A self-described white supremacist charged with killing a man in a tent in southwestern Montana has pleaded not guilty to purposeful homicide and claimed self-defense, but detectives say the defendant’s tale is inconsistent.
Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, told District Court Judge Peter Ohman on Tuesday that he will definitely plead not guilty. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle stated that Dustin Kjersem attempted to kill me. He also pleaded not guilty to evidence tampering.
Kjersem’s death in October was first reported as a bear attack when his girlfriend discovered his body in a tent south of Bozeman in Big Sky on October 12.
Investigators discovered shot glasses and beer cans in the tent, indicating that someone else had been with Kjersem on October 10. DNA tests on a beer can matched two people in the state’s criminal database: Daren Abbey and someone thought to be Abbey’s twin brother, according to court papers. The brother was disqualified because he was serving a prison sentence.
Abbey told authorities that Kjersem, 35, threatened him and his dog with a rifle, and he struck him with a block of wood before stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver. According to court papers, Abbey first failed to notify authorities that he also used an axe in the attack.
He also informed officers that he found the axe both inside and outside the tent. According to court papers, he told investigators that he had rinsed the axe and screwdriver in the creek.
Abbey explained that he did not disclose the fight because he had a felony record. He admitted to stealing a cooler of beer and weapons from the crime site before returning the next day to seek for a beanie he thought he had left behind. He allegedly told detectives that he removed two cellphones and other goods from Kjersem’s truck, according to criminal documents.
According to an inmate information sheet supplied by Gallatin County, Abbey has an organizational membership with white nationalists, and state Department of Corrections records show that his tattoos include an iron cross with a swastika.
Abbey is in jail, and his bail is set at $1.5 million.