Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Beer Can Sheds Light on Man's Disturbing Campsite Murder

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. The sheriff's office is here to announce the arrest of Darren Christopher Abbey for the murder of Dustin Gerson. A father is found dead in a tent in Montana and a man admits to killing him. I have the sad and stunning details about Dustin Jerzom's murder and how detectives identified the suspect. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Dustin Jerzom had a young daughter and a stepson, and on October 10th, he decided to do something that he loved to do, go camping. Jerzom set up his tent at the Moose Creek Campground. That's in Gallatin County, Montana.

Starting point is 00:00:46 But that night, sadly, would be Dustin Jersem's last time camping. And it's just wrong because he should have had so many more. Here's the Gallatin County Sheriff, Dan Springer, explaining what happened during a news conference last month. On October 12th, the Sheriff's office received a report of a male found deceased in his wall tent approximately approximately two and a half miles up Moose Creek. The male has been identified as 35-year-old Dustin Gersom of the Belgrade, Belgrade-Boseman area. The person who found Dustin actually called in believing that he had been attacked by a bear,

Starting point is 00:01:22 but it became very apparent after wildlife officers examined the scene that Jurisum's injuries were not from a bear, but were from an attack by another person. Sheriff Springer told the public that that day the investigators needed their help. It sounded like they didn't really have any leads. The sheriff described when Dustin Jurisum was last seen, hoping that someone might call in with a critical tip. Dustin was last seen in the afternoon hours of Thursday, October 10, 2024. He was leaving to go camping up Moose Creek in his black 2013 Ford F-250 with a black topper and an aluminum silver ladder rack. He was well prepared for a weekend of camping and had plans to meet with a friend on

Starting point is 00:02:05 Friday afternoon, but he never made that meeting. Dustin Jerzom's sister, Jillian Price, talked about the loss that her family suffered when Dustin was murdered. This weekend, we lost our brother, our son, our uncle, our best friends, and our dad in the most unimaginable way. Dustin was a great kid. He was born here in Bozeman, and he worked all over the valley. He could have framed your house. He could have poured your foundation. He could have installed your countertops.

Starting point is 00:02:42 He was a hardworking, skilled tradesman. Jillian Price begged anyone with information to call the sheriff. He was a loving, helpful, and adorning father who in no way deserved this. I ask our community to please help us find out who did this. There is someone in our valley that is capable of truly heinous things. Please, if you are in Moose Creek at any time from Thursday to Saturday, please call and talk even if you think you didn't see anything. As the investigation continued, the sheriff released more information including that two guns, a shotgun and a revolver had been taken from the crime scene.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Also taken from the scene, an Estwing camping axe with a 26-inch handle and an orange Yeti cooler. The killer must have taken both items. It took some time, but on Halloween, the sheriff announced an arrest had been made in Dustin Jerzom's murder. The sheriff's office is here to announce the arrest of Darren Christopher Abbey for the murder of Dustin Jerzom. The sheriff said that Darren Abbey didn't know Dustin Jerzom. By all accounts, this homicide appears to be a chance encounter. There does not appear to be any connection between our victim and our suspect. And it only gets worse. Dustin Jerzom, according to the sheriff, was welcoming to Darren Abbey at

Starting point is 00:04:11 his campsite. During the confession, we learned the suspect was looking for a place to camp on Thursday night and had planned on this particular site. As he approached the site, he realized someone was staying there. He stated Dustin welcomed him to the campsite and offered him a beer. At some point, this individual struck just Dustin Durson with a piece of solid wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver, and ultimately hit him with the axe. The motives of this attack are still unknown. The sheriff said Abby was picked up on a probation violation, and he talked about those items that Abby removed from the crime scene.

Starting point is 00:04:51 This individual removed items from the campsite he believed had evidence that could tie him to the crime. He removed the items he had touched to include the cooler, the firearms and the axe, and returned to the crime the following night and remove further items. This is the behavior of a guilty subject who thought they could get away with murder. But the sheriff says there was an item that Abby missed. It was a beer can that contained Abby's DNA, and that's what led to him being identified. Abby had at least four prior arrests for driving under the influence. The cases I cover each day here on Crime Fix show you just how scary the world can be. And one of the scariest things that can happen is if you

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Starting point is 00:06:11 So if you're ever hurt, you can easily start a claim at forthepeople.com slash crime fix. I want to bring in Edward Wallace. He is a forensic consultant. Edward, I want you to tell me what your gut reaction is about this case and the fact that this guy apparently, according to the sheriff, was so careful to remove things like guns from the scene, the axe, the Yeti cooler, things that he thought might have his DNA on them, but then leaves the beer can behind. Well, criminals always make mistakes and they always miss something, especially when it wasn't planned or especially when it's unorganized as this is. OK, so this was a random act, you know, that that occurred here. And as he said, he missed the beer. The beer to me is so key, though, because the beer is, according to the sheriff dustin jurism offers this guy a beer

Starting point is 00:07:08 friendly guy says yeah hey come have a beer with me or here's a beer the guy i guess sits down hangs out with him possibly for a little bit we don't really know he leaves his dna on that leaves that behind according to the sheriff he uses the axe to hit Dustin Jerzom, hits him with his own axe, takes all these things, but then comes back the next day, according to the sheriff, to collect even more items that might have his DNA. So it just seems to me really crazy that this guy would be so careful about taking things from the scene that might have his DNA on them, but leave something that is such a big deal, so small, but, but, but leave something that is such a big deal. So small,

Starting point is 00:07:46 a beer can, but leave something like that. I know criminals make mistakes, but that was really his undoing. Yeah. And if, if memory serves me right, the beer can was in the tent.

Starting point is 00:07:57 So, you know, maybe it was an obscure corner of the tent because I, apparently this was a standup tent with walls, not your typical tent with walls, not your typical tent with heating and so forth. Maybe he just missed it. You know, as I said, he did come back, but he understands, too, the Le Carge exchange principle that says every time several objects in places have an impact or get together, that when they separate, they're going to take bits

Starting point is 00:08:23 and pieces of that scene with them, and they're going to leave their presence there. Okay. So in this case, he missed that can, crucial piece, but I'm sure he left hairs and fibers and he left other forensic evidence there by his mere presence there twice, not once, but twice because he came back. So he's shedding hair, he's shedding fibers from his clothing possible footwear impressions things like that and also vehicles if you use the vehicle to get there and then leave there could be evidence of that vehicle's presence there it just all depends upon how thorough crime scene investigation is it's a really gruesome homicide i I mean, to me, it says to me that maybe they don't get a lot of murders up there, that basically the people who discovered

Starting point is 00:09:12 this, it was just Dustin Jurism's girlfriend and her friend. They became concerned. They went looking for him. They find this scene and they report to police. They think he was attacked by a bear. I mean, because you wouldn't think that your loved one maybe had been murdered or wouldn't want to think that. So they get on scene. They determine, obviously, this was not a bear attack. They thought maybe it was at first, but then they say, no, this was a homicide. I mean, this is really gruesome stuff. They're talking about him being stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver, hit with the axe, hit with a huge piece of wood. This is really grisly stuff. I can't imagine possibly what the motive would be here. This is a chance encounter, the sheriff says.

Starting point is 00:09:59 Yeah, it seems like a crime of opportunity here, maybe to steal some of the decedent's belongings, cash, equipment, things of that nature. And the fact that initially non-trained forensic people thought it was a bear attack is, you know, doesn't mean in the neck and it looks like an instrument to cause it a bear makes specific types of injuries and wounds um claws teeth marks things of that nature it wouldn't be a solo puncture mark on the neck from a screwdriver that would represent a bear attack uh I mean if it was a tooth or teeth rather there would be multiple teeth impressions uh in skin making puncture wounds if it was the slicing caused by bear claw, you would see that through the clothing and so forth. Now the ax is a tool and it's going to leave its presence on the skin of the clothing and even bone if it hits the bone. So the forensic

Starting point is 00:10:59 pathologist and the forensic anthropologist would know right off the bat that it wasn't a bear attack. This crime, according to the police, it happens on October 10th. They learn about it on October 12th. They make the arrest on October 30th. They announce it on Halloween the 31st. Do you feel like that's pretty quick? You know, a lot of people want things solved more quickly than that, but it sounded like they had very few clues in the very beginning of this investigation, other than nobody can think of who would want to hurt this guy, Dustin Jerzom. He's a guy, you know, hardworking dad who just went camping. It's something he does. But then it seems like the DNA was really the key here. Does that seem pretty quick, all things considered, that they were able to bring this together?

Starting point is 00:11:48 Yeah, it does. Because, you know, normally it takes a while to extract the DNA from the can and then amplify it and then identify whether or not there's a profile there that meets submission to CODIS. In this case, it did. They had enough loci to put it into CODIS. And thank God, the criminal here, the perpetrator of this heinous crime, was in the system from his previous criminal behavior. And so he had a CODIS profile in the criminal database, and they were able to get a hit. And it led them right back to him. And they were able to arrest him short, short distance away from where the crimes occurred. The thing that's interesting to me, too, is the sheriff. You know, he offered some details about the confession. He claims Darren Abbey confessed, which is interesting to me. It makes me wonder whether this was an impulsive crime, whether the guy, you know, thought, oh, I'm going to go there and rob somebody, but then I'm going to take their life. I mean, maybe there was an altercation.

Starting point is 00:12:52 I have no idea. But the sheriff, he did offer that he confessed, but then said, I'm holding back details about his story because we don't know if it's true. What do you think about him, you know, allegedly confessing so quickly right off the bat? Well, I'm given probably the DNA results to the suspect during the interview. He figured, okay, they got me. And so, you know, he's been in the system before. He knows what to expect. So he thought he'd make it easier on himself because I'm not sure if in this Montana has the death penalty and if he's eligible for that. I mean, all of these things would play into it.

Starting point is 00:13:35 And his cooperation would also play into how he's treated in the courts, if he's going to take a plea. But I believe he pled not guilty, if I'm correct. Correct. At his arraignment. So he has counsel. But here's the thing. What happened to all those things

Starting point is 00:13:58 that he removed from the campsite? Because if law enforcement has the capability of finding those items, if he told them what he did with them, then they can go get them, examine them for his fingerprints, his DNA, his hair and fibers, the suspect, the victim's blood, his blood or his other DNA that might be on there. I don't know if he sustained any injuries in an attack, in the attack or whatever

Starting point is 00:14:26 the case may be. And then they can validate his confession, but based upon what he's telling them. So you could use the forensics in there to assist them with the validation of what he's telling them. Yeah, most certainly it'll be interesting to see whether or not they can recover those items because you would think that if this guy he takes the items then goes back to the scene looking to take more items to clean up after himself you would think he would get rid of that stuff but we just don't know at this point whether he did yeah we don't know what kind of piece uh wood that he used to initial initiate the attack okay um was it a piece of firewood because i understand there was a fire

Starting point is 00:15:10 going and uh was it and did he leave that behind or did he take it because he thought if i leave it behind nobody's going to really know i mean it's a piece of fire or did he throw it in the fire and get rid of it or was it a two by four or some other type of lumber that may have been at the campsite for use by the victim? And then he took that. And if so, let's try to track down all these things where he disposed of them and try to, again, get his DNA, hairs and fibers and maybe even fingerprints. Yeah. And then we'll solidify. Oh, sorry.

Starting point is 00:15:42 Yeah. Yeah. They would solidify the case that way and show that his confession was true. So, yeah, it was a horrible case. You know, act of violence, a needless act of violence, you know, extreme act of violence, in my opinion, given the nature of what he did. Yeah, just an awful, awful, horrible case. And our hearts go out to Dustin Jerzom's family. Thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it. You're welcome. Thank you for

Starting point is 00:16:11 having me. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Beer Can Sheds Light on Man's Disturbing Campsite Murder

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Beer Can Sheds Light on Man's Disturbing Campsite Murder

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