DNA on beer can helps identify suspect in brutal camping slaying: Sheriff – WEIS

Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office in Bozeman, Montana. Via Google Maps Street View

(BIG SKY, Montana) — A Montana man has been charged in the slaying of a fellow vacationer that was so brutal that a 911 caller initially reported a possible bear attack.

Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, of Basin, Montana, has been charged with the first-degree murder of Dustin Kiersem, authorities announced at a news conference Thursday night.

Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said Ebby confessed to the killing after investigators identified him based on DNA collected from a beer can in the victim’s tent.

The sheriff said the two men did not know each other and that they met in a “chance encounter” when Abby was looking for a campsite.

“There does not appear to be any connection between our victim and our suspect,” Springer told reporters Thursday.

Kjersem’s body was found dead in a tent on October 12 at a fairly remote campground in the Moose Creek area.

The sheriff said Kiersem arrived in the Moose Creek area on Oct. 10 for a hike and set up a wall tent with a wood stove, beds and lamps.

Abby was also in the area that night looking for a place to camp and noticed Kjersem had already taken a campsite, the sheriff said.

Abby told investigators that Kjersem “welcomed him to the campsite” and offered him a beer, the sheriff said.

Then at some point, Abby hit Kiersem with a piece of wood, hit him in the neck with a screwdriver and then hit him with an ax, the sheriff said.

According to the sheriff, the motives of the attack are still unknown.

“We have some of his story, but … we don’t really know what the real story is,” Springer said.

The sheriff said Ebby later returned to the crime scene to remove items from the campsite that he believed might have been evidence of his involvement in the murder, including a refrigerator, a firearm and an axe.

Kjersem was last heard from on October 10, when he went on a weekend hike. He planned to pick up his girlfriend the next day and take her to a campsite, the sheriff said. When he didn’t show up, she got worried, went camping with a friend and found his body in his tent.

The first 911 call reported a possible bear attack.

When investigators arrived at the crime scene, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks agent with experience in bear attacks found no signs of bear activity at the crime scene, prompting investigators to treat the incident as a homicide, according to the sheriff’s office. .

The examination established that the death was caused by multiple wounds. Earlier, Springer said Kjersem’s injuries included “significant damage” to his skull.

On October 25, analysts from the Montana State Crime Lab identified Abby’s DNA on a beer can, authorities said. The abbey was located in the district of Butte. He was initially arrested on Oct. 26 for a probation violation.