A Ronan man accused of stabbing and killing a man at a bar can get out of jail if he pays his bail.

The judge says he set the bond at $50,000 because the man didn't start the fight in the Ronan bar.

Alan Metzger, 52, told officers that he and the victim did not get along and had gotten into a fight at the valley club bar that resulted in the stabbing. Metzger told officers that the victim had hit him over the head in the bathroom so he pulled out a knife and swung it.

James Finch, 50, died at a Missoula hospital after the stabbing. Friends of both men said Finch had been threatening to hurt Metzger. But a Lake County detective says other witnesses say it's the other way around too.

"Mr. McCarthy told you during a statement that the defendant, Alan Metzger had threatened to kill James Finch, is that right. That is correct yes," said Michael Gehl, Lake County Sheriff's Detective.

"Everything was fine until between me and him, until he asked me to take Allen out of town for him because he wanted kill him," said Brett Reber, Friend of both men.

The court will hear the defense's motion to dismiss in December.

Metzger's trial is set for April.

Ronan police have released the name of a man stabbed to death in a Ronan bar over the weekend.

Police say that James Finch, 50, died after being stabbed during a fight at the Valley Club and Bar in Ronan.

Allen Metzger of Ronan is charged with deliberate homicide and carrying a concealed weapon in a prohibited place.

Metzger told investigators Finch hit him over the head, so he pulled a knife and swung it at Finch.