Final autopsy results for a 62-year-old Whitefish man who was found dead outside his home in December have listed his official cause of death as hypothermia.

According to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, Stuart Milter fell from the second-story window of his home, sustaining injuries that may have impaired his ability to move, although those injuries were not fatal. 

Curry also noted that Milter was under the influence of several legal, prescribed medications at the time.

“Toxicology did not show any alcohol concentration, but did show a mixture of prescribed drugs that would most likely have rendered him at least moderately impaired,” Curry said.

The combination of the fall and the medications are believed to have contributed to his not being able to make it back inside, leading to his death by hypothermia. The death has been ruled accidental.

Milter was found Dec. 29 by a coworker on the ground below the open window, from which the screen had been removed.

“As to why he came to open that window, you could speculate all the time, but we don’t know,” Curry said.

Milter was the longtime owner of Stuart Jewelers stores in Whitefish and Kalispell.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].