A Montana man found dead in a tent welcomed the suspect to camp and gave him a beer

A Montana man found dead in his tent earlier this month welcomed his alleged killer, a stranger, to his campsite and offered him a beer, the Gallatin County sheriff said Thursday.

Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, was arrested this week and is charged with intentional homicide in the death of 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem, whose body was found in his tent at Big Sky on Oct. 12, officials said.

It was a “chance encounter” at the campground the night of Oct. 10 and Abbey did not know Kjersem, Sheriff Dan Springer said at a news conference.

Abbey had planned to camp at the site, but when he arrived that evening, he found Kjersem already there, with a wall tent, beds and a stove, Springer said.

Abbey said in a confession to detectives that Dustin welcomed him to the campsite and offered him a beer, Springer said.

“At one point, this individual struck Dustin Kjersem with a piece of solid wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and ultimately hit him with the axe,” Springer said. “The motives of this attack are still unknown.”

DNA from a beer can found in the tent was matched to Abbey by the state crime lab, Springer said.

Abbey was arrested Saturday in Butte, about 80 miles southwest of Big Sky. He was interviewed Tuesday by sheriff’s detectives and Montana Department of Justice investigators and confessed to the killing, Springer said.

Kjersem planned to spend the weekend camping with his girlfriend. He set up camp on Thursday, Oct. 10, and planned to pick up his girlfriend from work the next evening, Springer said.

Kjersem never arrived. The girlfriend and a friend drove to the campground on Oct. 12, a Saturday, and found Kjersem dead in the tent, Springer said.

Kjersem’s injuries were such that the person who reported the discovery of his body said it was possibly a bear attack, the sheriff’s office said. An autopsy confirmed it was a homicide and not an animal attack.

Abbey lived in a number of different areas, but most recently had a residence in Basin, Montana, a small community in the mountains northeast of Butte, Springer said. He had worked in the Big Sky area several times, the sheriff said.

Abbey was arrested for a probation violation in Butte but is charged with intentional homicide in Kjersem’s death, the sheriff’s office said.

Montana Department of Corrections records show Abbey was released on parole after serving time for repeat drunken driving in 2020.

Abbey was being held in custody without bond Thursday evening, jail records show. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The investigation could take months. Springer said detectives will work to piece together more pieces of what happened, including why Abbey allegedly killed Kjersem.

“We have part of his story, but we don’t really know what the true story is,” Springer said. “We have a story, we just don’t know if it’s true.”

Springer said that after Abbey killed Kjersem, he removed items that he might have touched or that could link him to the crime, including a cooler and the axe. He returned the next night and took more items, the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s office previously said an ax, a Yeti cooler, a shotgun and a revolver were missing from the campsite.