BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) – A 41-year-old Montana man was charged Friday with a brutal murder at a remote campground that was reported as a possible bear attack by people who found the victim’s body.

The suspect allegedly told authorities that he arrived at the campsite in northeast Big Sky, Montana, on October 10 with the intention of spending the night, but it was occupied by 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem.

Kjersem, who did not know the suspect, met him at the campsite and offered him a beer, according to Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer.

But after a while, for an unknown reason, the suspect hit Kjersem with a piece of wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and hit him with an axe, Springer said.

The victim’s girlfriend and another friend found his body on October 12 and reported it as a possible bear attack. The investigation turned into a murder investigation after wildlife officials did not find any traces of a bear in the area.

The suspect was tracked down this week and arrested in Butte, Montana, after DNA found on a beer can at the campsite matched the suspect’s DNA, Springer said.

He was being held on $1.5 million bail, according to sheriff’s department records.

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