Suspect jailed after 79-year-old fatally stabbed in Winnett

GREAT FALLS (AP) — Law enforcement officers in central Montana are investigating a fight between two men in a small town that left a 79-year-old man dead and a 29-year-old with a gunshot wound to his arm.

Larry G. Patterson was fatally stabbed on July 15 at an apartment complex in Winnett where he and the suspect lived, Petroleum County Sheriff Bill Cassell said.

The suspect was treated at the hospital before being arrested. Cassell expects charges will be filed early next week.

The suspect had lived in Winnett for less than a year after moving there from Wyoming while the stabbing victim had only lived in Winnett for a couple of weeks after moving from Arizona, Cassell said. The connection between the two men is under investigation.

"At this time we don't know of any personal connection between the two, other than they lived in the same apartments about 100 feet from each other," Cassell told the Great Falls Tribune on Monday. "From what we understand there was an argument and the argument resulted in a physical confrontation."

The state Division of Criminal Investigation is aiding with the investigation. Cassell said he thinks the last homicide in the county was over 20 years ago.