White supremacist with Nazi tattoos charged with 'truly heinous' axe murder

A man who has been identified as an official member of a white supremacist group has now been charged with the brutal murder of a camper in Montana last month.

CBS News recently reported that 41 year-old Daren Christopher Abbey has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide in the death of 35 year-old Dustin Kjersem in October. Abbey is pleading self-defense, claiming that Abbey tried to kill him while the two were in his tent. Abbey led police to the scene of the killing, and his DNA was found on a beer can in Kjersem's tent.

Kjersem was initially thought to have been a victim of a bear attack after his mangled body was found at a campsite in Big Sky, Montana. However, investigators soon discovered that Kjersem's head sustained several blows from an axe with a 26-inch handle, and that he was also stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver. Both the axe and screwdriver had been rinsed off in the creek.

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During the official autopsy last month, medical examiners found that Kjersem's skull showed "multiple chop wounds," ruling out the theory of a bear attack. Prior to Abbey being charged, law enforcement warned residents in the area to be careful if they planned on venturing into the woods. Kjersem's sister, Jillian Price, urged the community to identify her brother's killer and bring that person to justice.

"There is someone in our valley who is capable of truly heinous things," she said.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Abbey is originally from California, lists his religion as "odinism," is affiliated with an unnamed white supremacist group and has multiple tattoos including an iron cross, a swastika and "SS lightning bolts." His bail has been set at $1.5 million and if convicted could spend up to 100 years in prison.

"“I want to assure our community that our office is fully committed to pursuing justice in this devastating case,” Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell stated. “Daren Abbey has been charged with homicide and tampering with evidence, and we will work diligently to present all available evidence and facts to the court.”

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Click here to read CBS' full report. And click here to read the Daily Chronicle's article in full.