DNA taken from a discarded beer can has led to the arrest of a man being charged with the murder of 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem while he was camping. Gallatin County police identified the suspect as Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, today in a press conference.
Kjersem had set up a campsite on Thursday, Oct. 10, near Big Sky, Mont. According to police, Abbey had intended to stay at the same campsite that evening. As he approached, he realized that Kjersem was already settled in there. Kjersem welcomed Abbey into the campsite and even offered him a beer.
Police do not know the details of what happened next despite having interrogated Abbey. But at some point, he struck Kjersem with a solid piece of wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver, and then hit him with an axe.
Kjersem had been planning on driving into town on Friday to pick his girlfriend up and return to the site for the weekend. When he didn’t show up, she became worried. Saturday morning, she and a friend drove to the campsite and discovered Kjersem’s deceased body inside the tent.
“By all accounts, this homicide appears to be a chance encounter,” Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said at the press conference. “There does not appear to be any connection between our victim and our suspect.”
Police said that Abbey removed items from the site that he believed could connect him with the crime. They said he also returned on Friday to remove more items.
“This is the behavior of a guilty subject who thought he could get away with murder,” Springer said.
No Motives Yet Known
Despite Abbey’s efforts to hide evidence of his crime, he left the beer can he’d drunk from at the scene. Police collected it and were able to identify him through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
The Butte Civil Sheriff’s office and the Montana Department of Corrections, Probation, and Parole Officers worked with Gallatin County sheriffs to track Abbey down. On October 26, they discovered that he was still in the Butte area.
Police arrested him as he was leaving a local establishment. He was taken into custody and interviewed by detectives, at which point he confessed to Kjersem’s murder.
Still, after interviewing Abbey, the police don’t understand the motive behind this crime. Investigators said they are still trying to piece together everything they can to build a better picture of the events that evening.
Abbey is currently in custody in Butte, Mont.
Dustin Kjersem: ‘A Montana Boy’
Kjersem was well-known and beloved in the community he lived in. He was an avid outdoorsman and a skilled tradesman.
Jillian Price, Kjersem’s sister, told Bozeman Daily Chronicle, “He loved the outdoors. He loved to fish, he loved to hunt, he was an amazing snowboarder. He was just, he was a Montana boy.”
Price said she had never seen an adult man spend so much time doing arts and crafts with his children. His friends said he was easygoing, easy to get along with, and fun to be around. When going on camping trips, it wasn’t uncommon for him to head out early and set the site up for everyone before they got there, his friend, Chris Anderson, told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Kjersem’s family has created a GoFundMe titled, “Support Dustin Kjersem’s children through this tragic loss.” The funds aim to cover funeral expenses and help care for his children now and into the future.
“Born and raised in the Gallatin Valley, Dustin was dearly loved by so many in this community,” the GoFundMe page reads. “He was a loving, helpful, and adoring father.”
The campaign has raised $30,000+ so far. If you’d like to contribute, visit the GoFundMe webpage.
