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

The suspect reportedly told authorities he arrived at the campground northeast of Big Sky, Montana on Oct. 10, intending to stay overnight, but found it occupied by 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem.

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

But some time later, the suspect, driven by an unknown motive, hit Kjersem with a piece of wood, stabbed him in the neck with a screwdriver and hit him with a hatchet, Springer said.

The victim’s girlfriend and another friend found his body on Oct. 12 and reported it as a possible bear attack. It turned into a homicide investigation after wildlife agents found no sign of a bear in the area.

After DNA found on a beer can at the campsite was matched to the suspect’s DNA, he was found this week and arrested in Butte, Montana, Springer said.

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

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