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Charges Amended in Fatal Hammer Attack

By Beacon Staff

POLSON — Lake County prosecutors have amended the charges against a Polson man suspected of hitting his father-in-law in the head with a hammer, causing fatal injuries.

Desmond Alan Mackay was initially charged with attempted deliberate homicide for the March 5 attack on 67-year-old John Barrows of Polson. Barrows died 10 days later at a Kalispell hospital, leading prosecutors to amend the charge to deliberate homicide.

Mackay’s arraignment had been scheduled for Thursday but it was postponed for a week until the state can assign him a public defender.

Mackay remains jailed.

Prosecutors say Mackay waited by a door to a garage with the hammer, intending to assault his brother-in-law, who he believed owed him money. However, it was Barrows who walked through the door first.