Montana murder suspect was arrested in Bayview in 2011
Abbey
A man accused in a recent killing in Montana was arrested and sentenced for an incident in Bayview more than 13 years ago.
Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, of Basin, Mont., was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of 35-year-old Belgrade man Dustin Mitchell Kjersem, according to News Nation.
Kjersem was found dead Oct. 12 inside his tent at a remote Montana campsite with injuries so extensive to his skull and body that it was initially reported as a possible bear mauling.
"Investigators described the situation as a 'chance encounter' and said Abbey returned to the scene the next day to remove evidence," News Nation reported.
In 2011, Abbey pleaded guilty to malicious harassment, a felony, in a Kootenai County court. Abbey was charged with the hate crime after an incident July 3 when he told a Black man in a bar that Black people don’t belong in Bayview and “he had better leave before something happened,” according to police.
After the man left the bar to avoid a fight, police said, Abbey followed him outside, hurling racist slurs at him and threatening to stab him. The man punched Abbey in the face, knocking him out in one hit.
"Abbey, who suffered facial fractures, told deputies he thought he’d been hit with a brick, but witnesses confirmed it was simple a one-fist punch to the head, delivered in self-defense," according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Abbey, a self-described “skinhead,” was sentenced to five years in prison for the hate crime, with parole eligibility after three years.
Kjersem went camping northeast of Big Sky, Mont., on Oct. 10 with plans to meet a friend the next day, The Associated Press reported.
The friend found the body Oct. 26. Another person identified only as an “associate” called 911 and reported it as a possible bear mauling, said Capt. Nate Kamerman with the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office.
It’s unknown when he died.
His campsite — in the Moose Creek area at the base of the Gallatin Mountains — was not in an established campground, AP reported.
In connection to Kjersem's death, Abbey is charged with deliberate homicide and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence of a crime, News Nation reported.
He confessed to the act during police interviews Thursday, Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said. Abbey remained in custody Friday at the Gallatin County Jail without bond, booking records show, according to News Nation.
“This appears to be a heinous crime committed by an individual who had no regard for the life of Dustin Kjersem,” Springer said.