Murder charge laid over SA bashing death

One man is dead and another has been charged with murder following an assault in a South Australian home.

Police were called to a Peterborough home about 1am on Sunday to find paramedics trying to save a 46-year-old Onkaparinga Hills man who died at the scene.

The suspect was no longer at the house and police later arrested a 49-year-old Mid North man. Late on Sunday night, he was charged with murder.

Police say the two men knew each other and it is not a random incident.

One Peterborough local said the occupants of the house would frequently entertain guests, but only "laughs and giggles" were usually heard.

But the gathering on Saturday night was different, The Adelaide Advertiser reports.

"There was a lot of men in the shed out back," the local said.

"They sort of stepped over the line of partying hard."

The 49-year-old did not apply for bail and is expected to appear in the Port Pirie Magistrates Court on Monday.