Man with white supremacist ties convicted in campground killing first reported as bear attack

A man with ties to white supremacist groups has been found guilty of deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence in the 2024 killing of another man at a remote campsite. A jury found Daren Christopher Abbey guilty in the 2024 death of Dustin Kjersem, the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office said in statement Nov. 12. Investigators say Abbey, then 41, met Kjersem at a campground near Big Sky, Montana, on Oct. 10, 2024, according to the statement.  Abbey told authorities he arrived to find the site he planned to use was occupied by someone else, The Associated Press reported at the time. Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said Kjersem was welcoming toward Abbey and offered to share a beer with him, the outlet said. After reportedly having drinks in Kjersem’s tent, Abbey attacked Kjersem with a block of wood, an ax, and a screwdriver before fleeing with Kjersem’s firearms, cooler, and cellphone, prosecutors said. The Associated Press reports Kjersem’s girlfriend and a friend found his body and reported his death as a bear attack. When no sign of a bear was found, it became a homicide investigation. Abbey’s DNA was recovered from a beer can at the scene, according to the county attorney’s office.

via truecrimetimes: Man with white supremacist ties convicted in campground killing first reported as bear attack

siehe auch: White supremacist guilty of killing so brutal that it was first reported as a bear attack. Dustin Kjersem was killed in his tent in a campsite near Big Sky, Montana. A white supremacist has been found guilty of murder in a brutal killing at a southwestern Montana campsite last year, a crime initially reported as a possible bear attack. Prosecutors stated that Daren Christopher Abbey attacked Dustin Kjersem with a block of wood, an axe, and a screwdriver after they met at Mr Kjersem’s campsite near Big Sky in October last year. Abbey later admitted to stealing Mr Kjersem’s guns, cooler, mobile phones, and other belongings, and concealing evidence. His DNA, found on a beer can inside the tent, linked him to the murder scene. An inmate information document from Gallatin County last year noted Abbey’s affiliation with white supremacists, while State Department of Corrections records showed his tattoos included an iron cross with a swastika; Montana man convicted in campsite killing that was originally reported as bear attack. A jury has found a man with links to white supremacists guilty of murder in a brutal killing at a southwestern Montana campsite last year that was initially reported as a possible bear attack. Daren Christopher Abbey attacked Dustin Kjersem with a block of wood, an axe and a screwdriver after they met at Kjersem’s campsite near Big Sky, Montana, in October 2024, according to prosecutors. An autopsy showed Kjersem sustained “multiple chop wounds,” including to his skull.  The defendant later admitted to taking Kjersem’s guns, cooler, cellphones and other belongings and concealing evidence.