The 39-year-old man has now been in custody for over half a year, after he was arrested by the police in September last year.
He was then charged with the murder of his girlfriend, a 28-year-old woman, who died of burns in Porsgrunn on 9 September 2022.
In April this year, the charge was extended to include another murder, then of 54-year-old Stig Kyrre Nybråten. He was found dead in his own home in Porsgrunn on 17 July last year.
Nybråten had the status of a witness in the first murder case against the 39-year-old.
– We are still investigating whether there is any connection between the cases, says police attorney Tine Henriksen in the South-East police district to Dagbladet.
The police: Stig (54) was killed
Wants away from Mandal
However, since the charge was extended, the 39-year-old has refused to explain himself to the police. This will also be the case in the future, says defender Espen Refstie, unless he is transferred from Mandal prison, where he is in custody, to another prison.
– He wants to explain himself, but he has said that he has to get to another prison before he does, says Refstie.
– What is the reason for that?
– He does not feel cared for there. He is not well.
– In what way?
– He struggles with both his physical and mental health. It is a total load that is large. He has it terribly hard, Refstie replies.
TWO MURDER: Police prosecutor Tine Henriksen leads the investigation into the Porsgrunn murders. Photo: Kristian Ridder-Nielsen / Dagbladet
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Explained himself as a witness
Refstie goes on to say that his client has expressed a concrete wish as to where he wants to be imprisoned, but he does not want to comment further.
Otherwise, the defender states that the 39-year-old denies criminal guilt for both murder charges.
– He has explained himself in detail as a witness earlier in the case, says Refstie.
The police, for their part, do not wish to comment on the accused’s wish to change prisons.
– What I can say is that he has not wanted to explain himself now, but we have the impression that he wants to explain himself at a later time, says police attorney Henriksen.
Attempts at witness influence
In addition to two murders, the 39-year-old is also charged with attempting to influence a witness after an episode last winter, while he was in custody.
Via a fellow inmate who was released from prison in January, the accused must have tried to contact a man in his 30s who must have been present when his girlfriend died in September 2022, the police believe.
Must have tried to influence the witness
However, the attempt was not successful, and the “assistant” was arrested by the police, charged with attempting to oppose the judiciary and remanded in custody.
The police do not wish to comment on whether any security measures have been taken around the witness in light of the incident.
– It is an ongoing assessment, says Henriksen.
On Monday this week, the Telemark District Court decided to extend the remand for the 39-year-old accused of double murder by another four weeks.
DEATH: Stig Kyrre Nybråten (54) was found dead in Porsgrunn on 17 July last year. The police believe that he was killed. Photo: Private
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– Terrified of him
The court has placed a ban on reproducing the content of the latest imprisonment order, but in previous orders the imprisonment is justified by the fact that the 39-year-old has an extensive history of violence.
In 2019, he was sentenced to prison for three years for violence against his former partner over a period of one and a half years, from spring 2017 to autumn 2018.
– He threatened to kill me several times. At times I was terrified of him, the ex-partner has previously told Dagbladet.
The 39-year-old has also been convicted a number of times in the past, court documents that Dagbladet has access to show:
- In 2010, he was convicted of a number of breaches of the Road Traffic Act and the Medicines Act. In the verdict, which ended in prison for 30 days and a fine of NOK 5,000, it appears that he has previously been fined for similar matters.
- In 2011, he was convicted of serious violence against his then-girlfriend, in the form of strangling, punching and kicking her so that she lost consciousness. The sentence was 18 months in prison, 12 of which were suspended.
- In 2013, he was again convicted of violence against his girlfriend, in that he knocked out a front tooth on her, threatened to kill her, threw a knife so that it hit her in the leg and held her under water. This time the sentence was three years in prison – one of which was suspended.
- He has also been convicted of deprivation of liberty, theft and repeated breaches of the Road Traffic Act on various occasions – in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
