A Montana man has confessed to brutally murdering Kemper, using a screwdriver and an ax

GALLATIN CANYON, Montana — Suspect confesses to killing hiker Dustin Kiersem found and brutally attacked near Big Sky, Montana, in custody last month.

It’s a relief for hunters and other people camping in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest, but the details of the crime, which authorities released on Halloween, are still tourists’ worst nightmares.

Gallatin County Sheriff’s officers arrested 41-year-old Daren Christopher Abbey for killing Kjersem, whose attack witnesses initially thought was the handiwork of a bear due to its ferocious nature. The killing, which happened at the victim’s campsite, shook the region, shattering the idyllic picture of outdoor recreation and fall camping, where many try to escape the crime and other problems that plague big cities and towns.

Abby was caught after a nearly three-week manhunt and detained on “unrelated charges,” Springer said, before confessing to the murder.

“This killer is a 41-year-old male who currently resides in the Basin, Montana area and works in the Big Sky area,” Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer told reporters gathered at a news conference Thursday.

Kjersem’s death prompted forest rangers and safety experts to urge tourists to be aware of their surroundings and take special precautions to distract and divert unwanted attention and strangers from their campsites.

“The motive for this attack is still unknown,” Springer said. “Investigators will continue to gather everything they can to build a better picture of the events of that evening. It appears to be a heinous crime committed by someone who had no respect for Dustin Kiersem’s life.

“By all accounts, this murder appears to be a random encounter. There does not appear to be any connection between our victim and our suspect.”

What happened

The tragic and deadly encounter between Kjersem and his killer occurred on October 10, when the 35-year-old victim arrived in the Moose Creek area and set up camp, which included “a wall tent with a wood stove, beds, lamps and a few other items.” said Springer.

Kjersem also had a pistol and a rifle. He had planned to bring his girlfriend to camp the next day, but that night Abby dropped by Kjersem’s campsite.

“We have learned that the suspect was looking for a place to camp on Thursday night and was planning the place. Approaching the place, he realized that someone had stayed there. He said Dustin greeted him at the campsite and offered him a beer,” Sheriff Springer continued during the press conference. “At one point, the individual struck only Dustin Kjersem with a piece of hardwood, hit him in the neck with a screwdriver and eventually hit him with an axe.”

When Kiersema’s girlfriend and partner discovered Dustin’s body two days later, on October 12, they thought he had been attacked by a bear.

Much of what the researchers learned only raised more questions, Springer said.

“We have some of his story, but we don’t know the real story,” he said. “Do we really know what happened in this case? What caused this? We have a story, but we don’t know if it’s true. So I don’t want to share it until we know what’s really right.”

With so many unknowns, hikers in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest and beyond are left wondering what they can do to stay safe.

“Such a rarity”

Mark Genito, a former Yellowstone National Park ranger who now lives in Bozeman, Montana, said he has followed Kjersem’s case closely. Genito often patrolled the Thorofar Yellowstone region alone on horseback, acting as a single law enforcement officer in the deep backcountry, which he believed to be the safest place to be on public land.

“It’s counterintuitive because we have this innate fear of the deep desert because we’re so far away, but that fear is what keeps most people out there, and the biggest threat is always other people,” Genito said in a phone interview. I “You know, the biggest threat is never what creeps in the dark. It is so rare that this predatory monster wants to enter your tent.

“Most animals that live on all fours in the desert are more afraid of us than we are of them. And the biggest threat to your safety is always humanity — it’s your neighbors, unfortunately. So the backwoods furthest away will be your safest places if you know how to behave in the backwoods.”

Kjersem was not killed in the hinterland.

The crime scene is located 2.5 miles from US Highway 191, a busy connection between Big Sky and Bozeman. It runs along the Gallatin River, where the movie “A River Runs Through It” was filmed.

Kayakers hitchhike back to their cars and campers fill their designated campsites. It’s a busy strip of front country, and Genito said from his experience at YNP that’s where you’re most likely to run into trouble.

“The back country was much more dangerous,” emphasized Genito, who once encountered the Hells Angels during a stopover in Yellowstone. Then there was the time he hiked outside of Butte, Montana, and discovered a meth lab deep in the woods.

“You just feel like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m not alone all of a sudden, and there are people out there who don’t want me around,'” Genito added, saying in general, “I tend to just trust my fellow campers.”

Security

Genito said he agrees with safety consultant George Babnik, whose No. 1 rule for safe camping is choosing a good spot.

In an online post titled “How to Avoid Camping Disasters,” Babnik suggests, “Always keep safety in mind and follow your instincts. Trusting your gut means following the physical sensations your body gives you that you are making the right or wrong decision.

“Is there someone nearby who looks a little bit dubious about camping? Is there trash in the area that might indicate it’s a local party spot? Are there negative reviews online about a certain area? Is there cell service in the area in case you need to call 911?”

At this time of year, vacationers are not alone, whether in the front area or in the hinterland.

Jamie Balke, a spokesman for the Custer Gallatin National Forest, told the agency, “It conducts hunting patrols in the forest that provide an opportunity to talk to people on the property, answer questions and, if the situation calls for it, issue warnings or citations.

“While our staff is on the road year-round to talk to visitors and answer questions, it’s great to be present in the woods this time of year when people are hunting or enjoying other fall recreation opportunities on their public lands.”

Similar to ski patrols or river rangers that man popular stretches of water, hunting patrols act as a roving force in perpetuity, said Terina Gill, a spokeswoman for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. During the transition from fire season to hunting season, crews lay pulaski — a firefighting tool — and maintain hunting patrols.

“Our firefighters will go out into the woods this time of year and patrol the campgrounds,” Hill said.

There’s an art to approaching strangers at their campsites, and Morgan Jacobsen, the title? with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said game wardens practice a craft.

“Certainly this time of year, when the hunting season is on, all the hunters are armed and the rangers talk to thousands of them throughout the season,” Jacobsen said. “They have to be very careful.”

“If you’re dealing with another camper, just be aware,” retired Bozeman Police Officer Scott Swanson said in a phone call from the banks of the Gallatin River.

A former deputy police chief in Santa Rosa, California, Swanson recounted an incident at a campsite many years ago when, “We had two sad characters with us, both drunk and throwing knives.”

The situation escalated and law enforcement intervened, forcing one of the men to attempt to escape by swimming downstream, where he was eventually apprehended.

“That was the last time I trusted someone standing across from me, he offered me psychedelic mushrooms,” Swanson recalls with a laugh. “Then I told him I’d been a police officer for 30 years and he said, ‘Well, I’ve got to go.’ And he returned to his camp.”

Swanson said frontline and backcountry law enforcement agencies form a public safety net designed to protect tourists. They have a duty, the Gallatin County Sheriff urged at his Halloween press conference.

“We know it’s our responsibility to stand between good and evil in this world,” said Sheriff Springer. “We will protect the good people of this community with every resource at our disposal.”

These resources include the “Death Dashboard” developed by the National Park Service. Between 2014 and 2019, there were 2,149 deaths in national parks, 25 of which were ruled homicides, according to the dashboard.