A 27-year-old man has appeared in a Perth court charged with murdering his father at a regional roadhouse.
Dean Thomas Gallagher, 51, died in the early hours of Friday at the Salmon Gums Roadhouse, halfway between Esperance and Norseman in WA's south east.
Police and an ambulance attended but Mr Gallagher was unable to be revived and died at the scene.
His son John Gallagher appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court in Northbridge via video-link from Esperance on Sunday morning.
He was remanded in custody to appear in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on October 30.
Tributes have begun to flow on social media, with Dean Gallagher remembered as "a larrikin, a muso and an adventurer."
"You were an amazing man, you would always brighten up everywhere you went," wrote one friend.
Dean Thomas Gallagher is being remembered as 'an amazing man' in social media tributes. (Supplied: Facebook )
Another wrote, " I don't even have the words to explain how much you meant to us, but you knew.
"We have memories that we can treasure but that doesn't feel like enough.
"You will be forever missed, always loved and never forgotten."
The roadhouse is on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway. (ABC Esperance: Emily Smith)
Salmon Gums, which is about 100 kilometres north of Esperance and south of Norseman, is home to about 150 people.
It is loved by travellers for its namesake trees, historic buildings and fondness for country quirk.
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