Viggo Kristiansen: The police manipulated and pushed me as hard as possible

Viggo Kristiansen (44) had recently turned 21 when he was taken in for questioning as a suspect for the assaults and murders in the Baneheia case in 2000. 24 years later, he is now explaining himself again about the case – this time as a witness.

He describes inhumane pressure from investigators and interrogators, who were already apparently convinced that he was guilty.

– It was like talking to deaf ears

– I had nothing to hide, because I hadn’t been up there. The police persistently tried to push me as hard as possible. It was like talking to deaf ears, Kristiansen said when state prosecutor Johan Øverberg continued his questioning of him on Wednesday morning.

Ever since his arrest on 13 September 2000, Kristiansen has explained himself consistently and coherently about his activities and movements in the period around when Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) and Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) were raped and killed in Baneheia: He was in his hut and on a bicycle. Later in the evening he babysat for his nephew.

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Difficult fight

But his best friend had told him otherwise. He had confessed to parts of the actions, but singled out Kristiansen as the initiator, instigator and main man. This explanatory model was launched by police investigators, it emerged during the reopening process two years ago, and presented to Andersen with the question of whether he was also a kind of victim in the case.

– He made accusations that were not true, and I tried my best to tell what I remembered from that day. He got crazy help from the police to present me as a scapegoat. It was a difficult and hard fight. Unfortunately, it took 21 years to get the truth out, Kristiansen said in court.

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– I became more and more angry as the investigation progressed – both at the case, Andersen, the police and how I experienced being manipulated into a case I had not been in or participated in, he said.

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Finally acquitted

Kristiansen has served almost 21 years for murder and assault he did not commit. After he was completely acquitted and cleared of any involvement with the Baneheia murders a year and a half ago, his former comrade has been charged in the reopened criminal case.

The prosecution now relies on – and has support in the evidence for – Kristiansen’s explanation that he was in his mecca shed when the murders were committed. Teledata from the period in question excludes that Kristiansen was at the scene. The 44-year-old emphasized in his testimony on Tuesday that he never went anywhere without taking his phone with him.

All DNA findings in the case also point to Jan Helge Andersen, none of them to Kristiansen.

Andersen denies criminal guilt and maintains his explanation about Kristiansen’s role during the events in Baneheia.