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First Watch: Methanol Coverups in Laos & a Montana Killer Called Out in Court
00:27:45
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- [00:03]
Katie Ring
Hi Crime House community. It's Katie looking for another Crime House original podcast to add to your rotation. You will love Clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin dig into the world's most notorious crimes, clue by clue, from serial killers to shocking murders. They follow the trail of clues, break down the evidence and debate the theories. It's like hanging out with your smart and true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [00:45]
Crime House Announcer
This is Crime House.
- [00:48]
Katie Ring
Our two cases today caused utter shock after innocent victims lost their lives under completely unexpected circumstances. First, a group of tourists visiting Southeast Asia were poisoned and now their families are fighting for justice. Then we'll go to Bozeman, Montana, where a man's sudden and brutal death has left lingering questions. Let's dive in.
- [01:10]
Crime House Announcer
It's been confirmed a sixth tourist has died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos.
- [01:19]
Katie Ring
You just physically can't move. It's like you're more or less paralyzed. You can still walk, but everything is much, much, much more difficult than it would be ordinarily. But yeah, mainly fatigue, nausea. Now a group of bereaved family and friends are calling for more awareness of the dangers of methanol poisoning abroad. Hi, welcome to Crime House Daily. I'm your host, Katie Ring. Here we follow the cases making headlines now where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you're listening and if you want ad free episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide, guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
- [02:25]
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- [02:58]
Katie Ring
Doing the work I do now, I look back at my younger years and am grateful that nothing really bad ever happened to me because I definitely was not as cautious back then and I traveled to a lot of places. Places that I have since learned are not the safest. And our first case today made that really sink in. Because after college I traveled all around Southeast Asia for two and a half months. We spent most of our time in Thailand, which I later found out that my favorite island there is nicknamed Murder Island. But we also traveled to a few other countries including Laos. Laos is a very small country in Southeast Asia and when I visited it actually felt quite peaceful to me. As you explore the beautiful architecture and natural attractions, you would frequently see Buddhist monks walking around. And although they did have some fun bars, they also had a midnight curfew. So things were relatively quiet at night except for a single bowling alley that we went to one night that is somehow allowed to break the curfew and stay open past midnight. The rumor is that it is co owned by the Russian and Chinese mafia, which I'm not quite sure is true, but once again it's a place I thought was fun to check out at that time, but probably would stay away from now. But there was another danger that was not even on my radar until I heard about our tragic case last year. Taking a shot of alcohol was probably one of the least risky things I thought I did while traveling. But it turns out it could have been the most dangerous of all because In November of 2024, two 19 year old Australian girls and four others were poisoned by alcohol laced with methanol. Although I traveled to a different city in Laos due to the lack of regulations in the country, this is actually a fairly common occurrence across the entire country and could have very well happened to me. Last month was the one year anniversary of this tragic event and the parents of the two Australian girls were featured in the media because they are still fighting for justice, spreading awareness about methanol poisoning and trying to apply pressure to the government of Laos. Because one of the scariest parts of all is that despite multiple deaths, investigators in Laos have refused to look into how they got poisoned in the first place or even talked to the parents. Before we get into all of the details, I want to talk a little bit about the victims. In November of 2024, best friends Holly Morton Bowles and Bianca Jones were ready for their next adventure. The two 19 year olds love living life to the fullest. They were outgoing, bubbly, beautiful and athletic. And they played Australian Rules football together in their home city of Melbourne, Australia and loved traveling together. Next on their list was Thailand and Laos. Holly and Bianca were excited to learn more about the two countries cultures and make lasting memories Together on what they thought was going to be the trip of a lifetime. Excited to meet new people, they set their sights on the riverside town of Vong Vieng, where there were tons of hostels, restaurants and plenty of natural beauty to explore. They booked a room at the Nana Backpackers hostel. And one night during their stay, Holly and Bianca, along with about 10 other tourists, were offered free shots of what appeared to be vodka. Something I would have definitely joined in on with all of the amazing Australians I met on my trip. And if you've ever stayed in hostels, this is usually the vibe. Everyone went to bed safely and slept well that night. But the next morning, the first signs of danger started to show. Every single person who had taken shots the night before woke up feeling completely sick. Some people had stomach aches, others had headaches, and some had a mix of the two. And as the day wore on, things only got worse. Two of the hostile guests, 27 year old Bethany Clark and Simone White, were supposed to go swimming early that day, but they were too exhausted and both of them were experiencing severe brain fog and lack of appetite. Later, they tried to enjoy their time on a kayaking trip with the rest of the group, but they'd started feeling nauseous and vomiting, so they just laid in the boats and let their friends paddle them around. Finally, around 4pm, Bethany and Simone realized that whatever they were experiencing wasn't just simple food poisoning or a hangover. So they checked into a local hospital. The staff there treated them for what they believed to be their symptoms and sent them on their way, which, but as the evening wore on, they still felt terrible. Meanwhile, Holly, Bianca and nearly all of the other guests at the hostel were feeling just as awful. They were nauseous and couldn't think straight. By that evening, 24 hours after drinking the shots, some of the tourists were struggling to breathe. Eventually, Bethany, Simone, Holly and Bianca were transported to larger Thai run hospitals in Laos. Local clinics, like the one that Bethany and Simone first went to, often have fewer resources, older equipment and fewer specialists than larger Thai hospitals. Locals will sometimes cross the border to receive more extensive treatments or emergency care. So when the women arrived at the hospitals, doctors were able to take a closer look. And that's when someone finally realized the severity of the situation. All four women were immediately diagnosed with methanol poisoning, which can turn deadly fast. For anyone who might not know, methanol can be a natural byproduct in alcohol production and it's usually removed from the final product. However, methanol isn't always completely removed from illicit or bootleg liquor that's made in unregulated distilleries. Unfortunately, this is a pretty common occurrence in Laos, though methanol poisoning can happen anywhere, 71% of cases occur in Asia and especially Southeast Asia, including Laos, the Philippines and Indonesia. The scary part is that there's really no way to tell if a drink contains methanol. It looks and tastes just like any other liquor, but methanol is highly poisonous. Just a single ounce of it can be deadly. And once the symptoms start setting in, it's often too late. While Bethany's symptoms started to improve once you got the right treatment, Simone was still in rough shape. She had severe brain swelling and tragically fell into a coma which the doctors believed would be permanent. Simone's family eventually made the heart wrenching decision to remove her from life support and she passed away. But Simone's family wasn't the only family dealing with unexpected grief because tragically, Holly and Bianca also passed away. Their families were devastated. They were getting almost no information about what was going on and went from sending Holly and Bianca off on an exciting adventure to suddenly mourning their deaths on top of their loved ones heartbreak. They were now dealing with a potential scandal because seven other hostile guests had also been admitted to the hospital, including one person who survived but became permanently blind and and three others had died. Now people weren't looking at the situation as just a tragic accident. It was a mass poisoning and a potential cover up. When it comes to the holidays. Sometimes it seems like the easiest option would be to just buy someone a gift card and call it a day. But if you're like me and really want to do something special, then skip the headache this year and gift an aura frame. I've always loved the idea of a digital frame because I have so many pictures. I love and can never choose which ones I want to frame, but I never really loved the way they looked. But my sister who is an interior designer bought our whole family aura frames last year. She got us the Carver frame in white and it's the perfect blend of functionality and aesthetics. I just became an auntie so it's also so fun seeing pictures of my niece and nephew pop up on the frame from our shared family album for a limited time save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off ORA's best selling Carver mat frames named number one by Wirecutter by using Promo code Crime House at checkout that's a U R A frames.com promo code crime house. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.
- [11:45]
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- [11:49]
Katie Ring
Greasy pizza?
- [11:50]
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- [12:15]
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- [12:51]
Katie Ring
For a long time, Vong Vieng was known as a party town. It attracted tourists from all over the world who wanted to attend the all night full moon parties or seek their next thrill in adrenaline fueled river excursions. But in the early 2000 and tens, after a series of accidents and mishaps, the people of Vong Vieng wanted to attract people who were interested in exploring the area's natural beauty responsibly. They didn't mind if people had a little fun, they just didn't want to be known as a party destination anymore. Unfortunately, in 2024, no one had any idea that what seemed like a normal, fun round of drinks shared between guests at a local hostel would lead to a slew of tragic deaths. After Bethany Clark lost her best friend to methanol poisoning and barely escaped death herself, she knew she had to get to the bottom of things. Bethany and Simone had been best friends since childhood. The two of them were a lot like Holly and Bianca in that way. After the death of her dearest friend, Bethany knew something suspicious had happened and she started doing some research. That's when she uncovered even more stories of tourists who had fallen ill, been severely injured, or even died at the Nana Hostel after consuming alcohol there, some of whom had as few as two shots. These victims were from every corner of the globe from the United States to Denmark. And the more Bethany dug, the longer the list became. When the deaths became public, the owners of the Nana hostel denied serving bootleg alcohol. However, that didn't stop local authorities from taking 11 NANA staff into custody for questioning. Shortly after, the hostel was shuttered, with a sign outside the door saying it would remain closed until, quote, the problem is resolved. It seemed like the matter was being taken seriously and police would get to the bottom of things. But then all of the staff members were released, and at the time of this recording, no one has been charged in connection to the case. The sign that was hung outside the hostel has since been removed, and passersby's have noticed construction equipment outside of the building. Not only that, but reporters and other people online have noticed that the Nana Hostel changed its name to the Vong Vieng Central Backpacker Hostel Online. And the link to the Nana's hostel website now redirects to the Central Backpacker Hostel page. According to TripAdvisor, the hostel has remained under the same ownership, and when news outlets contacted the business, a worker confirmed that they were slated to reopen soon. At the same time, there are still reviews on the hostel's website that refer to it by the old name and warn other travelers to steer clear. The hostel owner, who was also briefly detained, remains adamant that his business was not to blame for the methanol deaths, claiming that in 11 years of business, this was the first time any tourists had experienced methanol poisoning. But Bethany and the families of those who died warn travelers not to book with that hostel and perhaps to reconsider traveling to Laos altogether. Holly and Bianca's families think it's unsafe, especially because they believe the lack of investigation is actually a cover up. They called the Lao government, quote, corrupt and unhelpful. And according to reports from February 2025, representatives from the Lao government refused to meet with the victims families. In November 2025, on the one year anniversary of their deaths, Bianca and Holly's parents began a press campaign urging people to reconsider traveling there. They say that the risk is simply not worth it. As of this recording, the Australian government is advising travelers to take normal safety precautions in Laos with specific warnings about the methanol poisoning case and a lack of safety standards for some tourist activities like riverboating, ziplining and bungee jumping. Not only that, but there have been deadly cases of people stepping on unexploded bombs that were left behind after the Vietnam and Indochina wars as well as a case of wasp stings that killed a father and son visiting from the US for now, all anyone can do is try to stay safe and informed while the poisoning victims families continue their fight for justice. And as always, we'll make sure to keep you updated on any new developments in our second case. What one man thought would be a romantic scenic getaway in Bozeman, Montana turned into a savage murder in October of 2024. 35 year old Dustin Jersum had just finished setting up a campsite before going to pick up his girlfriend when a strange man appeared out of nowhere. Dustin and the other man, 41 year old Darren. Abby talked for a while before Darren suddenly and randomly turned on Dustin. He viciously attacked him, then left his body inside his tent. The injuries were so severe that when Dustin's girlfriend came out to the campsite to look for him, she thought he'd suffered a bear attack. However, after some investigating, authorities eventually realized they had a homicide on their hands. But there's still a ton of mystery surrounding this tragic case. So who was Dustin before he crossed paths with this cold blooded killer? Let's dive in. Dustin Jerzim was born and raised in Montana. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed fishing, snowboarding and camping. He and his older sister Jillian had a bit of a rough childhood. When he was a teenager she took custody of him. He was sweet, loving, patient and helpful to Jillian, especially when she was a young mother. He would even have tea parties with his niece as a 17 year old live in uncle. As an adult Dustin worked as a self employed construction contractor who built homes while learning other trades to bolster his business. He had a girlfriend and two children, a biological daughter and a stepson, all of whom he loved dearly. And on Thursday October 10, 2024 Dustin went to a campsite near Moose Creek Road about 35 miles south of Bozeman. Dustin's girlfriend had to work the next day so he went there early to set up and planned to hang there by himself before picking her up and bringing her back with him. When she was done working, Dustin put up a four wall tent which he decked out with a wood stove, beds and lamps among other things. He was planning on a nice weekend with his girlfriend in one of his favorite places, the great outdoors. But plans changed when Darren Christopher Abbey showed up. Darren was originally from California but had relocated to Montana and worked for a construction company in the city of Big Sky. When Darren first approached Dustin, he said he had also been planning to set up at the same site. Dustin had beat him to the punch, but since he was a friendly guy, he offered Darren a beer. Darrin accepted, and the two men drank outside for a while before going into Dustin's tent. And that's where Darren attacked Dustin. He hit him with a piece of firewood before stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver. Finally, Darren grabbed an axe, which he struck Dustin with multiple times until Dustin was dead. After the murder, Darren added insult to injury by stealing from Dustin's tent and vehicle. He took Dustin's Yeti brand cooler, two guns, two cell phones, and an axe that he had used as the murder weapon. After cleaning the axe and the screwdriver in a nearby creek, Darren went on his way. Then Friday night came around. When Dustin failed to pick up his girlfriend, she got worried. So on Saturday morning she got together with one of her friends and drove to the campsite. Once they were there, they saw everything set up but no sign of Dustin. His girlfriend stepped inside the tent and that's when she discovered his dead body.
- [21:03]
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- [22:40]
Katie Ring
Moose Creek was always one of Dustin Jersum's favorite camping spots. Not only was he excited to share a weekend with his girlfriend, but he knew better than anyone about certain dangers in the area, including the threat of black bears and grizzly bears. In fact, most people from that part of Montana know to be very wary of bears when they go hiking or camping there. And that's a big reason why, when Dustin's girlfriend stumbled upon his deceased and severely injured body, her first thought was that he had been attacked by a bear. Completely distraught, Dustin's girlfriend called the authorities and reported the bear attack. As officers rushed to the scene, wildlife agents searched the area for signs of bears, but they found no signs of any in the vicinity. It wasn't until the medical examiner looked at Dustin's body that anyone realized this wasn't a bear attack at all. It was a murder. Now investigators were on the hunt for Dustin's killer. One of the first things they did was begin processing some of the evidence they'd found at the scene, including some empty beer cans that were inside Dustin's tent. They quickly sent the cans out for DNA analysis, and on October 25, about two weeks after Dustin died, they got the results. In fact, the Montana State Crime Lab got not just one, but two hits in their database. One for Darren Abby. And the other was for his twin brother. Darren's brother was quickly ruled out because he was currently in prison, which meant Darren was their prime suspect. On October 26, Darren was arrested on a probation violation. He remained behind bars for a few days until a deputy from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Department and an agent from the Division of Criminal Investigation went to interview him. Once they all sat down, Darren quickly confessed to the killing. However, he said it was self defense. The detectives weren't so sure about this, though, because there were a ton of inconsistencies in Darren's story. In one interview, Darren said Dustin attacked him. But then Darren claimed Dustin threatened to kill him and his dog and aimed a gun at him. And that's why he needed to protect himself. First, he only admitted to hitting Dessin with a block of wood and stabbing him in the neck with the screwdriver. At that point, he left the axe out of the story entirely. But as investigators applied more pressure, Darren eventually admitted that he hit Dustin in the face with the blunt side of an axe. Detectives still knew he wasn't telling the truth, though. And in the end, Darren confessed that he hit Dustin with a blade. However, he also said he found the axe in different locations. At one point he said he found it inside the tent, and at another point he said he found it outside. The only detail he was consistent about was the fact that he'd rinse the axe and the screwdriver off in the creek. Darren also admitted to taking the guns and cooler of beer and even two cell phones out of Dustin's trunk. Overall, though, Darren couldn't seem to paint a clear picture of what had happened, which was highly suspicious. However, his changing story wasn't the only thing that clued police into the fact that this homicide was deliberate. Dustin had multiple axe wounds, which doesn't indicate self defense. Also, in self defense cases, the person defending themselves usually has some kind of defensive injuries and Darren didn't have a single mark on him. On top of that, he never contacted the police and even tried to cover things up. His excuse for not alerting the authorities of the fight was that he had a felony record. Darren had at least four previous DUIs, which raises the offense to felony level. He also told police that he knew they would think he killed Dustin, which he was right about, with all of the evidence pointing to him as Dustin's killer. Darren was charged with one count of felony deliberate homicide and two counts of felony tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. He was transferred from Butte to the Gallatin detention center and his bond was set at $1.5 million. Now, authorities had to start trying to figure out Darren's potential motive. Before they could do that, though, they learned some pretty shocking information about him. When Darren filled out his intake paperwork at the detention center, he listed his organizational affiliation as, quote, white supremacist general and listed his religion as Odinism, which is a pagan religion that's become heavily associated with white supremacy. He also has tattoos of Nazi imagery. However, as alarming as this is, it still doesn't shed light on Darren's possible motive to kill Dustin. At least not on the surface. Because both men were white, Darren made his initial court appearance on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. The room was filled with Dustin's friends and family. During that hearing, Darren stuck with his self defense story and pleaded not guilty to all three counts. The jury trial started almost a full year later. On November 3, 2025. Darren chose not to take the stand in his own defense. And after a six day trial and three hours of deliberation, Darren was found guilty on all three charges. The verdict was read on Monday, November 10, 2025, which would have been Dustin's 37th birthday. Darren will return to court for sentencing on Tuesday, December 30th. And while deliberate homicide is a capital offense in Montana, the prosecution in this case is choosing not to seek the death penalty. The defense will decide whether or not to appeal the conviction once Dustin has been sentenced. As of this recording, a motive has not yet been made public for Dustin's crime, and who knows if that information will ever come out. But even if we did learn why Darrin committed that brutal act, it wouldn't bring Dustin back. All we can hope is that Darren's sentencing will finally allow Dustin's loved ones to gain some closure and move forward. As always, we'll be sure to bring you all of the updates as they come in, so stay tuned. What did you think of today's cases? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily and follow us on social media Rimehouse247 for real time updates. Because a pursuit of justice never stops.
- [29:31]
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- [30:00]
Katie Ring
Looking for your next crime house? Listen, don't miss Clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin take you deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever. Clue by clue, it's like hanging out with your smart true crime obsessed friends. Listen to Clues on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [30:23]
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