The short version
- Fourth week of the trial against Jan Helge Andersen, charged with the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10), underway in Sør-Rogaland District Court.
- Andersen pleads not guilty.
- Strong impressions in court when the autopsy reports of the two girls are reviewed.
- Professor and doctor Torleiv Ole Rognum testified about the autopsy and detailed injuries, including stab wounds, blunt force trauma and DNA found in places related to abuse.
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The fourth week of the trial against Jan Helge Andersen is underway. Andersen is defendant A person who is accused of having committed a criminal act and who must appear in court to answer for himself.for the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen (10).
He pleads not guilty.
A very tough day
Audun Beckstrøm is the assistance lawyer for the parents.
– Today has been a difficult day. Many pictures have been shown from the autopsyA thorough examination of a deceased on behalf of the police and occasionally the court. The purpose is to shed light on the cause of death, manner of death, time of death and possible identity. and other. And it has been hard.
Audun Beckstrom
Beckstrøm also says that not all the parents have managed to be present today.
– There will be some tears. You have to look down and look away from the pictures. A very tough day.
Arne Bernt Paulsen, father of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen, chose in advance not to be in court today. Jostein Sørstrønen, father of Stine Sofie Sørstrønen, had to leave the hall.
Later, three of the parents themselves will testify in the case.
– They dread that, but they are well prepared.
He also mentions the compensation claim the parents have made against Jan Helge Andersen:
– The first weeks, months and first years were very, very difficult. It is important to convey.
Judge Tor Christian Carlsen began the day by stressing that the court must be prepared for a number of photos today:
– And there are an unusual number of ugly pictures here. And we are prepared for that as best we can.
It was professor and doctor Torleiv Ole Rognum who started by testifying the autopsy reports.A thorough examination of a deceased on behalf of the police and occasionally the court. The purpose is to shed light on the cause of death, manner of death, time of death and possible identity. He was one of those who performed the autopsies on the two girls back in 2000.
Several very strong images are shown in court.
Rognum goes through the various injuries on the bodies of the two girls in detail. These include stab wounds from a knife, blunt violence Damage caused by impact or impact with an object that does not have sharp edges.and DNA found at sites associated with abuse.
Andersen, wearing a flowered T-shirt, looks straight down at the desk for the two hours Rognum has been talking.
VG’s Krimpodden makes several episodes a week where they follow the trial. Listen via VG+ or Podme.
One of Jan Helge Andersen’s defenders, Svein Holden, asks Rognum several questions:
– Do you see signs on their bodies that they may have been moved? Ask Holden.
– Yes, I would say that there are signs of that, replies Rognum.
Svein Holden
– Do you see signs that they may have been lifted?
– We cannot rule that out, says Rognum.
The Baneheia case explained
Rognum also receives several technical questions from all sides in court. In particular, questions about whether the girls have been moved and various differences in the injuries to the girls are central. Defender Krogh Fornes is also concerned about the routines surrounding the sampling, and possible DNA contamination.
After Rognum has finished, two other experts, Hege Cathrine Luytkis and Lars Uhlin-Hansen, will continue. They are going through their forensic expert statement from 2021. This will answer questions about the original autopsy report.
Expert
They also go into the stab wounds the girls were exposed to, where they conclude that it is uncertain whether it is the same perpetrator or several. The stitches are similar, but Uhlin-Hansen points out:
– One may have seen how the other has done it, or they may have learned it in the same way. We therefore conclude that it is difficult to say whether there are one or two perpetrators.
The experts also cannot establish that the injuries were caused by a knife, several knives or by another sharp object.
The experts finished the autopsy reports today. Tomorrow, among others, the father of Stine Sofie Sløgedal will testify.
Expert
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.
