Montana man found dead in tent welcomed suspect to camp and gave him a beer, officials say

A Montana man found slain in his tent this month welcomed the suspect in his killing, 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 charged with deliberate homicide in the killing of Dustin Kjersem, 35, whose body was found in his tent near Big Sky on Oct. 12, officials said.

It was a “chance encounter” at the campsite on 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 night he found Kjersem was already there, with a wall tent, beds and a stove, Springer said.

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

“At some 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 ax,” Springer said. “The motives of this attack are still unknown.”

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

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

Kjersem planned to spend the weekend at the campsite with his girlfriend. He set up the camp on Oct. 10, a Thursday, and he planned to pick his girlfriend up from work the next night, Springer said.

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

Kjersem’s injuries were such that the person who reported discovering his body suspected he had been attacked by a bear, the sheriff's office has said. An autopsy confirmed it was homicide, not an animal attack.

Abbey had been living in a couple 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 been employed in the Big Sky area at various times, Springer said.

Abbey was arrested on a probation violation in Butte but is charged with deliberate homicide in Kjersem's death, the sheriff's office said.

State Corrections Department records show Abbey was on conditional release after a prison sentence for a 2020 repeat driving under the influence case.

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

The investigation could take months more. Springer said detectives will work to put together more pieces of what occurred, including what motive Abbey might have had.

"We have a bit 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 accurate."

Springer said that after he killed Kjersem, Abbey removed items he may have touched or which could connect him to the crime, including a cooler and the ax. He returned the next night and took more items, Springer said.

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

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.