Police are treating the decapitation murder of 82-year-old Mark Hutchinson as highly suspicious and almost an entire block has been cordoned off by crime scene investigators.

Armidale residents, particularly those in the North Hill, don't believe their community is as safe as it was last week.

It is believed members of Mr Hutchinson's family found his body in the back garden of his home on Saturday afternoon.

Maryanne Person said in her 55 years at her Donnelly St home, located around the corner from the crime scene, the community had never experienced such a violent incident.

Mrs Person speculated the death was a result of robbery gone wrong.

She said, however, that if he had been decapitated it was possibly something more sinister.

"There's a lot of tales going around and somebody said his head was off," Mrs Person said.

"If they chopped the man's head off they must have hated him."

Mrs Person said she watched late night television every night but did not hear anything suspicious.

Following the report of the murder Michelle Hutchins was forced to send her 18-year-old son Adam to her sister's home to reassure his 15 and 13-year-old cousins left home alone while their parents were away in Sydney over the weekend.

Their mother, Margaret Turner said she received the phone call in Sydney from her panicked children.

"They called to say they were very, very frightened," Mrs Turner said.

"I had to send Adam around to stay with them to calm them down.

"This will just be a ghost town now because it will just make everyone feel unsafe – it almost makes me want to go back to Sydney."

Greg and Leanne Eather and their four young sons were forced to take a detour around the taped off crime scene between the CBD and their home yesterday afternoon.

The Eathers, who do not live far away in Glass St, said with a young family such violent rumours did not instil a feeling of confidence.

"It's a bit scary and eerie to be so close," Mr Eather said. "We've lived here for three years and nothing ever happened that's so shocking," Mrs Eather said.

Claude St resident Ron Fenton said the violent incident was a worry for the community particularly those, like him, who lived not far from Markham St.

Mr Fenton, who has lived in Armidale all his life, said like Mrs Person, he believed the man's death was a result of a botched robbery attempt.

"What would they do it for? – money I suppose," Mr Fenton said.

"There would have to be something behind it you would have to think.

"The streets are not safe to walk in these days."

UNE student Beau Duncan said police visited his Donnelly St unit twice over the weekend and asked for comprehensive information about who lived in the surrounding units.

"They just kept asking me about times, where I had been or if I had any relations with any of the other people in the other units," Mr Duncan said.

Mr Duncan said police had taken his licence plate number and numbers from his friend's vehicles and it was obvious from conversations with detectives the investigation would be highly comprehensive.

Matt and Sally Maxwell, also living in Donnelly St, were home on Friday night but did not hear anything strange.

"It's a bit of a worry," Mrs Maxwell said.

"The police have been around to ask a few questions but we didn't know anything."

The Maxwells said they had been living in Armidale for a year and said their neighbourhood was not as safe and quiet as it looked in the daylight.

"There seems to be streets where one side is good and the other side is bad (for crime).

"In Adelaide there are areas you can avoid but here they're all mixed together."

Andrew Hardman said he went out with friends in Armidale's CBD on Friday night but did not pass 74 Markham St on his way home.

"I don't walk down there because it's not the safest place," Mr Hardman said.

Mr Hardman said he had never seen the elderly man.