The Baneheia trial: – Crazy bad feeling

Several of them have been summoned of the defenders for the accused Jan Helge Andersen.

– We have called in witnesses who we believe are relevant to shed light on the case, says Andersen’s defender Celine Krogh Fornes to VG.

In 2022, Viggo Kristiansen was finally acquitted of the crimes in Baneheia. He has denied his innocence from the start.

Despite the acquittal, he has nevertheless been dragged into the case again, as a witness. On Thursday, several of the defenders’ witnesses explain themselves about him.

Jan Helge Andersen, on the other hand, maintains his explanation that there were two people involved in the murders, he and Kristiansen.

Andersen has already been convicted of, and has admitted, killing Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) in Baneheia.

The prosecution believes it can prove that he killed Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) with a knife on 19 May 2000.

Tipped off the police

Andersen’s defender Celine Krogh Fornes begins questioning a woman who lived in the neighborhood of Andersen and Kristiansen.

The woman has been summoned by the defenders to Andersen, and therefore they can start asking questions.

The neighbor is now retired, but worked as a social worker at the time.

Krogh Fornes asks her if she can say a little about her acquaintance with the two.

– I had the strong impression that Viggo was the leader, she says.

Also read: Viggo Kristiansen: – I don’t feel that I have dominated or decided over him

The social worker says that she finds it shocking that the two, who she believes were close to 20 at the time, would like to play with girls aged 10–12.

She reacted to this, and ended up in conflict with Kristiansen, she says in court.

– My children had been told not to play with them, but they still did it occasionally.

VG has tried to get a comment from Viggo Kristiansen’s lawyer, but he has not answered the inquiries.

Also read: Witness about Andersen in Baneheia: – Scouting for something

The woman says that she tipped off the police about Andersen and Kristiansen before they were arrested.

– It was after the girls had been found, I don’t remember how many days after. I thought about these two a lot, I had no idea beyond what I had observed, and then I called the police. I just had a crazy bad feeling about what I had observed around these two and the little girls at Eg.

Always together

– It was impossible to live at Eg without noticing Viggo and Jan Helge, says another neighbor in the witness box.

He is also summoned by the defenders, and it is Krogh Fornes who begins the questioning.

The neighbor believes that Kristiansen created difficult situations and was very aggressive growing up.

– But it was not possible to reach him. After all, Jan Helge was always with Viggo. But he was passive, reserved, quiet, said nothing. But he was always there.

Kristiansen has described himself as a “troubler” growing up, and has apologized for his behavior when he explained himself in court.

The witness says that the two were often surrounded by children, and that they played with children who were several years younger than them.

– I myself had children in the area, and I was worried about what I observed on a daily basis.

As they grew older, their behavior towards the children calmed down somewhat.

– There were fewer episodes where Kristiansen ended up in conflict with other children or young people. I saw less of that as the years went by. He was perhaps not as visibly present in the area as he was.

Also read: Expert on the interrogations: – Presented as a conclusion

Krogh Fornes asks him how he saw the relationship between Andersen and Kristiansen.

– They hung out together all the time. As far as I could see, they didn’t have any other close friends, but I can’t say for sure. But my impression was that it was the two of them, he says.

She asks him if he remembers what he thought when the two were arrested.

– When there was a confession, it was a very special event, and in retrospect I have no doubt that it was correct. I have no doubt about it.

The neighbor says it is a very sad thing to sit here again.

– That this case has turned out the way it has turned out. I think especially of the relatives, for them this must be a nightmare.

Listened on the phone

A family member who was with the Kristiansen family that weekend is next. She has been summoned by the prosecution.

It was her children that Kristiansen babysat for on the evening of 19 May 2000. She estimates that she got home before midnight.

– So then I went in, and then Viggo was lying on the sofa. It was a Friday, he had been at work, so I was actually a bit surprised that he was awake. But he was reliable when it came to being a babysitter, she says.

They talked loosely and firmly, and then Kristiansen’s parents also came home a few minutes later.

Also read: Faren about the arrest of Kristiansen: – This was completely wrong

State prosecutor Andreas Schei asks if they talked together about the two girls who had been reported missing. She says that no, they didn’t, as they hadn’t heard anything about it.

– I hadn’t heard anything on the news until my mother called the following day in the morning. It was quite early for a Saturday, but by then she had found out about what had happened in Baneheia, she says.

– And you know this was in 2000, so there was no flipping out on smartphones and checking the internet.

Schei asks if she remembers what she and Kristiansen did the rest of that day and the weekend, which she doesn’t. She remembers that there was a lot of helicopter traffic over the area, and that they followed the case on teletext, among other things.

– Steered

A friend who grew up with them testifies on video link. He says that he was with Andersen in the Heimevernsungdommen, and describes him as a quiet and calm guy.

Prosecutor Schei asks him about his impression of the relationship between Andersen and Kristiansen.

– They were good mates. They undoubtedly were. They went together a lot.

– Do you have any impression of how they got along? Whether someone was the boss or not, or what kind of relationship they had?

– No, it was undoubtedly Viggo who was the boss. He controlled Jan Helge, the comrade believes.

Signed up

Another man who grew up with Andersen and Kristiansen then takes the stand in the witness box in courtroom 1. He has been summoned by the state prosecutors, and it is Øverberg who asks questions.

He reported himself to the police a few days after it became known to him through a front page in VG that it was Kristiansen and Andersen who had been arrested, he says in court on Thursday.

– It became important for me to tell the story of Viggo at the time, which was not directly linked to the ongoing accusation. In relation to the fact that absolutely everything around both of them, but especially Viggo, was made suspect at that time, he says.

The man says that he understands that someone could have a different opinion of Kristiansen, but:

– For my part, it was more of a mask like that, I think. That’s not how I’ve known him.

Another man, who worked with Kristiansen before he was arrested, also describes Kristiansen in the witness box as a good core member.

Towards the end of the court day, the doors are closed. It is read out from an interrogation concerning abuse of an underage girl in the 90s for which Kristiansen has been convicted. An interrogation was also read out about allegations of abuse Kristiansen was acquitted of in the Court of Appeal, but sentenced to pay compensation for.

You can find more about the Baneheia case here.

VG’s Krimpodden is also following the trial closely: