The double death mystery in Stavern: – A nightmare that never ends

Now the family is pleading the police to drop the charges before she is to be buried just after Easter.

– The thought of burying our sister without the charge being removed and her name being cleared is completely incomprehensible. She should never have been charged in the first place, says one of the woman’s two sisters to VG.

This is the first time someone in the family has allowed themselves to be interviewed about the mystery that has unfolded after a 54-year-old man was found dead in an apartment in Stavern just after the New Year.

His roommate had then disappeared. A week and a half ago, the 49-year-old female teacher was found dead near the lake between Stavern and Larvik.

The police believe that the suspicion that she killed the man has weakened. Nevertheless, the murder charge still stands.

– She was the kindest person in the world. She was an incredibly dedicated teacher, mother, friend, daughter, sister and aunt. She had been a primary school teacher in Porsgrunn for 20 years without a single sick day, says her sister.

She meets VG centrally in Oslo.

There she describes a woman who was responsible and concerned with looking after those around her, as well as acting as a good role model. She is referred to as a good mother, but also a kind daughter:

Several times a month, the woman drove to her parents’ house to help pay bills and run errands.

His whole life was centered around family, friends and work in Porsgrunn and Larvik. And recently also Stavern. There she had just become a cohabitant with her boyfriend.

The family says that the woman did not struggle with drugs or mental problems. She also did not have a police record.

That’s why the alarm went off when the woman didn’t show up for work on New Year’s Day 2. Family and friends understood that no one had heard from her since the night of December 31.

– We panicked. She is not the type who does not come to work and does not send New Year’s messages to family and friends. When we couldn’t get hold of her, we realized that something had happened, says the sister.

At the couple’s joint address on a hill above Stavern, the woman’s partner was found dead. The scene has been described by the police as “unclear”.

The cohabiting couple had celebrated Christmas with their family in Stavern and Larvik. Everything then seemed to be fine between the two, according to the sister.

The police are still working to find out what happened these days this winter, and the full picture is therefore still not clear.

But today VG can reproduce some of the hitherto unknown details about what must have happened during the days the police are investigating:

That same evening, around 00:20 on New Year’s Eve, the last sure sign of life from the now deceased woman should have come. She is said to have spoken on the phone with a family member. According to the family, the woman said that she had argued with her partner.

That same night, at 2.38am, her phone is said to have been switched off. The family has, according to the sister, been told that at this time it was not out of battery.

New Year’s Eve
The mobile phone should have been switched on again at 1.22pm the following day. But the SIM code should not have been entered that day, and the phone should not have been used after this, the family says.

At around 8pm on New Year’s Eve, text messages are said to have been sent from the now deceased man’s phone to his children.

In the time after the last sign of life from the woman, the man must have had a telephone conversation with a family member. The person must then have asked about the man’s partner. The man then allegedly said that she was in the shower.

January 1st
At 3 p.m., the man is said to have made a web search that the police find interesting.

Then, around 8 p.m., a private message from the man’s Facebook account is said to have been sent to the woman:

“My dear (…) I love you. We’ll see you again soon.”

– The police did not take action a really big search operation in the first critical hours after she was reported missing. Instead, the police were concerned that our sister might have escaped abroad. We knew that wasn’t the case. Our sister would never run away abroad. She has never lived abroad either, says her sister.

The family met the police for questioning the day after the man was found dead, 3 January.

– We were extremely clear that “Never in the world if our sister has killed her partner and is on the run”, says the woman.

Police attorney Ole Jacob Garder acknowledges that the case has been a very demanding case to investigate. Many key questions are still unanswered, he says.

It was observations in the couple’s apartment that provided the basis for charging the woman with murder early in the case, according to the police.

– After a few days, the police came out and said that there was no longer reasonable grounds for this suspicion, that is to say that there was no longer a preponderance of probability that she had killed him. In retrospect, we have been careful to emphasize that we do not want to emphasize the probability of alternative courses of events, says Garder.

The family of the deceased man has appointed Sol Elden as their assistance lawyer. She emphasizes that there is no information from the police that provides a basis for changing the man’s status as insulted in the case.

There should be no electronic traces of the woman after 30 December. Her bank card, mobile phone and sports watch are said to have been in the apartment when the man was found dead on 2 January.

– There is no reason for the police to press charges against our sister. But I understand that the crime scene has been difficult to interpret. We have seen pictures from there, she emphasizes.

She means the suspicion against the sister should have been waived already when the preliminary autopsy report after the man’s death was ready on 4 January.

– She would never forget to send a New Year’s message to her son or her friends. Therefore this does not make sense, says the woman.

She is not impressed by the police’s efforts. For a long time, the family was advised against launching a large search operation. The police later apologized for this handling.

The woman’s family has not spoken to the media until now. It has been about respect for the family on both sides. They did not want to create noise.

And they have put their trust in the police to do a proper job.

But after almost three months, the case still appears to be a mystery. The family’s patience is running out.

Thursday was the body to the deceased woman released after autopsy. The funeral will take place just after Easter.

– Why is it important to have the charge removed before the funeral?

– It feels terrible to have this story – a charge of murder – hanging over her when we say goodbye. It’s just horrible to think about, the sister tells VG.

She emphasizes that the family receives information from the police. Pupils and colleagues at the primary school where the sister worked do not.

– Think of all the children who don’t understand anything. They have loved a person for so many years and then they see these headlines. Her name is blackened because the police have not done their job. It is quite provocative.

The sister believes the deceased woman could never harm another person.

– She is one of the kindest and most decent people I know. She doesn’t get angry once. She was a calm and kind person.

She speaks in the present tense in the conversation with VG. As if the sister is still alive.

– It still feels strange to talk in the past.

The deceased cohabiting couple had been together for a couple of years when the tragedy occurred.

The two had a high star with the daughter of the woman who is now talking to VG. The cohabiting couple attended a dance performance in Eastern Norway to follow up on their niece.

They were happy to look after her if they got any questions about this.

– I would never have let them do this if I suspected that something was wrong, says the sister.

She spent Christmas Eve with her parents in Larvik. There was also the cohabiting couple. They then met again for brunch on Christmas Day.

She probably won’t get an answer to what has happened until her sister is buried.

Because there are still many questions. In particular, the place where her sister was found appears to be a mystery:

The body was found near the sea, midway between Stavern and Larvik. But not by a path.

There are smooth boulders where she was found. But the preliminary autopsy report shows that the woman has probably not been in contact with the water.

At the same time, it snowed heavily in Stavern and Larvik around New Year’s Eve.

The woman who meets VG remembers a kind sister. She speaks of her as a wonderful person who meant a lot to many.

– Life is really unfair, she says.

Perhaps the family will never get an answer.

– The whole case is like a nightmare that never ends, says the sister.

The police acknowledge that they are not sitting on the edge as the calendar soon shows April.

What happened to both the man and the woman remains a mystery:

– It is our hope that the final autopsy reports and crime scene analyzes will be able to give us more answers to this, but that is not certain. For these reasons, there are in principle no alternative courses of events that can be ruled out at the present time, says police attorney Ole Jacob Garder.

He says they are not going to change the woman’s status as a suspect until they have more information:

– The competence to make a prosecution decision The competence to make a prosecution decisionThe Attorney General has the final responsibility for deciding whether someone should be prosecuted for murder in Norway. Before the police can request such a decision, they must wait for all reports and analyzes to be completed and documented in writing. in a case where someone has been charged with murder is assigned to the Attorney General. In order for the police to be able to send the case with their recommendation to a higher prosecuting authority, we are dependent on the necessary reports and analyzes being completed and available in written form. That is not yet the case, says Garder.

The police attorney repeats that the goal is to find out what happened, so that the next of kin get answers to their questions.

– The best way to do this is to see the overall picture of evidence, facts that have come to light through the investigation, autopsy reports and crime scene analyzes in context. For that reason, we also do not wish to comment on detailed information presented through the media.

Assistance lawyer for the deceased man, Sol Elden, says that she cannot comment on VG’s information since these are claused.

– The fact that classified information from the investigation is reproduced in the media is a great additional burden for those left behind, especially when you cannot counter them, says Elden.

– On a general basis, I can say that as the case has been explained to me from the police’s side, there is nothing that gives grounds for changing my client’s father’s status as offended in the case, she adds.

Elden then repeats what all parties in the case seem to agree on: A hope that crime scene reports and autopsy reports will soon be ready, and that they will provide answers to what happened in Stavern almost three months ago.