HELENA — Equipment issues and inexperience may have contributed to the drowning of a film producer in a Montana lake during a video shoot for a U.S. Senate candidate.
The Helena Independent Record reports Lewis and Clark County Sheriff and Coroner Leo Dutton released the preliminary findings Friday in the June death of 40-year-old Jesse Hubbell, who was from the Boston area.
Candidate John Mues and Hubbell were filming at Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena when Hubbell disappeared underwater. His body was found two days later.
Dutton says investigators are still testing air samples from Hubbell’s oxygen tank and are not at a point where they can detail possible problems with the equipment.
Mues, a Navy veteran with diving experience, is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines.