GALLATIN CANYON, Montana – A suspect who confessed to the murder of Dustin Kjersem, a camper found brutally attacked near Big Sky, Montana, was taken into custody last month.

That’s a relief for hunters and others camping in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, but the details of the crime that authorities revealed on Halloween still add up to a camper’s worst nightmare.

Gallatin County sheriff’s deputies arrested Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, for Kjersem’s murder, an attack that witnesses initially believed was the work of a bear due to its brutal nature. The murder, which took place at the victim’s campsite, has roiled the region, shattering the idyllic image of outdoor activities and fall camping trips, where many seek to escape crime and other problems that plague cities. and larger towns.

Abbey was captured after a nearly three-week search and detained on “unrelated charges,” Springer said, before confessing to the murder.

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

Kjersem’s death has prompted rangers and safety experts to urge campers to consider their surroundings and take special precautions to discourage and distract unwanted attention and strangers from their campsites.

“The motives for this attack are still unknown,” Springer said. “Investigators will continue to gather everything they can to get a better picture of the events of that night. This appears to be a heinous crime committed by an individual who had no regard for the life of Dustin Kjersem.

“Based on all indications, this homicide appears to be a chance encounter. “There does not appear to be any connection between our victim and our suspect.”

What happened

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

Kjersem also owned a pistol and a shotgun. He planned to take his girlfriend to camp the next day, but that night Abbey arrived at Kjersem’s camp.

“We learned that the suspect was looking for a campsite Thursday night and had planned this particular site. As he approached the place, he realized that someone was staying there. “He said Dustin welcomed him to camp and offered him a beer,” Sheriff Springer continued during the press conference. “At some point, this individual struck Dustin Kjersem with a piece of solid wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver, and finally struck him with the axe.”

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

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

“We have a little bit of their story, but we don’t really know what the real story is,” 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 accurate. So I’m not willing to share that until we know what’s actually accurate.”

With so much unknown, campers in the Custer Gallatin National Forest and beyond are wondering what they can do to stay safe.

‘So strange’

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 Thorofare region of Yellowstone alone on horseback, acting as a lone law enforcement officer in the deep rural areas, which he believes is the safest place to be on public lands.

“It’s counterintuitive because we have this innate fear of the deep wilderness because we’re so far away, but that fear is what keeps most people out of there and the biggest threat is always other humans,” Genito said in a telephone interview. “You know, the biggest threat is never what crawls in the dark. It’s so rare that there is this predatory monster that wants to come into your store.

“Most beings that walk on four legs in the desert are more afraid of us than we are of them. And the greatest threat to its security is always humanity; Unfortunately, he is your neighbor. So the backcountry that’s further away, those are going to be your safest places as long as you know how to handle yourself in the backcountry.”

Kjersem was not killed in the field.

The crime scene is 2.5 miles from U.S. Highway 191, the busy link between Big Sky and Bozeman. It runs along the Gallatin River, the setting for the movie “A River Runs Through It.”

Kayakers hitchhike back to their cars and campers fill designated campsites. It’s a bustling area at the front of the country, and Genito said in his experience at YNP that’s where you’re most likely to have problems.

“The front area was much more dangerous,” noted Genito, who once confronted the Hells Angels during a traffic stop in Yellowstone. Then there was the time he was hiking outside Butte, Montana, and discovered a meth lab deep in the woods.

“You just have this feeling of, ‘Oh, maybe I’m not alone all of a sudden and there are some people here that don’t want me around,’” Genito added, saying generally, “I tend to just trust my campmates.”

Security

Genito said he agrees with safety consultant George Babnick, whose number one rule for camping safely is to choose a good spot.

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

“Is there anyone camping nearby who seems a little suspicious? Is there any trash in the area that would indicate that the area is a local ‘party area’? Are there negative reviews online about the particular area? Is there cell service in the area in case you need to call 911?

Whether in the countryside or in the countryside, campers this time of year are not alone.

Jamie Balke, spokesperson for the Custer Gallatin National Forest, said the agency: “Conducts hunter patrols throughout the forest, which provide the opportunity to talk to people on the landscape, answer questions and, if the situation warrants, issue warnings or citations.

“While our employees are out and about year-round talking to visitors and answering questions, it’s great to have a presence in the woods this time of year when people are out hunting or enjoying other fall recreational opportunities on their public lands. “.

Like ski patrollers or river rangers who manage popular stretches of water, hunter patrols operate as a roving force for good, said Terina Hill, spokeswoman for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. As fire season transitions into hunting season, crews put down their pulaskis (a firefighting tool) and conduct hunter patrols.

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

There’s an art to approaching strangers at their campsites, and Morgan Jacobsen, title? with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said game wardens are experienced in the trade.

“Of course, this time of year with hunting season, all the hunters are armed and the game wardens interact with thousands of them throughout the season,” Jacobsen said. “They have to be very careful.”

“If it’s another camper, be careful,” retired Bozeman police officer Scott Swanson said during a telephone interview conducted from the banks of the Gallatin River.

Swanson, former deputy police chief of Santa Rosa, California, recounted an incident at a campground years ago when: “We had two shady-looking characters next to us and they were both drunk and throwing knives.”

Things escalated and authorities intervened, causing one of the men to try to escape by swimming downstream, where he was eventually detained.

“So the last time I trusted someone camping in front of me, he offered me psychedelic mushrooms,” Swanson recalls with a laugh. “And then I told him I’d been a cop for 30 years and he said, ‘Well, I should go.’ And he returned to his camp.”

Swanson said law enforcement on the front lines and in the field form a public safety network designed to protect campers. They have a duty, as the Gallatin County Sheriff mentioned in his Halloween press conference.

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

Those resources include a “Death Dashboard” produced by the National Park Service. According to the panel, there were 2,149 deaths in national parks between 2014 and 2019, and 25 of those deaths were determined to be homicides.