Montana man pleads not guilty, claims self-defense in death

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A self-described white supremacist charged with killing a man in a tent in southwestern Montana has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and claims self-defense, while investigators say there are inconsistencies in the defendant's story.

Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, told District Court Judge Peter Ohman on Tuesday: "I definitely plead not guilty. Dustin Kjersem tried to kill me," the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported. He also pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence.

Kjersem's death in October was initially reported as a bear attack after his girlfriend found his body in a tent south of Bozeman near Big Sky on Oct. 12.

Investigators found shot glasses and beer cans in the tent that suggested someone else had been with Kjersem on Oct. 10. DNA tests on a beer can matched two people in the state's criminal database, Daren Abbey and someone believed to be Abbey's twin brother, court records say. The brother was ruled out because he was serving a prison sentence.

Abbey told investigators that Kjersem, 35, threatened him and his dog with a gun and he attacked Kjersem, first with a block of wood and then by stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver. Abbey initially failed to tell investigators he used an axe in the attack as well, court records say. He also told officers he found the axe both inside and outside the tent. He told officers he rinsed the axe and screwdriver off in the creek, court records say.

Abbey said he did not report the fight because he had a felony record. He acknowledged taking a cooler of beer and guns from the crime scene and then returning the next day to look for a beanie he believed he might have left there. He told investigators he also took two cellphones and items out of Kjersem's truck, charging documents say.

An inmate information document released by Gallatin County says Abbey listed an organizational affiliation with white supremacists, while state Department of Corrections records say his tattoos include an iron cross with a swastika.

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. 

Abbey is jailed with his bail set at $1.5 million.