– For me, Baneheia was a wonderful place before 19 May 2000 – NRK Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio

– A little before eight o’clock in the evening I started to get restless, says Sørstrønen.

The girls had chosen to go up to Baneheia to swim, before they had planned to go roller skating at home in the residential area.

Follow the live coverage of the trial here:

Jostein Sørstrønen was to look after both girls that evening. He also had his son at home.

– I had no qualms about letting them go to bathe alone. They were very good swimmers.

Jostein Sørstrønen did not testify in the criminal case more than 20 years ago, then he could not bear to be present either in the district court or the court of appeal. Now he sits in the witness box in Sandnes and tells in a calm and steady voice.

– For me, Baneheia was a fantastic place before 19 May 2000, he says.

– I went up to 3. Stampe to look for them, but there were no girls there. So I ran back home, but neither Lena nor Stine Sofie were there.

Went to search at 5am

Jostein Sørstrønen then started cycling around the neighborhood to ask if anyone had seen the girls.

At 10 p.m. he called the police, and the fathers then contacted the girls’ mothers.

– The police asked us to stay away from Baneheia as they were going to use dogs in the search.

At 05:00 at night, the girls’ fathers decided to go out and search, they could not stay at home. Jostein brought his 12-year-old son who also stayed with him this weekend. Up in Baneheia, Jostein found a bottle that he thought he recognized. It later turned out to belong to the girls.

– I think we were very close to the crime scene at the time, and I’m very happy that it wasn’t us who found the girls.

– Stine looked up to Lena

Jostein Sørstrønen talks about how nice his daughter had always been with Lena.

– Stine looked up to Lena, who was two years older. She always liked coming to Kristiansand, he says.

Prosecutor Andreas Schei asks him about the rest of this weekend.

– It was completely black. And I was very afraid that they would never be found.

– And what happened after they were found, asks the prosecutor.

– Then life collapsed, quite simply. I also felt a burden because I was the one with the children this weekend.

Felt suspicious

Jostein Sørstrønen tells of an interrogation later in the summer of 2000 when he was confronted with things he had said in previous interrogations. Among other things, the police said that only his own fingerprints were found on the plastic bag in which the girls carried their swimwear.

– I experienced the questioning as a very heavy burden. I almost got a feeling of being a suspect, says Sørstrønen.

When Jan Helge Andersen and Viggo Kristiansen were arrested in autumn 2000, this was a relief for Jostein Sørstrønen.

The parents support each other

– I eventually had to try to get back to work so as not to go down completely.

He says the following about the relationship with the other parents:

– We have become increasingly close in recent years, and it has been incredibly nice for me. It has been good to have someone to talk to when something new is constantly happening in the case, and the media pressure is increasing again.

Jostein Sørstrønen ends his testimony by saying that he actually wants to tell more about what has happened with the case in recent times.

– But I choose to leave it at that, he says.