Viggo Kristiansen in the witness box in the Baneheia case again

The short version

• Viggo Kristiansen testifies in the case against his former comrade Jan Helge Andersen
• Andersen denies criminal guilt for the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10)
• Kristiansen asked questions about previous explanations, the judge reminds that old interrogations were under different rules
• The mobile evidence and activity after the murders are also discussed in the trial
• There will be a tense atmosphere and discussion between actors in the courtroom

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Wednesday was Viggo Kristiansen’s last day in the witness box, in the case where his former comrade Jan Helge Andersen stands accused.

Kristiansen was wearing a blue tight-fitting cotton jumper and sweatpants. So did Jan Helge Andersen, who sat on his left.

Andersen pleads not guilty to the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10).

Kristiansen was finally acquitted of the murders in Baneheia on 15 December 2022.

On Wednesday, Andersen’s defender, Celine Krogh Fornes, asked Kristiansen questions.

Several times there was a tense atmosphere in the court, and Kristiansen answered both the judges and the defenders:

– What does this have to do with Baneheia?

In the witness box he was clearly irritated at times.

You can follow VG’s live coverage of the trial and ask questions to Krimpodden here.

Kristiansen still had a forward-leaning attitude in the witness box, and sits facing the defense attorneys.

Towards the end of the court day, they are the ones who ask Kristiansen the questions.

Audun Beckstrøm started by asking Kristiansen what he did when he rode up to the 3rd stomp on 19 May 2000.

He explained that he rode up and turned around there. He rode there to look for Andersen.

They have both explained that Kristiansen was looking for him to borrow the spare key to the bicycle shed.

– How close to the water are you? Do you remember anything about it?

– No, I can’t remember that, Kristiansen replied.

It was at the 3rd stomp that Stine Sofie Sørstrønen (8) and Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10) were bathing that evening, before they were killed.

Got straight to the point

Assistance lawyer Håkon Brækhus represents with Beckstrøm the parents of the two girls.

– Why should he blame you if it’s not true? Ask Brækhus.

– I feel that then there will be speculation again. And it is the evidence in the case that will speak, replied Kristiansen.

Brækhus then asks if he has any theory about why Andersen drags him in.

– It is the evidence in the case that must be counted. I have lived with this case for 21 years before the truth came out, and then I feel it would be wrong to share my private feelings and views, says Kristiansen.

Getting annoyed

The expertsExperts who provide the court with information on special subjects, in this context psychology. asked Kristiansen questions about the friendship between them, and his views on Andersen.

So was the court close This means that the public cannot follow the case. for people other than the actors and the press. The subject of the court was then Viggo Kristiansen’s previous criminal history.

Kristiansen has only been summoned as a witness in the case. In 2022, he was acquitted of the misdeeds in Baneheia, but was at the same time sentenced to ten months in prison for assault and reckless behaviour.

Defender Celine Krogh Fornes asks Kristiansen a number of questions related to what he was convicted of at the same time as the crimes in Baneheia. Kristiansen is clearly irritated several times.

At one point he says that he does not consider that it has anything to do with the Baneheia case.

Facing each other

Earlier on Wednesday morning, it was Andersen’s defenders who asked Kristiansen questions.

Then Kristiansen had to turn his head towards his former comrade.

Jan Helge Andersen then reacted by sitting a little closer to his defenders, and looked down at the desk. In between, he looked a little towards his defender Krogh Fornes.

He clasps his hands together and rubs them together. Alternately, Andersen crosses his arms. He completely stopped his careful glances at his former friend who is now testifying against him.

– We wandered together

Krogh Fornes asked about the relationship between Kristiansen and Andersen.

On Tuesday, he said that he did not feel he was a leader in their relationship, and that they had begun to drift apart.

Kristiansen maintains what he said on Tuesday to the state attorney.

Krogh Fornes challenges that, and says she does not interpret it that way based on the interviews conducted in 2000.

– Were you close? asks Krogh Fornes

– Not around 2000. We wandered together, he replies.

Krogh Fornes asks the question in different ways, until the judge breaks in and says that the answer to the question is either “yes, no, or don’t know”.

– I don’t remember it, says Kristiansen finally.

VG’s podcast The crime podcast follows the trial closely. You can hear their reflections on Kristiansen’s first day in the witness box via VG+ or on Podme.

– A completely normal day

Krogh Fornes asked questions early on Wednesday about why Kristiansen did not say anything about his having been in Baneheia on 19 May 2000, during a survey a few days later.

– Why didn’t you tell me?

– For me it was a completely normal day. Without any worries or anything, he replies.

Krogh Fornes says he also did not say anything about 19 May 2000 during an interrogation in June.

– And I understand you that it was because you didn’t remember?

– Yes, it was a completely normal day. As I said, for me it was everyday fare to go through there, Kristiansen replies.

The Baneheia case explained

Public prosecutor A public prosecutor who represents the state in a court case, and who is responsible for prosecuting the case against the defendant.Johan Øverberg was the one who started the questioning on Wednesday morning. He started right where he left off the day before, on the day of the murder, May 19. He repeated what Kristiansen had previously said in questioning.

He also asked how he remembers this day, and about the time Kristiansen has previously given for when Andersen came to him that evening.

– It was a completely normal day. You don’t sit and dwell on details then, Kristiansen replied then as well.

Then the public prosecutor moves on to the police questioning, and what the questioning was like. He is asked how he experienced the interrogations after he stayed arrested: Being caught by the police and held in custody, often because you are suspected of having done something illegal.

– Like talking to deaf ears, replies Kristiansen.

He further says that he felt the police pushed him hard, and that unfortunately it took 21 years to reveal the truth.

– More and more eternal chaos

State Attorney Øverberg asks Kristiansen what he thought when it became clear that Andersen had confessed to the crimes in Baneheia.

– At first I didn’t think so. Then it was presented that there was evidence against him, and it just became more and more eternal chaos, says Kristiansen.

The mobile certificate

All the actors are also concerned on Wednesday about Kristiansen’s mobile phone and mobile use.

The mobile evidence has been central to both the trials and the acquittal of Kristiansen.

On the day the murders took place, Kristiansen sent two text messages, one at 6.57pm and 7.37pm. At 19.24 he received a message.

The base stationA device that communicates with mobile phones and sends signals between the phone and the phone network. which the phone communicated with on the night of the murder did not then cover the area in Baneheia where the girls were killed.

His lawyer, Brynjar Meling, has said that this may be the last time Kristiansen takes the witness stand:

Also read: The murders in Baneheia: This you must know

The first verdict:

Kristiansand city court sentenced Viggo Kristiansen to prison for 21 years detention A type of punishment where you are kept in prison until you are no longer considered dangerous.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.

The appeal case:

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.

The reopening:

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.

New investigation:

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.

Acquittal:

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.

New indictment:

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 March 2024, the trial against him begins in Sør-Rogaland district court.