White supremacist claims he acted in self-defense when he killed camper found with injuries mistaken for a bear attack

A self-professed white supremacist charged with murdering a man found in a tent in Montana forest pleaded not guilty as he claimed he acted in self-defense. 

Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, told a judge that his alleged victim Dustin Kjersen, 35, 'tried to kill me', as he pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberate homicide and evidence tampering. 

Kjersen's death in Big Sky, Montana on October 10 was initially believed to be a bear attack due to the severity of his injuries.  

However, an autopsy revealed he suffered a number of 'chop wounds', including to his skull, while detectives found no evidence of animal involvement. 

DNA from a beer can and shot glasses left in the tent found two matches on the national criminal database - Abbey, and his twin brother, who was ruled out as he is already serving a prison sentence. 

With no apparent link between the two men, Abbey was arrested three weeks after Kjersen's body was found, and he confessed to the slaying but claimed he did so out of fear for his own life. 

He told detectives that Kjersen threatened him with a gun and attacked him, and Abbey responded by striking him over the head with a block of wood then stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver. 

Gallatin County records showed that after his arrest, Abbey listed his affiliation with a white supremacist group, and officials said he has a number of far-right tattoos including an iron cross with a swastika.

Investigators described the episode between Kjersen and Abbey as a 'chance encounter.'  

Kjersem had arrived in the Moose Creek area on October 10 to set up a campsite, intending to pick up his girlfriend the next evening for a weekend together.

At some point in the evening of October 10, he and Abbey shared a beer together, which is when Abbey left his DNA that tied him to the scene.  

When Kjersem failed to pick up his girlfriend, she drove to the site and found his lifeless body in his tent. She initially reported his death to police as a bear attack due to his gruesome injuries. 

According to Abbey, he violently killed Kjersem after he was threatened with a gun. Although he admitted to using a block of wood and a screwdriver, detectives said Abbey failed to mention that he also used an axe in the attack. 

When questioned over the axe, police said Abbey offered various stories, including that he found the weapon inside and outside the tent, reports The Independent. 

He reportedly added that he then rinsed off the axe and screwdriver in a nearby creek. 

Abbey said he fled the scene and didn't report it because he already owns a felony record. 

He said when he fled, he took beers and guns from the campsite, and returned the next day to find a beanie he thought he lost the night of Kjersem's death. 

Cops charged him with evidence tampering for his alleged actions in the days after the killing, also including taking two cell phones from Kjersem's truck. 

At a press conference after Kjersem's body was found, his sister Jillian Price, 35, described him as a 'loving, helpful and adoring father who in no way deserved this.' 

The heartbroken sister reflected on the kind of person Kjersem was, as she called him 'a hard-working tradesman'.

A GoFundMe page has since been created to help raise money to support Kjersem's children following his sudden death.