The Flathead County Sheriff says that an altercation that occurred shortly before a 40-year-old Flathead County man’s death likely did not lead to his untimely passing.
According to Sheriff Brian Heino, Jesse Rule, 40, died shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday in front of the South Fork Saloon after he reported having trouble breathing. Law enforcement and medics responded to the scene where they performed CPR to no avail. Authorities believe Rule got into a physical altercation shortly before he died. Rule’s body was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab to determine if he had died from some sort of trauma, but the preliminary autopsy revealed that he had not.
“His death didn’t appear to have anything to do with the fight,” Heino said, adding that the man had a “preexisting medical condition” that may have ultimately been the culprit.
Sheriff’s deputies interviewed a number of witnesses and, during the course of the investigation, arrested three people wanted for unrelated matters.