Daughter did not show up for appointment

The short version

Four people found dead in a house at Torpo in Hallingdal
The police received a report of concern after the teenage daughter did not show up for an appointment
The police believe there are three murders and one suicide
Crime weapon found at the scene, parents had legal access to weapons
The village was shaken and in mourning over the incident

The police received a report of concern at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

– It was based on the fact that one of the deceased did not show up for an agreement to meet, and no contact was made with the person concerned or anyone else in the family, says police attorney Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen in the South-East police district to VG.

It was the teenage daughter in the house who did not show up for an appointment with one or more girlfriends, VG is informed.

On Sunday afternoon, flowers were laid at the crime scene. Photo: Frederik Ringnes / NTB

Checked if the family was somewhere else

– The police went out on a welfare check. We received information that the family could be elsewhere, so this was investigated. It is not the case that the police immediately enter a home on the basis of such a report, says Mathiassen.

After carrying out further investigations, without finding anyone in the family, the police entered the home at Torpo at around 8pm.

There, the four in the family were found dead.

The deaths shake the small village in Hallingdal, where almost everyone knows everyone.

The dead are a man in his 20s, a woman in her teens, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 50s. The police describe the case as murder and suicide.

– They are all registered at the address, and we believe that all four of them lived there, says the police attorney.

Mayor Solveig Vestenfor says that the village is in “shock and grief” – see video:

Manslaughter charges likely on Monday

The police have a clear idea of who the perpetrator is, but have not yet charged any of the dead with murder, as they did in the triple murder case in Nes earlier this year.

It is likely that one of the dead in the family will be charged with murder on Monday.

– We have not finished forensic investigations at the site yet. We want to be absolutely sure, before we go out with anything more. We also want to inform the bereaved, says Mathiassen.

The police are working to examine the health history of the suspected perpetrator.

– Is there information about contact with psychiatry in the recent past?

– We are not familiar with that, replies Mathiassen.

THE SCENE: On Sunday, the police are still working with forensic investigations inside the house at Torpo. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

Found in various places in the house

According to VG’s information, two of the dead were found in separate bedrooms.

– We do not want to go into details about this, but the dead were found in different places in the house, says the police attorney.

The police have secured what they believe to be the murder weapon.

– We have found the weapon we believe was used, but we do not want to go out with this ahead of witness interviews. We do not want witnesses to know which weapon we believe was used, says Mathiassen.

Both mother and father in the house have legal access to weapons, according to the police attorney.