A camper has allegedly confessed to murdering a stranger who was initially assumed to have been mauled to death by a bear, according to authorities.
Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, admitted to viciously hacking to death Dustin Mitchell Kjersem, a 35-year-old stranger who had welcomed him into his campsite in Montana — even offering him a beer, Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer told a press conference on Thursday.
Abbey allegedly bashed Kjersem in the head with a piece of wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and hacked him with an ax, the sheriff said.
“He was brutally killed at his campsite,” Springer said. “This appears to be a heinous crime committed by an individual who had no regard for the life of Dustin Kjersem.”
When Kjersem’s girlfriend found his bloodied body in a makeshift campground in a remote area near Big Sky on Oct. 12, she told 911 dispatchers it appeared to have been a deadly bear attack.
However, officials could not find any bears in the area — and Kjersem’s death was eventually ruled a homicide after an autopsy.
Abbey, who was in custody on unrelated charges, became a suspect through DNA tests on a beer can found at the campsite — and allegedly confessed when questioned.
However, the motive appears unknown.
“By all accounts, this homicide appears to be a chance encounter.
There does not appear to be any connection between our victim and our suspect,” Springer said.
The suspect allegedly removed possible evidence from the campsite — including an ax, a shotgun, a revolver and a cooler — and even returned again later to remove other items, Springer said.
“Investigators will continue to piece together everything they can to build a better picture of the events that evening,” the sheriff said.
