A Montana man found dead in the tent greeted the suspect at the camp and gave him a beer

A Montana man found bludgeoned to death in his tent earlier this month greeted his suspected killer, a stranger, at 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 first-degree murder of 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem, whose body was found in his tent near 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 night he found Kjersem was already there, with a wall tent, beds and a stove, Springer said.

Abbey said in a confession to investigators: “Dustin greeted him at the campsite and offered him a beer,” Springer said.

“At some point, this person hit Dustin Kjersem with a piece of solid wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and finally hit him with the axe,” Springer said. “The motives for 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 murder, Springer said.

Kjersem planned to spend the weekend at the campsite with his girlfriend. He set up camp on Oct. 10, a Thursday, and was going to pick up his girlfriend from work the next evening, 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 so extensive that the person who reported the discovery of his body said it might have been an attack by a bear, the sheriff's office said. An autopsy confirmed it was a homicide and not an animal attack.

Abbey had lived in various areas but most recently had a residence in Basin, Montana, a small community in the mountains northeast of Butte, Springer said. He was employed in the Big Sky area at various times, the sheriff said.

Abbey was arrested for a probation violation in Butte but is charged with voluntary manslaughter in Kjersem's death, the sheriff's office said.

Montana Department of Corrections records show Abbey was released on conditions after serving a prison sentence for repeated driving under the influence in 2020.

Abbey was being held without bail 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 investigators were working to piece together more details about the events, including why Abbey allegedly killed Kjersem.

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

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

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