busy Boxing Day crowd.
He said it was the type of thing that could "happen everywhere". "We have such a lovely community around us," he said.
Outside the cafe on Albert Street, one Creswick resident was not even aware of what had happened late the previous evening.
A local man in his 80s said he had not heard of the death, while it was also news to visitors on a cafe terrace.
Just opposite the Farmers Arms Hotel, where local resident David Blake died following an alleged altercation last month, a water park was busy with children and their parents seeking relief from the lunchtime sun.
Local resident Kirsten Anderson said she learnt about the incident through Facebook that morning.
She said she was shocked when she found out and immediately thought of what had happened at the pub.
While she said she was aware of social problems in the town, she did not view them as any more acute in Creswick than elsewhere.
"Every place has a bit of an underbelly," she said.
We know statistically that Christmas time is always a bad time [for violent incidents]. But I think this is one of those random clusters that can and does happen
- Licia Kokocinski, Mayor of Hepburn Shire
She described the latest incident as "very sad" but said she felt sure the community would pull together.
"It's a beautiful town - that's why we moved here," she said.
Rob Hipwell, who has lived in the area on and off for decades, was just leaving the car park of the newly opened IGA in town. He said he was worried about the effect of another sudden death.
"First thing I said was 'oh no, another one'," he told The Courier.
He said in recent years, there was a perception that Creswick was a place on the move. "I have seen the place grow," he said.
It's really been on the up with lots of locals starting new businesses. You look around town and things are really starting to pick up.
None of the residents The Courier spoke to in the centre of Creswick knew Ms Rowen who died in the early hours of Boxing Day.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Hepburn Shire Licia Kokocinski said her thoughts were with residents at "a difficult time."
She also referred to a recent incident in which a police officer broke his leg and said the latest news was "not good for the morale of residents."
However, she said council was pushing to set up a roundtable with different agencies - including police - to see if there were any common threads and anything else could be done.
"We know statistically that Christmas time is always a bad time [for violent incidents]," she said.
"But I think this is one of those random clusters that can and does happen."
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