Camper admits to killing stranger in ‘heinous crime’ initially thought to be bear attack: sheriff

A camper has reportedly confessed to killing a stranger who was initially believed to have been mauled to death by a bear, authorities said.

Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, admitted to viciously hacking to death Dustin Mitchell Kjersem, a 35-year-old stranger who had welcomed him to his Montana campsite — and even offering him a beer, Gallatin Sheriff Dan Springer said County at a news conference Thursday.

Abbey allegedly hit Kjersem in the head with a piece of wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and hacked him with an axe, the sheriff said.

“He was brutally murdered at his campsite,” Springer said. “This appears to be a heinous crime committed by someone who had no regard for Dustin Kjersem’s life.”

When Kjersem’s girlfriend found his bloodied body on Oct. 12 at a makeshift campsite in a remote area near Big Sky, she told 911 dispatchers it appeared to have been a fatal bear attack.

However, officials were unable to find any bears in the area – and Kjersem’s death was ultimately ruled a homicide after an autopsy.

Abbey, who was in custody on unrelated charges, became a suspect through DNA testing on a beer can found at the campsite – and is said to have confessed when questioned.

However, the motive seems unknown.

‘By all accounts, this murder 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 axe, a shotgun, a revolver and a cooler — and even returned later to remove other items, Springer said.

“Investigators will continue to do everything they can to gain a better understanding of the events that occurred that evening,” the sheriff said.