Retired Police Officer Died Of Natural Causes

A retired Spokane police officer found slumped on a couch in his houseboat died of natural causes, the Bonner County sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

Bonner County sheriff’s detectives initially investigated 62-year-old Gerald McLam’s death as suspicious because the side of his houseboat had been hit by shotgun pellets and two windows were broken out, said Sheriff Chip Roos.

Detectives determined the shotgun blasts were fired before McLam arrived Tuesday afternoon from Spokane to check on his boat. McLam reported to the damage to sheriff’s deputies a few hours before his death.

A friend found McLam slumped on a couch in the houseboat Tuesday night about 6:30 p.m. His head was leaning against a window that had been broken, Roos said.