Former mayor's death caused by skull fracture

An autopsy has determined former Kalispell Mayor William Boharski, 51, died as the result of a skull fracture sustained when his wheelchair rolled off a lift one week ago.

Flathead County Undersheriff Dave Leib said the doors on the lift were not secure when it began to rise, causing the wheelchair to roll backwards off the lift and tip over. 

When the wheelchair tipped, Boharski’s head struck the wall and then the floor.

Leib said he was told by a Kalispell Police Department detective that Boharski’s wheelchair was one inch larger than the space within the lift.

“The wheelchair lift was inspected by a state of Montana inspector on Oct. 12, 2012, to attempt to determine if the lift was functioning properly,” Leib wrote in a press release. “The results of the inspection are not known at this time.”

Leib was unsure when the results would be released, since that inspector is now out of the area and won’t be back for a week.

The incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and the Kalispell Police Department.