Eds: ADDS detail about arrest, EDITS to conform. APNewsNow.

MOLT, Mont. (AP) Authorities have arrested a man in connection to a fatal shooting in Molt.

Stillwater County Sheriff Clifford Brophy says 48-year-old Jeffrey Lynn Hardman of Molt was arrested Friday afternoon on a charge of deliberate homicide in the death of 33-year-old Michael Blattie.

Blattie's body was found in his home Oct. 15.

The investigation included searching a house separate from the one where the victim was found.

John Strandell of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation says investigators and Stillwater County police searched a rental home on Blattie's property on Thursday and Friday.

He and Brophy declined to release further details.

Molt is a small community about 20 miles west of Billings.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 10-30-09 2305CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list