KALISPELL, Mont. — Kalispell detectives are in the midst of a homicide investigation that started with a call for a welfare check.
According to police officials, officers were dispatched to a welfare check at a home in the 500-block of Eighth Avenue West in Kalispell Saturday evening.
Shortly after that, another call came in from a resident of the home. According to a KPD news release, the caller said he shot someone in his residence.
Police arrived and found one man dead inside the residence. The state crime lab identified the victim as John Araujo, 53, of Kalispell.
“In any investigation we go to, we have to look at it from all sides,” Kalispell Police Chief Doug Overman said. “I’m not prepared to comment on this investigation, because we have to look at the totality of all the evidence and make sure that matches the stories we’ve been given.”
No charges have been filed, but Overman said investigators know who the shooter is. One man was questioned and released, and a woman was arrested Saturday night on an unrelated parole violation charge.
Police officials say two locations have been searched in this investigation -- the residence and a hotel room on the south side of Kalispell.
Overman said investigators spent 23 hours processing the scene at the home on Eighth Avenue West.
“(It includes) photography and evidence collection and measurements and trace evidence collection -- which can include anything from fiber samples to cartridges to fingerprints to blood,” Overman said. “We take a large responsibility in crime scenes, especially where someone lost their life, and we put a lot of time into that.”
Araujo, the victim, was arrested by federal officials on meth distribution charges last month. According to court documents, Araujo was part of a drug dealing operation in Flathead and Lake counties.
Documents allege he and an accomplice would “fly to Las Vegas one to two times per month where they would rent a vehicle and ‘trip’ to California to pick up large amounts of methamphetamine to transport them back to the Flathead Valley.”
An investigation by federal, state, county, local and tribal law enforcement agencies implicated Araujo, Kristal Patricia Leonard and John Murray Barry. The three were arrested on Sept. 18, and documents say searches of their cars yielded 31 1/2 pounds of meth.
Araujo’s court file also contained letters of support from those who knew him. One acquaintance described him as “pleasant and respectful,” and another said he was “honest and generous with his time.”
Araujo was an electrician, union member and father.
Court documents show he was released on bond pending trial earlier this month.