– Existence filled with bottomless sorrow – NRK Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio

– On behalf of the next of kin, I have been asked, as their assistance lawyer, to express their despair and existence filled with bottomless grief from being the next of kin to the murder victims in the triple murder case at Torpo.

So writes lawyer Helge Hartz in a press release on Friday morning. He is a legal aid lawyer for the family.

On Maundy Thursday, a mourning service was organized in Torpo church in Ål, where, among others, Bishop Jan Otto Myrseth and parish priest in Hallingdal Sveinung Hansen spoke.

The next of kin wish to announce that efforts and follow-up from the crisis team in Ål, ongoing information and support from the police, as well as care from family, friends known and unknown have been absolutely decisive in this situation, the letter states.

On Saturday 23 March, four people were found dead in the village of Torpo in Hallingdal.

The police quickly charged a 59-year-old with murdering his wife and their two children. The police believe he took his own life after killing the others.

Criticizes the media

Hartz also criticizes the media.

– Both the police and I – on behalf of the next of kin – have strongly requested the media not to publish the name and photo of the accused for several reasons.

Dagbladet was the first media to mention the accused man with a name and picture – on the same day that the police told who had been killed. Since then, TV 2 and the local newspaper Hallingdølen have also identified the accused family man.

Hartz says it is incomprehensible to the next of kin why the accused’s name and image should be of interest to the public at this stage.

– Unfortunately, you can see that other media are now following suit. With the additional burden this imposes on the next of kin, this is perceived as a lack of respect towards people who ask for protection in a helpless life situation, reports Hartz.

– Not a private matter

News editor Mads Andersen in Dagbladet tells NRK that the newspaper understands that the identification is perceived as burdensome for the next of kin.

– But the public’s need for information about who commits the most serious criminal acts in society weighs the most right now, says Andersen.

Furthermore, he says that Dagbladet considers that the burden on relatives and friends will be great regardless of the time of the identification.

– Serious crime of this nature is not a private matter. We believe that the public has a right to information about who has committed such a serious act, he continues.

TV 2’s news editor Karianne Solbrække has not yet responded to NRK’s ​​inquiry, but tells TV 2 that they have had long discussions about identifying the man.

– In this case, the next of kin and the police have chosen to reveal the identities of the three victims. TV 2 has chosen to publish the names and photos of the three. We believe that people charged in such a serious case as a triple murder should also be identified, and that it is of high public interest, she replies.

She also clarifies that the media house does not think it is right to make a distinction between murder cases in the immediate family and in cases where the perpetrator and victims do not have a close relationship.