VANCOUVER - Aaron Webster was beaten to death by one attacker while two others watched in the darkness of a beach in Stanley Park, police said yesterday as they released new details of what is believed to be British Columbia's first fatal gay bashing.

Mr. Webster, 42, died within metres of his car, which was parked near popular Second Beach in one of North America's largest urban parks, early on Saturday morning. He was naked except for hiking boots and socks. Inside the car, police found Mr. Webster's clothes.

Two witnesses interviewed by police said they saw the killing, describing the attacker as a white man in his early 20s, who wore a baseball cap backwards. The attacker struck Mr. Webster over and over with a weapon believed to be either a baseball bat or a pool cue.

At least two other men were on the scene when Mr. Webster was so savagely beaten that he died soon after in the arms of a friend, who found him unconscious in the park.

"We believe there was one [person] who was the primary active assailant that actually utilized some sort of weapon," Detective Scott Driemel said yesterday, commenting on a murder that drew 1,500 people to a weekend march and rally in memory of Mr. Webster.

Eager to solve a murder that has stunned Vancouver's gay community, the police are urging the two men not directly involved in the assault to come forward to get a better deal from the legal system.

"It's not so much a matter of dividing and conquering, although that phrase is probably somewhat applicable," said Det. Driemel. "Witnesses say some of [the attackers] were active and some certainly not. To avoid being looked upon as a party to the offence of murder, police would like [you] to come in a lot sooner than later."

The attack occurred quickly. "There was a minor scuffle. There was a number of blows. [It] was probably not even two minutes in length."

He said it is too early to talk about composite sketches. The spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department yesterday described an investigation complicated by a lack of witnesses so far, the early hour of the attack and even the lack of light in the area where Mr. Webster, an assistant manager at a paint store, was killed.

Mr. Webster, who was gay, died in an area of Stanley Park that is cut with trails known as strolls, where some in the gay community seek anonymous sex.

Det. Driemel said police are hoping other witnesses in the area that night will come forward, but acknowledged, choosing his words carefully, that some might be reluctant to do so "given the social activity" that might take place in the area of the park.

"They might want to remain anonymous for whatever personal reasons they might have," he said.

"We're confident there were other witnesses around. We just hope they have got the courage to come forward and talk to investigators."

Police have suggested the death of Mr. Webster is a hate crime -- a classification firmly embraced by the city's gay community -- although they are not ruling out other possible motives for the attack.

"We don't know exactly what provoked the altercation, whether it was over some other incident. We're not going to remove all those other options until we have completely determined what the motivation was," Det. Driemel said.

"Hopefully, that will come from other witnesses who overheard things or saw things or perhaps from the suspects themselves when they realize it's far better for them to come in and see us sooner rather than later."

Det. Driemel also admitted that he is holding back some information provided by witnesses as material that would help verify witness accounts of what happened to Mr. Webster.

B.C. gay and lesbian community leaders say bashing takes place more often than is reported.

Gays are still sometimes reluctant to go to police out of shame or fear they won't be believed, said Donna Wilson, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian community centre.

"We know that it happens much more frequently, unfortunately, than we're hearing about in the media or from the police.

"The reality is that people within our community do experience harassment and bashing, not just in areas where people would frequent for casual sexual encounters," Ms. Wilson said.