A camper has reportedly admitted to killing a stranger who was initially believed to have been attacked by a bear, as per authorities.
According to Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer, Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, confessed to brutally murdering Dustin Mitchell Kjersem, 35, who had welcomed him into his campsite in Montana and even offered him a beer.
The sheriff stated that Abbey attacked Kjersem by hitting him in the head with a piece of wood, stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver, and hacking him with an ax.
“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.”
Initially thought to be a bear attack, Kjersem’s girlfriend found his body covered in blood in a remote campground near Big Sky on Oct. 12. Subsequent investigation and autopsy revealed it was a homicide.
Abbey, already in custody for other offenses, was identified as a suspect through DNA analysis on a beer can found at the scene and admitted to the crime during questioning.
However, the motive behind the killing remains unclear.
“By all accounts, this homicide appears to be a chance encounter,” Springer mentioned.
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