Preliminary results of an autopsy on a 37-year-old Spokane man revealed he died of multiple stab wounds suffered at a Plummer home, authorities said Tuesday.

Benewah County Prosecutor Douglas Paul Payne said it's still not clear whether one or two knives was used in the murder in which multiple people are charged with the killing. At least one alleged murder weapon is in police custody, he said.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office conducted the autopsy Monday.

Four people have been arrested for Antowyn D. Swiney's slaying, and all are charged with first-degree murder.

Payne said the four suspects and Swiney "exchanged words" at a Spokane bar, Chan's Dragon Inn, on the 1400 block of West Third Avenue. The exchange was about a woman, he said.

"The victim left to avoid a confrontation at the bar," Payne said. There was no physical fight at the bar, he said.

Police said the four murder suspects had been celebrating a birthday during the night and early morning.

Later, the suspects left the bar and drove to Plummer, where Swiney was staying with a woman in Coeur d'Alene Tribal housing in the south portion of the town. The housing development, constructed in the 1980s, is a mix of privately owned homes and rental units.

The suspects knocked on the woman's door and forced their way inside, Payne said. Neighbors said Swiney had been living there recently as her boyfriend and that suspect Jody A. Miller, 41, was the woman's prior boyfriend.

Arrested were Miller; Stephen R. Milton, 22; Irael S. Kennedy, 21; and Kelly A. Miller, a 40-year-old woman. Bail was set at $1 million for Jody Miller and Kennedy; and $500,000 for Milton and Kelly Miller.

Jody Miller has a criminal history that spans 31 years, police said.

They had been held in Spokane County after being arrested there, but have waived extradition, Payne said.

Jody Miller and Stephen Milton were taken from Spokane and transported to Benewah County, before then being sent to Nez Perce County, where they now will be held, Payne said. Benewah County has limited space in its St. Maries jail to hold the four in separate cells.

Authorities don't want the suspects to have contact, Payne said. He said the other two suspects could be held in Shoshone County or somewhere outside Benewah County.

They can be brought to St. Maries as needed for court hearings, he said.

Idaho State Police did say in a press release Sunday that at 4:30 a.m. that day, a confrontation ensued at the Plummer residence between Swiney and the three male murder suspects. Swiney was injured severely enough by the stabbing that he died at the scene, police said.

Payne said the four people arrested and the victim are not Coeur d'Alene tribal members.