The short version
- The mother of Jan Helge Andersen testified in court about her son’s upbringing, personality and relationship with Viggo Kristiansen.
- Andersen is portrayed as a calm person, who does not take up much space and is easy to read.
- The mother refers to Kristiansen as “the other” and says that it became “live” when he was present.
- She says that Jan Helge Andersen became more withdrawn after the murders in 2000.
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At the end of the court day on Tuesday, the mother of Jan Helge Andersen will testify.
Jan Helge Andersen is accused of killing Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) on 19 May 2000. He has previously been convicted of killing Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8).
Andersen denies criminal guilt for the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen.
It is State Attorney Johan Øverberg who starts by asking Berit Andersen about her son:
– Childhood was problem-free, the mother begins.
Public prosecutor
She then talks about his youth and placement at a bakery. Øverberg asks her to describe her son’s personality:
– Jan Helge is very calm. He doesn’t say much, he doesn’t take up much space in the room.
She continues:
– A boy you can trust. If he gets a message, it will be like this.
Berit Andersen exchanges many glances at her son. He is wearing a dark blue T-shirt and a gold chain. He looks back at his mother, and the two exchange a few smiles.
She says that in any case they feel they had a good overview and a good relationship with Jan Helge:
– Very good relationship, we still have that to this day. There is no shame in not coming home and not telling what happened. It is worse to lie, because the truth always comes out. That’s what my kids were taught.
She says that her son is also very easy to read:
– Jan Helge, you can actually tell right away if he’s lying, says Berit Andersen.
– You think he is easy to read? follows Øverberg up.
– Mhm, she replies.
– We will come back to that, answers Øverberg.
The Baneheia case explained
The mother is asked about her son’s friendship with Viggo Kristiansen.
Berit Andersen never mentions Viggo Kristiansen by name. She just calls him “the other”.
– Where the other was, there was life, says the mother.
Øverberg asks Berit Andersen what she remembers from Friday 19 May 2000. She says she remembers the day very well. When she came home from work at eleven in the evening, the search for the two girls was already under way.
– We had a police radio, so we followed a bit. We sat and listened, me, Jan Helge and the father, she says.
– It’s strange that you don’t go out and look, you who know the heath so well, I asked him.
She says that Jan Helge Andersen replied that it might be that they should search later.
Admitted the murder
Then Øverberg asks how she perceived her son in the time after the crimes took place.
– He was much quieter, and much more in the room. He was tired, he was, she says.
– Was it because of the job, wasn’t it? Øverberg asks
– Hmm. But of course, when you draw a common thread through everything that has emerged. I can say it straight out, it must have been hell for him, replies Berit Andersen.
Then they talk about the period after he is arrested, and admits the misdeeds against Stine Sofie Sørstrønen. Then the mother claims that she said to Andersen:
– Now you tell the one everything you have admitted. Then you might as well tell everything. If we’re trying to get on with life as a family, mom should have everything from A to Z.
The judge asks several times what he told his mother after he was caught:
– That he killed her.
– But the abuse, has he told you?
– No, replies Berit Andersen.
– Hasn’t he said it or said he didn’t do it?
– He hasn’t said that, replies Berit Andersen.
High temperature in the court
A few weeks before the murder, Berit Andersen gave information to the police. It was about her seeing a hitchhiker the day after the murders happened. TV2 mentioned the case yesterday, which has pissed off Berit Andersen – Øverberg asks about the incident, which makes Berit Andersen irritated:
– Now I know that I get so mad at journalists.
Berit Andersen continues by saying that it is wrong that the article stated that she had gone to the police with a tip.
– It is not true. I was asked in an interrogation, and answered. I haven’t tipped off the police, she says.
Several times she says that she only answered what the police asked her about, and that there was never any question of a tip. The temperature in the dish will be very high.
Kristiansand city court sentenced Viggo Kristiansen to 21 years in prison for, among other things, the rape and murder of the two girls. Jan Helge Andersen was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and acquitted of the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen.
Viggo Kristiansen and Jan Helge Andersen both appealed the verdict. Kristiansen because he pleaded not guilty, while Andersen appealed the sentencing. The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict against Kristiansen, and gave Andersen a two-year longer sentence. They both appealed to the Supreme Court. Kristiansen’s case was not processed, while Andersen’s was rejected. The sentence of 19 years’ imprisonment was upheld.
Kristiansen maintained his innocence throughout and petitioned for the case to be reopened several times. On 18 February 2021, the Re-admission Commission decided that the case should be looked at again. Kristiansen was released from Ila prison on 1 June 2021, after 21 years behind bars.
It is decided that the Oslo police district will carry out the new investigation. Andersen is charged in the new Baneheia investigation, for the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10), for which he had previously been acquitted.
Attorney General Jørn Sigurd Maurud apologized most strongly to Viggo Kristiansen when he presented the Attorney General’s recommendation to the Borgarting Court of Appeal in October 2022. The result of the new investigation was that Kristiansen must be acquitted. On 15 December, an acquittal was handed down in the Borgarting Court of Appeal. Viggo Kristiansen was thus innocently convicted of the murders in Baneheia.
On 12 January 2024, the Attorney General requested that charges be brought against Jan Helge Andersen for the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10). On 16 April 2024, the trial against him begins in Sør-Rogaland district court.
